1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,600 At the British Museum, archaeologists are working 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:11,200 on a 13,000-year-old war cemetery from Sudan, 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,040 the earliest-ever existing evidence of organised violence 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:17,200 between humans. 5 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:21,040 And the burials of some individuals are remarkable. 6 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:25,840 These two fallen have been carefully buried, with their heads 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,080 pointing east, as if this is some kind of sacred ritual. 8 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:35,240 So, what this suggests is that, before society itself exists, 9 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,480 we're choosing to turn war into something sacred. 10 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,560 In this programme, I'm investigating the enduring relationship 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,640 between warfare and worship... 12 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:59,200 ..by following the trail of the ancient god of war, Mars. 13 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,640 From phrases like "martial law" to the month of March 14 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:08,360 and Mars, the red planet, the figure of Mars has travelled 15 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,720 down the centuries with mankind. 16 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,600 For the Romans, he was a vital force in their drive to win 17 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:18,400 and exploit an empire. 18 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,040 I'll explore how they stole him from the Greeks, 19 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,560 and discover why the Greek god of war, 20 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,360 Ares, was distrusted and reviled. 21 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:34,240 You do not welcome his presence because his presence means death. 22 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:39,240 I'll show how the notion of holy war has endured across the generations, 23 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,440 from the medieval crusades in the Middle East 24 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,720 to 17th-century bloodshed in Europe. 25 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:50,560 I'll pursue Mars as we were engulfed by two world wars. 26 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,800 Everybody is familiar with the moustachioed figure 27 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,640 of Kitchener pointing, saying, "Your country needs you" 28 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,840 like the face of Mars himself. 29 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:04,960 And I'll uncover the relationship between religion and conflict today. 30 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:14,520 I'm going to explore why we choose to make war sacred. 31 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,400 Are we channelling an essential desire for bloodshed? 32 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,720 Are we justifying the fact that civilisation, 33 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:25,480 where we have to live together, is always going to involve conflict? 34 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,760 Is Mars immortal because war is always going to be 35 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,600 an essential part of our lives? 36 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:59,720 I've come to Tunisia to investigate how war worship was central 37 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:01,320 to Rome's success. 38 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,560 This is the site of a hugely significant Roman military victory. 39 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:17,120 In 146 BC, Rome conquered its most formidable opponent, 40 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,680 the Carthaginians, who ruled what the Romans called 41 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,000 the Punic Empire. 42 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,640 Their once-beautiful capital, Carthage, now lay in ruins. 43 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,600 The fall of Carthage marked the end of the punishing Punic Wars, 44 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,120 which had stretched out for well over a century. 45 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,080 The historian, Appian, estimated that 300,000 Romans 46 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,040 had lost their lives. 47 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:49,200 But it was a victory that was worth all of that pain, 48 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,680 because this was a pivotal moment for the city. 49 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:58,920 Rome was now set to become a superpower, the dominant force 50 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:00,440 in the Mediterranean. 51 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,720 These ruins are testament to the scale of the Roman destruction. 52 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,560 Because this wasn't just about levelling a glittering city, 53 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,800 but about killing to claim new lands. 54 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,920 There are terrible, distressing accounts of the massacre 55 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,920 continuing for six days and six nights, 56 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,600 of women and children still breathing 57 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,840 being dragged into pits, and of whole neighbourhoods 58 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:33,680 being burnt to the ground. 59 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:46,240 Rome's extraordinary domination came thanks to centuries' worth 60 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,520 of military aggression. 61 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:50,960 At its height, Rome would be the largest empire 62 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,840 the world had ever seen, spanning nearly 2 million square miles, 63 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:57,120 over three continents. 64 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:08,800 Mars, the muscular martial god of war, was the go-to patron 65 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,200 for Rome's expansionist ambitions. 66 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:19,720 So, in a militaristic society, where a martial ethos was paramount 67 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,560 and the gods were considered to be crucial to everyday life, 68 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:28,200 it's no surprise perhaps that Mars wasn't just a premier god - 69 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:33,360 he was thought to be the patron god of the city of Rome itself. 70 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:37,880 Mars enjoyed this status because the Romans believed 71 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,280 he was inextricably linked to Rome's foundation. 72 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:48,160 Now, like all foundation myths, it's rather complicated. 73 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,880 But, actually, the most straightforward version comes to us 74 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,760 courtesy of Virgil and his wonderful poem 75 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:58,760 The Aeneid, and the relevant passage is actually set here in Carthage. 76 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,920 Basically, to paraphrase the story, Aeneas, the Trojan prince, 77 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:07,560 is escaping from the war at Troy and he ends up here in Carthage, 78 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:12,000 where he falls passionately in love with the Queen, Dido. 79 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,760 The two of them have a raging affair, and the problem is 80 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,240 this is distracting from his real destiny, 81 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:20,680 which is to go on and found Rome. 82 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,480 Then, none other than the king of the gods himself, 83 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:27,480 Jupiter, turns up and says, "Don't worry, all will be well." 84 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,040 Because Aeneas's descendants will go on to rule Italy, 85 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:32,880 and one of them - 86 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,760 stay with me - 87 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,720 a virgin priestess called Rhea Silvia is going to be raped 88 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:40,760 by Mars, the god of war. 89 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,680 It's not a pretty story. 90 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,960 The result of that rape will be two boys, Romulus and Remus, 91 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,680 and one of them will found the city of Rome. 92 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:56,800 But what is really crucial is that the city is not called Rome here, 93 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,480 it's actually called the city of Mars. 94 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,920 Mars was omnipresent across all of Rome's domains. 95 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:13,160 Even in the night sky, he was there as the Red Planet, Mars. 96 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,000 And the figure of Mars dominated Rome's lunar calendar. 97 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,400 Mars was considered such a vital god that his name was given 98 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,680 to the most important month of the year, March. 99 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,920 This was actually the beginning of the Roman year, 100 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:32,960 and it marked the start of the campaigning season. 101 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:36,320 So, when that happens, the soldier priests of Mars 102 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,880 would make their way through the city, singing and dancing, 103 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,680 celebrating the fact that wars could begin again. 104 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:52,520 Mars was adored by the Romans, but they weren't the only ones 105 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:54,280 to invest in war worship. 106 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,720 The god had a much earlier incarnation in the society 107 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,800 that the Romans admired above all others, 108 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,720 the Greeks, whose civilisation had flourished 109 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:06,480 before Rome rose to power. 