Ancient Warfare Ancient Warfare: Introducing Current Research, Volume I Edited by Geoff Lee, Helene Whittaker and Graham Wrightson Ancient Warfare: Introducing Current Research, Volume I Edited by Geoff Lee, Helene Whittaker and Graham Wrightson This book first published 2015 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2015 by Geoff Lee, Helene Whittaker, Graham Wrightson and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-7694-1 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-7694-0 CONTENTS Preface ...................................................................................................... viii Introduction ................................................................................................ ix Chapter One ................................................................................................. 1 Symbolic Aspects of Warfare in Minoan Crete Professor Helène Whittaker Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 14 Death of a Swordsman, Death of a Sword: The Killing of Swords in the Early Iron Age Aegean (ca. 1050 to ca.690 B.C.E) Dr. Matthew Lloyd Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 32 Filling the Gaps: Catapults and Philon of Byzantium Dr. Aimee Schofield Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 43 Aeneas Tacticus and Small Units in Greek Warfare Dr. Nick Barley Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 65 To Use or not to Use: The Practical and Historical Reliability of Asclepiodotus’s ‘Philosophical’ Tactical Manual Dr. Graham Wrightson Chapter Six ................................................................................................ 94 Furious Wrath: Alexander's Siege of Thebes and Perdiccas’ False Retreat Dr. Borja Antela-Bernárdez Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 107 Civil War and Counterinsurgency in Greece: Rival Systems of Hegemony during the Fourth Century BC Konstantinos Lentakis vi Contents Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 124 The Problem of the Four Hundred Wagons: The Provisioning of the Ten Thousand on the March to Cunaxa Dr. Stephen O’Connor Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 147 War as Training, War as Spectacle: The Hippika Gymnasia from Xenophon to Arrian Dr. Anna Busetto Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 172 Trouble Comes in Threes: From Chariot to Cavalry in the ‘Celtic’ World Alberto Pérez-Rubio Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 191 The Late Bronze–Early Iron Age Transition: Changes in Warriors and Warfare and the Earliest Recorded Naval Battles Dr. Jeffrey P. Emanuel Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 210 Thucydides’ Narrative on Naval Warfare: Epibatai, Military Theory, Ideology Dr. Matteo Zaccarini Chapter Thirteen ...................................................................................... 229 Commemorating War Dead and Inventing Battle Heroes: Heroic Paradigms and Discursive Strategies in Ancient Athens and Phocis Dr. Elena Franchi and Dr. Giorgia Proietti Chapter Fourteen ..................................................................................... 252 Ajax, Cassandra and Athena: Retaliatory Warfare and Gender Violence at the Sack of Troy Dr. Susan Deacy and Dr. Fiona McHardy Chapter Fifteen ........................................................................................ 273 Treating Hemorrhage in Greek and Roman Militaries Dr. Julie Laskaris Chapter Sixteen ....................................................................................... 291 Are You (Ro)man Enough? Non-Roman Virtus in the Roman Army Dr. Adam Anders Ancient Warfare: Introducing Current Research, Volume I vii Chapter Seventeen ................................................................................... 309 To the Victor the Spoils? Post-Battle Looting in the Roman World Joanne Ball Chapter Eighteen ..................................................................................... 331 The Role of the Peace-Makers (Caduceatores) in Roman Attitudes to War and Peace Dr. Hannah Cornwell Contributors ............................................................................................. 349 Indices ..................................................................................................... 