Warfare In The Ancient World

Warfare in the Ancient World explores how civilizations and cultures made war on the battlefields of the Near East and Europe between the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia in the late fourth millenium BC and the fall of Rome. Through a exploration of twenty-six selected battles, military historian Brian Todd Carey surveys the changing tactical relationships between the four weapon systems - heavy and light infantry and hevay and light cavalry - focusing on how shock and missile combat evolved from tentative beginnings in the Bronze Age to the highly developed military organization created by the Romans. The art of warfare reached a very sophisticated level of development during this three millenia span. Commanders fully realized the tactical capabilities of shock and missile combat in large battlefield situations. Modern principles of war, like the primacy of the offensive, mass, and economy of force, were understood by pre-modern generals and applied on battlefields throughout the period. Through the use of dozens of multiphase tactical maps, this fascinating introduction to the art of war during western civilizationÕs ancient and classical periods pulls together the primary and secondary sources and creates a powerful historical narrative. The result is a synthetic work that will be essential reading for students and armchair historians alike.

Oldtidens Krigshistorie; Antikkens krigshistorie; Romerske Kejserrige; Romerske Legioner; Perserkrigene; Alexander den Store; Athen; Grækere; Krigskunst; Militærhistorie; Store Slag og Kampe; Puniske krige; Adrianople; Agesilaus; Amida; Belejringer; Antigonis Monophthalmus; Mracus Antonius; Marc Anthony; Cæsar; Assyrians; Bue og Pil; Bueskytter; Våbensystemer; Våbenhistorie; Oldtidens Våben; Babylon; Augustus; Aurelian; Militære Heste; Militært Brug af Dyr; Ashurbanipal; Armour; Forsvarsværker; Befæstninger; Tidlig Krigsførsel; Kampformer; Kampvåben; Cannae; Karthago; Makedonien; Persien; Thesaloniki; Sparta; Chariots; Kelterne; Claudius; Cohorts; Kohorder; Hæropstilling; Coronea; Etruskerne; Epaminondas; Elefanterne; Ægypten; Demosthenes; Darius; Cyrus the Great; Crassus; Sargon II; Sarissas; Salonika; Rubicon; Rom; Rhodos; Qadesh; Qarqar; Pydna; Ptolemy; Pompei; Plataea; Pila; Plutarch; Polybius; Philip V; Filip II; Phalanx; Lejesoldater; Numantia; Notitia Dignitatum; Nivevh; Nimrud; Milvian Bridge; Mesopotamien; Nebukanesar; Megiddo; Masada; Mantinea; Marius; Marcellimus; Leuctra; Jugurtha; Julian; Josephus; Jerusalem; Jeriko; Issus; Ilipa; Hysiae; Hoplities; Herodotus; Helmets; Hannibal; Hamanu; Hadrian; Granicus; Gaza; Gaugarnela; Fortifikationer; Hastati; Frankerne; Israelerne; Thucydides; Tiglath-pileser; Trajan; Trasimene; Trebbia; Tullius; Tuthmosis; Uratu; Vandalerne; Veii; Velites; Vercingetorix; Xernophon; Zama; Thebes; Takabara; Sværd; Syracuse; Spears; Spyd; Spartacus; Siege Warfare; Skjolde; Sepea; Sennacherib; Signifer; Tribunes

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.

