Thus The New York Times today. “New reports document the extent of the damage to Syria’s ancient cities, temples and artifacts, which constitute one of the world’s most important historical records of long-ago civilizations,” explains the newspaper. These words bring goosebumps in a jiffy. I cannot but think of Rome, too. One look at Tacitus is enough to appreciate the missing chapters of his books. They are gone forever for the very same reason. One of the casualties of any war is ancient history. The greater the war, the greater the loss of cities, temples, and artifacts, as World War I and II testify so well. But I shudder at the very thought of World War III, for there is little likelihood that there will be much to rebuild afterwards. What took Rome several centuries will happen in a decade at most with much more severe damage. The Syrian war is but a faint forewarning of the loss yet to come. What is worse, there will be no reports documenting the extent of the damage. Ancient history, farewell!