Poisonous Gas?
Since I am still studying ancient poisons - this was interesting! - Trace
During the siege, the Romans, unable to overcome its walls, tried underground by digging tunnels, and the Ambraciots used poisonous gases to try to stop them, the first time in History that the use of this type of gas is documented.
Polybius recounted it like this:
They placed in front of them an earthenware jar, the width of the mine; they drilled a hole in its bottom and, inserting an iron funnel of the same length as the depth of the jar, filled it with fine feathers; they lit a small fire near the mouth of the jar and placed on it an iron cover full of holes. They carried all this without mishap through the mine, with the mouth directed toward the enemy. When they approached the besiegers, they closed all the space around the edge of the jar, leaving only two holes on each side through which they inserted spears to prevent the enemy from approaching the jar. Then they took a bellows like those used by blacksmiths and, after fitting it to the orifice of the funnel, blew hard on the fire placed over the feathers near the jar’s mouth, continuously withdrawing the funnel as the feathers ignited downward. The plan was executed successfully; the volume of smoke generated was huge and, due to the peculiar nature of the feathers, extremely acrid, and all of it was directed toward the enemy’s faces. The Romans, therefore, found themselves in a very distressing and embarrassing situation, as they could neither stop nor endure the smoke in the mines. Thus prolonging the siege even further, the Aetolian commander decided to send an envoy to the consul. . . .
Polybius, Histories 21.28
As we saw, it was only briefly reborn because in 31 BC Octavian deported all its inhabitants to Nicopolis, founded after his victory in the Battle of Actium (its name means “City of Victory”), just as he had done the previous year with those of Argos Amfilochikon.
Thus, Ambracia, homeland of the musician Epigonus and the poet Epicrates, of the seer Silanus and the philosopher Cleombrotus (a student of Plato), was left abandoned and uninhabited until the Byzantine period, around 1000 AD, when a new settlement occupied its site under the name Narte, which later became Arta, partly thanks to a Bulgarian invasion that destroyed Nicopolis.
This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on July 3, 2026: Ambracia, la ciudad griega que se defendió del asedio romano con el primer uso conocido de gases venenosos
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