this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
187 points (100.0% liked)

History Memes

2204 readers
1057 users here now

A place to share history memes!

Rules:

  1. No sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, assorted bigotry, etc.

  2. No fascism (including tankies/red fash), atrocity denial or apologia, etc.

  3. Tag NSFW pics as NSFW.

  4. Follow all Piefed.social rules.

  5. History referenced must be 20+ years old.

Banner courtesy of @setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world

OTHER COMMS IN THE HISTORYVERSE:

founded 10 months ago
MODERATORS
 

Context: According to historical accounts, the Byzantine Emperor Leo III tricked the Umayyad commander Maslama into burning his own army's grain supplies by promising a peaceful surrender once the food was gone. Leo then refused to surrender, leaving the Arab forces to face a devastating famine and a brutal winter that ultimately broke the siege.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] grue@lemmy.world 30 points 1 month ago (4 children)

That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. Why would "we'll capitulate once you give up your leverage" ever be entertained as a serious offer, in any context? You'd have to be an absolute moron to fall for it.

[–] Saledovil@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 month ago

US Democrats during the most recent shutdown kinda fell for it, too.

[–] leburb@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 month ago

Israel has lots of success with that strategy to this very day.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Sometimes people who are committed to their word don't understand that others are more committed to other things

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

There is some sense to it - insofar as besieging armies occasionally did destroy their own supplies in order to force their own troops to commit to a (usually costly) assault on the besieged location. Thus, "I want to convince my nobles to surrender, but they think you're just going to wait out there and that they can outlast you. They need to think you're going to storm the walls soon if we want them scared enough to entertain the idea of surrender" is a legitimate thought...

... but that's a lot of fucking faith to put in one's literal fucking enemy XD