Download or read book Ancient Greek Fortifications 500 300 BC written by Nic Fields and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2006-01-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The development of the city-state in the Classical period of Greek history ensured a shift in the nature of fortifications in the region. No longer were fortresses designed to defend a ruler and his entourage, rather the whole of the citizen body had to be protected against any outside threats. The enceintes of these Greek city-states did not have to be very high or strong as city-state conflict was still decided by spear and shield, though some thought was still given to the science of fortification. This book details the construction and ongoing development of the defences that protected some of the most illustrious sites in Greece during the most famous period of her history.
Download or read book Greek Fortifications of Asia Minor 500 130 BC written by Konstantin Nossov and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-06-20 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sandwiched between the heart of ancient Greece and the lands of Persia, the Greek cities of Western Anatolia were the spark that ignited some of the most iconic conflicts of the ancient world. Fought over repeatedly in the 5th century BC, their conquest by the Persians provided a casus belli for Alexander the Great to cross the Hellespont in 334 BC and launch the battle of Granicus and the sieges of Miletus and Halicarnassus. A blend of Greek and Asian styles of military architecture, these fortified cities were revolutionary in their multi-linear construction – successive defensive walls – with loopholes and mural arches. Konstantin Nossov illustrates the evolution of Greek fortifications and the influences of the region they bordered in this fascinating study.
Download or read book The Fortifications of Arkadian City States in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods written by Matthew P. Maher and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This illustrated study comprises a comprehensive and detailed account of the historical development of Greek military architecture and defensive planning, specifically in Arkadia in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Employing data gathered from the published literature, and collected during the field reconnaissance of every site, the fortification circuit of each Arkadian polis is explored. In this way, the book provides an accurate chronology for the walls in question; an understanding of the relationship between the fortifications and the local topography; a detailed inventory of all the fortified poleis of Arkadia; a regional synthesis based on this inventory; and the probable historical reasons behind the patterns observed through the regional synthesis. Maher argues that there is no evidence for fortified poleis in Arkadia during the Archaic period. However, when the poleis were eventually fortified in the Classical period, the fact that most appeared in the early fourth century BC, strategically distributed in limited geographic areas, suggests that the larger defensive concerns of the Arkadian League were a factor. Although the defensive responses to innovations in siege warfare and offensive artillery of the Arkadian fortifications follow the same general developments observable in the circuits found throughout the Greek world, there does exist a number of interesting and noteworthy, regionally specific, patterns. Such discoveries validate the methodology employed and clearly demonstrate the value of an exclusively regional focus for shedding light on a number of architectural, topographical, and historic issues.
Download or read book The Forty Sieges of Constantinople written by John D. Grainger and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2022-07-28 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The great city of Byzantion/Constantinople/Istanbul stands on a commanding cape overlooking a busy waterway. It has been the target of repeated attempts to capture it for the past two and a half millennia. Most of these attacks failed, but some did so in spectacular fashion, such as the great Arab sieges. The inhabitants fought hard in almost every siege, with the result that when the city was captured it was also destroyed, or at least suffered a hideous sack. Almost every nation between the Atlantic and the Steppes of Asia have made attempts to capture the city, some repeatedly but only a few - a Roman emperor, the Crusaders, the Turks - have succeeded. And there is no sign that some have given up the hope of taking it - the last sieges were just before and then during the Great War, by the Bulgars, and then by the Allies, who got no closer than Gallipoli, but the city had to submit to enemy occupation when the empire it ruled collapsed. It is still surrounded by envious neighbours, who wish to control it. The city has been besieged forty times, and has been captured on three or four occasions; it cannot be said to be safe yet. It is still 'The City of the World's Desire'.
Download or read book A Companion to Science Technology and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome 2 Volume Set written by Georgia L. Irby and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-12-05 with total page 1111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Companion to Science, Technology, and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome brings a fresh perspective to the study of these disciplines in the ancient world, with 60 chapters examining these topics from a variety of critical and technical perspectives. Brings a fresh perspective to the study of science, technology, and medicine in the ancient world, with 60 chapters examining these topics from a variety of critical and technical perspectives Begins coverage in 600 BCE and includes sections on the later Roman Empire and beyond, featuring discussion of the transmission and reception of these ideas into the Renaissance Investigates key disciplines, concepts, and movements in ancient science, technology, and medicine within the historical, cultural, and philosophical contexts of Greek and Roman society Organizes its content in two halves: the first focuses on mathematical and natural sciences; the second focuses on cultural applications and interdisciplinary themes 2 Volumes
Download or read book The Fortifications of Pompeii and Ancient Italy written by Ivo Van der Graaff and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-09-03 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fortifications of Pompeii stand as the ancient city’s largest, oldest, and best preserved public monument. Over its 700-year history, Pompeii invested significant amounts of money, resources, and labor into (re)building, maintaining, and upgrading the walls. Each intervention on the fortifications marked a pivotal event of social and political change, signaling dramatic shifts in Pompeii’s urban, social, and architectural framework. Although the defenses had a clear military role, their design, construction materials, and aesthetics reflect the political, social, and urban development of the city. Their fate was intertwined with that of Pompeii. This study redefines Pompeii’s fortifications as a central monument that physically and symbolically shaped the city. It considers the internal and external forces that morphed their appearance and traces how the fortifications served to foster a sense of community. The city wall emerges as a dynamic, ideologically freighted monument that was fundamental to the image and identity of Pompeii. The book is a unique narrative of the social and urban development of the city from foundation to the eruption of Vesuvius, through the lens of the public building most critical to its independence and survival.
