Download or read book Our Ancient Wars written by Victor Caston and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2016-02-05 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many famous texts from classical antiquity—by historians like Thucydides, tragedians like Sophocles and Euripides, the comic poet Aristophanes, the philosopher Plato, and, above all, Homer—present powerful and profound accounts of wartime experience, both on and off the battlefield. These texts also provide useful ways of thinking about the complexities and consequences of wars throughout history, and the concept of war broadly construed, providing vital new perspectives on conflict in our own era. Our Ancient Wars features essays by top scholars from across academic disciplines—classicists and historians, philosophers and political theorists, literary scholars, some with firsthand experience of war and some without—engaging with classical texts to understand how differently they were read in other times and places. Contributors articulate difficult but necessary questions about contemporary conceptions of war and conflict. Contributors include Victor Caston, Page duBois, Susanne Gödde, Peter Meineck, Sara Monoson, David Potter, Kurt Raaflaub, Arlene Saxonhouse, Seth Schein, Nancy Sherman, Hans van Wees, Silke-Maria Weineck, and Paul Woodruff.
Download or read book War and Society in the Greek World written by Dr John Rich and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-10-12 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The role of warfare is central to our understanding of the ancient Greek world. In this book and the companion work, War and Society in the Roman World, the wider social context of war is explored. This volume examines its impact on Greek society from Homeric times to the age of Alexander and his successors and discusses the significance of the causes and profits of war, the links between war, piracy and slavery, and trade, and the ideology of warfare in literature and sculpture.
Download or read book Ancient Warfare A Very Short Introduction written by Harry Sidebottom and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2004-11-25 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Greek and Roman warfare differed from other cultures and was unlike any other forms of warfare before and after. The key difference is often held to be that the Greeks and Romans practised a 'Western Way of War', where the aim is an open, decisive battle, won by courage instilled in part by discipline. Harry Sidebottom looks at how and why this 'Western Way of War' was constructed and maintained by the Greeks and Romans, why this concept is so popular and prevalent today, and at whether or not this is an accurate interpretation. All aspects of ancient warfare are thoroughly examined - from philosophy and strategy to the technical skills needed to fight. He looks at war in the wider context - how wars could shape classical society, and how the individual's identity could be constructed by war, for example the Christian soldier fighting in God's name. He also explores the ways in which ancient society thought about conflict: Can a war be just? Why was siege warfare particularly bloody? What role did divine intervention play in the outcome of a battle? Taking fascinating examples from the Iliad, Tacitus, and the Persian Wars, Sidebottom uses arresting anecdotes and striking visual images to show that the any understanding of ancient war is an ongoing process of interpretation. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Download or read book How Wars Are Won written by Bevin Alexander and published by Forum Books. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even as we head into twenty-first-century warfare, thirteen time-tested rules for waging war remain relevant. Both timely and timeless, How Wars Are Won illuminates the thirteen essential rules for success on the battlefield that have evolved from ancient times until the present day. Acclaimed military historian Bevin Alexander’s incisive and vivid analyses of famous battles throughout the ages show how the greatest commanders—from Alexander the Great to Douglas MacArthur—have applied these rules. For example: • Feign retreat: Pretend defeat, fake a retreat, then ambush the enemy while being pursued. Used to devastating effect by the North Vietnamese against U.S. forces during the Vietnam War. • Strike at enemy weakness: Avoid the enemy’s strength entirely by refusing to fight pitched battles, a method that has run alongside conventional war from the earliest days of human conflict. Brilliantly applied by Mao Zedong to defeat the Chinese Nationalists. • Defend, then attack: Gain possession of a superior weapon or tactical system, induce the enemy to launch a fruitless attack, then go on the offensive. Employed repeatedly against the Goths by the Eastern Roman general Belisarius to reclaim vast stretches of the Roman Empire. The lessons of history revealed in these pages can be used to shape the strategies needed to win the conflicts of today.
Download or read book Ancient Chinese Warfare written by Ralph D. Sawyer and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of China is a history of warfare. Rarely in its 3,000-year existence has the country not been beset by war, rebellion, or raids. Warfare was a primary source of innovation, social evolution, and material progress in the Legendary Era, Hsia dynasty, and Shang dynasty--indeed, war was the force that formed the first cohesive Chinese empire, setting China on a trajectory of state building and aggressive activity that continues to this day. In Ancient Chinese Warfare, a preeminent expert on Chinese military history uses recently recovered documents and archaeological findings to construct a comprehensive guide to the developing technologies, strategies, and logistics of ancient Chinese militarism. The result is a definitive look at the tools and methods that won wars and shaped culture in ancient China.
Download or read book Soldiers and Ghosts written by J. E. Lendon and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sparta, Macedonia, and Rome--how did these nations come to dominate the ancient world? Lendon shows readers that the most successful armies were those that made the most effective use of cultural tradition.
