Sacking was a very common practice during wartime campaigns, and is even celebrated, such as depicted by the Arch of Trajan, which shows the victory over the Dacia. During the Visigoths sacking of Rome, the building that was once revered as one of the most beautiful in the city, the Basilica di Aemilia, was burned down. Fleers of the building dropped gold coins on the ground which are still melted into the floor.

Pillaging could bring great distraught to an empire at war. The effective destruction of the empire's outlaying economy could bring it to its knees, as seen by the Romans against the Mongol invaders of the 13th century.

As society, and even warfare, progressed into later historical eras, pillaging and looting became less of a practice, and more of a side effect; as conquering lands became easier without <link="tech:Partisans">partisan</link> resistance that would crop up sooner with the deflowering of their lands.