The population wasn't much more "true believers", in letting religion dictate such things, than the average person today. It was just part of their culture.
The role of the elites is also over-emphasized - such "religious" wars responded to great group enmities and desires for plundering among the peoples, not just some elites manipulating them throu piousness.
In fact tons of similar wars happened in the ancient world between within Greek city states, or between Greece, Persia and other states of the time, where no religion difference was used to justify them (or could be used, as city states had the same religion).
There, in Thucydides for example, the arguments for war are written bare (control of trade routes, plundering, defending their territories, not willing to submit to another ruler, defending their way of life, etc), without needing to resort to any religious causes.
The same things are masked in the lingo of each era -- in late 18-19th centuries it was all about the "glory of the nation", in the 20th century it was all about "promoting communism" or "defending the free world", now it's all about "protecting human rights" etc.
coldtea|7 years ago
The role of the elites is also over-emphasized - such "religious" wars responded to great group enmities and desires for plundering among the peoples, not just some elites manipulating them throu piousness.
In fact tons of similar wars happened in the ancient world between within Greek city states, or between Greece, Persia and other states of the time, where no religion difference was used to justify them (or could be used, as city states had the same religion).
There, in Thucydides for example, the arguments for war are written bare (control of trade routes, plundering, defending their territories, not willing to submit to another ruler, defending their way of life, etc), without needing to resort to any religious causes.
The same things are masked in the lingo of each era -- in late 18-19th centuries it was all about the "glory of the nation", in the 20th century it was all about "promoting communism" or "defending the free world", now it's all about "protecting human rights" etc.