Innholdsfortegnelse for AW XVI.4 i Ancient Warfare Magazine

EDITORIAL - First times The ancient world, and by extension, its military history, is the period we look for the fundamental firsts. First writing, first political systems, firsts in warfare. "Why, thank you captain obvious, I'd never realized" I hear you say. Fair enough, it's hardly a penetrating new insight. But with this theme, we have an important first. Thutmose III's battle of Megiddo is thought of as the first battle in history. Obviously there were earlier battles. We even have some evidence: glimpses of armies, claims of conquests, archaeological finds of weapons and fortifications, and boasts of royal feats in battle. But that's it. Come the reign of Thutmose III, and thanks to the vagaries of survival, we suddenly have a narrative record of what (one side says) happened.…

The 2023 season of archaeological digs at the Roman fort of Vindolanda in Northern England has produced yet another trove of remarkable military finds. Especially noteworthy from this summer’s cache is a rare phalera. Phalerae were military decorations made of gold, silver, bronze, or glass, awarded to a centurion for distinction in action. This exquisite silver piece depicts the head of Medusa, the monstrous creature with snakes in her hair whose gaze turns men to stone. The precious artefact was uncovered on a barrack room floor, dated to the fort’s Period 5 of occupation, under Hadrian (AD 120–138). Equally remarkable is a find from the earlier Period 3 (AD 90–105) context. This is a copper alloy pommel from a sword. The pommel is filled with lead for balance. Taking the…

EARLY GREEK WARFARE P.A.L. Greenhalgh’s Early Greek Warfare first appeared in 1973, exploring the depictions of horsemen and chariots in Homeric and Archaic Greek warfare in both literature and art. Despite the inherent problems with the source material, Greenhalgh attempts to make a cohesive thesis which explores the possibilities and developments (technical, tactical, and economic) of horsemen and chariots across the period 1100-500 BC. Thus, he explores the ‘realistic’ use of cavalry and chariots as opposed to that presented in poetry (and even art). Copiously illustrated with photos and line drawings from various museum collections, he remains a ‘first-stop’ and ‘go-to’ resource. Some arguments, however, such as those about the use of the thrusting spear from horseback and chariot bed, have been challenged and superseded, and some of his reconstructions…

The formation of Hannibal’s army at Cannae – indeed his entire battle plan and execution – has long fascinated scholars and professional soldiers. Our best sources are Livy (22.43.8–50.3) and Polybius (3.107–117). According to Livy, the battlefield allowed Hannibal “an opportunity of fighting in a place that was formed by nature for a cavalry action, in which arm he was invincible”. In Livy, his dispositions were as follows (22.46.1-3): “… sending ahead of him the Baliares and the other light-armed troops, [he] posted each corps in line of battle, in the order in which he had brought it over. The Gallic and Spanish horse were next the river, on the left wing, facing the Roman cavalry; the right wing was assigned to the Numidian horse; the centre was composed of…

Thucydides famously wrote his history of the Peloponnesian War while in exile from Athens from late 242 or early 423. He had been tasked with defending Amphipolis from the Peloponnesians, but he failed when the city was captured by the Spartan general, Brasidas, after a daring raid during a winter snowstorm in 424/3 BC. Thucydides tells us he lived twenty years after his exile, to the end of the war in 404 BC. Thanks to his term of generalship in the region, he had a unique knowledge of the site, and it is worth highlighting a few key features in his description of the battle. 1. Brasidas could oversee the movements of Cleon from a hill called Kerdylion (Thucydides 5.6.3). 2. Cleon positioned his army “upon a strong ridge in…

As recorded in the Annals inscription from Karnak, Thutmose III leads his army personally through the narrow and dangerous Aruna Road, taking the Royal standard with him. His army follows, having been persuaded to follow and trust their pharaoh that he knows the best route for their advance. The Arnua road is almost universally identified with Wãdy ‘Ârah in present day northern Israel, a 20km long valley which begins at Tell el-Asawir and along which runs Highway 65. Despite this concord, there are actually several issues with identifying the Wãdy ‘Ârah defile with the Aruna Road. It is neither narrow nor particularly dangerous. It was used without any difficulties in 1918 by the troops of General Allenby against the Ottomans. Etymologically, too, Aruna (‘3-rw-n3 or ’rn) does not match (Arab)…

