Innholdsfortegnelse for AW XVII.1 i Ancient Warfare Magazine

EDITORIAL — Challenges of campaigning An ancient education meant, mostly, learning about rhetoric. I would hardly call myself a wordsmith, but I appreciate the art. That kind of education, however, plays merry hell with historical narratives as authors copied compositions and narratives from examples they had been taught, not to mention the topoi, common stories, inserted for rhetorical reasons. And this also means an emphasis on Great Men and their deeds in battle. In short, you end up with some wonderful battle narratives, even if you can’t rely on them. It can also mean that the more mundane aspects of warfare are ignored. Logistics, however important, are the most obvious victim of this tendency. Other challenges one meets while on campaign in enemy lands can indeed make for riveting reading.…

Nomadic Scythians utilized leather extensively for clothing, shoes, quivers, and other objects. However, our knowledge about the specific animal species used in Scythian leather production has been limited – until now. In a new systematic study, an international team of scientists used palaeoproteomic methods to analyze the species in 45 samples of leather and two fur objects recovered from eighteen burials excavated at fourteen different Scythian sites in Southern Ukraine. Palaeoproteomics applies the analysis of sets of proteins to ancient materials, ranging from mineralized tissues (like bone and teeth) to soft tissues. They demonstrated that Scythians primarily used domesticated species such as sheep, goat, cattle, and horse for their leather, while the furs came from wild fox, squirrel, and feline species. The most surprising discovery was the presence of two…

THE WEAPON In 1920, the Danish National Museum became interested in stories that planks and spearheads had been found in a bog on Als. Because the landowner wanted to drain the bog for pasture, it was possible to carry out a very thorough and careful excavation. A long boat was discovered complete with its equipment. The boat had been crushed by the weight of the peat, but large sections of timber were still intact and in position. There were 138 iron and 31 bone spearheads. A number of broken ash spear shafts, many deliberately so, were also found. Eight complete and three fragmentary war knives were found too; some with short tangs with rivets, others with long spike tangs. Four were still in wooden sheaths. At least 64 wooden shields…

THEME: Challenges on campaign Roman control over the modern regions of England and Wales took several decades to establish after Claudius' invasion of AD 43. Construction of Hadrian’s Wall began in 122, and it eventually extended 117 km across northern Britain from Wallsend on the River Tyne to Bowness-on-Solway. In 142, the Romans initiated the building of a second wall, the Antonine Wall, further north, across the Central Belt of Scotland, the narrower (63 km) gap between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. That wall would take twelve years to complete but ongoing conflict with the Maeatae and Caledonian confederations forced the legions back to the line of Hadrian’s wall in 162. Caledones and Maeatea The Caledonians were a Brittonic-speaking tribal confederacy living in Scotland during the…

THEME: Challenges on campaign The march of the Ten Thousand, as told by Xenophon in his Anabasis Kyrou (‘Expedition of Cyrus’), was one of the most celebrated events in antiquity, even more famous than the expeditions of Alexander the Great. Xenophon, of course, was a participant and eyewitness, but chose to write his account under a pseudonym. In another work, he informs his readers that, “how Cyrus collected an army and marched up country against his brother, and how the battle happened, and how afterwards the Greeks returned safely to the sea, this has been written by Themistogenes of Syracuse” (Hellenica 3.1.2). Plutarch explained Xenophon’s reason: “to win greater credence for his narrative by favouring another person with the glory of authorship” (Moralia 345E). It seems that he also wished…

GRAVE MATTERS Many Roman soldiers and veterans were evidently keen that their tombstones bear permanent witness to their military career. Alongside their own names, they would often include their unit, rank (where relevant), years of service, and age at death. But not all military tombstones framed the identity of the soldier or veteran in such straightforward terms. A tombstone dedicated to a former soldier named Ares is one such example. Commemorating Ares Ares’ tombstone is relatively small, standing at 55cm tall. The provenance of the tombstone is not well-established, but it almost certainly comes from Egypt, likely from the military necropolis in Nicopolis near Alexandria. The style of the clothing and inscription suggests a date anywhere from about AD 160 to 190. The relief depicts a rectangular scutum shield, typically…

