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One the most important points Walsh makes in the introduction is that this willingness to die with honor rather than surrender is a distinctly male quality that is extremely rare in women. It centers on the male biological role to defend their wives and children against the historic plunderers of ancient and barbaric civilizations.
His descriptions of the savagery of ancient battles is particularly grim. Many Roman soldiers died by their own hand when surrounded at Cannae by Hannibal’s mercenary army and some even buried their heads in the ground to suffocate themselves. When the Romans finally overran the Massada fortress they did not find a single living person. Jews are prohibited from committing suicide so they drew lots to decide how to kill each other. To this day the Jewish Mossad take an oath to honor the memory of this defense of Judaism.