An Uncertain War Strategy

I , H a m m u r a b i ...

Dear Roger:

You are a psychologist and a military man. These are my questions: "Can one man win a battle against an entire army? Is there any possible set of circumstances, courage or fear, knowledge or superstition, and natural or supernatural forces that could render such a result? Can you conceive that a multitude of well armed, well trained, and professional soldiers could be fleeing from the presence of only one warrior?"

The scenes of such events, historical or prehistorical, are believed to be mythical--at least I believed so until two months ago.

For the first time in my life as a scholar, I have an account of this rare event. It is not mythical, but it is described with enough detail by a very credible historian who was present while the conflict unfolded thousands of years ago. His scribes wrote, not what they remembered, but what he observed and dictated day by day. The historian that witnessed the battle was somebody widely respected and an authority of his days--Hammurabi. He was a minister of Sargon V and later became King and Emperor himself.

As I told you, I have many questions about this: "Why the facts occurred the way they did? Why the battle was won in such a strange finale? Was it spontaneous, or was it planned?"

My interest in this started with a disagreement with Kung Hue Lee. I like Kung very much. I don't think there is a better translator of the Sumerian tablets than he--neither at Beijing University nor in any other University in the world--but I really don't agree with his interpretation of battles, especially of this one. Listen to what he wrote in the last issue of the Journal of Ancient History, and I quote:

"...although many ancient historians have participated in battles, very few if any have watched and written in real time. The account I am presenting now has been overlooked by the numerous Hammurabi compilers because its contribution to the art of war is somewhat doubtful. Mine is the opinion of a contrarian; this battle is an example of the value of leadership against cold, calculated strategy in a rather 'contradictory' (sic) way. Here is my translation from the Sumerian-Akkadian tablets..."

This is nonsense, dear Roger. Lee's explanations are confusing, simplistic, and even wrong; and I wrote exactly that in a note to the journal. Can you believe that they rejected it? I suspect I didn't find the real explanation. I would appreciate it if you help me with your already famous psychological analysis of the past, explaining why the facts occurred in this way.

Please, find attached in plain English stripped from linguistic technicalities, Lee's account of the battle. In parentheses, I will insert some explanations of the culture and environment so you can concentrate on psychology. As usual, ellipses in brackets "[...]" signify illegibility in the original,

Sincerely yours,

John Stucked, Ph.D.

To Sargon V, whose power rules over all the Empire (but the sun shines over us all), I, Hammurabi, your minister traveling in your name with my servants and scribes to the Seleucid land, have been forced to witness this battle that delayed for several days the execution of your orders. From this high cave, I sent my servants to proclaim my passport to both parties, and they have respected me as your subject.

[…] At the wake of a great battle, two armies are facing each other. They are on the hills of two mounts divided by a huge valley that will serve as the battle field.

(Roger, put yourself in the setting of this extraordinary story. Note first of all that the sun was perhaps one of the most important gods for the people in this age. Hammurabi recognized the broad power of the emperor but immediately established the universal power of God. Second, note the beauty of the scenery. It is difficult to reflect that beauty in a pure phonetic language like ours. As you know, humanity has produced two types of languages--phonetic and ideographic. All the moderns including ours are phonetic, that is--written signs mean sounds, and sounds mean ideas. The others, like Chinese or Egyptian hieroglyphics, are ideographic because they have little graphs representing ideas. Well, these people combine both styles in their tablets allowing the symbolic to be integrated in the written text yielding indescribable results. You can imagine this minister in a high place in front of a huge empty valley. At both sides two armies are preparing for a battle that he and his scribes will write in a song-poem that will be sung for many centuries to come.)

On the mount to my right side, a group of captains are talking to each other and giving orders to their soldiers. Now all the sounds fade away gently, and the authority of the captains retracts as waves of power advance over the place. One man, serious and imposing, walks to the group. It is Caradôok, the commander of this army, my servants say. His army is so numerous that it overflows the range of my sight. Caradôok is king and high priest. He is tall, ceremonial, detached.

On the mount to my left side, squadrons of soldiers march in formation singing martial songs in formation to be inspected by Silures. He is commander of a legion of no more than twelve hundred men, rugged, very disciplined, armed in abundance, and in constant training. Sylures is a special kind of soldier, perhaps a politician.

(Roger, note how accurately Hammurabi captures the nature of these two men and their armies. Obviously, he had received the report from his servants and scribes who probably gathered that information when presenting Hammurabi's passport to them. Observe that the authority of these men comes from different sources. Caradôok is a mystic figure radiating waves of power; Sylures is an efficient general that knows all the business of war, and he is a politician also.)

[...]

The third day. For some hidden reason that my divines are trying to discover, the sky is not blue anymore and the sun has denied the light for the combat. Heavens are painted with the color of a herd of elephants. The armies are waiting.

[...]

The fourth day. The sensual songs and dancing of women have disappeared. Caradôok alone performs the ritual exercises of war. They are intensive and in the open air, even today under heavy storm. In the afternoon, he opens his sacred scrolls, reads his prayers aloud, and engages in a long meditation. All the activity of his army rests on his captains who direct their soldiers to play war games in a rather chaotic way.

[...]

(Women stopped dancing and singing? What kind of army is that? Do they bring women with them? Do women have a special mission? Anyway, Caradôok forgot about women and began concentrating in himself)

On the other side, Sylures in person inspects the training of his soldiers and gives instructions to his captains. He delivers stern punishment to his men when he sees fit. The astute general, with far less men than his opponent, relies on the discipline and heavy training of his professional army. Early in the morning we listen to drums and songs of battle and metallic blasts of swords colliding with shields[…].

The fifth day[...]