110 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,800 The Romans were religious magpies and, like most of their gods, 111 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,040 Mars was basically an amalgam of lots of older gods, 112 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,640 and, in a large part, stolen from the Greeks. 113 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,240 The Greek god of war was called Ares, 114 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:27,480 and he has prehistoric roots. 115 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,880 We know that he dates right the way back to the Bronze Age 116 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,320 from this rather brilliant bit of evidence. 117 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,640 What you're looking at is the image of a Linear B writing tablet. 118 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,400 Linear B was an early form of Greek. 119 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:47,280 This particular one was found in Knossos, on the island of Crete. 120 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,680 And the symbols here read "R Re." 121 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:55,720 This was found in a military arsenal, and this is our very first 122 00:08:55,720 --> 00:09:00,600 evidence of Ares being actually worshipped as a god. 123 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,320 But there's something really interesting here because 124 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,880 "R Re" actually means a curse or an imprecation. 125 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,200 So, we know that, for the early Greeks, 126 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,240 the god of war was not a good thing. 127 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,800 Like the Romans, the Greeks could be militaristic. 128 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,080 And, like Mars, Ares was an ultimate embodiment 129 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,520 of the powerful warrior. 130 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:27,960 But, significantly, the early Greeks had a very different relationship 131 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:29,560 with their god of war. 132 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,360 So, for instance, these are a few lines from the Iliad, 133 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:37,760 which was the epic poem written by Homer, describing the Trojan War. 134 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,800 "To me, you are the most hateful of all the gods. 135 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,640 "Constant conflict is dear to your heart, 136 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,240 "wars and battles." 137 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:52,400 Those are words said by Zeus, who was actually Ares' father. 138 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,640 Elsewhere in the Iliad, Zeus describes Ares 139 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,200 as his most despised son. 140 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:16,560 For us today, this is just a myth, a good yarn. 141 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:20,400 But, for the ancient Greeks, this was a tale that dealt with 142 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,440 real events, real people, and gods who walked with them 143 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:26,160 every step of the way. 144 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,120 These marble sculptures once adorned the east pediment, 145 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:42,040 the focal point of the Parthenon, the most spectacular temple 146 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:44,400 in 5th century classical Athens. 147 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,640 Gods and goddesses abound. 148 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,880 Like the Romans, the Greeks had a pantheon of the key gods 149 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,760 and goddesses, the mighty Olympians. 150 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:58,800 And, as the son of the King of the Gods, the almighty Zeus, 151 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:02,400 Ares was of prime Olympian stock. 152 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,720 Now, the major deities are here on this pediment. 153 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:07,800 But is Ares here? 154 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:08,800 No, he's not. 155 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,280 To find him, you'd have to look amongst the smaller figures 156 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:21,680 below and inside, and, even then, he's rather lost in the crowd. 157 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:25,440 And just look at him here. 158 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,160 Obviously, he has lost his face across time. 159 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,440 But, even so, he is right at the end of the line, 160 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,080 he's almost cowering in a corner. 161 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:37,800 Now, this whole scheme celebrates Athenian supremacy 162 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:39,680 and military dominance. 163 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:44,000 So, in theory, it's absolutely dream territory for the god of war. 164 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:49,240 Calamitous, wild Ares simply wasn't widely worshipped 165 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,040 in ancient Greece. 166 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:55,280 In fact, those the Greeks said were mad enough to really idolise him 167 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,920 were foreigners, and, worse than that, 168 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:01,520 women - the legendary warlike Amazons. 169 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,640 The Greeks believed that the Amazons had an intimate connection 170 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:07,480 to the god of war. 171 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:10,360 They believed that the Amazons lived right the way around the Black Sea, 172 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:14,800 and one of the islands they inhabited was called Ares Island. 173 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:17,840 They said that the Amazons were in fact nothing less 174 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,880 than the daughters of Ares, and that they sacrificed 175 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,040 to their father before they went into battle. 176 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,920 The Amazons' fabled prowess in battle and the belief 177 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,040 that they worshipped war didn't make them heroic 178 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:34,680 in the eyes of the Greeks. 179 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:36,800 In fact, quite the opposite. 180 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,760 Calling the Amazons the daughters of Ares wasn't a compliment, 181 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:43,360 it was a curse. 182 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,120 To find out why the Greeks were so very hostile 183 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,920 towards their god of war, I'm meeting Dr Lucy Jackson. 184 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,280 They don't worship Ares in the way that you might imagine a society 185 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:01,960 that frequently goes to war should do. 186 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:03,560 Why is that, do you think? 187 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:06,920 I think it's because they're actually all so close to war 188 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:08,760 in their daily lives. 189 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,920 I think it's because they know what it actually means to go to war, 190 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,080 that they do feel very ambivalent towards it. 191 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,560 In their kind of smaller society in ancient Greece, 192 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:21,800 you would know someone who would be going to war, 193 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,560 and you would know people who had died in battle. 194 00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:27,760 So, it's not something you very easily glorify. 195 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,320 Again, one of the epithets that's often given to the god of war, Ares, 196 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:33,800 is "A bane for mankind." 197 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,640 And that's something that everyone can share in, 198 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,520 that you do not welcome his presence because his presence means death. 199 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,200 A lot of the gods and goddesses are pretty bellicose 200 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,760 in the ancient world, so what makes Ares different? 201 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,400 I think the epithets that he's given are often quite telling. 202 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,120 Zeus himself says, "Ares, you are the most hated to me" 203 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:58,120 and he gets a lot of insults thrown at him as well. 204 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,600 So, he is not presented in a very good light. 205 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,200 There's something about Ares in particular, 206 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:09,640 I think it's this wildness, the focus that he has on fear 207 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:15,520 and terror that make him not just, sort of, ambivalent and worthy 208 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,080 of suspicion, but, actually, outright hated. 209 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,760 Not just by the gods, but by mortals themselves. 210 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,360 Do you think that the Greeks really believed that there is a divine 211 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,520 force that encourages men to fight? 212 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:32,480 I think so, in the same way they were happily living alongside 213 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:35,360 divine forces and mortal forces all the time. 214 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:39,320 I think they saw them as very much interacting together. 215 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:46,000 I think they very much recognised that, although Ares and his fury 216 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,760 and fire is a necessary part of being able to succeed in war, 217 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,520 he's also very dangerous and in need of controlling. 218 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,840 The Greeks may have been deeply wary of Ares, 219 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,920 but he did help reconcile the tension between war's horror 220 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:03,440 and its value. 