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Rubbing It In: History’s Greatest Flexes and Ownages

Khalid Elhassan June 3, 2025 17 min

12. An Ancient Curse’s Enduring Symbolism

Ownage - Salting the earth — Salting the earth. Greek Reporter

Contemporary Roman sources do not mention the salting of Carthage’s soil, so the story might be apocryphal, added by later writers for dramatic effect. Salting the earth has also appeared in biblical and medieval contexts. In the Old Testament, Abimelech is said to have salted the city of Shechem after destroying it. In medieval Europe, it became a ceremonial act of condemnation, often used against traitors or rebellious cities.

One notable example occurred in 1460, when the city of Liège in modern-day Belgium was destroyed and symbolically salted after a failed revolt against Burgundy. In all its versions, salting the earth was more about symbolism than reality. It conveyed a message of utter defeat and erasure, leaving behind a cursed or barren land. It remains a powerful metaphor for irreversible destruction in both historical discourse and literature.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.