On Thursday, I got an email from Readwise, I was raised in a mostly secular household associated loosely with the Protestant tradition, which I think is true for a lot of Americans. So it's with that cultural baggage in mind that I say: I was surprised the first time I came across mention of Greek temples being used as a basis for raids during the "Sicilian Expedition" portion of the Peloponnesian War. > The Syracusans no longer came out to oppose them at sea and on land they limited themselves to raids from the temple, Demosthenes began his assault on the counter-wall by bringing up siege engines, probably rams. The Syracusan defenders succeeded in burning these and defeating the accompanying attacks by the Athenian infantry. I'm used to the opposite situation, really: sacred spaces being used as sanctuaries, places where soldiers and police officers are reluctant to enter in pursuit of criminals and refugees. The western tradition treats churches almost as inviolate as embassies. That's one of the reasons the [Viking raids were so shocking in the Carolingian era; they targeted monastaries](https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/expeditions-and-raids/robbery-of-churches-and-monasteries/), which most armies of the time wouldn't have dared touch. As a result, the monasteries weren't particularly well defended, which made them tempting targets for raiding bands. I thought at first that this was just a difference between Ancient Greek religious beliefs and Medieval Catholic ones, but the more I dug into things, the more confused I got. Here's a quote from the very beginning of _Military Leaders and Sacred Space in Classical Greek Warfare: Temples, Sanctuaries and Conflict in Antiquity_. > deeply ingrained cultural imperatives required all Greeks to respect the inviolability of shrines, sanctuaries and temples, as well as the rich dedications these often housed. It's easy to imagine that the Syracusans during the Peloponnesian War chose to "violate" the sanctity of the temple they used as a military base because they were pushed to emergency measures by the siege, but the question I have is: what does "respecting" mean in this context? What does "inviolability" mean to the Greeks? _Were_ the Syracusans doing anything unexpected or "beyond the pale" by choosing the local temple as a base of military operations? The more I dug, the more I learned that the events of the Sicilian Expedition were not unique: > the majority of episodes [mentioned in this book] take place in enemy territory or during defensive conflicts in home territory. I haven't read this entire book yet, but it seems _fascinating_: Part II examines: "the use of sanctuaries as fortified positions, sacrifice on enemy _acropoleis_, sacred items as targets, the presence of sanctuaries beside battlefields, and sanctuaries as places of post-battle asylum."