221 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,280 The fact that some victories enabled some to flourish, 222 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,280 to act as a spur for civilisation. 223 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:14,480 As the philosopher Plato said, "A society without war 224 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,360 "is no more than a society fit for pigs." 225 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,080 Back at the British Museum, I'm investigating evidence 226 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,200 of how ritualising warfare helped strengthen 227 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,920 even the earliest prehistoric communities. 228 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:33,240 These boxes contain dozens of skeletons from around 229 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,840 13,000 years ago, buried together in the Sudan in what 230 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:39,560 some have called a war cemetery. 231 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:43,120 Many of the bones bear the scars of battle wounds, 232 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,800 the earliest evidence of organised violence 233 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,040 between humans on the planet. 234 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,880 So, who is this poor person, how much do we know about his 235 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:55,200 or her story? 236 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,840 It's actually a female individual, we've been able to analyse 237 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,000 her bones, confirming that she was in her 30s or 40s 238 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:02,600 when she died. 239 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:04,680 And do we know how she died? 240 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:08,120 There's evidence that she suffered multiple wounds 241 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:09,800 over a period of time. 242 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,360 We have a defensive fracture here, which typically occurs 243 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,320 when you raise your arm to defend yourself against a blow, 244 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:19,000 and that's exactly what's happened in this case. My gosh! 245 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,480 What's extraordinary is that you have two bones 246 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,400 in your forearm, and the break has gone through both bones, 247 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,680 suggesting a lot of force. Yeah. 248 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:31,520 But, again, the bones have healed, so this happened before she died, 249 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,000 giving it time to heal. 250 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:35,920 OK, so that's not what's killed her, then? 251 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,120 No, this is really well fused, showing that it occurred 252 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,880 a long time or at least several weeks or months before she died. 253 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,280 So, do we know, kind of, what the mortal blow is? 254 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:48,280 It's hard to tell what killed her because, 255 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,640 of course, we can only see the evidence from the bones. 256 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:54,200 But what we do have is the back part of her hip bone. 257 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:55,760 And you can see that 258 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,800 an impact of an arrowhead has shattered 259 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,160 part of the bone and part of the flint... 260 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:02,880 Oh, my God, yeah. 261 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,760 Part of the flint that makes up the arrowhead has been left behind, 262 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:07,840 you can see that quite clearly. 263 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:12,720 We also have two cut marks on this long bone here. 264 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:14,560 You can see one quite clearly here. 265 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:16,440 Yes. And another one here. 266 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,320 So, this is also likely to have been another arrowhead. 267 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:22,280 So, again, repeated episodes of violence, 268 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:27,880 which eventually is likely to have been the cause of her death. 269 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,880 And do we know why they're being attacked? 270 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,440 It's been suggested that it was competition for resources. 271 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,040 Imagine 13,000 years ago, the now is more erratic 272 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,200 than it is today, and I think the land that people could exploit 273 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,840 for food and resources would have been under severe pressure. 274 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,920 The fact that she's been buried so carefully, 275 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,640 I mean, that must say something to us? 276 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,400 Yeah, what's extraordinary about the cemetery is that everybody 277 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,040 has been carefully buried in the same manner. 278 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:00,640 For everybody to be clearly facing the south, with their heads 279 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,920 to the east, suggests that they were deliberately placed. 280 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:09,680 Some people have argued that maybe it was a special cemetery, 281 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,640 a place where people who died of violence, 282 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,680 maybe even warriors, where they were being buried. 283 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,840 The burial rites at Jebel Sahaba not only show the horrors of war 284 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:24,200 but how this community responded. 285 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,920 Fighting side by side in conflict, and then respecting their dead 286 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:34,440 through ritual, our early ancestors created a sense of shared identity. 287 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:39,240 Warfare had generated an idea of them and us. 288 00:18:55,800 --> 00:19:01,400 So, Mars' roots, and the sacralisation of warfare, run deep. 289 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,200 And, here in Tunisia, there is further evidence 290 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,400 of how worshipping a god of war can help to foster 291 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,360 a feeling of togetherness. 292 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:13,880 And, in Rome's case, to justify her imperial ambitions. 293 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,320 This is what the Roman historian, Livy, wrote, 294 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:21,960 "If any nation should claim sacred origin 295 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:26,480 "and point back to divine paternity, that nation is Rome. 296 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:31,320 "She claims Mars as her founding father, and such is her renown 297 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,520 "in war, the nations of the world just accept this 298 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:38,240 "as they accept her dominion." 299 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:42,280 Now, Livy was a teenager when Julius Caesar was assassinated. 300 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:47,120 So, he was an eyewitness to Rome's journey from republic to empire. 301 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,680 And what's really fascinating is that, on that journey, 302 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,880 Mars gets a significant promotion - he now becomes an active part 303 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,080 of the imperial machine. 304 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,800 Evidence of why worshipping Mars was so important to Rome's 305 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,840 empire builders can be found in the ruins 306 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,840 of the ancient city of Mactaris. 307 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,400 100 miles south of Carthage, Mactaris was originally 308 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,160 a refugee settlement of Carthaginians 309 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,120 who fled the destruction of the Punic Wars. 310 00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:28,240 Two centuries on, now part of the Roman Empire, 311 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,320 Mactaris had become a prosperous Roman town. 312 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,680 The incredible triumphal arch that still dominates the ruins 313 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,160 is evidence of this transformation. 314 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,880 While their ancestors may have been the victims 315 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:52,280 of Roman conquest, the town's citizens now celebrated 316 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,520 Roman military might. 317 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:02,080 And Mars was crucial to their sense of imperial belonging. 318 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,080 This beautiful building, right in the very heart of the city, 319 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,080 was originally a kind of clubhouse for a group of young men 320 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,920 who were fervent Mars worshippers. 321 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:22,960 Now, we know this for two reasons. 322 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,360 First of all, a statue of Mars was discovered 323 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:29,200 just here where he was adored by them and his cult. 324 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,800 But there was also another really intriguing bit of evidence. 325 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,920 Above the doorway, there was an inscribed lintel, 326 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:39,480 and, in the inscription, we read that the young men are linked 327 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:41,560 directly to Mars. 328 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,600 And that, crucially, Mars was linked directly 329 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,360 to the Roman emperor himself. 