I've probably said this before but ... I'll go over it again to justify this neat drawing of a medieval siege engine. it seems to me a key point in the political/military history of Europe in particular in the last several centuries that the whole issue of civilizing war by de-civilian-izing it. The whole issue of who are the permissible victims of combat has turned around. In medieval times, the idea that attacking civilians was a bad thing would have seemed very odd. Attacking civilians was pretty much the key tactic of every army. Surrounding cities and starving them out was standard practice. Indeed, in the high middle ages in Europe, attacking the other side’s army was something to be avoided if possible. You wanted to sneak around their army to get at their civilians. After all, their army was made up largely of noblemen, knights, who were worth a damned sight more than peasants and city rabble. Only very slowly has the philosophy of war moved in the direction ...