Geography brings one of the most obvious examples of campaign challenges. Here, we see Caesar’s bridge over the Rhine in 55 BC. He goes into great detail on just exactly how he built it (Gallic War 4.17-19, 6.6, 9, 29, 35). The passages are justly famous. Caesar needed to make a show of force against the Germanic tribes, but he deemed a bridge of boats unsafe. Because of that, Caesar did something unusual, and built a bridge. How he constructed that bridge, rapidly coordinated the necessary manpower, located and transported the required materials, organised protection for the construction crews, the list goes on. Caesar’s account provides this detail and reinforces the idea of the engineering abilities of the Roman army. What the bridge also brings to mind, is exactly how…

MORE ONLINE Read more about the scientists' findings: https://bit.ly/3tPJU4b The bones of a young man found in a field in Cambridgeshire, England have been identified as a Sarmatian who originated from Southern Russia. It represents the first biological proof that these people came to Britain. The skeleton was uncovered during excavations to improve the A14 road between Cambridge and Huntingdon. It was given the name ‘Offord Cluny 203645’ – referring to the Cambridgeshire village he was found in. DNA was extracted from a tiny, well-preserved, bone taken from his inner ear. An examination showed that he came from an area that is now Southern Russia, Armenia, and Ukraine. This is historically the land of the Sarmatae (Sarmatians), an Iranian-speaking people who were renowned for their horse-riding skills. Further analysis of…

The Last of the Romans: Bonifatus - Warlord and Comes Africae Jeroen Wijnendaele’s The Last of the Romans: Bonifatius - Warlord and Comes Africae might seem to be an obscure side show of later roman history. In one way this is true – we know much less about figures such as Bonifatius than others of earlier centuries and even others in his own time (such as Aetius). Here, however, Wijnendaele sheds light not only on an important figure in the first half of the fifth century AD, but highlights just what can be done with a challenge of a different kind and with thorough research on an important period which marked the transition from the ancient world to the late antique or early medieval world. If people know Bonifatius at…

THE FIND The Anthesteria was one of four annual Athenian festivals honouring the god Dionysus, held in the month of Anthesterion (equivalent to our February/March). During this festival novelty wine vessels, usually oinochoai, were given as gifts. Understandably, then, this particular oinochoe has been associated with this festival. This owl-hoplite jug is usually dated to about 410–390 BC. Another compelling argument, however, dates it to ca. 475–450 BC. What is more, its subject might not be so whimsical after all! It is possibly the (perhaps humorous) combination of the owl of Athena, an Athenian hoplite, and the owl omen associated with Athens’ military greatest moment: the battle Marathon, fought in 490 BC. Aristophanes' Wasps During the first performance of Aristophanes’ play Wasps at the Lenaia Festival in January 422 BC,…

THEME: Challenges on campaign However, the start of the campaign had not been easy. Livy offers a ‘different’ history of how two Roman officers, the praetors Gaius Lucretius Gallus and Lucius Hortensius, caused protests among Rome’s allies, and legal proceedings in Rome, by their private enterprises, corruption, and chaos while in charge of the campaign. Idle hands The Third Macedonian War was different from other Roman campaigns in that it was fought without the usual allies. Rome’s military power had produced an increasing number of conquests, and the conquered had been forced to provide troops and ships to support the Roman war effort. At the start of this war, ships and crew had been called as well, and the allies gathered in Chalcis, on Euboea, in 171 BC. However, the…

Since the time of Herodotus in the fifth century BC, many historians have described places and cultures on the edges of the known world as involving the fantastic, unbelievable, or, at the very least, highly exaggerated elements. Most of us have heard of Herodotus’ flying snakes, gold-digging ants, or the cannibals of the Androphagi (“man eaters”) or Issedones – all from the edges of the known world. For most of its history within the Roman Empire, Britain, too, was at the edge of the world, and the lands beyond either Hadrian’s or the Antonine Wall, were just outside of it. They, too, are subject to the fantastic and the imaginary. Dio Cassius does fall into some of this, although he is not as guilty as others; Procopius’s sixth-century description of…

