Innholdsfortegnelse for AW XVI.5 i Ancient Warfare Magazine

PHILOPOEMEN The Arcadian general Philopoemen (c.252-182 BC) deserves to be better known. Admired by Polybius (who wrote a biography of him) and many other ancient generals, a biography of him by Plutarch survives. He was termed the ‘last great Greek' by Victor Ehrenberg. He possibly fought at the battles of Lycaeum in 227, Dyme in 226 and may have served in the army led by Antigonus III Doson in 225. He served in the cavalry at the battle of Sellasia in June 221, but dismounted to fight on foot. He then became a mercenary commander on Crete for a decade before returning to Greece in 210. Philopoemen's admiration for the Macedonian phalanx led to his reform of the Achaean army in the Macedonian manner (Pausanias 8.50.1-2) persuading them to adopt…

THEME: The Julio-Claudian army COUNTING THE EMPEROR'S LEGIONS We often read that, after the Battle of Actium, the future emperor Augustus (who was at that stage known as ‘Caesar') reduced the pool of 50 or so legions then under arms to a manageable army of 28. Of course, the circumstances of the battle had assisted Augustus in his task, for, although Plutarch claimed that Antony “had fled and left nineteen legions of undefeated soldiers” (Life of Antony 68.2). Orosius reports that he had suffered terrible losses: “of the defeated, 12,000 men are said to have been killed and 6000 injured, of whom 1000 expired during medical treatment” (Histories 6.19.12). Nor was it a matter of adopting entire units from Antony's army, for it seems that “the mass of Antony's soldiers was…

Credit for permanently fixing the names and numerals of the legions belongs mainly to Augustus. Following the civil wars of 49–31 BC, Augustus reorganized and reformed the legions as a standing army. Henceforth, legions would get a permanent number and, over time, a name. As such, Augustus created, if not a system, then certainly guidelines which codified a series of earlier practices developed during the Republic and innovations from the civil wars. Frustratingly, there is no documentation in which Augustus, or any later emperor, lays out the complete rationale behind assigning the legions their numerals and names. It is important to note that this was not a system in the modern sense, as there were seemingly numerous exceptions. Their number is legion The numbering of the legions was a tradition…

The cuneus is usually thought of as a close formation for breaking through enemy lines (Livy 7.24; Caesar, Gallic War 6.40). The literal translation of cuneus is ‘wedge' and so a sharp triangular formation might be envisaged, but it was also the term applied to a keystone. According to Vegetius, the late Roman military theorist, the cuneus formation was narrower at the front than at the rear and known in military slang as the ‘pig's head'. The counter-formation deployed against it was the forfex (forceps) (Vegetius 1.26, 3.17–19; compare Ammianus Marcellinus 17.3.9). Vegetius' description of the cuneus is interesting because his battle formation was not necessarily used like a battering ram. It allowed the missiles of as many soldiers as possible to be concentrated on a single point of the…

By Andrei Pogacias ISBN: 978-1472854537 Osprey Men-at Arms (2023) - £12.99 www.ospreypublishing.com It is good to see that the latest Menat-Arms title from Osprey (number 549) explores an ancient military topic. Firstly, let me say, my reaction to this work was ‘I want more' – in a good way. Within the limited scope of a Men-at-Arms title (48 pages, 8 colour plates – though they sneak in one more, along with a line drawing of the murus dacicus – 32 photographs, 1 map), Pogacias explores six hundred years of Getic and Dacian history. Acknowledging the lack of literary sources and the gaps in our knowledge, such as for Getic/Dacian religion, language, customs, the nature of Getic/Dacian kingship, even the numbers of men in the Getic and Dacian kingdoms, Pogacias nonetheless…

EDITORIAL - Fleshing out a theme Putting together a magazine theme is an odd balancing act. On the one hand, there are a few dozen pages to play with — enough to give your readers an introduction with some selective depth. On the other, the articles have to be able to stand on their own. A theme is not a tiny book with separate chapters. In some cases, it fits exactly in the allotted space. And sometimes, oh boy, you wish you had a bookcase. It probably comes as no surprise that in this case, I wish it was the latter. In our 'Rise of the Legion' series, we've now arrived at the early Imperial legion. This is the era where our sources switch, in a way. Though we still…

The greatest disaster to befall Augustus' legions was the destruction of three in September AD 9. The commander, Publius Quinctilius Varus, led the three legions plus auxiliaries and cavalry into an ambush beyond the Rhine led by the erstwhile Roman ally, Arminius. Although contemporary epigraphy (the tombstone of Marcus Caelius, CIL 13.8648) calls the disaster the “war of Varus”, bellum Varianum, it soon became known as the disaster of Varus. The three legions involved, XVII, XVIII, and XIX were destroyed and their standards lost. We have little information on the legions – for instance we do not know the cognomen for any of the three and their origins are unsure – all may have been raised to combat Sextus Pompey but were more widely deployed before being brought together for…

THEME: The Julio-Claudian army THE MILITARY REFORMS OF CLAUDIUS In AD 41, Claudius had no military experience. Then 50 years old, he had only served in the political system, becoming consul for AD 37. As a historian of the Carthaginians, Etruscans, and the Romans, however, he absorbed much about generalship, strategy, and tactics. These insights prepared Claudius well for his years in power. Sources Written sources for Claudius are, at best, ambivalent or, at worst, hostile. Tacitus' Annals is incomplete: Books VII to X covering the years AD 37–47 are missing. Suetonius' biographical Life of Divus Claudius is an assemblage of information, some factual, some rumour. Cassius Dio's Roman History describes events by year. All these writers were from the senatorial class, and had reasons to resent Claudius. Their accounts highlight…

