DOCSLIB.ORG

Religious Scruples in Ancient Warfare Author(S): M

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Religious Scruples in Ancient Warfare Author(s): M. D. Goodman and A. J. Holladay Source: The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 36, No. 1 (1986), pp. 151-171 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/638951 Accessed: 06/09/2010 13:12 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Cambridge University Press and The Classical Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Classical Quarterly. http://www.jstor.org Classical Quarterly 36 (i) 151-171 (1986) Printed in Great Britain 151 RELIGIOUS SCRUPLES IN ANCIENT WARFARE M. I. Finley in his Politics in the Ancient World(Cambridge, 1983), 92-6 has recently cast doubt on the extent to which religious phenomena were taken seriously in ancient times. We believe that in stressing the reasons for scepticism he has overlooked much positive evidence for the impact of religious scruples on political behaviour and that in generalising he has undervalued the differences in this respect between ancient societies. The significance of some of this positive evidence is admittedly uncertain since in civilian life scruples might be easy to observe without great suffering.1The acid test is in time of war, so that is the concern of our present enquiry. That attitudes varied can be shown only by comparing societies. We have here limited our discussion to three for which the evidence is well preserved: the world of the Greek city before Alexander the Great, Rome before Constantine, and the Jews in the Hellenistic and Roman period.2 Elucidation of the reasons for their distinct attitudes would reveal much about each of these societies and its religious practices and conceptions, but there will be space here only to show that considerable variety did indeed exist. Most ancient peoples assumed that their gods approved of war; the pacifism of some pre-Constantinian Christians was exceptional. Nor did such rules in combat as were observed necessarily have a religious foundation. Ancient like modern scruples were often based on moral and humanitarian grounds, as in the treatment of corpses and civilians; the gods, as the guardians of general morality, might be involved in such matters, but only at a remove. Even more apparently blatant religious phenomena such as omens and auspices were probably seen not as reflexions of divine wishes but as part of the natural world, of which note should be taken, as with signs of the I In civilianlife, the seriousnesswith whichfeasts were observed varied. Some Romansand (thoughthis is not explicitlyattested) possibly some Greeks were appalled at the lazinessof Jews for havinga weeklyrest (cf. Seneca,De Superstitione,ap. August.De Civ.Dei 6.11; Tac. Hist. 5.4),but Macrobius(Sat. 1.16.9)none the less statesthat Romanreligious feasts too weremeant to be observedby rest. A fine had to be paid if any Romanwas seen by a priestdoing work on a rest day. Xenophonclaims that no Athenianwould dreamof doing anythingimportant on the IHAvvnjpta(Hell. 1.4.12).Perhaps the degreeof respectpaid to such occasionswas sometimesa ratherpersonal matter, as withChristian days likeGood Fridayin WesternEurope today.Xenophon was a notablypious man and had an axe to grindin stressingthe importance of the HAvvTr(pLa.Alcibiades and his friendsobviously thought that it would not do him any harmto returnon thatday and, as it turnedout, theywere right. The passions of theHermokopid affairwere not reawakenedon thisoccasion, any morethan in 412/11, althoughthe Eumolpidae and Kerykesraised objections at first(Thuc. 7.53.2). H. W. Parke,Festivals of the Athenians(London, 1977),190, estimates the normalAthenian attitude at a rather low level. Macrobiushints at a Roman means of avoiding private inconveniencewhen he notes that accordingto Scaevolawork was permittedwhenever it was necessaryto avoidloss (Sat. 1.16.11):public dies nefasti were by contrastcarefully observed by the cessationof officialpublic business. Although Jewish attitudes towards labour performed on the Sabbathwere altogetherstricter, they too variedconsiderably, as is easily seen from a comparisonof the rabbiniclaws preservedin the Mishnah(Shabbat 7.2, and passim)with the sectariancustoms of the Essenes(cf. Jos. B.J. 2.147). 2 Comparablescruples undoubtedly manifested themselves in otherreligions and societies. For example,the HittiteKing MursilusII returnedto his capitalin the middleof a war to celebrate thepurulliyas festival (0. R. Gurney,The Hittites (Harmondsworth, 1953) 152). But the Greeks, Romansand Jewsprovide by far the richestmaterial. The sectionon Greeceis primarilythe workof A.J.H.,that on Romeand the Jewsof M.D.G. 152 A. J. HOLLADAY AND M. D. GOODMAN weather: but prayers to the gods to send better omens showed a belief that gods could alter nature within the limits of Fate, although in the meantime it was foolish rather than impious to ignore the signs. In contrast, portents are often ascribed to intervention by a particular deity and were probably obeyed for more specifically religious reasons. The desire to have the gods on your side in warfare was doubtless always in some sense a military tactic. Victory was more likely if the favour of a particular deity could be ensured either as a result of past connexions, cult and history or through sacrifices and prayers, the avoidance of hubristic activities and the observance of taboos. Some exceptionally pious people may have performed their religious duties in war as in peace from pure motives of love and respect for the deities involved, but the average human being probably did so for fear of the consequences if he did not. It is however significant that ancient writers themselves thought they could distinguish between religious and secular reasons for doing things, since otherwise the use of ~LKatoo6v'q and EdX/ELta as separate terms would have been meaningless. Plato's Euthyphro shows that the concept of piety was not entirely clear, but Euthyphro's last definition, that holiness is the part of the right which has to do with pleasing the divinity (12e: - TErrEplr-q'v 1rV OECv BOEpaTEdav),was reckonedby Plato not inaccurate(if insufficient),and we shall adopt it here. Of course in many cases it is impossible to tell whether the religious reasons given in the sources for particular actions were invented to explain decisions already taken on other grounds. We have tried to isolate those occasions when the action or inaction which actually occurred is said to have been dictated by the will of the gods, as revealed by omens, portents or oracles, even though the participants must have been well aware at the time that military disaster was a probable result of such piety. We have checked in each case that no other, non-religious reason can be plausibly surmised for the behaviour attested. We have paid most attention to the stories of divine interference which were least likely to have been fabricated after the event, making use of the fact that all three societies here examined believed that the gods desired a cessation of military activity on fixed holy and prescribed days. Observance of such taboo days even when this was tactically detrimental would seem to be a sure sign that religious scruples were taken seriously. I. SPARTA AND THE GREEKS The holy days and festivals of the Greeks might be celebrated by individual cities, by ethnic groups (e.g. Dorians or lonians), or by all Greeks. Some truces were merely designed to avert war in order that the Games or festivals could be celebrated, whereas other feasts prohibited all kinds of activity as an essential part of the feast itself (as with the Jewish Sabbath). The situation of the Greeks however differed greatly from that of the Jews, whose holy days recurred weekly and could not usually be breached without very severe social and religious consequences. For the Greeks the festival only occurred annually, biennially or quadrennially, and for a breach of the peace there was often a prescribed monetary penalty, payment of which, combined with suitable professions of penitence, could settle the matter (cf. Thuc. 5.49). There was also no need to observe the festivals wherever you were. The aim was to be there on the spot and if this was impossible they were ignored.3 The celebration was a public not a private affair. 3 W. K. Pritchett, The Greek State at War (California, 1979), iii. 185, notes that he can only find two instances of any attempt to organise celebration in the field - and of these one is unclear RELIGIOUS SCRUPLES IN ANCIENT WARFARE 153 On the other hand there were many Greek festivals and the period entailed by some of them (LEpovqtLaL)was quite lengthy. For example, although the contests in the Olympic Games only lasted five days, a considerably longer period of time was needed to enable competitors and spectators to travel safely to and from Olympia.4 The heavy ecclesiastical calendar in the summer months might seem to provide a serious obstacle to military activity for any pious state, but in fact it was not a very serious problem in early times, when the nature of Greek warfare was restricted and almost gentlemanly.
Recommended publications
  • Female Property Ownership and Status in Classical and Hellenistic Sparta

