Military History (up to c. 500)
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Archaeology of War
Studies on Weapons of Barbarian Europe in the Roman and Migration Period
From graves to settlements and from the battlefield to underwater sacrificial sites weapons dating to the Roman and Migration Period have long been found in an array of contexts throughout the region that forms modern-day Poland. This volume for the first time aims to draw together research into these finds gathered throughout the author’s career in a synthetic approach that sees discoveries of swords and other armaments analysed against a broad comparative background. The work begins with a focus on votive deposits from lakes here used as a lens for addressing questions about military strategy and war ritual more generally before moving on to explore the weapons and warriors of the Przeworsk and Wielbark Cultures as well as shedding light on the lives of the Balts. Finally an in-depth analysis is made of shields from the protohistoric period exploring the genesis and variability of the forms taken by this protective weapon. Through this approach this richly illustrated volume sheds new light not only on the typology and chronology of weaponry from the Roman and Migration Periods but also on the symbolism and functionality that these arms held.
The Cultural Parameters of the Graeco-Roman War Discourse
What were the ideas that the ancient Greeks and Romans held about warfare? What do contemporary sources tell us about this? Is it possible to trace a development in the way of thinking about war in antiquity? These are the questions that are discussed (and answered) in this study. It combines a close reading of all the sources that we have - mostly written like literary and historiographical but also non-written like art monuments and coinage. The analysis of the discourse is accompanied by and contrasted with arguments raised by today’s specialists in the field of warfare and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.
The study treats recurrent cultural themes like courage fatherland or victory within a chronological framework for discourse features cannot be isolated from the context of their time. For each specific period - Greek Hellenistic and the six parts of the long and diverse Roman time - conclusions are drawn. The remarkable developments in time that can be observed especially in Rome are brought together in the final chapter.