353 Index of Places Index of Units Index of Armaments General Index PREFACE The chapters in this volume are based on some of the research papers presented at the International Ancient Warfare Conference 2013 (IAWC13). The conference theme was deliberately inclusive and academics from any discipline were invited to present papers on any aspect of ancient warfare. Presenters ranged from postgraduates to more experienced academics. The apparent eclecticism of the volume is due to this rationale, and far from seeing this as a lack of coherence, this is a vindication of the conference and editorial strategy. As lead editor, I have been very fortunate in having the support of two experienced academics as co-editors: Professor Helène Whittaker and Dr. Graham Wrightson. Each chapter benefitted from the feedback of a blind peer review from at least one of three reviewers: Dr. Jason Crowley, Dr. Erin Garvin, and Dr. James Thorne. In addition, the entire volume was blind peer reviewed by an external reviewer. The manuscript was proofread by Theodora Wrightson. Financial support for the conference and this volume was gratefully received from the Institute of Classical Studies. Professors Bjorn Weiler and Robert Ireland, of Aberystwyth University, and Professor Mike Edwards of the University of Wales: Trinity Saint David offered guidance, and Sian Davies, the Classics Faculty administrator, handled the finances for the conference and this volume. Florence Melley, Ben Lee, and Jade Evans helped as conference assistants. The staff at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth gave personal support to me as conference organiser and to all of the conference delegates. The feedback from delegates on the conference and the facilities was very positive. Wales can be very proud of such a fantastic resource in terms of both the infrastructure of the National Library, and its people. Diolch yn fawr- Thank you very much. Geoff Lee Aberystwyth University. INTRODUCTION This volume on ancient warfare presents eighteen chapters dealing with a variety of areas of current research. Ranging from archaeology and social history to more traditional tactics and strategy, it represents a range of different aspects of military history. Most of these chapters developed from papers which were presented at a conference on “Ancient Warfare,” held at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, Wales, from the 18th to the 20th of September, 2013, organized by Geoff Lee. The chapters in this volume can be viewed in thematic sections. The first two chapters (by Professor Helène Whittaker, and Dr. Matthew Lloyd), deal primarily with archaeological evidence from the Greek Bronze and Iron Ages. The next three chapters (by Dr. Aimee Schofield, Dr. Nick Barley, and Dr. Graham Wrightson) are concerned with using tactical manuals to inform history, and the first and last also make use of experimental archaeology. This is a comparatively under-researched area of ancient military history but one that is becoming particularly prominent, especially with the use of experimental archaeology. The next three chapters (by Dr. Borja Antela-Bernárdez, Konstantinos Lentakis, and Dr. Stephen O’Connor) deal with more traditional areas of research into military history, in this case Greek warfare, namely tactics, strategy and logistics. These chapters show that despite generations of study in these areas there are still new ideas and interpretations that are important to consider. Following this are two chapters (by Dr. Anna Busetto, and Alberto Pérez-Rubio) that deal with the use of cavalry in warfare. This is another traditional avenue of military scholarship, but in these two cases dealing with aspects that could be considered the edge of traditional analysis, namely literary topoi and Celtic armies. Continuing the variation of traditional themes are two chapters (by Dr. Jeffrey P. Emanuel, and Dr. Matteo Zaccarini) on naval warfare but again each deals with new aspects of the field: very early depictions in the Mediterranean and using modern military terminology to interpret ancient Greek warfare. Next are four chapters (by Dr. Elena Franchi and Dr. Giorgia Proietti, Dr. Susan Deacy and Dr. Fiona McHardy, Dr. Julie Laskaris, and Dr Adam Anders), dealing with more social or cultural aspects of warfare: commemorating the war dead, the treatment of women, army medicine, and courage. All these x Introduction aspects of military history are crucial and yet until recently underresearched. Finally, there are two chapters (by Joanne Ball and Dr. Hannah Cornwell) that deal with what happens after battle or war. This is very much a new area of research blurring the lines between traditional definitions of historical areas such as military, social, and political history. These papers serve as a suitable closing point for a volume that seeks to break down any perceived barriers between different aspects of warfare. CHAPTER SUMMARIES Chapter 1: Symbolic Aspects of Warfare in Minoan Crete, by Professor Helène Whittaker, provides an overview of the various symbolic or ritual contexts in which objects and representations pertaining to warfare have been found and argues that the practice of warfare as well as its ideological aspects were closely intertwined with religious meaning in the Aegean during the Bronze Age. The focus is primarily on Crete in the second half of the second millennium BC. Chapter 2: Death of a Swordsman, Death of a Sword: the Killing of Swords in the Early Iron Age Aegean (ca. 1050 to ca. 690 BCE), by Dr. Matthew Lloyd, looks at the chronological and geographical context of “killed” weapons, their relationships to the types of burial in which they appear, and the other grave goods which accompany these burials. It suggests that the swords “killed” in the period ca. 