03-01-2012, 07:11 PM
I teach a large program of high school Latin, and recently my Latin II students were working on projects associated with their study of Caesar's De Bello Gallico. Their task was to pick a problem or issue the Roman army of Caesar's time would have had to address, explore how the Romans dealt with it, analyze the effectiveness of the Roman solution, and explore alternative or better approaches.
One group approached attacking a walled city and came up with an interesting method that I want to cite here. I am typing exactly what the students wrote. Please remember that they are freshmen and sophomores.
In ancient Rome, there were trees called Cherry Laurel trees that when the fluids from inside the leaves and flowers were extracted, the liquid would form cyanide gas if left in an enclosed space. Nero himself knew this, since he used the cyanide found in the plant to poison people. Caesar had access to these trees and he could have utilized the cyanide.
The resources needed to make the new method of "gassing out the enemy" were few that the Romans themselves did not already use. All that would be needed was was a few catapults and clay capsules filled with the liquid from the plant. The enclosed clay capsule would have helped the liquid form into the cyanide gas. Caesar would have launched the capsule from a catapult outside the wall and the capsule would have broken against the ground. The gas that then was released from the clay would spread throughout the city, killing the people inside or driving them to leave the city, driving the enemies right into the hands of the Romans.
My question is this. Could this have worked? I was intrigued by the thinking of these students, but must confess a complete lack of knowledge about cyanide gas or cherry laurel trees. Any thoughts?
One group approached attacking a walled city and came up with an interesting method that I want to cite here. I am typing exactly what the students wrote. Please remember that they are freshmen and sophomores.
In ancient Rome, there were trees called Cherry Laurel trees that when the fluids from inside the leaves and flowers were extracted, the liquid would form cyanide gas if left in an enclosed space. Nero himself knew this, since he used the cyanide found in the plant to poison people. Caesar had access to these trees and he could have utilized the cyanide.
The resources needed to make the new method of "gassing out the enemy" were few that the Romans themselves did not already use. All that would be needed was was a few catapults and clay capsules filled with the liquid from the plant. The enclosed clay capsule would have helped the liquid form into the cyanide gas. Caesar would have launched the capsule from a catapult outside the wall and the capsule would have broken against the ground. The gas that then was released from the clay would spread throughout the city, killing the people inside or driving them to leave the city, driving the enemies right into the hands of the Romans.
My question is this. Could this have worked? I was intrigued by the thinking of these students, but must confess a complete lack of knowledge about cyanide gas or cherry laurel trees. Any thoughts?