SPECIAL THE STRENGTH OF THE ATHENIAN LOCHOS Our major source for information on the officers of the Athenian army is the Aristotelian Athenian Constitution written in the 320s BC. Some argue that the text was not written by Aristotle and others claim that it is genuine. Such debates do not concern us here. There is enough evidence for earlier periods in the works of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and other writers that we can corroborate the evidence of the Athenian Constitution (hereafter AC) or argue when things may have changed. The AC tells us that all Athenian military officers were elected by a show of hands (43.1). The ten generals or strategoi were elected from the whole body of citizens rather than one from each tribe as had formerly been the case…

In 230 BC, upsetting the political equilibrium of the Central States, Qin conquered Han. Three years later, Qin conquered Wei. One by one, the other states fell to Qin, until in 221 BC, Qi, Qin's last remaining rival, surrendered. For the first time in history, the Central States were united under a single empire. What enabled Qin to break the cycle of the balance of power and emerge victorious? No single factor explains the successes of Qin's conquests, but the answer lies in a combination of transformative state reforms, exploitation of military developments, and shrewd realpolitik. Qin and the Warring States Period By the third century BC, 800 years had passed since the first historical Chinese dynasty, the Shang, was conquered by the Zhou. The Zhou state ruled through the…

THE COMPLETE ROMAN LEGIONS By Nigel Pollard and Joanne Berry Thames & Hudson, 2012 ISBN: 978-0500251836 Parker's volume was once the go-to for an accessible history of the Roman legions. It's still a decent start, but very old. Pollard and Berry provide an up-to-date, well-illustrated and accessible account of the history of the legions in English. Ritterling and Le Bohec's 'update' to his work form the academic background. ROMAN MILITARY EQUIPMENT FROM THE PUNIC WARS TO THE FALL OF ROME By M.C. Bishop and J.C.N. Coulston Oxbow Books, 2006 ISBN: 978-1842171592 This volume presents a picture of the range of Roman equipment available and its appearance throughout time. It also explores the status of the Roman soldier and the development, adoption, and adaptation of equipment and technology. An essential handbook…

Compared to his epic battle narratives in the Histories, or the detailed descriptions of Idistaviso in the Annals and Mons Graupius in the Agricola, Tacitus's account of the so-called battle of Watling Street – a mere 120 words of terse Latin and only 88 on the battle itself – on which the very existence of Roman Britain hinged, is disappointingly cursory. However, some detail can be teased out of the brief account. Close study of Annals 14.37 and the preceding chapters (34–36) reveal much about the defeat of Boudicca. Tacitus dates Boudicca's revolt to the consulship of Caesennius Paetus and Petronius Turpilianus (Annals 14.29), that is AD 61. Some consider this an error and believe the revolt broke out in AD 60, but the Tacitean date is followed here. It…

Ti. Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (10 BC – AD 54) came from a family of illustrious overachievers in war. He was the youngest son of Nero Claudius Drusus who had led successful campaigns in the Alps (15 BC) and into Germania as far as the river Elbe (12–9 BC), earning the acclamation Imperator (‘commander') and an ovation. His elder brother, Germanicus (assuming his father's posthumous war title) first saw action in Illyricum with his uncle Tiberius (AD 6–9), then put down a mutiny (AD 14), and led operations in Germania (AD 15–16). He was a descendant of M. Claudius Marcellus, victor of the Battle of Clastidium (222 BC) – only the second man to win the spolia opima (‘rich spoils'). Earning his place of honour among his ancestors drove Claudius…

Paradoxically we have more information on the Spartan breakdown of units in their phalanx than for the Athenian. I say paradoxically because Athenian writers (Thucydides and Xenophon especially) wrote these breakdowns, perhaps because the Athenian system was familiar to their readers and the Spartan system differed markedly. In contemporary fifth and fourth century BC Spartan armies the lochos were also used and they too must have been of different strengths. It was also a larger division in Spartan armies with smaller divisions below it. At the battle of Mantinea in 418 BC we are given precise numbers of 512 men for each Spartan lochos (Thucydides 5.68.3 – 32 men in each enomotia, four enomotia in a pentekostyes of 128 men, four pentekostyes per lochos). Later, in the fourth century BC,…

The mobilization of armies of tens of thousands of troops was supported by the spread of iron production, which meant that more infantry weapons could be produced more cheaply. The dagger-axe (ge) had long been a weapon of choice for infantry, but it could now be produced en masse with iron blades, alongside lances (mao) and halberds (ji). The development of the crossbow made chariots vulnerable, and while it required strength and training as also easy to mass produce, and highly widespread, as did, and a whole hnologies and unusual h as carriagemounted mehanically linked crossbows. Cavalry also became increasingly important during the period, but it was never a central component of armies. The fourth-century BC strategist Sun Bin noted their use in reconnaissance, skirmish, and raiding roles. However, King…

REVIEWS By Ian Worthington ISBN: 978-0197520055 Oxford University Press, 2023 - £22.99 www.global.oup.com The end of the kingdom of Macedonia is usually told from the perspective of Rome's expansion, which relies upon the testimony of Polybius. The Macedonians, the Achaean League, and the other Greeks are merely characters in Rome's story. However, Polybius' representation of this period has long been considered unreliable, with his pro-Achaean and pro-Roman biases feeding his presentation of events and historical actors, particularly the Macedonian kings. Yet, despite this nuanced understanding of Polybius' Histories, modern histories of the period have failed to seriously reconsider the Macedonians' role. This is where Worthington comes in. According to the author, this book is “a history and a reassessment of the last three kings of ancient Macedonia” whose reigns “are…