What Motivated Soldiers to Be the First to Climb the Siege Ladder?

Being the first on the wall in a siege often meant certain death. It involved battling through to the wall, climbing an exposed ladder or siege tower through a hail of projectiles, only to meet a superior force of defenders upon reaching the top. Nevertheless, brave men in antiquity and the Middle Ages repeatedly took on this daunting challenge. They even competed against each other for the privilege, because everyone wanted to scale the defenses and face the enemy first. In this video, we ask why the soldiers of ancient Rome were willing to face death to be the first on the wall. Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/sandrhomanhistory Paypal (thank you: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/SandRhomanhistory Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sandrhoman Some must read mlitary history books: Ambrose, S. E., Band of Brothers: E Company, 2001. https://amzn.to/438ltvZ Baime, A. J., The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman, 2017. https://amzn.to/3TcDGUj Beard, M., Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World, 2023. https://amzn.to/49L2olR Bevoor, A., Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943, 1999. https://amzn.to/4a4rqwe Beevor, A., The Second World War, 2013. https://amzn.to/3wNFITu Brennan, P+D., Gettysburg in Color, 2022. https://amzn.to/48LGldG Clausewitz, C., On War, 2010. https://amzn.to/3Vblf5 Kaushik, R., A Global History of Pre-Modern Warfare: 10,000 BCE–1500 CE, 2021. https://amzn.to/49Mtqt7 McPherson, J., Battle Cry of Freedom, The Civil War Era, 2021. https://amzn.to/3TseYAW Tsu, S., The Art of War, 2007, https://amzn.to/3TuknHA Sledge. E. B., With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, 2008. https://amzn.to/439olIK Pomerantsev, P., How to Win an Information War, 2024. https://amzn.to/3Ts0YqQ Bibliography Büttner, Anita, Untersuchungen über Ursprung und Entwicklung von Auszeichnungen im römischen Heer, in: BJ 157 (1957), pp. 127-180. Le Bohec, Yann, s. v. Auszeichungen, Militärische, in: Der Neue Pauly Online http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_dnp_e209930 [Last accessed on: 15.08.2024.]. Maxfield, Valerie A., The Military Decorations of the Roman Army, Berkeley/Los Angeles 1981. Wardle, David, s. v. Virtus, in: Der Neue Pauly Online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_dnp_e12205670 [last accessed on 19.08.24].