I’m reminded of a similar archeological controversy, that of child sacrifice in ancient Carthage. It was interesting because it demonstrated the way that the po

I’m reminded of a similar archeological controversy, that of child sacrifice in ancient Carthage. It was interesting because it demonstrated the way that the political concerns of our time shape our understanding of the ancient past. Beginning in the seventies, scholars were motivated to revise the allegations of Carthaginian child sacrifice, claiming that it was racist Roman propaganda designed to abuse the memory of an enemy power (even though the same claims can be found in Greek sources from the time of Alexander the Great). It’s not hard to detect the influence of black emancipation and the Vietnam War in these efforts. For decades, this interpretation held sway until recently, when archeologists revisited the question and found that no, in fact the Carthaginians really had been sacrificing children all along. This article informs us that Spartan eugenics inspired the Nazis, quoting a scholar who says that “It’s gotten used for some pretty nefarious ends”. One can easily see how our revulsion towards such atrocities could motivate our search for reasons to discredit the precedents that have been used to justify them.