3 - Reconstructing ancient warfare

Summary

Reconstruction of ancient warfare can be pursued in a variety of ways. There is a long tradition of close attention to particular engagements: the battle narratives of Herodotus or Caesar appear to permit analysis of what happened and why in particular engagements. This focus, once much more academically prevalent than now, has by no means lost its popular appeal, thanks in part to the historical appetite of competing television companies. Individual battles are also considered within the context of the campaign or war to which they belong, since the strategy and tactics of a successful general, an Alexander, Hannibal or Caesar, might suggest lessons to contemporary commanders. The military activities of the ancient world generated material evidence in the form of walls and specialist buildings as well as equipment. This evidence does not often contribute crucially to ‘battles and commanders’ studies, but rather invites questions about purpose and operation at both the detailed level of the particular item and the larger scale of strategic conception, structural organization or diplomatic framework. Military activities were also depicted in a variety of artistic media, from the grand monuments of public propaganda through the scenes on particular painted vases to graffiti, all of which require sensitive interpretation. There is an enduring interest in ‘what it was like for them’, which embraces physical aspects of wielding an ancient weapon or sitting on a rower’s bench, the personal experience of battle, and psychological questions of the place of warfare in the mental framework of the population.