330 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,320 To find out why the city's youth worshipped Mars so fervently, 331 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,520 I'm meeting Mactaris' archaeological director, 332 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,600 Moheddine Chaouali, to show me the lintel 333 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,040 dedicated to Rome's first emperor, Augustus. 334 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:04,640 This is the inscription, is it? 335 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:06,880 This is the famous inscription. 336 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:08,760 Wow! Yeah, it's nice. 337 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:10,120 Really great! 338 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:15,800 As you see, we have a lot of names, 69 names. 339 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:20,720 And a lot of them are Punic names. Yeah. 340 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:25,960 Either they had Punic names, if not, they have Latin names, 341 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,520 but the name of the father is Punic. 342 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,520 They are the members of this association, 343 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:40,080 and the Juventus of the city of Mactar, and they are loving the god, 344 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,400 Mars, Augustus. 345 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:46,080 And we know that it's dedicated to Mars because I can see... 346 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:47,880 So, Martis... Yes. 347 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:49,520 That's right, Augustus, isn't it? 348 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,080 So, Mars as Augustus, yeah. Yeah. 349 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:57,640 This association paid for the construction of a basilica 350 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,320 and horrea... A grain store. 351 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,920 It's like a sort of grain store. Yeah. 352 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,400 We say that it's an association, but it's like a militia. 353 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:12,720 It is necessary to maintain order, to maintain security. 354 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,360 So, you have got Punic guys signing up to this Roman project? 355 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:24,120 It's important, this mix of Punic and Latin. 356 00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:29,600 People here need Mars, not only for wars, 357 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,760 but for the prosperity of agriculture. 358 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:39,320 He's not only a god of wars, it is a god of fertility also. 359 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:43,560 So, Mars helps you to gain an empire, and to maintain 360 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,840 an empire? To maintain an empire, true. 361 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:52,080 It's the beginning of Romanisation, and it's important to get some 362 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:57,080 local people loving this Latin god, 363 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,080 it's really important. 364 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:05,960 The Mars cult here is telling - warfare, however horrific, 365 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,800 can bring stability, crops can grow again, 366 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,840 life can flourish. 367 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,960 Mars could be sold not just as a warmonger, 368 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:17,600 but as a peace maker. 369 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:22,160 No-one understood this better than the emperor, Augustus. 370 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,360 Augustus had this coin minted after he founded a new temple, 371 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:30,400 the Temple of Mars Ultor - Mars the Avenger - 372 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,760 right in the very heart of the Roman Forum. 373 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,560 Basically, this was a kind of a sanctuary of war 374 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,680 and of imperial military might. 375 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:43,480 It's where commanders would assemble before they left on campaign, 376 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,360 and it's where victorious generals returned 377 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:47,960 after they triumphed abroad. 378 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,680 As Mars Ultor, the avenger, the god combined the Empire's 379 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:58,280 aggression with its desire for order in its conquered territories. 380 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,240 Rome wanted to exploit new fertile lands, 381 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,240 not scorched earth. 382 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,880 So, as a god of fertility and agriculture, Mars was key 383 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:12,040 to prosperity - to the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. 384 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:18,480 I'm heading to the Roman city of Thysdrus, now called El Djem, 385 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:19,840 in eastern Tunisia. 386 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,880 Thysdrus grew rich from the production of olive oil, 387 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,680 enjoying the fruits of Roman peace and stability. 388 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,080 Its citizens were able to build gorgeous monuments that rivalled 389 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,520 the very best in the city of Rome itself. 390 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:41,320 Its spectacular amphitheatre seated 35,000 spectators, 391 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,000 second only to Rome's great Colosseum. 392 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:50,360 It was in arenas like this across the Empire that Mars' roles 393 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:54,400 as patron of bloodshed and as peacekeeper were combined. 394 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,120 After Augustus had founded his temple of Mars Ultor, 395 00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:04,520 he inaugurated the Ludi Martialis, the annual games of Mars. 396 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:10,120 From all accounts, these were horrifically spectacular events. 397 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:14,800 We're told that hundreds of lions and crocodiles were slaughtered, 398 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,160 that the Battle of Salamis was re-enacted. 399 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,280 And, of course, there were gladiatorial contests, 400 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:24,120 with the combatants praying to Mars before they fought. 401 00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:28,680 So, basically, these were glorious festivals of death. 402 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:37,080 Gladiators were even seen as soldiers of Mars, 403 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:41,240 and some amphitheatres had sanctuaries to worship the god. 404 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,600 One particularly successful gladiator was celebrated 405 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,520 as being the embodiment of the martial spirit - 406 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:54,600 Hermes, the martial delight of our age, Hermes the glory 407 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,840 of Mars universal. 408 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,160 The origins of gladiatorial games were religious, 409 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,120 a dramatic form of sacrifice, 410 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:11,920 literally making something sacred by killing it. 411 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,960 These blood sports satisfied both a deep human desire 412 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:20,040 for ritualised death, and were a living demonstration 413 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,320 of Rome's imperial might. 414 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:30,920 But a new form of sacrificial victim, who believed in a new god, 415 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,800 was soon to be found in the sands at El Djem and across North Africa, 416 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:39,720 and, indeed, the rest of the Empire - martyred Christians. 417 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:44,840 Whereas Mars justified death in the pursuit of power, 418 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,200 this new Christ cult argued that it wasn't the mighty 419 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,160 but the meek who would inherit the Earth. 420 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,960 We're told that on 12th March, 295 AD, 421 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,240 a young man called Maximilianus was brought here 422 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:07,800 so that he could become part of the army. 423 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,040 The proconsul agreed to take him on, 424 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:12,520 but Maximilianus very politely refused, 425 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,440 saying that he couldn't fight because he was a Christian. 426 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,800 The proconsul flew into a rage and threatened all kinds 427 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,440 of punishments and a horrific death. 428 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,120 To their surprise, Maximilianus simply said, 429 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:29,720 "Bring it on - I cannot fight for the world, only for the Lord." 430 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:35,880 Aged 21 years, three months, and 18 days, 431 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,760 Maximilianus was then beheaded. 432 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,760 He is possibly the first recorded incidence 433 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:43,480 of a conscientious objector. 434 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:50,520 But war was far too central to the success of Rome 435 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:55,480 for the protest of one minority cult to dent Mars' armour. 436 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,120 And, just a generation later, when Constantine, 437 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:01,160 a Roman emperor himself, took up the Christian faith, 438 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:03,840 war worship endured. 