The Many Faces Of War In The Ancient World

This volume on different aspects of warfare and its political implications in the ancient world brings together the works of both established and younger scholars working on a historical period that stretches from the archaic period of Greece to the late Roman Empire. With its focus on cultural and social history, it presents an overview of several current issues concerning the “new” military history. The book contains papers that can be conveniently divided into three parts. Part I is composed of three papers primarily concerned with archaic and classical Greece, though the third covers a wide range and relates the experience of the ancient Greeks to that of soldiers in the modern world – one might even argue that the comparison works in reverse. Part II comprises five papers on warfare in the age of Alexander the Great and on its reception early in the Hellenistic period. These demonstrate that the study of Alexander as a military figure is hardly a well-worn theme, but rather in its relative infancy, whether the approach is the tried and true (and wrongly disparaged) method of Quellenforschung or that of “experiencing war,” something that has recently come into fashion. Part III offers three papers on war in the time of Imperial Rome, particularly on the fringes of the Empire. Covering a wide chronological span, Greek, Macedonian and Roman cultures and various topics, this volume shows the importance and actuality of research on the history of war and the diversity of the approaches to this task, as well as the different angles from which it can be analysed.

In the ancient Greek-speaking world, writing about the past meant balancing the reporting of facts with shaping and guiding the political interests and behaviours of the present. Ancient Historiography on War and Empire shows the ways in which the literary genre of writing history developed to guide empires through their wars. Taking key events from the Achaemenid Persian, Athenian, Macedonian and Roman ‘empires’, the 17 essays collected here analyse the way events and the accounts of those events interact. Subjects include: how Greek historians assign nearly divine honours to the Persian King; the role of the tomb cult of Cyrus the Founder in historical narratives of conquest and empire from Herodotus to the Alexander historians; warfare and financial innovation in the age of Philip II and his son, Alexander the Great; the murders of Philip II, his last and seventh wife Kleopatra, and her guardian, Attalos; Alexander the Great’s combat use of eagle symbolism and divination; Plutarch’s juxtaposition of character in the Alexander-Caesar pairing as a commentary on political legitimacy and military prowess, and Roman Imperial historians using historical examples of good and bad rule to make meaningful challenges to current Roman authority. In some cases, the balance shifts more towards the ‘literary’ and in others more towards the ‘historical’, but what all of the essays have in common is both a critical attention to the genre and context of history-writing in the ancient world and its focus on war and empire.

Combined Arms Warfare in Ancient Greece examines the timelines of military developments that led from the hoplite-based armies of the ancient Greeks to the hugely successful and multi-faceted armies of Philip II, Alexander the Great, and his Successors. It concentrates on the introduction and development of individual units and their tactical coordination and use in battle in what is termed "combined arms": the effective integration of different unit types into one cohesive battle plan and army allowing each unit to focus on its strengths without having to worry about its weaknesses. This volume traces the development, and argues for the vital importance, of the use of combined arms in Greek warfare from the Archaic period onwards, especially concerning the Macedonian hegemony, through to its developmental completion in the form of fully "integrated warfare" at the battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE. It argues crucially that warfare should never be viewed in isolation in individual states, regions, conflicts or periods but taken as a collective whole tracing the mutual influence of other cultures and the successful innovations that always result. Wrightson analyses Greek and Macedonian warfare through the lens of modern military theoretical terminology, making this study accessible to those with a general interest in military history as well as those studying this specific period.