    Female Property Ownership and Status in Classical and Hellenistic Sparta

    Female Property Ownership and Status in Classical and Hellenistic Sparta Stephen Hodkinson University of Manchester 1. Introduction The image of the liberated Spartiate woman, exempt from (at least some of) the social and behavioral controls which circumscribed the lives of her counterparts in other Greek poleis, has excited or horrified the imagination of commentators both ancient and modern.1 This image of liberation has sometimes carried with it the idea that women in Sparta exercised an unaccustomed influence over both domestic and political affairs.2 The source of that influence is ascribed by certain ancient writers, such as Euripides (Andromache 147-53, 211) and Aristotle (Politics 1269b12-1270a34), to female control over significant amounts of property. The male-centered perspectives of ancient writers, along with the well-known phenomenon of the “Spartan mirage” (the compound of distorted reality and sheer imaginative fiction regarding the character of Spartan society which is reflected in our overwhelmingly non-Spartan sources) mean that we must treat ancient images of women with caution. Nevertheless, ancient perceptions of their position as significant holders of property have been affirmed in recent modern studies.3 The issue at the heart of my paper is to what extent female property-holding really did translate into enhanced status and influence. In Sections 2-4 of this paper I shall approach this question from three main angles. What was the status of female possession of property, and what power did women have directly to manage and make use of their property? What impact did actual or potential ownership of property by Spartiate women have upon their status and influence? And what role did female property-ownership and status, as a collective phenomenon, play within the crisis of Spartiate society? First, however, in view of the inter-disciplinary audience of this volume, it is necessary to a give a brief outline of the historical context of my discussion.
  • Ancient Sparta Was a Warrior Society in Ancient Greece That Reached