Download or read book Brill s Companion to Sieges in the Ancient Mediterranean written by Jeremy Armstrong and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-11-26 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brill’s Companion to Sieges in the Ancient Mediterranean is a wide-ranging exploration of sieges and siege warfare as practiced and experienced by the cultures which lived around the ancient Mediterranean basin. From Pharaonic Egypt to Renaissance Italy, and from the Neo-Assyrian Empire to Hellenistic Greece and Roman Gaul, case studies by leading experts probe areas of both synergy and divergence within this distinctive form of warfare amongst the cultures in this broadly shared environment. Winner of the 2020 Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award
Download or read book Fighting Techniques of the Ancient World 3000 B C to 500 A D written by Simon Anglim and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2003 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Provides a detailed, highly-illustrated guide to warfare in the classical ancient world"--Jacket.
Download or read book The power of walls Fortifications in ancient Northeastern Africa written by Friederike Jesse and published by University of Cologne. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Historical texts on the Roman military camp 300 BC AD 500 written by Víctor Lluís Pérez Garcia and published by Edicions Excalibur. This book was released on 2019-09-09 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The secrets of the Roman field fortifications unveiled. A comprehensible introduction with all the existing ancient texts translated into English. This book presents a compilation of four fragments written by different authors who lived in Roman times: Hyginus (1st–2nd century AD), Polybius (2nd century BC), Vegetius (4th century AD) and Flavius Josephus (1st century AD). Besides the modern English translation, it also provides two didactical synthesis on the topic: a brief summary of the Greco-Roman authors and works that inform us about ancient military science, and a concise introductory study on the Roman military camp based on historical and archaeological sources. The author, Dr. Víctor Lluís Pérez Garcia, is a history teacher, archaeology researcher and orientalist, expert in poliorcetics and polemology. ● Genre: military history, Roman archaeology, classical literature ● Illustrations: high-resolution plans and maps (black and white) ● Publisher: Edicions Excalibur (Tarragona, 2019) ● ISBN: 978-84-17793-04-3 (kindle) ● ISBN: 978-84-17793-05-0 (paperback) ● ISBN: 978-84-17793-06-7 (pdf) ● ISBN: 978-84-17793-07-4 (epub)
Download or read book New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity 11A written by James R. Harrison and published by SBL Press. This book was released on 2024-10-04 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume of the New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity series introduces scholars and students to the historical, political, civic, religious, cultural, and social context of Ephesian inscriptional evidence. Each of the twenty-five entries in this volume includes one or more original inscriptions, English translation, and a commentary that sheds light on early Christianity, particularly as it relates to Ephesians, Acts, Revelation, and the Pastoral Epistles. Contributors Bradley J. Bitner, James R. Harrison, Phillip Ort, and Isaac T. Soon examine topics such as the gods and the founder of Ephesus, the political and economic relationship between Ephesus and Rome, Ephesian elites and the dynamics of honor, building activity, local sites, and graffiti.
Download or read book Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors written by Brent L. Sterling and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2009-10-30 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A number of nations, conspicuously Israel and the United States, have been increasingly attracted to the use of strategic barriers to promote national defense. In Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?, defense analyst Brent Sterling examines the historical use of strategic defenses such as walls or fortifications to evaluate their effectiveness and consider their implications for modern security. Sterling studies six famous defenses spanning 2,500 years, representing both democratic and authoritarian regimes: the Long Walls of Athens, Hadrian’s Wall in Roman Britain, the Ming Great Wall of China, Louis XIV’s Pré Carré, France’s Maginot Line, and Israel’s Bar Lev Line. Although many of these barriers were effective in the short term, they also affected the states that created them in terms of cost, strategic outlook, military readiness, and relations with neighbors. Sterling assesses how modern barriers against ground and air threats could influence threat perceptions, alter the military balance, and influence the builder’s subsequent policy choices. Advocates and critics of strategic defenses often bolster their arguments by selectively distorting history. Sterling emphasizes the need for an impartial examination of what past experience can teach us. His study yields nuanced lessons about strategic barriers and international security and yields findings that are relevant for security scholars and compelling to general readers.
