Warfare in the Ancient World: From the Bronze Age to the Fall of Rome (Praeger Series on the Ancient World)

242 Pages·2008·1.16 MB·English

by  Stefan G. Chrissanthos

Warfare in the Ancient World
Recent Titles in
the Praeger Series on the Ancient World
Daughters of Gaia: Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Bella Vivante
Sport in Ancient Times
Nigel B. Crowther
Politics and Society in Ancient Greece
Nicholas F. Jones
Imagining Men: Ideals of Masculinity in Ancient Greek Culture
Thomas Van Nortwick
WARFARE IN THE
ANCIENT WORLD
From the Bronze Age to the Fall of Rome
Stefan G. Chrissanthos
Praeger Series on the Ancient World
Bella Vivante, Series Editor
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chrissanthos, Stefan G.
Warfare in the ancient world : from the Bronze Age to the fall of Rome / Stefan G.
Chrissanthos.
p. cm. — (Praeger series on the ancient world, ISSN 1932–1406)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–275–98519–6 (alk. paper)
1. Military history, Ancient. 2. Military art and science—History. I. Title.
U29.C48 2008
355.0209'01—dc22 2008025791
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 2008 by Stefan G. Chrissanthos
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008025791
ISBN: 978–0–275–98519–6
ISSN: 1932–1406
First published in 2008
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.praeger.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my parents, who have supported me since the beginning; to my wife,
a constant source of inspiration and support; and to Korena and Nikolaos,
whose love makes everything possible.
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Contents
Series Forewordby Bella Vivante ix
Warfare Timeline xi
Introduction xxiii
1. War in the Bronze Age 1
2. War in the Iron Age 16
3. War in Archaic Age Greece, 800–500B.C.E. 24
4. The Great Wars of Classical Greece, 499–362B.C.E. 42
5. Macedonia, 359–323B.C.E. 73
6. War in the Hellenistic Age, 323–276B.C.E. 89
7. The Rise of Rome, 753–264B.C.E. 97
8. Rome’s March to Empire, 264–146B.C.E. 112
9. The Fall of the Roman Republic, 133–31B.C.E. 134
10. The Roman Empire, 31B.C.E. –180C.E. 165
11. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 180C.E .–476C.E . 174
Notes 193
Further Readings 201
Index 207
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Series Foreword
T he lives of ancient peoples may seem far removed, socially, linguistically,
and especially technologically, from the concerns of the modern world. Yet
the popularity of historical subjects on both the big and little screens—
Troy, Alexander, 300; HBO’s Rome, the many History Channel programs—
demonstrates the abiding fascination the ancient world continues to exert.
Some people are drawn to the dramatic differences between the ancient
and modern; others seek to find the origins for contemporary cultural fea-
tures or the sources to provide meaning to our modern lives. Regardless of
approach, the past holds something valuable for all of us. It is literally the
root of who we are, physically through our actual ancestors, and cultur-
ally in establishing the foundations for our current beliefs and practices in
religious, social, domestic and political arenas. The same ancients that we
study were themselves drawn to their own pasts, often asking questions
similar to the ones we pose today about our past.
The books in Praeger’s series on the Ancient World address different top-
ics from various perspectives. The ones on myth, sports, technology, warfare,
and women explore these subjects cross-culturally, both within the ancient
Mediterranean context—Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and others—
and between the ancient Mediterranean cultures and those of the Americas,
Africa and Asia. Others, including the volumes on literature, men, sexuality,
and on politics and society, examine their topic more specifically within a
Greek or Greek and Roman cultural framework.
A ll renowned scholars committed to bringing the fruits of their research
to wider audiences, each author brings a distinctive new approach to their
topic that differentiates them from the many books that exist on the ancient
world. A major strength of the first group is their multi-cultural breadth,
which is both informative in its comprehensive embrace and provides nu-
merous opportunities for comparative insights. Likewise, the books in the
second group explore their topics in dramatically new ways: the inner life of
male identity; the contributions of both women and men to the social polity;
the ancient constructions of concepts of sexuality and eroticism.