    Ancient Sparta Was a Warrior Society in Ancient Greece That Reached

    Ancient Sparta was a warrior society in ancient Greece that reached the height of its power after defeating rival city-state Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.). Spartan culture was centered on loyalty to the state and military service. At age 7, Spartan boys entered a rigorous state-sponsored education, military training and socialization program. Known as the Agoge, the system emphasized duty, discipline and endurance. Although Spartan women were not active in the military, they were educated and enjoyed more status and freedom than other Greek women. Because Spartan men were professional soldiers, all manual labor was done by a slave class, the Helots. Despite their military prowess, the Spartans’ dominance was short-lived: In 371 B.C., they were defeated by Thebes at the Battle of Leuctra, and their empire went into a long period of decline. SPARTAN SOCIETY Sparta was an ancient Greek city-state located primarily in the present-day region of southern Greece called Laconia. The population of Sparta consisted of three main groups: the Spartans who were full citizens; the Helots, or serfs/slaves; and the Perioeci, who were neither slaves nor citizens. The Perioeci, whose name means “dwellers-around,” worked as craftsmen and traders, and built weapons for the Spartans. 3 Layers of ‘Social Stratification’ ← Top Tier: Spartan Male Warriors and Spartan Women ← Middle Tier: Non Warriors, not full citizens, considered to be outside of true Spartan society. These were artisans and merchants who made weapons and did business with the Spartans. (Perioeci) ← Helots or slaves. These were people who were conquered by the Spartans.
  • The Herodotos Project (OSU-Ugent): Studies in Ancient Ethnography

    The Herodotos Project (OSU-Ugent): Studies in Ancient Ethnography

    Faculty of Literature and Philosophy Julie Boeten The Herodotos Project (OSU-UGent): Studies in Ancient Ethnography Barbarians in Strabo’s ‘Geography’ (Abii-Ionians) With a case-study: the Cappadocians Master thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Linguistics and Literature, Greek and Latin. 2015 Promotor: Prof. Dr. Mark Janse UGent Department of Greek Linguistics Co-Promotores: Prof. Brian Joseph Ohio State University Dr. Christopher Brown Ohio State University ACKNOWLEDGMENT In this acknowledgment I would like to thank everybody who has in some way been a part of this master thesis. First and foremost I want to thank my promotor Prof. Janse for giving me the opportunity to write my thesis in the context of the Herodotos Project, and for giving me suggestions and answering my questions. I am also grateful to Prof. Joseph and Dr. Brown, who have given Anke and me the chance to be a part of the Herodotos Project and who have consented into being our co- promotores. On a whole other level I wish to express my thanks to my parents, without whom I would not have been able to study at all. They have also supported me throughout the writing process and have read parts of the draft. Finally, I would also like to thank Kenneth, for being there for me and for correcting some passages of the thesis. Julie Boeten NEDERLANDSE SAMENVATTING Deze scriptie is geschreven in het kader van het Herodotos Project, een onderneming van de Ohio State University in samenwerking met UGent. De doelstelling van het project is het aanleggen van een databank met alle volkeren die gekend waren in de oudheid.
  • Theopompus's Philippica

