13. Salting the Earth of Defeated Foes
Salting the earth was a symbolic act of destruction, historically associated with the desire to render a conquered area permanently barren or uninhabitable. Salt was scattered over the defeated enemy’s territory to prevent future use, and ensure that nothing would grow there again. It was more symbolic than literal – salt was expensive in the ancient world, so to avoid bankruptcy, the victors would salt a small patch of enemy ground, that symbolically represented the entire enemy’s territory.
The most famous and widely cited instance occurred after the Third Punic War, 149 – 146 BC. When Rome finally destroyed its long-time rival Carthage, the Romans are said to have sown salt into the city’s soil. It was meant not only to prevent agriculture, but to symbolize the complete and final destruction of Carthage, and ensure that it would never rise again as a threat to Roman power.