SPECIAL The Second Punic War (219–201 BC), particularly Hannibal’s Italian campaign, provides some good examples of the issues the unreliability of the sources pose for modern audiences. A recent award-winning book on the American Revolution cites George Washington’s defensive strategy as being called ‘Fabian’, which the author clarifies with “Fabius Maximus was the Roman general who defeated Hannibal.” In fact, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus did not defeat his famous Carthaginian foe as this so boldly misstates. Hannibal operated in Italy from spring 218 until autumn 203, making it clear that Fabius failed to achieve a strategic victory as Roman dictator in 217. We are told that he sought to avoid disadvantageous pitched battles in favour of denying supplies to the enemy, doing so with some success. Still, the invaders entered…

Egyptian chronology is problematic, a fact that has long been recognized. For instance, we are not sure of the dates of Thutmose III – the date of the Battle of Megiddo can thus be found listed as 1482 BC, 1479 BC, 1469 BC, and 1457 BC. There are three major groups in the chronological debate around New Kingdom Egyptian history. The first is the Conventional Egyptian Chronology, which dates Thutmose III’s reign to 1479–1425 BC with the Battle of Megiddo falling in 1457, the 23rd year of Thutmose’s reign. This is also known as the Low Chronology. The High Chronology, though still within conventional dating, dates his reign to 1504–1450 BC and therefore has the Battle of Megiddo falling in 1479 BC. This date is still the most commonly reported…

ROMAN ARMY IN DETAIL The Germani corporis custodes (“German bodyguards”) flit in and out of our histories of the Julio-Claudian emperors. We catch tantalizing glimpses of them providing security for members of the imperial family, right up until the death of Nero, when they were abolished by new emperor Galba, to whom they owed no loyalty. Their names and origins are known from their gravestones, around 30 of which have been found in Rome, but questions remain about their legal status and general organization. Over a century ago, Theodor Mommsen, the preeminent scholar of Roman law, realized that these men literally belonged to the familia Caesaris (the slaves and freedmen of the emperor); although they were effectively soldiers, they were legally slaves. Several gravestones indicate that the deceased was a…

The discovery of field ovens now irrefutably supports the presence of a marching camp at Paderborn in Westfalen during the Roman army’s attempt to annex Germania. Archaeological excavations were first carried out on the site of the future educational campus of the St Johannisstift in Paderborn in September 2022 under the supervision of the Landschaftsverbandes Westfalen-Lippe (LWL). They found evidence of two large baking ovens. The ovens were a type of campfire dug into the ground, in which the heated bottom surfaces served as bread-baking stations. To build such an oven, soldiers first dug a pit in the shape of a figure-of-eight. It was between 60 cm and 80 cm deep so that the fire was well protected from the wind. During their excavations in the city, archaeologists also found…

The discovery of the most complete suit of Roman articulated, segmented plate armour (the so-called lorica segmentata) in Kalkriese, Germany in 2018 was instantly deemed a sensation by archaeologists. Dated to AD 9–16, the period of Roman operations in Germania under Augustus and Tiberius, it was also declared to be the earliest complete specimen. Conservation has now revealed new details about its construction – and its bespoke configuration. Notable about the lorica is the design of the shoulder unit, which is unlike any previously known. The shoulder unit comprises three sections: a triangular plate that is attached with a single hinge to a shoulder piece (anatomically shaped to fit over the clavicle and acromion), which is in turn attached with another single hinge to a half crescent-shaped plate. One side…

The Roman legion of the Punic Wars deployed in the famous triplex acies, the three lines of hastati, principes and triarii. These men were armed with a combination of hastae thrusting spears, and pila throwing javelins. These seem to have been of different weights (other names for javelin are sometimes used too – spiculum and iaculum). By the Punic wars only the triarii seem to have retained the hasta. Men were also armed with swords – the famous gladius Hispanensis began to be used in the third century BC (and sometimes the words gladius or ensis could be used to refer to any type of sword). On the Carthaginian side, there were the spears and swords of the Libyan troops – usually designated with the same Greek or Latin words…