[...] waiting for reinforcements.

(Even though some parts are illegible, we have this situation: Sylures, with lesser numbers, is waiting for reinforcements. Caradook is also waiting. For what?)

Caradôok is becoming leaner, darker, harder. Sometimes he rejects food and fasts for a whole day; other times he orders Dyro, his high priest, to flog his body (either as discipline of the flesh or as an offering to the gods.)

(Dyro, a new character, appears. We have an army whose head is an ascetic-mystic general, whose soldiers train by playing imagined war games, and whose second in command is the high priest Dyro. This is only my interpretation.)

Sixth day. Sylures does some activities at night. He spends long hours by the fire speaking with people who have customs and moods from the other side, from the tribes of Caradôok. Perhaps they are spies, translators, or potential mercenaries.

(This army is no less interesting than the other. It is a conventional army--I agree--but Sylures, his general, is nothing but conventional. According to Hammurabi, he is a learned and sagacious politician. Look at what he is doing by night. He is reaching to some tribes of his enemy's army. This development could be astonishing to a modern eye, but it is not uncommon in the history of warfare. We have read about Romans recruiting mercenaries from barbarian invaders. It is doubtful, though, that it could be done in such a short period of time.)

[...]Every night Caradôok receives the high priest, Dyro. He comes with the heads of the tribes that are priests too, each one with a sacred torch. According to my servants, these priests can heal with the right hand and administer death with the left hand.

(It is not uncommon that the religious leaders are military leaders also. So the line of command is this: first Caradôok, second Dyro, and third the divines that are captains too. It is possible that the captains only answer to Dyro. Curare or other powerful venom of the time could be the magic power of their left hand.)

[...]Today I saw a whole tribe, part of Caradôok's army, on the Sylures side. These traitors are training under the command of Sylures' captains. This is a clear result of the meetings of the astute Sylures at night. The customs of these barbarians, oh great Sargon, are unclear to me, so I ask you to release this minister from any explanation.

(What an impressive development! The tribes of Caradôok are changing sides! History teaches us that Hammurabi will write an ethical code in the time of his kingship, therefore, he does not like them and calls them traitors. We must be aware, though, that they may have a distinct code of ethics, perhaps they had a god of deception that they worship too. As to the reasons why they are changing sides, we don't know what kind of connections these two different groups are making outside the battlefield. What kind of forces pull each other together? Women? Weapons? Culture? Religion? Seeing war as a good in itself independent of the country they belong?)

[...] Every night Dyro, the high priest, with the heads of the tribes goes in procession to visit with Caradôok. Under the lights of torches, they engage in a ceremonial dialogue with a special intonation like singing ritual songs. Even if I could hear well at this distance, I don't think I could understand the songs, but the body language is clear--they are pleading to start the battle when the numbers are still in their favor. After the long songs of Caradôok, the group leaves the place with reverence.

(The leadership of Caradôok has began to be challenged by Dyro and the captains. The reason seems to be a desertion of massive proportions. This is the opinion of Hammurabi, and I agree. But the fact is, we don't know. What do you think?)

[...] even more admirable is the way Sylures organizes his new army. Now, many of his captains are leading new battalions of recruits. The heads of the tribes are functioning as counselors or translators. The new recruits are happy learning the advanced techniques of war, marching and singing songs that they don't understand.

(Sylures is feeding his army with the soldiers of his enemy! Could that be real?)

Every night, the court that visits with Caradôok gets smaller, but Caradôok's attitude remains unchanged. Soon Caradôok's army will be no more than his band of musicians. What will happen if even Dyro, the high priest, abandons him?

(Roger, this is my last commentary and I will leave you entirely on your own. Caradôok now is almost alone and he will face a whole army. What a finale! You must explain this riddle to me.)

[...]Today is the day. The sky is blue and clear even before dawn. Caradôok goes to the altar. He chooses his helmet with feathers, his golden mask is now on his face. Finally--arrayed in shiny metal corselet, blade, shield and greaves, alone, slowly--Caradôok walks to the battlefield."

On the other side, Sylures observes Carodôok with hesitance, but with reverence. Resigned, he prepares for the battle too. Using only his own men, Sylures orders the triangle formation that consists of shields tightened to each other, showing a huge, animated triangle of metal and spear-shafts. They will be marching against this singular enemy, the air roaring with hymns of battle.

At this time of the day the birds stop singing, and a great silence descends on the valley.

[...]At the wake of this heroic battle, I must sing:
Hymn to Caradôok :
Walking slowly, at ease with nature, he marches.
Master of all, aplomb against all odds, he marches to his deah.
Solemn, imbued, he marches.
Receptive, passive, silent, he marches to his death.
A timid music essays sounds of war. […].
A beam of light peers from the clouds.
He shines. Radiant, blessed by the sun, Caradôok shines.
[...]
Hymn to Sylures
Your soldiers are many, and your fate is to win.
To win with no honor, because the traitors are with you.
Final Hymn to the sun.
You shine on all of us, but only the brave reflect your light.
So that the traitors must repent.
Dyro, priest and traitor, cries.
The traitors with Dyro weep. Raising their hands, the traitors weep.
Dyro weeps.
With his left hand Dyro touches Sylures face.
Sylures falls. As a dead body falls, Sylures falls.
Having confronted the hunger, the storm, the whip, Caradôok walks.
Master of all, but servant to the sun, Caradôok walks.
The traitors run towards Caradôok.
Rising their hands, the traitors enter the battlefield.
Crying and hailing, the traitors cheer Caradôok.
Cardôok walks.
In triumphal procession, Caradok walks.
The soldiers of Sylures flee.
The sun rises...
[...].