Innholdsfortegnelse for AW XIV.5 i Ancient Warfare Magazine

From the very first issue of Ancient Warfare, we’ve always worked with themes. The initial idea was that such themes would help both the editor and the authors avoid treading the same old path time and again. Yes, I realise that sounds daft for a magazine with this name, but you get the drift. We don’t want to go over Cannae, Caesar and the Teutoburg Forest over and over again. I think that’s worked quite well, perhaps even too well (can you say ‘Gaugamela’?) To that end, I’ve always tried to keep a mental note of ‘themes to do’, and as you may know, I’ve canvassed the readers for ideas to supplement that list. ‘Zenobia’ was on that list for a long time, and even made it into the official…

The story of the Imperium Britanni-arum is hindered by inadequate sources, with reliance falling on non-contemporaries such as Eutropius, Aurelius Victor, and Orosius, who got their information from a hypothesized and unreliable source, the ‘Kai-sergeschichte’ (History of the Emperors). The ‘praise speeches’ of the Panegyrici Latini also require careful handling, and the Notitia Dignitatum can provide insight into the forces, officials, and fortifications in the region, but it does not reflect third-century realities. Numismatic evidence and archaeology instead have to step in and provide insight. Safe and quiet in Britain Britain had been isolated from the external problems faced by the Empire, with Hadrian’s Wall quiet and any south-eastern sea raids small in scale. This unperturbed, peripheral position saw Britain become an important source of material and manpower. The island…

Ever the patriotic Roman, Livy notes that the generals of Rome’s Early Republic, men such as Titus Manlius Torquatus and Lucius Papirius Cursor, would have been equal to the task of resisting a Macedonian invasion. The country would also have been aided by the wise governance of the Senate, which excelled at statecraft; Alexander could not have outthought such a body. Rome would thus have had an edge. Livy also cast aspersions on Alexander’s opponents, both Darius III of Persia and the Indians, whom Livy inappropriately and incorrectly dismissed as having been fought by Alexander’s inebriated soldiers. Livy writes that Alexander, if and when he had brought war to Italy, would have been a much different man from the one who had set out to conquer Asia. Alexander’s enormous successes…

GHOST ON THE THRONE Romm explores the history of Alexander’s empire from his death in 323 BC until 308 BC when six of his generals divided up the empire amongst themselves and ignored the two actual heirs (Alexander’s elder brother and unborn son). These were the Successors – the Diadochi. Their story is complicated with more unexpected twists and turns than even the most daring thriller. Alliances and fortunes of the various protagonists shift and change, sometimes wildly. Their story extends well beyond 308 BC but Romm brings his account to a close with the death of Alexander IV, Alexander’s son by Roxanne, and the end of Alexander the Great’s line. Romm navigates all this with ease and makes understanding the complexities seem straightforward – this is a magnificent achievement.…

The Notitia Dignitatum (Occ. 38) lists nine British ‘Saxon Shore’ sites: Portchester (Portus Adurni) in Hampshire; Pevensey Castle (Anderitum) in East Sussex; Lympne (Portus Lemanis), Dover (Dubris), Richborough (Rutupiae), and Reculver (Regulbium) in Kent; Bradwell-on-Sea (Othona) in Essex; and Burgh Castle (Gariannonum) and Brancester (Branodunum) in Norfolk. There are other British sites that were surely part of the ‘Saxon Shore’: Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, Bitterne (Clausentum) in Hampshire, Walton Castle in Suffolk, and Caister-on-Sea in Norfolk. Depots, watchtowers, and signal stations were dotted between these larger fortifications, possibly extending the ‘Saxon Shore’ north into Lincolnshire and even to Hadrian’s Wall. The ‘Saxon Shore’ in Gaul included the mouths of several rivers, such as the Scheldt, Somme, and Seine, and settlements such as Calais (Caletum), Étaples (Portus Aepatiaci),…

The Panopolis Papyri are one of our best sources for the period. In many ways, this trove of tax receipts, requisitions, and contracts are boring reading, but among other things, they list requisitions made to prepare the city for the expected arrival of the emperor in September 298 (most likely on his ‘return’ trip) and various commutations and partial payments of ‘back taxes’.…