950-825 are the result of societal conditions relating to the value of iron, the exclusivity of warfare, and conscious acts of destruction in burials at this time. On the other hand, the later burials in Eretria relate to changing factors in the deposition of weapons, new ideas about exclusivity and value, and reflecting the way in which warfare changed in the late eighth century. It also suggests that arguments so far have ignored important metallurgical observations about “killed” swords, and what they reveal about sword use and ownership in the EIA Aegean Chapter 3: Filling the Gaps: Catapults and Philon of Byzantium, by Dr. Aimee Schofield, investigates the historical and literary contexts of Philon and his work. It explains how experimental reconstructed catapults can give a different perspective on what would otherwise be considered abstract and esoteric texts. The conclusion is that by applying a practical element to research on military history, it is possible to gain a fresh and new understanding of the military technology of the ancient world. Ancient Warfare: Introducing Current Research, Volume I xi Chapter 4: Aeneas Tacticus and Small Units in Greek Warfare, by Dr. Nick Barley, presents research into the role and influence of officers from the lower ranks of command in Greek armies. Secondary levels of command are rarely discussed in the sources but can be inferred from a number of incidents which can best be explained by the ability of individuals to react rapidly, and in an organized fashion, to changing events. These events suggest that individuals other than generals were able, and indeed expected, to exercise leadership and give commands during battle. This chapter also considers the use of small, semi-independent units in pitched battles and less conventional engagements, with particular emphasis on the frequent use of units of 300 men to achieve specific objectives. Chapter 5: To Use or not to Use: The Practical and Historical Reliability of Asclepiodotus’s ‘Philosophical’ Tactical Manual, by Dr. Graham Wrightson, argues that Asclepiodotus was a philosopher writing practical works just as much as theoretical ones. The terminology that Asclepiodotus uses to describe the command hierarchy largely is confirmed by historically attested officer ranks and he occasionally describes other names for officers that were used in the past. Supported by practical archaeology, this chapter shows that the military information provided by Asclepiodotus is both reliable and historical and should be integrated fully into any history of the Macedonian army. Chapter 6: Furious Wrath: Alexander's Siege of Thebes and Perdiccas’ False Retreat, by Dr. Borja Antela-Bernárdez, analyses the destruction of Thebes by Alexander the Great. Although the sources suggest a siege it is perhaps more of a campaign as the extant sources suggest that there was at least one pitched battle and a siege. It is, in fact, during the siege of Thebes and the related campaign that we can note some deceptive tactics used by Alexander and Perdiccas in order to gain access to the besieged city. The sack and destruction of Thebes is used as a case study to analyse the deep impact of Alexander’s military leadership against the civil population. It is where he used an iron fist to shock the Greek cities and other peoples in the ancient world. Chapter 7: Civil War and Counterinsurgency: Rival Hegemonic Systems in Fourth Century Greece, by Konstantinos Lentakis, examines the four hegemonic systems that were established in mainland Greece during the fourth century BC by the powers of Athens, Macedon, Sparta, and Thebes. The variables of hegemony that are assessed are the systems of government and alliance that were imposed by the great powers, the xii Introduction varying use of force of each of them, and the causes that led each power to intervene in smaller states’ domestic disputes. After examining these systems this chapter will then proceed to evaluate which policies of empire were successful in the Greek theatre of war, and which were less successful and why. Conclusions on hegemony will be reviewed to see how they can lead us to a better understanding of which policies and strategies are useful for peacekeeping and maintaining stability and providing security in the conflict zones of the 21st century. Chapter 8: The Problem of the Four Hundred Wagons: The Provisioning of the Ten Thousand on the March to Cunaxa, by Dr. Stephen O’Connor, combines a detailed reading of the first book of Xenophon’s Anabasis with a narratological analysis of the Anabasis as a whole to show that the Ten Thousand provisioned themselves on their march to Cunaxa in the settlements they passed along their route, i.e. by purchase from markets provided by the cities through which they marched, and by requisitioning in the villages where they stopped. Cyrus’s army did not, as often thought, usually acquire their supplies from imperial stores or from the Lydian agora located in the non-Greek part of the army. The four hundred wagons full of wheat-flour