History Memes

Explanation: One of the perks of being a soldier in service to Rome (or any ancient polity, for that matter) was that when a town refused to surrender, one's commander would generally give permission for the troops to loot it thoroughly. The Romans did so in a pretty orderly fashion, splitting the looted proceeds by shares apportioned by rank (a centurion, for example, received 16 shares compared to a common legionary's 1 share).

This meant that when a wealthy town refused to surrender, its fall would laden down even ordinary soldiers with a considerable bonus! For obvious reasons, then, soldiers in antiquity were not always put out by a town's refusal to surrender - and sometimes even openly called for a quick assault over a low-casualty siege!