439 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,240 The fact that Constantine became a Christian had surprisingly 440 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,520 little impact on the status of Mars. 441 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,200 If you think about it, when Constantine converted, 442 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:17,000 we're told that he saw a blazing cross in the sky and the words, 443 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,640 "In hoc signo Vinces." 444 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:24,800 "Under this sign, you shall conquer" which is hardly very pacifist. 445 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:27,040 And then the theme continues. 446 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,400 If you look at this coin that he had minted after 447 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:34,200 he'd converted, it shows on it the god of Mars in a temple. 448 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,000 And, even 20 years later, once his son is in power, 449 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,520 there's another coin minted here, and this show's a Christian warrior, 450 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:45,360 and we know it's Christian because it has the Chi-Rho symbol, 451 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:47,560 the symbol of Christ, in his standard. 452 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,280 But this looks pretty much exactly like Mars, 453 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:52,800 the god of war. 454 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,320 Rome had successfully co-opted Christianity 455 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:00,200 into the imperial mission. 456 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,280 But there was a theological tension. 457 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,760 In the 4th century, what's now Tunisia became 458 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:13,280 an important centre in the newly Christianised Roman Empire. 459 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:18,400 And it still has a small community of Christian worshippers here today. 460 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,640 Father Silvio Moreno explained to me how Christian teaching 461 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,960 challenged martial precepts. 462 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:10,080 The war god should have been dead and buried, but even 463 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:14,280 a Christianised Roman Empire needed to fight to keep Christ's 464 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:16,640 Earthly territory intact. 465 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,240 Now, conveniently, ancient authors - Aristotle, 466 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:22,800 Cicero and the like - had eloquently laid out 467 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:27,760 philosophical justifications for divinely sanctioned war. 468 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,640 Saint Augustine, who studied these classical works, 469 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:32,560 offered a solution. 470 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:37,960 He stated that wars could be just, that it was right to fight, 471 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:43,080 as long as the battle was sanctioned by the one, true God. 472 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:49,600 Because most people think of Christianity as, on paper, 473 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:52,520 being a peaceful religion, so, their ideas 474 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:56,160 of love thy neighbour, and turn your other cheek, is there anything, 475 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,800 do you think, in the New Testament that actually justifies 476 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:00,640 the use of violence? 477 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,640 Backed up by Saint Augustine's just war theory, Christians now 478 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,920 had licence to kill, without compromising their faith. 479 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,360 While the warlike Mars was also a god of peace time, 480 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:39,200 ironically, the peaceful Christian deity had become a god of war. 481 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,880 In the 11th century, the Christian church would put 482 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:46,160 this theory into practice, embarking on the Crusades, 483 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,320 centuries of holy war to reclaim the holy lands 484 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:51,200 from Muslim possession. 485 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,800 And Mars, the god of war, not only survived in spirit, 486 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,120 but in name. 487 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:01,480 There is no doubt that Mars was in the minds of these men. 488 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,240 When William Marshal, who was probably the most famous 489 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,480 of all crusading knights, he was a celebrity in his own day, 490 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:11,720 and he fought against Saladin, when he died, he had these words 491 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,160 inscribed around his tomb - 492 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,240 "Miles eram Martis." 493 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:21,280 "I was a soldier of Mars." 494 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:31,960 The Crusades saw waves of Christian soldiers head to the holy lands... 495 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,760 ..fighting the cause of holy war. 496 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,400 And that influence can be tracked down here in Jordan. 497 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:19,600 Dating to 1115, this splendid fortress, Shobak, 498 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,840 was the first castle built by these crusading knights, 499 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:28,600 a stronghold from which Christian soldiers could launch their just 500 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:30,960 and righteous military mission. 501 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,920 But, by all accounts, one of the Christian rulers of Shobak 502 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,960 had forgotten all codes of chivalry. 503 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:46,200 Raynald of Chatillon had a reputation for being 504 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,840 a bullying robber-knight. 505 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:52,920 By all accounts, he sounds like a dangerously clever psychopath. 506 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:57,280 He used to kill his enemies by putting their heads in wooden boxes 507 00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,800 and then throwing them off the battlements 508 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,880 so that they stayed fully conscious, right through the moments 509 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,400 that their bodies were being destroyed. 510 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:11,800 In theory, just war precluded the evils of war, 511 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,600 love of violence. 512 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:16,680 But this was as brutal as any conflict fought 513 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:18,280 on the fields of Mars. 514 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:23,160 From this castle, Raynald attacked a group of Muslim travellers 515 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,160 who were making their way across this landscape 516 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,440 to the holy city of Medina. 517 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:33,080 He stole their treasure and enslaved or slaughtered the pilgrims. 518 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:37,280 Today, considering Raynald's actions, it's hard to reconcile 519 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:40,240 the savagery that took place at Shobak and elsewhere 520 00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:43,120 with the notion of a just, or holy, war. 521 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:47,520 Until you understand the medieval mind-set. 522 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,160 In what was called the Book of Knighthood, one medieval author, 523 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,520 Christine de Pizan, set out the guidelines 524 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,080 for being a good Christian knight. 525 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:01,040 And Mars gets a really surprisingly prominent shout out. 526 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:07,440 "Mars, the god of battle, may well be called the Son of God. 527 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:10,920 "And every knight that loveth and showeth alms and deeds 528 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:15,040 "of knighthood may be called a Son of Mars." 529 00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:19,520 For crusading Christian knights, 530 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:22,320 sacralising war had justified their actions. 531 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:28,400 But they weren't alone in thinking that God was on their side. 532 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:32,640 After experiencing the initial savagery of the Christians, 533 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:35,680 the medieval Muslim fighters increasingly believed 534 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:39,520 that they, too, were engaged in a righteous struggle 535 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,160 - a jihad. 536 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:44,280 One Muslim who fought in the Crusades, and who fell in battle, 537 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,880 was buried with these words inscribed on his tomb. 538 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:49,720 He was described as 539 00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:52,920 "A sword of those who fight the holy war, 540 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:55,920 "Leader of the armies of the Muslims, 541 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:01,320 "Vanquisher of the infidels and the polytheists." 542 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,400 On other tombs, men are described as martyrs, 543 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,760 they've gained immortality 544 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:10,000 and enduring pleasure in the afterlife. 545 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:14,640 Ironically, Christian writers refer to Muslims 546 00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:17,320 as "mere worshippers of Mars." 547 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,000 Both sides claimed the other were pagans, 548 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,040 and that they were doing God's will. 549 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,880 It wouldn't be until the 15th century that the legitimisation 550 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:31,320 of war under a sacred banner was really challenged. 