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Course Description:
Most of Ancient History is military history, and much of Greek and Roman art and literature treats wars, warriors and their impact on society. This course will examine the practice of warfare in the Greek Polis, the Macedonian Kingdoms, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Themes include the technical aspects (logistics, intelligence, strategy, naval warfare and armor), but we will also examine the literary and artistic interpretations of war and the sociological and pschological aspects. No prior knowledge of military history or Greco/Roman history expected or required.Three Semester Hours. May be applied toward the Collegiate requirement in History. Fall 1999. Click here for the syllabus for Spring 1999.
Objectives:
The objectives of this course will be to:
- Understand the historical context of ancient warfare;
- Understand the role of war in ancient society;
- Understand ancient attitudes toward war and violence;
- Understand the technical aspects of armor and tactics;
- Understand the battle experience of the individual soldier;
- Understand the strategy of individual battles and wars.
Evauation:
Students will be required to write an POV essay on the face of battle (20%) make three class presentations on a battle, a general and a literary or artistic depiction of war (20% each) and contribute to a group project (10%). Class participation will be evaluated (10%). 10 point grading scale. Two unexcused absences allowed. No caps, eating, drinking or smoking in class.
Readings:
- F= Arther Ferrill, The Origins of War: From the Stone Age to Alexander the Great (Westview, 1997)
- S= Antonio Santuosso, Soldiers, Citizens and the Symbols of War: From Classical Greece to Republican Rome 500-167BC (Westview, 1997)
- W= John Warry, Warfare in the Classical World (Oklahoma, 1995)
- Hdt= Herodotus The Persian Wars
- Thuc= Thucydides The Peloponnesian War
- Sal= Sallust, The Jugurthine War
- JC= Caesar, The Gallic Wars
Internet Resources for Warfare in Antiquity
These links were compiled by students in Honors 214 in the Fall of 1999. They were Brenda Elliot, Brianne Marinucci and Suzanne Terault. Comments, corrections and additions are welcome. Please send them to Greg Daugherty.
General Sites
The Following sections are keyed to the Syllabus of the course
Battles and Campaigns studied in the course
- The Persian Wars
- Marathon
- The Persians at Thermopylae and Artemisium
- The Persians Approach Thermopylae and Artemisium
- Battle of Salamis
- The battle of Leuctra, 371 BC.
- The battle of Chaeronea, 338 BC.
- The battle of Gaugamela, 331 BC.
- Cape Ecnomus
- Ancient Europe B All wars
- The Battle of Cannae
- Great Battles of the Roman
- The Roman Art of War in Caesar's Time
- Warfare in the Ancient World This page is concerned with ancient warfare, covering the period between the Mycenean World and the Byzantine Empire. The main focus is bibliographic, though other sections cover other aspects, e.g. other resources, course syllabi, etc.. Some sections are still under construction, especially the Byzantine material.
- Caesar's Army
- Siege of Syracuse
- Romans vs. Celts
- The Punic Wars
- SPQR The Art of War in the Roman Republic, 275-197 BC
- Phalanx by GMT Games covers two of the major battles in the waning days of the Successor Wars, in which the Greek city-states and leagues and the descendants of the original Diadochoi were still fighting for Hellenic supremacy, and in which the phalanx -- the massive, heavy infantry formation brought to peak efficiency by Alexander -- was still in its heyday. The armies in these battles are very Macedonian in style, with a lot of mixing of unit types and capabilities, with the exception that, because of the terrain, reliance on cavalry is almost non-existent. The phalanx itself was still the army's anchor, although it was only a generation away from its initial comeuppance at the hands of a Roman army at Cynoscephalae
- Battle of Numidia Africa as a Roman Province
- Battle of Cannae 216 BC
- Battle of Alesia Romans v. Celts
- The Battle of Pharsalus
- Battle of Actium
- Battle of Masada
Generals studied in the course