and wine reported by Xenophon (at Anab. 1.10.18) to have been provided by Cyrus did not, contra the scholarly consensus on this issue, accompany the army during the whole of their march, but only from Pylae, and then as a provisioning ‘safety net’ designed to increase the tactical flexibility of Cyrus’s army in its manoeuvres before the imminent battle with the King. Chapter 9: War As Training, War As Spectacle: The Hippika Gymnasia From Xenophon To Arrian, by Dr. Anna Busetto, investigates the loci paralleli in the descriptions of hippika gymnasia in Xenophon’s Hipparchicus and Arrian’s Tactica. The Xenophonian echoes appearing in the Tactica show not only a generic literary influence by an admired model, but also the vitality – across centuries and cultures – of specific aspects of military training. In Arrian’s treatise, their re-enactment is mediated by the Adlocutio Hadriani, an epigraphic record of a speech by the Emperor Hadrian at Lambaesis, where he witnessed a spectacular performance by the auxiliary troops stationed there. Certain precise lexical correspondences suggest that the Tactica might be – in its “Roman part” (chap. 32, 3-44, 3) at least – a sort of literary re-working of the earlier Adlocutio. Ancient Warfare: Introducing Current Research, Volume I xiii Chapter 10: Trouble Comes in Threes. From Chariot to Cavalry in the ‘Celtic’ World, by Alberto Pérez-Rubio, analyses how the ‘Celtic’ cavalry practice known as trimarkisia gives us insight into the evolution from chariotry to cavalry in Iron Age temperate Europe. A close look at the etymology and symbolism of the word trimarkisia reveals both the importance of the triad in the ‘Celtic’ mindset and the later development of cavalry in regard to chariotry. Chariot warfare is then examined, taking into account literary sources and iconography to show how three men probably made up the chariot fighting team. Finally, a model which explains the transition from the chariot to the trimarkisia is advanced, tackling its tactical and symbolical dimensions in regard to knowledge networks in the ‘Celtic’ world. Chapter 11: The Late Bronze–Early Iron Age Transition: Changes in Warriors and Warfare and the Earliest Recorded Naval Battles, by Dr. Jeffrey P. Emanuel, argues that the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean worlds is marked in part by a change in the representation and iconography of warriors and warfare. This change includes the first depictions and written accounts of true sea battles in recorded history, which are represented in Egyptian relief and text, on Mycenaean and East Aegean-West Anatolian pictorial pottery, and in Hittite documents, all of which date to the late 13th or 12th centuries BCE. This is also the time when the Helladic oared galley, a revolutionary new vessel type well-suited for raids, piracy, and ship-borne combat, makes its first appearance. This chapter investigates the earliest representations and descriptions of naval combat, with a special emphasis on the appearance and employment of new maritime technology and its effect on maritime operations and naval warfare. Also considered are the changes in fighting that had to be made in order to adapt to this early form of ship-based combat. Chapter 12: Thucydides’ Narrative on Naval Warfare: Epibatai, Military Theory, Ideology, by Dr. Matteo Zaccarini, proposes that our perception of ancient Greek naval warfare is heavily biased by the classical Athenian concept of naumachia. Following the Athenian adoption of the ‘fast’ style of sea combat Thucydides scornfully disdained the ‘old way’ of fighting over the sea, regarding the Peloponnesians, whose ships were often overloaded with soldiers, as clumsy amateurs lacking techne. An analysis of surviving sources leads to the questioning of this ‘Athenian myth’ of fast triremes, and this chapter argues that embarked soldiers, epibatai, often had an important role requiring skills and training. The peculiar xiv Introduction status of the epibatai occasionally puts them as being similar to hoplites, however, this chapter argues that there are several major differences which need to be understood to fully appreciate the role they played. Chapter 13: Commemorating War Dead and Inventing Battle Heroes. Heroic Paradigms and Discursive Strategies in Ancient Athens and Phocis, by Dr. Elena Franchi and Dr. Giorgia Proietti, argues that commemoration of the war dead must be considered in the light of the fluidity and malleability which are intrinsic to the social practices of memory. It uses two historical examples, each different in space and time. One example focuses on the commemoration of the war dead in Classical Athens, and disputes the common assumption that they were honoured with a strictu sensu heroic cult and argues instead that they were the recipients of a canonical cult of the dead, though extended in a civic dimension. It does, however, recognize that they were at the core of a complex web of discursive strategies, which, through time, actually represented them as ‘founding heroes’. Using