Download or read book Warfare in the Ancient World written by Brian Todd Carey and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2006-01-19 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Wars of the Ancient Greeks Smithsonian History of Warfare written by Victor Davis Hanson and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2006-12-12 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This brilliant account covers a millennium of Greek warfare. With specially commissioned battle maps and vivid illustrations, Victor Davis Hanson takes the reader into the heart of Greek warfare, classical beliefs, and heroic battles. This colorful portrait of ancient Greek culture explains why their approach to fighting was so ruthless and so successful. Development of the Greek city-state and the rivalries of Athens and Sparta. Rise of Alexander the Great and the Hellenization of the Western world. Famous thinkers—Sophocles, Socrates, Demosthenes—who each faced his opponent in battle, armed with spear and shield. Unsurpassed military theories that still influence the structure of armies and the military today.
Download or read book Warfare in the Ancient World written by Sir John Hackett and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Ancient Siege Warfare written by Paul Bentley Kern and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines how siege warfare was able to unleash unrestrained violence. It shows how the methods of siege warfare devalued the skills of traditional warriors, along with the shared values of honor and prowess that limited the violence of traditional field battles.
Download or read book Battles of Ancient China written by Chris Peers and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-10-09 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the field of military history as in so many others, the Chinese have often been both admired and seen as something utterly mysterious and inscrutable. Chris Peers illuminates the evolution of the military art in China with reference to ten battles, spanning more than 2,000 years, from the Battle of Mu in 1027BC to the Fall of Chung Tu in 1215 AD. Selected both for their historical importance and for the light which they shed on weapons and tactics, the author uses these examples to discuss the many myths still current in the West about ancient Chinese warfare: for example that the Chinese were an unwarlike people, always preferring subterfuge over the use of force; or that they were essentially defensive minded, relying on works such as the Great Wall. On the other hand, a recent reaction to this dismissive attitude portrays China as technologically far in advance of the West. Battles of Ancient China shows that none of these stereotypes are accurate. Comparison with contemporary Western practice is a major theme of the book which adds a new perspective not developed in the author's previous works on the subject.
Download or read book War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds written by Kurt A. Raaflaub and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This social history of war from the third millennium BCE to the 10th-century CE in the Mediterranean, the Near East and Europe (Egypt, Achamenid Persia, Greece, the Hellenistic World, the Roman Republic and Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the early Islamic World and early Medieval Europe) with parallel studies of Mesoamerica (the Maya and Aztecs) and East Asia (ancient China, medieval Japan). The volume offers a broadly based, comparative examination of war and military organization in their complex interactions with social, economic and political structures, as well as cultural practices.
Download or read book Ancient Historiography on War and Empire written by Timothy Howe and published by Oxbow Books. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book War as Spectacle written by Anastasia Bakogianni and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-10-22 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: War as Spectacle examines the display of armed conflict in classical antiquity and its impact in the modern world. The contributors address the following questions: how and why was war conceptualized as a spectacle in our surviving ancient Greek and Latin sources? How has this view of war been adapted in post-classical contexts and to what purpose? This collection of essays engages with the motif of war as spectacle through a variety of theoretical and methodological pathways and frameworks. They include the investigation of the portrayal of armed conflict in ancient Greek and Latin Literature, History and Material Culture, as well as the reception of these ancient narratives and models in later periods in a variety of media. The collection also investigates how classical models contribute to contemporary debates about modern wars, including the interrogation of propaganda and news coverage. Embracing an interdisciplinary approach to the study of ancient warfare and its impact, the volume looks at a variety of angles and perspectives, including visual display and its exploitation for political capital, the function of internal and external audiences, ideology and propaganda and the commentary on war made possible by modern media. The reception of the theme in other cultures and eras demonstrates its continued relevance and the way antiquity is used to justify as well as to critique later conflicts.
Download or read book Combat Trauma and the Ancient Greeks written by P. Meineck and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-09-11 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ground-breaking book applies trauma studies to the drama and literature of the ancient Greeks. Diverse essays explore how the Greeks responded to war and if what we now term "combat trauma," "post-traumatic stress," or "combat stress injury" can be discerned in ancient Greek culture.
Download or read book On War written by Carl von Clausewitz and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Fighting Techniques of the Ancient World 3000 B C to 500 A D written by Simon Anglim and published by . This book was released on 2013-02-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Publisher: This essential guide to ancient warfare describes the fighting methods of soldiers in Europe and the Middle East in an age before gunpowder. From a detailed examination of the individual components of an ancient army and their equipment, to a fascinating exploration of ancient battle strategies, siege warfare, and naval battles, it explores the unique tactics required to win battles with the technology available. Using specially commissioned color and black-and-white artwork and 24 full-color tactical maps, this book shows in great detail the methods by which armies, including Assyrians and Roman forces, prevailed over their foes, and why other armies were less successful. This is a must-read for any reader interested in ancient warfare.