Download or read book The Spartan Way written by Nic Fields and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2013-02-28 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “One of the best books about the ancient world I’ve ever read. . . . lively and informative.” —Toy Solder & Model Figure For a period of some 200 years, Sparta was acknowledged throughout the Greek world as the home of the finest soldiers—Xenophon called them “the only true craftsmen in matters of war.” In this book, Nic Fields explains the reasons for this superiority, how their reputation for invincibility was earned (and deliberately manipulated), and how it was ultimately shattered. The Spartan Way examines how Spartan society, through its rigid laws and brutal educational system, was thoroughly militarized and devoted to producing warriors suited to the intense demands of hoplite warfare—professional killers inculcated with the values of unwavering obedience and a willingness to fight and die for their city. The role of Spartan women, as mothers and wives, in shaping the warrior ethic is considered, as are the role of uniform and rigorous training in enhancing the small-unit cohesion within the phalanx and the psychological intimidation of the enemy. The final chapters chart the course of Sparta’s successes through the period of the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, through the Corinthian and Theban wars of the fourth century BC, which culminated with the shattering military defeats at Leuctra and 2nd Mantinea, and the years of her decline with the Spartans as a source of mercenaries for the wars of other states. Includes maps
Download or read book Hellenistic Karia written by Collectif and published by Ausonius Éditions. This book was released on 2019-01-22 with total page 604 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conference on which the present volume is based took place in Oxford in the summer of 2006. It brought together linguists, archaologists, epigraphists, numismatists and historians and allowed them to exchange ideas about a period of major transition in Karian history: the fourth century and the two centuries after Alexander. This was first a period of great starapal visibility and presence, but then alsol of intense civic engagement and increased political awareness among Karian communities. The symbiotic relationship between the islands of the Dodekanese, in particular Rhodes and Kos, and the coastal regions of Karia forms another major theme. Finally, a number of papers pick up on a major recent trend in the study of Anatolian culture, namely the investigation of cross-cultural Greeak-Anatolian interactions in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages and their echoes in later periods.
Download or read book A Naval History of the Peloponnesian War written by Marc G. de Santis and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2017-04-30 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Naval power played a vital role in the Peloponnesian War. The conflict pitted Athens against a powerful coalition including the preeminent land power of the day, Sparta. Only Athens superior fleet, her wooden walls, by protecting her vital supply routes allowed her to survive. It also allowed the strategic freedom of movement to strike back where she chose, most famously at Sphacteria, where a Spartan force was cut off and forced to surrender.Athens initial tactical superiority was demonstrated at the Battle of Chalcis, where her ships literally ran rings round the opposition but this gap closed as her enemies adapted. The great amphibious expedition to Sicily was a watershed, a strategic blunder compounded by tactical errors which brought defeat and irreplaceable losses. Although Athens continued to win victories at sea, at Arginusae for example, her naval strength had been severely weakened while the Spartans built up their fleets with Persian subsidies. It was another naval defeat, at Aegispotomi (405 BC) that finally sealed Athens fate. Marc De Santis narrates these stirring events while analyzing the technical, tactical and strategic aspects of the war at sea.
Download or read book Fortified Military Camps in Attica written by James R. McCredie and published by ASCSA. This book was released on 1966 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an examination of the information available about a number of fortified sites in Attica with a focus on 1960 excavations at the site of Koroni on the east coast of the Attic peninsula near Porto Raphti. The corpus of all known sites includes original site maps and plans, as well as much previously unpublished information collected during topographic investigations by the author. Many of the sites surveyed were established around 325-250 B.C. in the uncertain times following Alexander the Great's death, especially during the Chremonidean War when Ptolemaic forces were active in the region. The author traces their later history, extending his description of military encampments around Athens up to the present day.
Download or read book The Guarded Age written by David J. Betz and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2023-10-25 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 came to symbolize the dawn of a new era of openness and connectivity. Yet today, the world is ever more divided, demarcated, and – quite literally – fortified. We are living in a guarded age. Why and how has this happened? Where will it take us? In this book, David J. Betz explores the expansion of fortified physical infrastructure at every level of the global political economy. In cities, where security is increasingly ‘designed in’ to public buildings and spaces as they are reshaped to mitigate mass terror attacks. Within corporations, who are burying their electronic assets in deep underground caverns and behind the leaded walls of ex-nuclear war bunkers against a range of threats and feared contingencies. In many urban areas, where the default condition of civil life is to be walled, gated, watched, and guarded. Year after year, hundreds of miles of linear obstacles – walls, ditches, and watchtowers – are added to national borders. Practically everywhere you look there are signs of innovative fortification, often designed to be overlooked. The Guarded Age reveals the barriers which most have observed but few – until reading this book – have truly seen.