THEME: Challenges on campaign In the early twentieth century, the British Army allowed 1 imperial gallon (4.5 litres) per man for daily drinking and cooking (General Staff Regulations 1911). An experimental march in Roman equipment and in hot conditions during the 1980s revealed that the men had to drink at least 0.5 gallons (2.27 litres) a day when marching to prevent medical issues. The British allowance, with its cooking component, would consequently seem a reasonable estimate for Roman troop consumption during the siege of Numantia 134/133 BC, especially with its hot summer temperatures. The British allowed 10 gallons (45.5 litres) per horse per day when in camp. This may have been generous, as normally horses drink 23 litres, but it varies depending on the weather and their fodder, so could…

ROMAN ARMY IN DETAIL The 360s were a decade of unrest in Roman Britain, as the province came under repeated attack by its barbarian neighbours: Scotti and Attacotti from Ireland, Saxons from the Continent, and Picts from Caledonia. In AD 367, a high-ranking officer named Fullofaudes was caught in an ambush and killed; he was probably none other than the dux Britanniarum (“Duke of the British provinces”), who commanded all of the army units along Hadrian’s Wall and its hinterland. The emperor Valentinian was finally obliged to send Count Theodosius, a veteran commander, to combat what Ammianus Marcellinus characterized as a barbarica conspiratio (colourfully rendered as “a conspiracy of the savages” by one translator). By AD 369, Theodosius had restored order, reportedly crushing roving bands of raiders, routing entire tribes,…

By Joanne Ball ISBN: 978-399088329 Pen & Sword Military (2023) - £25.00 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk In this new volume from Pen & Sword, Joanne Ball seeks to explore the ‘old chestnut’ of the clades variana, the Varian, or Teutoburg, disaster of AD 9. She admits in the first sentence of her Acknowledgements that it was a ‘massive undertaking’ (p. vi) and a culmination of twenty years of fascination. She opens the Introduction by talking about the massive impact of the disaster. Ball admits, however, that every time she reread the evidence, she could not justify the blame for the disaster which was universally heaped on its supposed author – Publius Quinctilius Varus. Much scholarship has come around to this position and the idea that the Germans, who outwitted Varus, were the architects…

The impressive remains of the palace where Alexander the Great was crowned over 2300 years ago have reopened to visitors. The palace in Northern Greece was erected by Philip II (382–336 BC) at Aigai (modern Vergina) and was the largest building of its time in the region; it was state-of-the-art in the Classical world. It may have been designed for Philip by Pytheos of Priene, the architect known for his contribution to the construction of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Built on the crest of a hill, the palace was two storeys tall. A grand entrance took visitors through three receptions to ranges of rooms arranged on each of the four sides of a large peristyle courtyard. Many rooms were adorned with patterned marble floors and intricate mosaics, some still in…

PRACTICAL HISTORY Reenactors don't tend to get taken very seriously by professional historians, but those of us portraying ancients have a unique angle. By donning accurate panoplies and testing weapons and tactics which would otherwise exist only in academic theory, we are increasingly recognized by open-minded scholars as having unique and important perspectives on many fundamental yet uncertain aspects of warfare. Armourer Jeff Wasson started out as just such a reenactor himself. I met him at the very first outing for my hoplite group. Impressed with the tube-and-yoke corslets I’d made for us, he arranged for me to visit his workshop. I was hooked from the moment I walked in. I’d never done metalworking before, but immediately offered my services as an apprentice. After several months of learning to help…