551 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:35,800 The Dutch philosopher, Erasmus, was particularly vocal. 552 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:38,840 Erasmus didn't believe that any war could be justified 553 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:43,000 simply because you kidded yourself that you had God on your side. 554 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:44,960 As he rather neatly puts it, 555 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:48,040 "Who does not think his own cause just? 556 00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:51,640 "Who can lack a pretext for going to war?" 557 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:56,480 And to buttress his anti-war rhetoric, he refers directly back 558 00:37:56,480 --> 00:38:01,000 to the Greeks and to Homer, who he draws inspiration from. 559 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,240 Homer coins a new word to describe the god of war, 560 00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:08,240 "Allo pros allos" - on one side and then the other. 561 00:38:08,240 --> 00:38:11,240 And he applies it to Mars because he is two-faced, 562 00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:14,160 he favours one side and then the other. 563 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:18,480 There is no allegiance with Mars, he simply cannot be relied on. 564 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,400 As Erasmus says, "Alike to all is the god of war, 565 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:26,240 "And slays the slayer in turn." 566 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,080 Erasmus was writing during the Renaissance, 567 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:35,320 when artists and philosophers used classical figures to question 568 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:37,840 centuries' worth of received wisdom. 569 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:42,160 Through the figure of Mars, they asked whether warfare 570 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:46,320 was indeed an essential part of the human condition. 571 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:51,160 From Botticelli's famous painting, Mars and Venus, where the bellicose 572 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:55,120 Mars is lulled by his paramour, 573 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,160 to Veronese's Mars and Venus, 574 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:03,040 united by love, they asked whether there was any point 575 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:06,560 to any war, holy or otherwise. 576 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:16,720 I'm visiting the National Gallery in London to explore how these ideas 577 00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:18,480 played out in politics. 578 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:26,720 In 1618, Europe became embroiled in a devastating sectarian war 579 00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:29,840 between rival Catholic and Protestant states 580 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:34,920 that would last 30 years and see 8 million lose their lives. 581 00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:41,880 Attempts were made to broker peace, and, in 1629, the artist Rubens 582 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:44,760 was sent to England, not just as a painter, 583 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,600 but as a diplomatic peace envoy. 584 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:55,360 It's an amazing painting, this. 585 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:59,000 And it feels like there's all kinds of messages going on. 586 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,080 Yes, this is definitely a very, very busy painting. 587 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,880 So, in a way, I think that the heart of the composition is this figure 588 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:09,640 of peace, who we see here, feeding her son with milk. 589 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,440 But, really, the whole picture, in a way, is about the benefits 590 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:14,560 of peace and the richness that comes with that. 591 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:17,280 So, there's this lovely satyr leaning in the foreground, 592 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:19,400 offering the children this rich cornucopia, 593 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:22,680 literally overflowing with all the different kinds of fruit. 594 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:26,240 There is the most amazing, playful leopard, and the satyr 595 00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:28,600 and the leopard - they're really wild creatures. 596 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,920 You know, normally, they'd be dangerous, they'd be a threat. 597 00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:34,920 But, here, because peace is so governing everything, 598 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:36,720 they've become playful and subdued. 599 00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:39,120 So, it's a kind of real elegy 600 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:41,640 to all the benefits of peace 601 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:43,520 and how widespread those are. 602 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:45,920 And this is Mars here, who is being banished, 603 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:48,200 he's being pushed out of the painting? Yeah, absolutely. 604 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:50,600 So, the figure who we see behind peace is Minerva, 605 00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:54,920 goddess of wisdom, and she is pushing Mars away. 606 00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:56,880 So, his kind of black suit of armour there, 607 00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:00,160 he's being banished, along with these, kind of, 608 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:03,600 ethereal, strange furies that go with him, probably symbolising 609 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,000 pestilence and famine and all the horrors 610 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:07,920 that come along with warfare. 611 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:09,920 Actually, what we see in the foreground are all 612 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:14,120 the benefits of peace when Mars isn't allowed to interfere. 613 00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:17,200 It's usual for people to use classical figures in a, kind of, 614 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:18,840 allegorical way like this. 615 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:20,920 But what is particularly personal about this... 616 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:24,240 Because it kind of feels like a very passionate picture. 617 00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:26,320 It is, I think this is a very passionate, 618 00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:28,560 and very, very personal picture. 619 00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:32,080 So, this is a picture that Rubens paints when he's in London, 620 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:34,280 he's actually here, kind of, with two hats on. 621 00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:37,400 On the one hand, he is here as a diplomat, 622 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:39,720 so, he's been sent by the Spanish court to, 623 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:41,720 kind of, open peace negotiations. 624 00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:44,040 On the other, he's here working as an artist. 625 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:48,040 And this painting comes from the meeting of those joint missions, 626 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:50,880 from the diplomatic and the artistic, and he creates 627 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:53,600 this painting as a gift to the king, really, 628 00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:57,680 kind of, summing up in paint what it is he's arguing for in person. 629 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:00,440 And he has witnessed some real horrors during this war? 630 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:01,960 He has. 631 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:06,040 He is someone who has really lived with the traumas of what war brings, 632 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,160 especially in his home city of Antwerp, which really, 633 00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:10,440 really suffered during this period. 634 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:11,960 Do you think... 635 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:14,360 You know, it's easy to say that you want peace. 636 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:17,760 Do you think that he thinks it is a possibility? 637 00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:19,760 I think absolutely, and I think more even 638 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:21,400 than just a possibility. 639 00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:24,440 I think he is making the argument here that it's absolutely 640 00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:26,480 a prerogative because, although this is a painting 641 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:29,320 very much about all the classical figures and the classical allegories 642 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:31,760 that are taking place, there's also, really, at the heart 643 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:34,280 of the composition this group of lovely children 644 00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:38,240 who are so tenderly painted, so beautiful with their wide eyes. 645 00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:41,440 It's the children, of course, who are going to be damaged by war. 646 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:43,880 We know that these children are based on the children 647 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:46,360 of the person Rubens was staying with in London. 648 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:50,000 So, I think there is this, kind of, heartfelt plea to take the path 649 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:51,880 of wisdom rather than of warfare. 650 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:55,440 Genuinely felt as a work of art. Absolutely. 651 00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:03,280 When Rubens painted Mars again in his Horrors Of War 652 00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:07,280 ten years later, the buoyant optimism had faded. 653 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:11,160 Europe was still steeped in blood. 654 00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:15,400 In this painting, Mars charges forth, 655 00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:18,480 trampling books representing wisdom. 