Why did the queen request Amalickiah to spare the city? In ancient warfare, when a new general captured a land, he could do whatever he wanted. If he felt like the people were not going to play ball (so to speak), it was very common for a captured city to be simply obliterated. They did not have effective ways to keep captives of war; there were likely no prison camps. Even the ancient societies that we think of as more enlightened, such as the Athenians and the Spartans, killed all the men when they conquered a city or island, and all the women and children were sold off into slavery. That was one of the common realities of ancient warfare.