    Theopompus's Philippica

    chapter five Theopompus’s Philippica heopompus of Chios (FGrHist 115) was widely renowned in antiq- T uity for the severity with which he condemned the moral faults of the characters peopling his Philippica. Few indeed escaped the scathing vigor of his pen. Despite his family’s exile from Chios, Theopompus seems to have had the necessary funds to carry out thorough research (TT 20 and 28,FF25, 26 and 181) and did not have to work for a living, but was able to devote himself wholly to his writing.1 Because he was in no need of either patronage or an income, he had the freedom to write whatever he pleased without risk of losing his livelihood by causing offense. It is per- haps for this reason that he was known in antiquity as “a lover of the truth” (φιλαληθης )(T28). We must now determine whether or not this epithet was justified in Theopompus’s use of the past in the Philippica. In addition to his numerous epideictic speeches, Theopompus wrote three known historical works: an epitome of Herodotus, a Hellenica, and a Philippica.2 It is likely the epitome of Herodotus was Theopompus’s earliest 1. A recent discussion of the (very vague and contradictory) evidence for Theopompus’s life can be found in Michael Attyah Flower, Theopompus of Chios: History and Rhetoric in the Fourth Century BC (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994), 11–25. 2. Suda, s.v. Θε π µπ ς ι ς ρ ητωρ (ϭ T 1). 143 144 lessons from the past historical work,3 but all that remains of it is an entry in the Suda stating it contained two books (T 1) and four attributed fragments from ancient lexica giving it as the authority for the use of specific words (FF 1–4), although the possibility exists that some other, unattributed fragments may belong to it also.
  • Download The

    Download The

    THE CONCEPT OF SACRED WAR IN ANCIENT GREECE By FRANCES ANNE SKOCZYLAS B.A., McGill University, 1985 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Classics) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA August 1987 ® Frances Anne Skoczylas, 1987 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of CLASSICS The University of British Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 Date AUtt-UST 5r 1Q87 ii ABSTRACT This thesis will trace the origin and development of the term "Sacred War" in the corpus of extant Greek literature. This term has been commonly applied by modern scholars to four wars which took place in ancient Greece between- the sixth and fourth centuries B. C. The modern use of "the attribute "Sacred War" to refer to these four wars in particular raises two questions. First, did the ancient historians give all four of these wars the title "Sacred War?" And second, what justified the use of this title only for certain conflicts? In order to resolve the first of these questions, it is necessary to examine in what terms the ancient historians referred to these wars.
  • Ancient History Sourcebook: 11Th Brittanica: Sparta SPARTA an Ancient City in Greece, the Capital of Laconia and the Most Powerful State of the Peloponnese

    Ancient History Sourcebook: 11Th Brittanica: Sparta SPARTA an Ancient City in Greece, the Capital of Laconia and the Most Powerful State of the Peloponnese

    Ancient History Sourcebook: 11th Brittanica: Sparta SPARTA AN ancient city in Greece, the capital of Laconia and the most powerful state of the Peloponnese. The city lay at the northern end of the central Laconian plain, on the right bank of the river Eurotas, a little south of the point where it is joined by its largest tributary, the Oenus (mount Kelefina). The site is admirably fitted by nature to guard the only routes by which an army can penetrate Laconia from the land side, the Oenus and Eurotas valleys leading from Arcadia, its northern neighbour, and the Langada Pass over Mt Taygetus connecting Laconia and Messenia. At the same time its distance from the sea-Sparta is 27 m. from its seaport, Gythium, made it invulnerable to a maritime attack. I.-HISTORY Prehistoric Period.-Tradition relates that Sparta was founded by Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete, who called the city after the name of his wife, the daughter of Eurotas. But Amyclae and Therapne (Therapnae) seem to have been in early times of greater importance than Sparta, the former a Minyan foundation a few miles to the south of Sparta, the latter probably the Achaean capital of Laconia and the seat of Menelaus, Agamemnon's younger brother. Eighty years after the Trojan War, according to the traditional chronology, the Dorian migration took place. A band of Dorians united with a body of Aetolians to cross the Corinthian Gulf and invade the Peloponnese from the northwest. The Aetolians settled in Elis, the Dorians pushed up to the headwaters of the Alpheus, where they divided into two forces, one of which under Cresphontes invaded and later subdued Messenia, while the other, led by Aristodemus or, according to another version, by his twin sons Eurysthenes and Procles, made its way down the Eurotas were new settlements were formed and gained Sparta, which became the Dorian capital of Laconia.
  • Downloaded from Brill.Com09/27/2021 12:23:27PM Via Free Access 12 Chapter One