656 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:23,040 Venus tries to hold him back in vain, and his accompanying furies 657 00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:27,640 take centre stage, ravaging the cowering victims 658 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:28,720 at their feet. 659 00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:35,760 Using the ancient god as a symbol of the chaos and destruction of war 660 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:40,280 had kept Mars alive, but hadn't acted as a deterrent. 661 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:44,880 In fact, as Europe continued to look back to ancient Rome and Greece 662 00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:49,200 for inspiration, the figure of Mars was used once again, 663 00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:53,000 to promote the idea that warmongering was a route 664 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:55,240 to peace and prosperity. 665 00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:01,040 Now, this is one of the most ambitious and bellicose 666 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:04,360 empire builders of the 19th century - it's Napoleon Bonaparte. 667 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:08,240 But, here, slightly larger than he was in real life, 668 00:44:08,240 --> 00:44:11,280 and heroically naked, this is Napoleon 669 00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:14,160 depicting himself as Mars. 670 00:44:14,160 --> 00:44:17,240 But what's really interesting is that this isn't Mars, 671 00:44:17,240 --> 00:44:20,240 the chaotic, bloodthirsty god of war. 672 00:44:20,240 --> 00:44:22,960 This is Mars the peacemaker. 673 00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:28,160 And we mustn't forget that Mars had children called Panic and Fear, 674 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:31,480 but he also had a daughter named Harmony. 675 00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:34,920 And what this statue is doing is playing on that idea that conflict 676 00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:40,760 is something that allows societies not just to survive but to thrive. 677 00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:46,960 Napoleon celebrated Mars as a bringer of order, 678 00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:50,200 just as the Romans had done 2,000 years before. 679 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:54,880 He might have styled himself a latter-day Roman conqueror, 680 00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:57,360 with territories stretching across the Mediterranean 681 00:44:57,360 --> 00:44:59,840 and Middle East. 682 00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:04,000 But the gifts of this war were not peace, but churn and change. 683 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:07,960 As one ancient philosopher put it, 684 00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:11,600 "War is a catalyst, the Father and King of all. 685 00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:14,200 "Some, war has made gods. 686 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:15,840 "Some, slaves." 687 00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:22,120 Conflicts between European nations were now escalating to engulf 688 00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:26,840 the globe in the most devastating war the world had ever seen. 689 00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:29,520 I'm meeting Dr Toby Thacker 690 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:32,440 amongst London's memorials to modern conflict 691 00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:36,120 to find out how Mars and the classical world influenced 692 00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:38,040 those who fought in World War I. 693 00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:43,600 So, just that one inscription above us - 694 00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:48,200 "49,076 of the Royal Regiment of Artillery 695 00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:50,640 "gave their lives for King and country in the Great War", 696 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:52,120 that's from one regiment. 697 00:45:52,120 --> 00:45:56,480 The numbers tell their own dreadful story. 698 00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:59,160 I think when we're talking about the First World War, 699 00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:02,800 it's so important to remember that, in the minds of these men, 700 00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:04,520 this was, in some ways, a religious war. 701 00:46:04,520 --> 00:46:09,040 I mean, they do feel that they are, in some way, doing God's will. 702 00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:13,040 Very much so. The war was seen, I think, by the great majority 703 00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:17,760 of people in Britain in August 1914 as a moral crusade. 704 00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:20,520 But, for many of these men, the pagan world is still present 705 00:46:20,520 --> 00:46:22,080 in this conflict. 706 00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:24,120 I mean, Mars is referenced a lot in iconography, 707 00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:25,920 in the literature of the time. 708 00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:30,080 Asquith, the Prime Minister himself, was a great classical scholar. 709 00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:32,760 Others, we think of General Ian Hamilton, 710 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:36,080 who was in charge of the Gallipoli campaign. 711 00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:40,400 These were men for whom Mars was almost a living presence. 712 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:43,880 Everybody, even to this day, is familiar with the moustachioed 713 00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:47,680 figure of Kitchener, pointing, saying, "Your country needs you." 714 00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:50,920 Alan Muirhead described how this poster was everywhere 715 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:54,920 in Britain, this is Kitchener like the face of Mars himself. 716 00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:59,560 This is the cap badge from the Artists Rifles. 717 00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:01,840 Mars and Minerva. Yes. 718 00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:06,200 And the Artists Rifles was used as the Officer Training Corps. 719 00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:10,240 And, as the war developed, literally thousands of young men 720 00:47:10,240 --> 00:47:15,880 were trained in the Artists Rifles, and went on to serve in other roles 721 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:17,920 right through the British Armed Forces. 722 00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:21,440 These were young men who had been to public school, 723 00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:24,080 were steeped in the classical tradition. 724 00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:28,160 Their whole frame of reference for understanding public affairs, 725 00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:30,280 politics, government, and, of course, the business 726 00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:33,000 of warfare, was classical. 727 00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:37,000 So, these are fighters who have believed in the heroic 728 00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:39,000 ideal of a soldier, and that's something 729 00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:41,160 which is very classical. 730 00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:44,800 You see that slipping away as the war continues. Yes. 731 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:50,280 There is an increasingly growing sense of cynicism and disillusion. 732 00:47:50,280 --> 00:47:53,520 This, of course, we're, I think, most familiar with through the work 733 00:47:53,520 --> 00:47:55,080 of some of the war poets. 734 00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:59,720 Wilfred Owen's very bitter poem, "Dulce Et Decorum Est" 735 00:47:59,720 --> 00:48:04,400 where he took to task that generation of older people, 736 00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:07,240 of teachers, of priests, of recruiting officers 737 00:48:07,240 --> 00:48:09,600 who were trying to... 738 00:48:09,600 --> 00:48:13,920 ..using classical ideals, trying to suggest that it was such 739 00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:17,360 a sweet and a good thing to die for your country. 740 00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:25,920 By 1918, after four gruelling years, it's estimated that 741 00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:29,880 37 million people had died across the globe. 742 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:35,480 As monuments to the dead were built in civic centres 743 00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:39,840 up and down the country, Mars was no longer upheld 744 00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:41,720 as a bringer of peace. 745 00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:50,880 This arch was built to commemorate the 585 men from the London 746 00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:54,240 and South Western Railway who sacrificed their lives 747 00:48:54,240 --> 00:48:56,000 in the Great War. 748 00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:59,640 Now, up at the top, you've got a triumphant figure of Britannia. 749 00:48:59,640 --> 00:49:03,000 But what's really interesting are the two sculptures underneath. 750 00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:08,240 On the left, there's the female figure of the goddess Bellona. 751 00:49:08,240 --> 00:49:09,880 Bellona was none other 752 00:49:09,880 --> 00:49:13,840 than the wife of the great war god, Mars. 753 00:49:13,840 --> 00:49:16,680 Bellona was not a creature to be messed with, 754 00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:19,480 even in the ancient world, people feared her. 755 00:49:19,480 --> 00:49:24,200 Her adorants had to slash their arms and their legs in her honour, 756 00:49:24,200 --> 00:49:27,560 and she is surrounded by these ghoulish figures. 757 00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:29,800 But what happens then is very interesting. 758 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:34,280 When you move to 1918, suddenly, the representation is of Athena. 759 00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:37,440 Athena, the goddess of wisdom and peace 760 00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:40,360 and righteous judgment and victory. 761 00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:44,200 The idea is that people have learnt from the horrors of the Great War 762 00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:47,840 that war is not necessarily a good thing. 763 00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:51,960 Mars, perhaps, has to be left behind, and, instead, 764 00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:56,400 women and men have to pursue the cause of peace and wisdom. 765 00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:04,400 But, just two decades later, those hopes would be dashed. 