Corps au supplice et violence de guerre dans l'Antiquité

In recent years the human body has formed a major theme in historical research, and has been the subject of numerous scholarly publications. One essential aspect of such study is the body as the object of violence and its role in war: in this book, eleven scholars explore this theme in connection with the civilisations of the East, of Greece, Rome and the Celtic World. Using evidence from literature, iconography and archaeology, our authors explore the reasons behind – and the rationale offered for – acts of violence perpetrated against the human body. There are three main themes: the treatment of the bodies of dead enemies or living prisoners; mutilation specific to eminent persons, namely decapitation and the cutting off of the right hand; and violence against whole groups in war.