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War, Social Power, and the State in Central Italy (C. 900 – 343

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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Online Research @ Cardiff Joshua Ryan Hall The Tyrrhenian Way of War: war, social power, and the state in Central Italy (c. 900 – 343 BC) PhD Ancient History 2016 Table of Contents Abstract........................................................................................................................1 Preface..........................................................................................................................2 Acknowledgements......................................................................................................3 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................4 1.1 Thematic Introduction............................................................................................5 1.2 Archaeological Methodologies.............................................................................11 1.3 Historical Methodologies.....................................................................................14 1.4 Mann, IEMP, and Structure..................................................................................26 2. Arms, Armour, and Tactics....................................................................................31 2.1 Arms and Armour.................................................................................................32 2.2 Tactics...................................................................................................................54 2.3 Conclusions..........................................................................................................73 3. Warfare in Tyrrhenian Italy....................................................................................75 3.1 Traditional Warfare/Early Conquest....................................................................77 3.1.1 Sieges and Conquest..........................................................................................77 3.1.2 Pitched Battles...................................................................................................88 3.2 Raiding.................................................................................................................91 3.3 The Conquest of Veii............................................................................................99 3.4 The Gallic Sack, The Etruscans, The Samnites..................................................104 3.5 Conclusions........................................................................................................108 4. Warfare and the State...........................................................................................111 4.1 Traditional Accounts..........................................................................................118 4.1.1 Magistrates and War........................................................................................119 4.1.2 Recruitment of Armies....................................................................................130 4.2 Condottieri..........................................................................................................148 4.2.1 Gentilicial/Kin Groups....................................................................................149 4.2.2 Strangers/Mercenaries.....................................................................................160 4.3 Conclusions........................................................................................................169 5. Warfare and the Economy....................................................................................171 5.1 The Economy of Central Italy............................................................................171 5.2 The Profits and Consequences of Raiding..........................................................176 5.3 Piracy in the Tyrrhenian and Beyond.................................................................180 5.4 Conclusions........................................................................................................195 6. Warfare and Religion...........................................................................................197 6.1 Priests and War...................................................................................................200 6.2 Temples..............................................................................................................207 6.3 The Gods and War..............................................................................................215 6.4 Conclusions........................................................................................................222 7. General Conclusions.............................................................................................224 Appendix 1 – Figures...............................................................................................228 Bibliography.............................................................................................................232 1 Abstract This thesis examines warfare, social power, and the state in central Italy for the period between 900 and 343 BC.1 The goal of this research is to better understand how warfare fit into the dialogue of social power in Etruria and Rome. This is achieved through the fulfilment of a number of aims. The first is to understand the patterns of warfare present in central Italy, as these can help us better understand the social aspects of conflict in the region. The project assumes that the practise of warfare is important for understanding its role in this dialogue, and thus an analysis of arms, armour, and tactics is also necessary. The second aim is to understand how warfare and politics affected one another. The condottieri paradigm is challenged and the strength of central Italian states asserted. The third aim is to explain the interaction between warfare and economic power, and the interaction between these two aspects of social power. The fourth aim is similar, and analyzes the connections that are visible between warfare and religion. Through these aims, this project creates a clearer picture of warfare in Etruria and Rome from the Iron Age to the Archaic Period. It argues that the exchange and dialogue of social power was not alienated from the state, and that independent warfare would have been of less value than it was probably worth. To this end, the Servian Constitution is re-examined and the idea of an early Roman hoplite phalanx, and single class army, is rejected. The original contribution of this work is in reasserting the position of the state in Tyrrhenian warfare and rejecting the idea that private interest was more powerful. 1 All dates BC unless otherwise noted. 2 Preface Classical texts cited are based on the Teubner editions, unless otherwise noted. Translations are all my own, except where cited. Classical author abbreviations follow the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th edition, except the following: Homeric Hymns = HH Note also: FRHist = Cornell, T. J., Bispham, E. H., Rich, J. W., Smith, C. J., Briscoe, J., Drummond, A., Levick, B. M., Northwood, S. J., Oakley, S. P., and M. P. Pobjoy (eds.) (2013) The Fragments of the Roman Historians (3 Volumes). Oxford. 3 Acknowledgements E se questa materia non è degna, per esser pur leggieri, d'un uom che voglia parer saggio e grave, scusatelo con questo, che s'ingegna con questi van pensieri fare el suo tristo tempo più suave, perch'altrove non have dove voltare el viso; ché gli è stato interciso monstrar con altre imprese altra virtue, non sendo premio alle fatiche sue. Machiavelli, Mandragola, Prologue 44-54.2 I came to love the Romans not through studying classics and ancient history at school, or even by intention, but rather through a renewed passion in my second year of university for history, specifically that of Rennaisance Italy. After discovering that a career in the hard sciences was not to my liking, I decided to exercise an old passion, developed through an unnatural attachment to the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli, particularly his two extant plays and the novella, La favola di Belfagor Arcidiavolo. After having begun my studies anew as an historian, I was guided away from the world of Florence to what I am now convinced I was meant to study, Ancient Rome. This was because of the influence and guidance of Dr. Benedict and Christy Lowe, who were the only connection to the ancient world at Western Oregon University. By the advice of Dr. Lowe I came to Cardiff to further my study and passion through a master’s degree. The completion of this degree, and my hopeful continuation to further academic life, is due in large part to Drs. Louis Rawlings and Kate Gilliver, without whose passionate guidance I doubt that I would have pursued a PhD. The completion of this thesis, and my progress in scholarly research, owes itself, one hundred percent, to the supervision and insights of Drs. Louis Rawlings and Guy Bradley, my doctoral supervisors. I owe almost as much to every other member of the faculty at Cardiff University’s School of History and Archaeology, in particular, Prof. James Whitley. The friendship that I have found in my fellow post-graduate students at Cardiff and abroad has kept me going even when I thought I could not. Foremost amongst these friends has been Robert Brown, whose passion for Byzantine history eclipses even my own for the Romans. Cezary Kucewicz, Roel Konijnendijk, and Matthew
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