the second example, this chapter advances a new interpretation of the base of a Phocian monument dedicated at Delphi in the 4th or 3rd century BCE, and argues that this monument shows both the Classical and Hellenistic-Roman attitude to reshaping the collective memory of an archaic event and the permeability between different means of commemoration. Chapter 14: Ajax, Cassandra and Athena: Retaliatory Warfare and Gender Violence at the Sack of Troy, by Dr. Susan Deacy and Dr. Fiona McHardy, builds on recent work arguing for the centrality of violence against women to ancient warfare. It uses Gaca’s model of retaliatory warfare to frame a discussion of how, in representations of the sack of Troy, the actions of the Greeks fit ancient patterns of violent behaviour and may reflect evolutionary dispositions too. The authors argue that this is even – perhaps especially – true of the actions of Locrian Ajax, whose behaviour has previously been interpreted as flying in the face of acceptable behaviour but whose ill-treatment of Cassandra displays expected, even required, warrior behaviour towards enemy females. The chapter comes out of the research that the authors are currently undertaking for a book on ancient Greek gender violence in various contexts including ‘domestic’, ‘street’, and ‘battlefield’. Chapter 15: Treating Hemorrhage in Greek and Roman Militaries, by Dr. Julie Laskaris, considers that military medicine is a largely neglected field in the studies of ancient warfare and of ancient medicine. Christine Ancient Warfare: Introducing Current Research, Volume I xv Salazar’s excellent work, The Treatment of War Wounds in Graeco-Roman Antiquity (Brill 2000), is the sole recent book-length treatment. She does not, however, devote much time to the aspect of trauma care that was, and is still today, of the greatest initial concern: the ability to stop blood loss. This chapter traces the methods for treating hemorrhage that were available to the doctors who travelled with Greek and Roman militaries, and argues that doctors’ skills were honed through their regular practice of venesection and their frequent treatment of obstetric hemorrhage. Chapter 16: Are You (Ro)man enough? Non-Roman Virtus in the Roman Army, by Dr. Adam Anders, argues that scholarly discussions of the function of Roman armies have often overlooked the significance of troops commonly classified as light infantry and the possibility that ‘light’ infantry tactics may have been the most common form of combat in Roman warfare. Investigation into ‘light’ methods of combat in Roman warfare reveals that ‘light’ infantry, particularly the velites of the Roman republic, were the most tactically versatile troops available to Roman commanders. Their replacements, the auxiliaries, although varied in equipment, organization and role from their predecessors, were no less tactically versatile. It further argues that not only were these non-Roman troops more frequently deployed than Roman legionaries, but also that they displayed a noticeably greater zealousness (audacia and virtus) in combat than their legionary counterparts. This, in turn, may have been a cause of their aforementioned frequent deployment. Chapter 17: To the Victor the Spoils? Post-Battle Looting in the Roman World, by Joanne Ball, argues that looting in the Roman world did not strip the battlefield of all significant archaeological evidence. Although some archaeologists and historians consider that no archaeological evidence was left, as battlefield archaeology develops as a discipline, it becomes possible to test these preconceptions of field-stripping against the archaeological record. It is evident that Roman battlefields can survive in the archaeological record, and they have been identified in Germany and Spain with assemblages numbering in the thousands for metal artefacts, particularly small finds. This chapter suggests that current ideas of Roman battlefield looting and its impact on the archaeological survival of these sites need to be reassessed as Roman battlefield assemblages were often not entirely looted, and may manifest with characteristic assemblages which are distinctively non-martial in nature. xvi Introduction Chapter 18: The Role of the Peace-Makers (Caduceatores) in Roman Attitudes to War and Peace, by Dr. Hannah Cornwell, examines the ways in which the roles and possible relationships between the fetiales and caduceatores can be used to understand some aspects of how the Romans conceptualised the making and breaking of war and peace, and aims to locate the caduceatores within a picture of Roman diplomatic practices and war-mongering. The caduceatores, it will be argued, should not be understood primarily as Roman officials, unlike the fetiales and legati, but rather as a Roman conceptualisation of non-Roman diplomacy. Indeed, the uses of the term caduceatores in Latin Literature present us with an insight into how Romans conceptualised peace, as not something they themselves sought, but rather imposed. Geoff Lee, Graham Wrightson and Helène Whittaker