Ancient Warfare: A Very Short Introduction

By Harry Sidebottom

Book Overview

Greek and Roman warfare was unlike that of any other culture before or since. The key difference is often held to be that the Greeks and Romans practiced a "Western Way of War," in which the aim is an open, decisive battle--won by courage instilled, in part, by discipline. Here, Harry Sidebottom looks at how this Western Way of War was constructed and maintained by the Greeks and Romans and why this concept is so prevalent today.

All aspects of ancient warfare are thoroughly examined--from philosophy and strategy to the technical skills needed to fight. Sidebottom examines war in the wider context, showing how wars were able to shape classical society, and how an individual's identity was sometimes constructed by war, as in the case of 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 any understanding of ancient war is an ongoing process of interpretation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B019SEXJGA
• ISBN13: 9780192804709
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.4" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Interesting Essay

This is not a conventional military history. Readers interested in detailed accounts of military techniques, major campaigns, and battles will be disappointed. Sidebottom provides a broad discussion of the role of war in Classical Greece and Rome, how war was conceived by the Greeks and Romans, the experience of war, and even some historiography. Sidebottom draws also on a broad variety of sources, including the traditional literary sources, epigraphy, and artistic depictions of warfare. Well written and illustrated, this is a good introduction to warfare as a part of classical history as opposed to the classical world as part of military history. There is an excellent bibliography. As a prior reviewer comments, Sidebottom does deal with the concept of the "Western Way of War" though more with how the Greeks and Romans thought of their way of making war than Victor Hansen Davis' theory. There is some appropriate criticism of Hansen Davis' ideas though readers interested in a thorough critique of Hansen Davis' theory should read John Lynn's very good book Battle.

Ancient Warfare

'Very Short Introduction' is a very good name for this series. This book looks at 'ancient' (almost entirely Classical and especially Roman) warfare from a number of points of view, including the roles of gender, religion, and the individual in war. I bought this book shortly after I first took an interest in ancient military history about two years ago, and it suited its purpose as an introduction very well.

A "new history" of Ancient Warfare

First, let me say up front, this is a very good overview of the context of Ancient Warfare, but it falls more into the realm of the "new military" history vice the traditional descriptions of battles, tactics, or weapons. In fact of the book's seven chapters only two are related to warfare: Chapter Five is on strategy and Six on "Fighting." There is nothing wrong with this; in fact I believe it is the book's strength. If I were just beginning research into ancient warfare I would want to begin with this book before moving on to more focused studies. Given the limitations placed on the subject by the concept of the "Very Short Introduction" series, Sidebottom does a good job of presenting important factors in society that impacted war and in summarizing some of the current arguments in the field, such as whether or not "strategy" existed in the ancient period or the concept of a western way of war. The book's strength is its discussions on the idea of a western way of war, and its weaknesses are its focus on Rome and Greece, with peripheral discussions of their enemies, and a disjointed chapter on strategy.