Although there has been a tendency in modern scholarship on the Roman Empire in late antiquity (early third to early seventh century BCE) to view the period through the lens of transformation rather than violent upheaval, warfare undoubtedly became more frequent, at least compared with the first two centuries BCE, and impacted on regions of the empire long insulated from significant military conflict. The empire of late antiquity faced more significant external challenges, as well as more regular bouts of civil war. Increased use of archery, with its potential to inflict mass casualties, was a distinctive feature of battle in this period; siege warfare became more common, so that civilian populations experienced the violence of war more directly; and expansion in the size of the army placed increased pressures on recruitment and logistical support – pressures which resulted in greater use of force by the state to maintain the military establishment. Changes in the structure of the army also meant that troops were more frequently billeted on the civilian population, who thereby became more exposed to casual violence at the hands of their own troops. In these different ways, late antiquity can be considered a period of Roman history when military violence became more prevalent.

This chapter treats topics such as military recruitment, the provisioning of armies, and taxation problems. The well-known outbursts of military violence during the Mongol invasions of the 13th century or the campaigns of Timur (1370-1405) are not described again; the focus is rather on common forms of violent behaviour by the military but also the tax administration. One of the most evident forms of everyday violence was related to the billeting of troops and other military personnel in private homes, and a substantial section of the chapter is devoted to this practice. The coming of the Türkmen pastoralists to Iran in the 11th century changed the picture: whereas billeting seems to have become less important because of the different social profile of the army, other forms of violence became much more prominent. A last important source of violent behaviour are local powerholders who often practiced a kind of violent lordship.