Thucydides, who was on the nearby island of Thasos at the time of the initial attack on Amphipolis (424 BC), was unable to recapture the city, though he did manage to fend off a Spartan attempt to capture the Atheniancontrolled port city of Eion. The Athenians were shocked by the loss of Amphipolis and immediately sent garrisons to other allied cities to prevent further defections to the Spartans, and they exiled Thucydides for his failure to protect the city. When Thucydides came to recount Cleon’s attempt to recapture the city, his unique familiarity with the region clearly shaped his retelling of the battle: “I lived through the entirety of the war, being old enough to comprehend it and taking care so that I might know what was true: and it…

Year 22, fourth month of the second season (eighth month), on the twenty-fifth day [his majesty was in] Tharu (T’-rw) on the first victorious expedition to [extend] the boundaries of Egypt with might -. Now, (at) that period [the Asiatics had fallen into] disagreement, each man [fighting] against [his neighbor] --. Now, it happened that the tribes -- the people, who were there in the city of Sharuhen (Š’-r’h’-n); behold, from Yerazad (Y-r’-d’) to the marshes of the earth, (they) had begun to revolt against his majesty. Year 23, first (month) of the third season (ninth month), on the fourth day, the day of the feast of the king's coronation, (he arrived) at the city, the possession of the ruler: Gaza. [Year 23] first month of the third season (ninth…

Djehuty (Dhwti) was one of the commanders of Thutmose III (Dhwti-ms), named as “scribe”, “overseer of troops” (general), “overseer of the foreign lands”, and “overseer of the northern foreign lands”. Peculiarly, he is nowhere named as “commander of the host” (hry pdt), one of the most common names for military commanders in the New Kingdom. Djehuty’s relatively undisturbed tomb was found in 1824 in Saqqara, Egypt, and he is named as the main protagonist in the New Kingdom tale The Taking of Joppa, preserved on a papyrus scroll (BM 1872.1101.1; also known as EA 10060 and Papyrus Harris 500). The items from his tomb were sold to various European museums and, although without secure provenance, several bear his name and other details. He is also named in inscriptions relating to…

REVIEWS By Lisa Brody ISBN: 978-1913645403 Wadsworth Museum and Paul Holberton Publishing (2023) - $25.00 www.paulholberton.com A museum catalogue of ancient bronzes might seem an odd collection to review for Ancient Warfare, and indeed there are many pieces in this lavishly colour-illustrated catalogue that fall into the non-military category. However, the reason to include the volume here should be obvious from the front cover: the justly famous ‘draped warrior’, ca. 510–500 BC, showing a bearded hoplite wrapped in his cloak and with a transverse crest Corinthian helmet, reproduced here in six fullcolour photographs covering the figure from every angle. This sculpture is small, only 14.5cm tall – a figure which has punched well above its weight. It is probably responsible for more representations based on it (both fully and partially)…

By Simon Elliott ISBN: 978-1399090926 Pen and Sword (2023) - £20.00 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk Elliott here explores the very disparate and varied types of specialist forces across many centuries in the Roman army. Some of them may be familiar, others not so much; several have been dealt with individually in articles within the pages of this magazine. It is good to have them explored all in one place, and Elliott compiles virtually all the ancient evidence for them. Yet, despite this, the volume only stretches to 123 pages, such is the obscurity of several of the topics and types of troops he covers. Quite a few of the Roman special forces Elliott explores are, indeed, obscure and we know very little about them. Sometimes much speculation is required, and Elliott indulges in…

WAR IN ANCIENT EGYPT By Anthony J. Spalinger Blackwell, 2004 ISBN: 978-140511371 Spalinger concentrates on the period in which Egypt became a ‘world power’ and created an empire in the Levant and the Near East. Exploring the history of the period as well as technological developments and socio-political aspects of warfare, Spalinger’s is the work on Egyptian warfare that should be on every shelf. THE WARS IN SYRIA AND PALESTINE OF THUTMOSE III By Donald B. Redford Brill, 2003 ISBN: 978-9004129894 Although expensive, this is now the ‘go to’ work on Thutmose III’s wars. Including new editions and translations of ancient texts as well as historical commentary, Redford’s volume is comprehensive and adds nuance and depth to previous analyses. You cannot discuss Thutmose’s campaigns without reference to this work. THE…