One of the most common forms of ‘corruption’ we can find in armies is when plundering the enemy camp affected the outcome of a battle, either preventing a complete victory or leaving an army vulnerable to counterattack. Livy’s account of operations in 216 BC after the defeat at Lake Trasimene and before Cannae (22.42.1-12) has the Carthaginian camp apparently abandoned and Roman soldiers inspired by greed clamouring for the order to advance and plunder it. The consul Varro “behaved like a member of the mob of soldiers”, ordering the advance whereas the other consul, Paulus, rightfully suspected some treachery and urged caution. At Cynoscephalae in 197 BC, Plutarch blames the Roman allies, the Aetolians, for allowing Philip V of Macedon to escape because they fell to plundering the Macedonian camp…

THEME: Challenges on campaign The ninth-century author Photius provides a possible reason for Pompey’s reading of that particular book of the Iliad in his Bibliotheca. In this collection of book ‘reviews’, he mentions in his discussion of Ptolemy Hephaestion’s lost New History that Pompey was an admirer of Agamemnon (Codex 190, 151a). Agamemnon is, however, absent for more than twothirds of the book, and the remainder contains a lengthy account of combat between Achaean and Trojan heroes on both sides. Combat rages throughout the book with various heroes reinforcing the line of battle at the right moment or encouraging resistance when a section wavers. Commanders encourage their men, leading from the front, from behind the lines, and in their midst. What is more, gods are relatively absent from the action…

The environmental impact of a Roman army was not limited to exhausting the water supply or the impact of the camps. There were doubtless numerous camp followers, such as traders and female 'entertainment' providers, eager to profit from the army’s presence. Often, we are only told of their existence when they were expelled from camps (such as happened at Numantia), implying they were probably a constant of camp life wherever Roman armies happened to be. The numbers of such people are uncertain and probably varied but may have been numerous. Their quarters must have had environmental demands and consequences of their own similar to the camps. If the camp-followers moved on with the army after hostilities, they too would have left a potentially polluted and despoiled landscape behind.…

SPECIAL The casket has been dated anywhere from the early fourth to the early fifth century, but a date in the late fourth century is commonly preferred. It is 32 cm long, 22 cm wide, and 25 cm high. The casket may have originally been made in Mediolanum (modern Milan), in the north of Italy. The reason is that the two shield designs on the lid (the scene with the arrest of Christ) where the soldiers have contemporary fourth-century tunics, leggings, and shields, were identified with the Scholae Palatinae units stationed in Milan in the Notitia Dignitatum, a document which may be almost exactly contemporary with the casket if the commonly accepted date is correct. This observation, often repeated uncritically, however, requires close inspection. Comparing shield designs According to the…

REVIEWS By Nic Fields ISBN: 978-1472853905 Osprey Campaign (2023) - £16.99 www.ospreypublishing.com The latest ancient-themed Campaign covers one of Alexander the Great’s hardest-fought and most complicated victories: the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC against Poros (or Porus). It is aided by the art of Marco Capparoni. As per the usual format, the book is broken into an Origins of the Campaign (pp. 5–11) which also looks at the main sources; a detailed chronology (pp. 12–15); Opposing Commanders (Alexander: pp. 17–21; Poros: pp. 22–26); Opposing Forces (Macedonians: pp. 27–44; Poros’ army: pp. 45– 55); and then the main section on the battle itself (pp. 56–87); followed by a brief Aftermath (pp. 88– 91) and Bibliography (pp. 92–94). At several points during this campaign, we know much more about one…

THE LONG MARCH: XENOPHON AND THE TEN THOUSAND By Robin Lane Fox Yale University Press, 2004 ISBN: 978-0300104035 Xenophon’s Anabasis records all manner of challenges and how they were addressed and dealt with as the army marched through modern Turkey and Iraq during 401–399 BC. The chapters by twelve leading scholars explore this rich source of social and cultural history and the mentality of the ancient Greek participants. A COMPANION TO THE ROMAN ARMY By Paul Erdkamp John Wiley, 2007 ISBN: 978-1444339215 This Wiley Companion provides an extensive account of the Roman army, exploring its role in politics and society as well as the reasons for its effectiveness as a fighting force. Contributors give an extensive account of the army, from its beginnings to its transformation in the later Empire…