The Army of Maximinus Thrax The Roman Soldier of the Early 3rd Century AD By Jan Eschbach ISBN: 978-3963600258 Zeughaus Verlag (2020) - ¤39.95 www.zeughausverlag.de Look at the (English) right-hand page of section XII in the Loeb edition of the biography of Maximinus Thrax in the Historia Augusta, and you find that the emperor marched “thirty or forty miles” across the Rhine into barbarian territory. Glance across to the Latin text on the left-hand page and you see “triginta vel quadraginta”. Only the very sharp eyed might notice that in the critical apparatus at the foot of the page, the manuscript had “trecenta”, three hundred. Modern editors had downgraded Maximinus’ German expedition on the grounds that the source is notoriously unreliable, numbers are often corrupt in the manuscript tradition, and…

We find references to camel cavalry in various sources. They also were useful as baggage animals, especially in areas unsuited to horses or where horses were scarce. Horses required training to abide the presence of camels so they offered other advantages too. Nabatean and Palmyrene armies used them to transport infantry who dismounted to fight. We find the use of camel corps along the desert frontier of the Roman empire; Trajan recruited a unit from Palmyra in the second century AD, and their use continued. A papyrus find (DP 12) argues that dromedary units were attached to larger units rather than serving in turmae of their own but that they were accounted for separately in administrative documents. At the same time, Rome’s enemies used camel corps as well. Here we…

With their distinctive one-piece domes and face visors, Greek Corinthian-style helmets are artefacts of great beauty. They were prized in ancient times and are still highly sought after today. A report in Agerpres describes how, following the raid carried out at the home of a 51-year-old man in Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iaşi County, Romanian police discovered a bronze Corinthian helmet. The man confessed to officers at Ion Creanga Rural Police Station that he had found it in the nearby Siret river-bed. The helmet was seized as an item of national cultural heritage. Preliminary dating suggests it was made in the sixth to fifth centuries BC. Photographs show the helmet has a V-shaped ridge across the forehead, forming a distinctive mushroom dome above. It also has engraved eyebrows. As found, the…

The Roman and Palmyran cavalry clashed on two occasions in AD 272, at the battles of Immae and Emesa. These battles determined the fates of the empires while demonstrating different approaches to the changing nature of cavalry warfare. Following Valerian’s defeat in AD 260, Palmyra was left to face the Sassanid onslaught alone. Facing an enemy with far greater resources, the Palmyrenes relied on the mobility and striking power of their cavalry as a force multiplier. The Palmyrene cavalry drew heavily on the Near Eastern and Steppe traditions of the Sassanid Persians. As such, the most important component was the heavily armoured cataphracts. They were supported by lancers and mounted archers who could be armoured or unar-moured. Very lightly-armed Bedouin-style cavalry was included too. This cavalry was a force that…

Present-day manufacturers of replica arms and armour achieve levels of quality that are way beyond anything most Roman armourers seem to have aspired to, with a few notable exceptions. Edges of helmets, for example, were roughly finished, the symmetry of neck guards carelessly ignored; and these are just the details that we can see. As most smiths will confirm, finishing can be one of the most time-consuming phases of construction. In short, most Roman military equipment was – how to put this politely? – at best shoddy, and at worst awful. Amongst those exceptions (and there are not many of them), one Roman helmet stands out. So much so that H. Russell Robinson, himself an accomplished armourer, felt moved to comment upon it in his magisterial volume The Armour of…

LEGIONS IN CRISIS: TRANSFORMATION OF THE ROMAN SOLDIER, AD 192-284 By Paul Elliot Fonthill Media Limited, 2014 ISBN: 978-1781553343 Elliot explores the changes which occurred in the legions during the third century AD and the challenges they faced in terms of funding, training and the lack of a secure centralized empire. A work which covers the legion for the height of the empire to the emergence of a ‘new’ army under Diocletian and Constantine. THE ROMAN EMPEROR AURELIAN: RESTORER OF THE WORLD By John F. White Pen & Sword Books, 2020 ISBN: 978-1473845695 In the midst of the chaos and disruption, the reign of Aurelian is remarkable. In the space of just five years, the general, later emperor Aurelian had expelled all the barbarians from with the Roman frontiers, re-united…