766 00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:20,160 Between 1939 and 1945, it's thought that up to 85 million 767 00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:23,040 were the casualties of war. 768 00:50:23,040 --> 00:50:26,560 Over 200,000 dying when the atomic bombs fell. 769 00:50:28,920 --> 00:50:32,160 If World War I hadn't been able to kill off Mars, 770 00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:35,800 surely the scale and horrors of World War II would? 771 00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:41,080 Anti-war polemics were increasingly produced. 772 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:47,920 This was published in 1945, just three months after 773 00:50:47,920 --> 00:50:49,840 Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 774 00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:54,240 And it's entitled The Eternal Art, Being A Speech Made By Mars 775 00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:56,560 In His Own Defence As God Of War. 776 00:50:57,800 --> 00:51:01,640 "I consider this to be a propitious moment to talk to you frankly. 777 00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:04,960 "Because it seems to me the time has come at last to dispense 778 00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:07,200 "with my services forever. 779 00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:11,320 "Your feverish, scientific progress is making my work increasingly 780 00:51:11,320 --> 00:51:13,280 "strenuous in my old age. 781 00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:15,000 "I want to retire. 782 00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:18,640 "There isn't even any vestige of sport left in what I do. 783 00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:21,240 "You yourselves, through the atom bomb, 784 00:51:21,240 --> 00:51:24,760 "have provided me with the means to destroy the world 785 00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:27,000 "without a fight. 786 00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:32,480 "For your own sakes, I sincerely hope that this is my swansong." 787 00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:40,680 The threat of nuclear Armageddon gripped the world's imagination 788 00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:42,280 with fear and dread. 789 00:51:43,400 --> 00:51:47,920 Mars would get a new outing, no longer an object of worship, 790 00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:50,160 but of terror. 791 00:51:50,160 --> 00:51:53,400 These are just two posters from a whole plethora of films 792 00:51:53,400 --> 00:51:55,760 that came out in the '50s and '60s, 793 00:51:55,760 --> 00:51:59,960 and that absolutely packed out movie theatres. 794 00:51:59,960 --> 00:52:02,560 Now, on the face of it, the theme is just a common one, 795 00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:07,000 it's all about the Red Planet and the threat from Mars. 796 00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:10,400 But what's really interesting that this isn't just sci-fi, 797 00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:14,960 blockbuster fantasy - there's a really serious, political undertone. 798 00:52:14,960 --> 00:52:18,120 For the threat from the Red Planet - read "the red scare" - 799 00:52:18,120 --> 00:52:22,240 and for the Martians - belligerent, unpredictable, 800 00:52:22,240 --> 00:52:25,720 militaristic - read "the communists." 801 00:52:25,720 --> 00:52:28,920 Now, this is something that has been going on since antiquity. 802 00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:31,560 We have to create an outsider, an other. 803 00:52:31,560 --> 00:52:35,440 We have to turn us into us and them. 804 00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:46,560 From Hiroshima onwards, when weapons of mass destruction 805 00:52:46,560 --> 00:52:50,400 offer godlike powers, is there still room 806 00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:51,720 for a god in war? 807 00:52:55,120 --> 00:52:59,200 I've come to Sandhurst in Surrey, the British Army's chief 808 00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:03,160 officer training college, to ask what role the sacred has 809 00:53:03,160 --> 00:53:06,000 in 21st-century conflict. 810 00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:12,920 Regimented training bears some of the hallmarks of ritual 811 00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:16,480 and spectacle that the ancients would have appreciated. 812 00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:21,120 And these young women and men still parade under the gaze of Mars. 813 00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:29,160 That's Mars and Minerva up there, and young officers who pass out here 814 00:53:29,160 --> 00:53:33,200 talk about passing out under the watchful eye 815 00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:35,760 of the god of war and the goddess of wisdom. 816 00:53:41,200 --> 00:53:44,280 I'm meeting Army Chaplain Andrew Totten to ask him 817 00:53:44,280 --> 00:53:47,800 about his direct experience of war and religion 818 00:53:47,800 --> 00:53:50,000 in the British military. 819 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:52,920 You walk in here under those brilliant figures of Mars, 820 00:53:52,920 --> 00:53:55,280 the god of war, and Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, 821 00:53:55,280 --> 00:53:56,920 on the pediment. 822 00:53:56,920 --> 00:53:59,920 Do you think they actually mean something to the officers 823 00:53:59,920 --> 00:54:01,960 who train and have trained here? 824 00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:06,200 I think there is that desire to look back to your classical roots, 825 00:54:06,200 --> 00:54:10,600 to look back to Rome, to look back to Athens. 826 00:54:10,600 --> 00:54:12,920 The really interesting thing is when you get Jerusalem 827 00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:14,760 coming into it as well. 828 00:54:14,760 --> 00:54:18,040 So, those classical gods - what does it mean when you bring 829 00:54:18,040 --> 00:54:22,320 into the figure of Mars, for example, the figure of Christ, 830 00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:25,640 not an avenging God but a suffering God? 831 00:54:25,640 --> 00:54:27,800 There are classical references everywhere, 832 00:54:27,800 --> 00:54:31,720 there is a huge banner there, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori", 833 00:54:31,720 --> 00:54:35,360 "sweet and right it is to die for your fatherland." 834 00:54:35,360 --> 00:54:37,960 The men, and then the women, who have trained here, 835 00:54:37,960 --> 00:54:40,600 again, do you think that these references are something 836 00:54:40,600 --> 00:54:43,040 that they've carried with them, that they've taken with them 837 00:54:43,040 --> 00:54:45,200 onto the battlefield, or into active service? 838 00:54:45,200 --> 00:54:48,920 I think modern officer cadets are probably more shocked to see 839 00:54:48,920 --> 00:54:53,760 that quotation from Horace via Wilfred Owen's interpretation, 840 00:54:53,760 --> 00:54:55,880 obviously, of the pity of war. 841 00:54:55,880 --> 00:54:58,720 And, of course, war is a pitiable thing. 842 00:54:58,720 --> 00:55:02,840 Do you think there can be ever such a thing as a sacred war? 843 00:55:02,840 --> 00:55:04,520 No. 844 00:55:04,520 --> 00:55:06,680 War can't be sacred. 845 00:55:06,680 --> 00:55:11,480 But the foundational principles of the British law of armed conflict 846 00:55:11,480 --> 00:55:17,280 include those of humanity, of reducing suffering. 847 00:55:17,280 --> 00:55:20,600 So, it's life, not war, that is sacred. 848 00:55:20,600 --> 00:55:23,560 As a historian, I see, through recorded time, 849 00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:27,880 men who have been happy to call themselves soldiers of Mars. 850 00:55:29,040 --> 00:55:34,600 Is this a tradition that you can imagine continuing into the future? 851 00:55:34,600 --> 00:55:38,000 If you see that as the warrior tradition, 852 00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:39,880 yes, that is alive. 853 00:55:39,880 --> 00:55:42,160 You'll find warriors in every regiment, 854 00:55:42,160 --> 00:55:46,920 certainly, every combat regiment of the British Army. 855 00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:50,440 Some people say that there is a similar intensity 856 00:55:50,440 --> 00:55:54,080 to being in active service, to fighting on the battlefield, 857 00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:57,560 and a religious experience. 858 00:55:57,560 --> 00:56:01,040 I think certainly of a particular patrol in Afghanistan, 859 00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:03,640 where the soldiers came under ambush. 860 00:56:05,040 --> 00:56:10,560 And, in the course of that, had to respond, and begin to 861 00:56:10,560 --> 00:56:13,920 fight back against the enemy. 862 00:56:13,920 --> 00:56:19,080 I have never seen soldiers happier, more professionally fulfilled, 863 00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:22,640 where there was the sense of their discipline, 864 00:56:22,640 --> 00:56:25,120 their training, their skills, all coming together. 865 00:56:25,120 --> 00:56:28,600 At the same time as trying to protect any innocent people 866 00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:31,720 who may have been in that particular battle space. 867 00:56:31,720 --> 00:56:37,360 So, there is almost that kind of rapture that can happen in combat. 868 00:56:37,360 --> 00:56:38,760 What about you? 869 00:56:38,760 --> 00:56:41,440 You're obviously a man of faith, you're also a man of war. 870 00:56:41,440 --> 00:56:46,520 How do you reconcile those two impulses in your life? 871 00:56:46,520 --> 00:56:50,560 I don't think you ever completely, emotionally, reconcile them. 872 00:56:50,560 --> 00:56:52,840 I don't think you should. 873 00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:55,240 I think you need to keep the sensitivity 874 00:56:55,240 --> 00:56:57,720 to all those ambiguities within it. 875 00:56:57,720 --> 00:57:00,240 Horrible things happen in war, 876 00:57:00,240 --> 00:57:03,840 the most ghastly things happen in that respect. 877 00:57:03,840 --> 00:57:06,760 And that's where it leaves that sense of lasting ambiguity - 878 00:57:06,760 --> 00:57:10,520 you know that you're doing something that needs to be done 879 00:57:10,520 --> 00:57:12,680 but it may still, in its own essence, 880 00:57:12,680 --> 00:57:14,560 be something that is evil. 881 00:57:16,200 --> 00:57:19,160 As I've been exploring the many incarnations of Mars 882 00:57:19,160 --> 00:57:23,920 throughout history, what's become clear is that the god of war 883 00:57:23,920 --> 00:57:28,040 isn't simply a one-dimensional harbinger of chaos and destruction. 884 00:57:30,000 --> 00:57:32,800 His raging spirit can bring rapture. 885 00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:37,840 And his military might deliver the benefits of peace, 886 00:57:37,840 --> 00:57:40,600 prosperity, and order. 887 00:57:41,760 --> 00:57:45,240 Surely, that is partly why we've sacralised war. 888 00:57:45,240 --> 00:57:47,440 Why, as the Greeks put it, 889 00:57:47,440 --> 00:57:50,760 men love the lamentable works of Ares. 890 00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:53,480 Because the uncomfortable truth is that battle 891 00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:55,320 can benefit societies. 892 00:57:56,360 --> 00:58:00,200 But, today, with annihilation possible at the push of a button, 893 00:58:00,200 --> 00:58:03,720 and with the passions of holy wars still running high, 894 00:58:03,720 --> 00:58:07,800 we have to embrace the idea that immortal Mars will have 895 00:58:07,800 --> 00:58:11,760 no domain to rule over, unless we accept that 896 00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:15,080 it is not war that is sacred, but life.