In a moonlit graveyard somewhere in southern Italy, a soldier removes his clothes in readiness to transform himself into a wolf. He depends upon the clothes to recover his human shape, and so he magically turns them to stone, but his secret is revealed when, back in human form, he is seen to carry a wound identical to that recently dealt to a marauding wolf. In Arcadia a man named Damarchus accidentally tastes the flesh of a human sacrifice and is transformed into a wolf for nine years. At Temesa Polites is stoned to death for raping a local girl, only to return to terrorize the people of the city in the form of a demon in a wolfskin. Tales of the werewolf are by now well established as a rich sub-strand of the popular horror genre; less widely known is just how far back in time their provenance lies. These are just some of the werewolf tales that survive from the Graeco-Roman world, and this is the first book in any language to be devoted to their study. It shows how in antiquity werewolves thrived in a story-world shared by witches, ghosts, demons, and soul-flyers, and argues for the primary role of story-telling-as opposed to rites of passage-in the ancient world's general conceptualization of the werewolf. It also seeks to demonstrate how the comparison of equally intriguing medieval tales can be used to fill in gaps in our knowledge of werewolf stories in the ancient world, thereby shedding new light on the origins of the modern phenomenon. All ancient texts bearing upon the subject have been integrated into the discussion in new English translations, so that the book provides not only an accessible overview for a broad readership of all levels of familiarity with ancient languages, but also a comprehensive sourcebook for the ancient werewolf for the purposes of research and study.

This volume provides chapters on current research into ancient warfare. It is a collection with a wide-range, covering a long chronological spread, with many historical themes, including some that have recently been rather neglected. It has wide academic relevance to a number of on-going debates on themes in ancient warfare. Each topic covered is coherently presented, and offers convincing coverage of the subject area. There is a high standard of scholarship and presentation; chapters are well documented with extensive bibliographies. It is readable and successful in engaging the reader’s attention, and presents subject matter in an accessible way. The book will particularly appeal to professional historians, students and a wider audience of those interested in ancient warfare.

In Brill'Companion to Military Defeat in Ancient Mediterranean Society, Jessica H. Clark and Brian Turner compile original case studies that examine how Near Eastern, Greek, and Roman societies addressed – or failed to address – their military defeats and casualties of war.

Since 500 BC the mainland Greeks had been threatened by the Achaemenid Persian Empire. They had suffered major invasions but subsequent attempts to take the offensive had been thwarted. With Alexander the Great’s invasion the rules changed. In Macedonia a new model army had been developed, taking the traditional hoplite heavy infantry in a new evolutionary direction and similarly transforming the heavy cavalry. These developments neutralized the Persians’ own efforts to modernize their troops, tactics and equipment. Despite the inclusion of a state-of-the-art siege train, the structure of the reformed Macedonian army allowed an unprecedented operational tempo. Manousos Kambouris’ detailed analysis explains that it was Alexander’s intelligent use of these forces, that allowed him to dictate the course of the campaign. His excellent strategic and operational decision-making, based on an intimate knowledge of geography and logistics, along with well-timed movements and clever feints, allowed him to choose his battles, which he then won by tactical brilliance and guts. The author does not neglect to assess the Persian capabilities and decision making, concluding that Darius III was not as inept as often thought. Indeed, he may have been the most militarily capable King of Kings but it was his misfortune to be pitted against the genius of Alexander, the great avenger.

Provides a broad and deep exploration of ancient Greek and Macedonian warfare A Companion to Greek Warfare is an authoritative survey of all major areas in the field of Greek and Macedonian military history, covering diverse operational, economic, social, psychological, and cultural aspects of ancient warfare. Bringing together essays by both international authorities and young scholars, this edited volume exposes readers to alternative views and original interpretations in a host of old and new topics. Wide in scope, the book presents thematically organized chapters that explore the nature of Greek warfare, military training, discipline, and organization, the economics, pathology, and psychology of war, and depictions of war in Greek art and literature. Entire chapters deal with neglected topics such as espionage, propaganda, war crimes, emotional trauma, the role of women in warfare, Greeks in foreign service, and the armies and methods of the Greeks' and the Macedonians' opponents. Presenting a uniquely wide range of topics and contexts, this volume: Features contributions from ancient historians and scholars, including archaeologists, naval historians, and other specialists Offers broad chronological and geographical coverage, including the Bronze Age and early Greek wars, the Persian Wars, the campaigns of Alexander, and the wars in Sicily Edited by internationally recognized experts in early Greek prosopography, warfare, and military history; Macedonian warfare and military history; Greek law and customs; and the history of scholarship in the field of Greek warfare Part of the acclaimed Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World series, A Companion to Greek Warfare is an important resource for instructors, students, and scholars in all fields of ancient Greek history, particularly military history, and the perfect addition to the library of any general reader with interest in ancient military history.