    Downloaded from Brill.Com09/27/2021 12:23:27PM Via Free Access 12 Chapter One

    CHAPTER ONE CONSTITUENT CONCEPTS 1. Space Since they were conceptualized as human beings, Roman gods had a place in this world, in which they moved freely. This conclusion is unavoidable, if we consider that all Roman gods could be invoked, and that invocation implied spatial proximity to the invocator.1 Apart from this, at least the major gods were conceptualized as connected to speci c locations, normally marked as such by an altar, a temple, or in some other way. These locations I will call ‘spatial foci’. They are mostly represented by archaeological remains. However, by relying on archaeology, we unduly overemphasize the spatiality of major of cial divine concepts, which were more likely than private cults to be per- manently conceptualized by speci cally marked space. The sacred landscape of Rome was complex, time-bound and noto- riously anachronistic. It was complex because its parameters were not absolute and necessarily recognizable as such. Rather, it was intrinsi- cally relative and existent only within the full semiotic system of the topography of the city. Furthermore, it was time-bound, because the city itself developed rapidly, especially during the peak of urbanization from ca. 200 B.C.–200 A.D. It was notoriously anachronistic because the semiotic system underlying it was highly conservative and did not keep pace with the actual urban development (for instance, the pomerium was still remembered, when it had long become obsolete in the imperial period in terms of urban development; and the festival of the Septimontium was still celebrated separately by the communities that had long since merged into the city of Rome).
  • The Phocian Betrayal at Thermopylae

    The Phocian Betrayal at Thermopylae

    historia 68, 2019/4, 413–435 DOI 10.25162/historia-2019-0022 Jeffrey Rop The Phocian Betrayal at Thermopylae Abstract: This article makes three arguments regarding the Battle of Thermopylae. First, that the discovery of the Anopaea path was not dependent upon Ephialtes, but that the Persians were aware of it at their arrival and planned their attacks at Thermopylae, Artemisium, and against the Phocians accordingly. Second, that Herodotus’ claims that the failure of the Pho- cians was due to surprise, confusion, and incompetence are not convincing. And third, that the best explanation for the Phocian behavior is that they were from Delphi and betrayed their allies as part of a bid to restore local control over the sanctuary. Keywords: Thermopylae – Artemisium – Delphi – Phocis – Medism – Anopaea The courageous sacrifice of Leonidas and the Spartans is perhaps the central theme of Herodotus’ narrative and of many popular retellings of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. Even as modern historians are appropriately more critical of this heroizing impulse, they have tended to focus their attention on issues that might explain why Leo- nidas and his men fought to the death. These include discussion of the broader strategic and tactical importance of Thermopylae, the inter-relationship and chronology of the Greek defense of the pass and the naval campaign at Artemisium, the actual number of Greeks who served under Leonidas and whether it was sufficient to hold the position, and so on. While this article inevitably touches upon some of these same topics, its main purpose is to reconsider the decisive yet often overlooked moment of the battle: the failure of the 1,000 Phocians on the Anopaea path.
  • From Global Entertainment to Amazonian Tecnobrega: Mobility in Contemporary Entertainment Practices

    From Global Entertainment to Amazonian Tecnobrega: Mobility in Contemporary Entertainment Practices

    From Global Entertainment to Amazonian Tecnobrega: Mobility in Contemporary Entertainment Practices Marcio Bahia Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the PhD degree in Spanish Department of Modern Languages and Literatures Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Marcio Bahia, Ottawa, Canada, 2011 1 Abstract Notions such as transference, movement, transit and mobility have become fundamental to understand the mechanisms that rule the circulation, reception and production of contemporary cultural artifacts. In spite of the growing scholarship on the topic, very little attention has been given to a particular cultural arena: the realm of contemporary entertainment. By contemporary entertainment, I refer to a set of industrial products which are especially directed to urban young audiences: cartoons, comic books, computer games, blockbuster movies, theme park attractions, etc. This thesis argues that the realm of contemporary entertainment is marked by the presence of intense mobility, by movement and acceleration on at least two levels. First, movies (The Matrix, City of God, Run Lola Run, etc.), TV programs (the so- called “MTV aesthetics”), computer games (Doom or games based on blockbusters) and even cartoons for children (Spongebob, Pokémon, etc.) present frantic editing and engage the audiences’ senses through moving images in a vertiginous “bombardment” of signs – a phenomenon I will call kinesthesics. Second, the production and reception of these cultural objects take place in a highly intermedial environment: computer games become feature movies (Tom Raider, Resident Evil), comic books become feature movies (Sin City, Spiderman, etc.) feature movies become theme park attractions (Jurassic Park), theme park attractions become feature movies (Pirates of the Caribbean) and so on.
  • The Greek World

