Why Weren’t Ancient Disputes Settled by Negotiation Rather Than War?

(Based on an answer posted to Quora)

I disagree with arguments that say it is human nature to fight wars. Archeology and history show that there are long periods in human history when wars are rare. Another answer here about basic training does not explain why it takes a lot of brutal conditioning to turn a civilian into a killer. That merely illustrates that killing fellow humans is not such a natural instinct. Through most of history in most societies (there are important exceptions) the warrior class was typically a tiny minority of the population. Studies of soldiers during WWII showed that many of them never fired their weapons or fired aimlessly.

Many ancient and medieval wars were predominantly about plunder. The point was not mainly fighting, but stealing what others had. In the earliest period this mainly meant raids to capture cattle or slaves. Some portion of the slaves and cattle captured in war were typically sacrificed to the local deity, as occurs frequently in the Bible and is documented in historical records. Naturally, if you want to steal what others have, there is not much basis for negotiation.

Later, stealing land, ships, and treasure was also added to the allure of war. During medieval times, churches and monasteries, being depositories of gold, silver and jewels, like ancient temples before them, were frequent targets of war, even by “Christian” armies. Battles were often avoided in preference for plunder. Since wars were typically financed by private bankers from the medieval era on, they preferred financing armies that had a good record of plundering, since plunder yielded the means to pay back the loans, whereas losing expensive military forces in bloody battles was not good economics. Financed wars generally ended when the bankers backing one side or the other refused to renew the loans when the prospect of profitable plunder fades. Then peace must be negotiated because unpaid armies often turned into bandits or rebels.

I don’t trust the bards, poets and chroniclers who effused about the glory and honor of war. They pandered for the favor and coin of rapacious monarchs, so it was their job to put lipstick on a pig.