The ancient Greeks, Romans, and the knights and other warriors of the Medieval Ages saw a lot of violence and bloodshed.
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War was a typical occurrence in those days, and although we read about how wars started, how they ended, and why they were even waged in the first place, we never really got an idea of how people who experienced wars back then felt about it. Much less, how they coped with the trauma brought about by the horrific experiences of war.
We may not have firsthand accounts or anecdotes from survivors of wars in ancient times, but we can infer from other documents how those people coped.
In Medieval Europe, many turned to religion. There were many cleansing rituals and forms of penance recorded in the Ermenfrid Penitential that speak of what warriors needed to do to absolve themselves from “moral injury”. Some justified the war by considering it as a holy act to release themselves from the guilt.
Ancient Rome used gladiatorial battles to desensitize warriors by making them accustomed to violence. Moreover, as the Romans were superstitious and legalistic people, they always sought the counsel of the gods before going into war. If they did not have the favor of the gods, then they typically will not go into war.
For Ancient Greece, their way of dealing with trauma was through drama. They processed their distress and memories from battles through plays, seeing them as a form of catharsis.
(Image credit: Birmingham Museums Trust/Unsplash)
Source: neatorama