    The Greek World

    THE GREEK WORLD THE GREEK WORLD Edited by Anton Powell London and New York First published 1995 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. Disclaimer: For copyright reasons, some images in the original version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 First published in paperback 1997 Selection and editorial matter © 1995 Anton Powell, individual chapters © 1995 the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Greek World I. Powell, Anton 938 Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data The Greek world/edited by Anton Powell. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Greece—Civilization—To 146 B.C. 2. Mediterranean Region— Civilization. 3. Greece—Social conditions—To 146 B.C. I. Powell, Anton. DF78.G74 1995 938–dc20 94–41576 ISBN 0-203-04216-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-16276-5 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-06031-1 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-17042-7 (pbk) CONTENTS List of Illustrations vii Notes on Contributors viii List of Abbreviations xii Introduction 1 Anton Powell PART I: THE GREEK MAJORITY 1 Linear
  • The Crucial Development of Heavy Cavalry Under Herakleios and His Usage of Steppe Nomad Tactics Mark-Anthony Karantabias

    The Crucial Development of Heavy Cavalry Under Herakleios and His Usage of Steppe Nomad Tactics Mark-Anthony Karantabias

    The Crucial Development of Heavy Cavalry under Herakleios and His Usage of Steppe Nomad Tactics Mark-Anthony Karantabias The last war between the Eastern Romans and the Sassanids was likely the most important of Late Antiquity, exhausting both sides economically and militarily, decimating the population, and lay- ing waste the land. In Heraclius: Emperor of Byzantium, Walter Kaegi, concludes that the Romaioi1 under Herakleios (575-641) defeated the Sassanian forces with techniques from the section “Dealing with the Persians”2 in the Strategikon, a hand book for field commanders authored by the emperor Maurice (reigned 582-602). Although no direct challenge has been made to this claim, Trombley and Greatrex,3 while inclided to agree with Kaegi’s main thesis, find fault in Kaegi’s interpretation of the source material. The development of the katafraktos stands out as a determining factor in the course of the battles during Herakleios’ colossal counter-attack. Its reforms led to its superiority over its Persian counterpart, the clibonarios. Adoptions of steppe nomad equipment crystallized the Romaioi unit. Stratos4 and Bivar5 make this point, but do not expand their argument in order to explain the victory of the emperor over the Sassanian Empire. The turning point in its improvement seems to have taken 1 The Eastern Romans called themselves by this name. It is the Hellenized version of Romans, the Byzantine label attributed to the surviving East Roman Empire is artificial and is a creation of modern historians. Thus, it is more appropriate to label them by the original version or the Anglicized version of it.
  • Segnalazioni Bibliografiche (Ultimo Aggiornamento : 18 Ottobre 2013)

    Segnalazioni Bibliografiche (Ultimo Aggiornamento : 18 Ottobre 2013)

    Segnalazioni bibliografiche (ultimo aggiornamento : 18 ottobre 2013) Guy ACHARD: La communication à Rome p. 300 (22 x 14 / c. bross.) - Paris, Les Belles Lettres («Realia»), 20063 (© 1991) - ISBN 2-251-33821-7 Avant-propos ― AU COMMENCEMENT : PAROLE DIVINE, PAROLE HUMAINE: Lettre après lettre - La force du verbe - Les propos de tous les jours ― LA PAROLE AU POUVOIR: Les progrès de l’écriture - Des conditions nouvelles - Une conquête difficile - L’invincible technique - La communication orale à l’apogée de la République: les discours et les trois formes de la conversation - La communication é- crite: l’information, l’authentification, la diffusion - La communication écrite: la correspondance - La communication indirecte - Romains et étrangers - La conservation de la parole ― UNE COMMU- NICATION À L’ÉCHELLE DU MONDE: Les perfectionnements techniques - Le despotisme de l’écrit - La bataille de l’écrit - Les métamorphoses de la parole - Conversations et rumeurs - Autres modes de communication - La mémoire collective - Rome et le monde ― CONCLUSION ― Notes - Repères chronologiques - Orientation bibliographique - Index Sophia ADAM-MAGNISSALI: Dispensing Justice in Ancient Athens (5th and 4th century BC) [In Greek with English Summary ] p. XX, 274 (24 x 17 / c. bross.) - Athens, Nomiki Bibliothiki Group, 2008 - ISBN 978-960-272-552-8 INTRODUCTION: The notion of the unity of Greek law - The significance of the terms nomos (law) and thesmos (institution) - The historical evolution of justice ― JUDICIAL ORGANS: The Role of the Magistrates in the