From the clash of bronze weapons on bronze armor to the fall of Rome, war often decided the course of ancient history. This volume is a practical introduction to the study of warfare in the ancient world, beginning with Egypt and Mesopotamia, and tracing the advances made in battle tactics, technology, and government over hundreds of years, culminating with developments in Greece and the Roman Empire. The chronological structure allows the reader to trace certain general themes down through the centuries: how various civilizations waged war; who served in the various armies and why; who the generals and officers were who made the decisions in the field; what type of government controlled these armies; and from what type of society they sprang. Major events and important individuals are discussed in their historical contexts, providing a complete understanding of underlying causes, and enabling readers to follow the evolution of ancient warfare as armies and empires became steadily larger and more sophisticated. Yet as Chrissanthos makes clear, history comes full circle during this period. Rome's collapse in 476 C.E. inaugurated an unforeseen dark age in which great armies were left decimated despite advanced technology that, while proving decisive in the outcome of many critical battles and stand-offs, had vanished amidst the Empire's crumbling walls. In addition to the chronological treatment, Chrissanthos also includes sections on such important topics as chariot warfare, cavalry, naval warfare, elephants in battle, the face of battle, and such vital, but often-overlooked topics as the provisioning of the army with sufficient food and water. Eyewitness accounts are incorporated throughout each chapter, allowing the reader brief glimpses into the life and times of peasants and soldiers, generals and politicians, all of whom were dealing with war and its irreconcilable consequences from differing vantage points. Battle diagrams and maps are carefully placed throughout the text to help the reader visualize particular aspects of ancient warfare. The book also furnishes a detailed timeline and an extensive bibliography containing both modern and ancient sources.

This authoritative volume traces the evolution of the art of warfare in the Greek and Roman worlds between 1600BC and AD 800, from the rise of Mycenaean civilisation to the fall of Ravenna and the eventual decline of the Roman Empire. The book is also, of course, about the great military commanders, such as Alexander and Julius Caesar - men whose feats of generalship still provide material for discussion and admiration in the world's military academies.

Warfare in Ancient Greece assembles a wide range of source material and introduces the latest scholarship on the Greek experience of war. The author has carefully selected key texts, many of them not previously available in English, and provided them with comprehensive commentaries. For the Greek polis, warfare was a more usual state of affairs than peace. The documents assembled here recreate the social and historical framework in which ancient Greek warfare took place - over a period of more than a thousand years from the Homeric Age to Alexander the Great. Special attention is paid to the attitudes and feelings of the Greeks towards defeated people and captured cities. Complete with notes, index and bibliography, Warfare in Ancient Greece will provide students of Ancient and Military History with an unprecedented survey of relevant materials

A comprehensive survey of the evolution of military systems up to the period of the late Roman Empire, analyzing the organization, tactics, armor, and weaponry of armies, and describing important battles and campaigns

What is the source of the uniquely Western way of war, the persistent militarism that has made Europe the site of bloodshed throughout history and secured the dominance of the West over the rest of the world? The answer, Doyne Dawson persuasively argues in this groundbreaking new book, is to be found in the very bedrock of Western civilization: ancient Greece and Rome.The Origins of Western Warfare begins with an overview of primitive warfare, showing how the main motivations of prehistoric combat?revenge and honor?set the tone for Greek thinking about questions of war and morality. These ideas, especially as later developed by the Romans, ensured the emergence of a distinctive Western tradition of warfare: dynamic, aggressive, and devastatingly successful when turned against non-Western cultures.Dawson identifies key factors that led Western culture down this particular path. First, the Greeks argued that war could be justified as an instrument of human and divine justice, securing the social and cosmic order. Second, war was seen as a rational instrument of foreign policy. This, probably the most original contribution of the Greeks to military thought, was articulated as early as the fifth century b.c. Finally, Greek military thought was dominated by the principle of ?civic militarism,? in which the ideal state is based upon self-governing citizens trained and armed for war.The Roman version of civic militarism became thoroughly imperial in spirit, and in general, the Romans successfully modified these Greek ideas to serve their expansionist policies. At the end of antiquity, these traditions were passed on to medieval Europe, forming the basis for the just war doctrines of the Church. Later, in early modern Europe, they were fully revived, systematized, and given a basis in natural law?to the benefit of absolute monarchs. For centuries this neoclassical synthesis served the needs of European elites, and echoes of it are still heard in contemporary justifications for war.Providing a careful reconsideration of what the classical sources tell us about Western thinking on fundamental questions of war and peace, The Origins of Western Warfare makes a lasting contribution to our understanding of one of the most persistent and troubling aspects of Western culture.