A Companion to Greek Warfare - (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World) by Waldemar Heckel & F S Naiden & E Edward Garvin & John Vanderspoel

About the Book

"The first part of the book, a "Historical Survey," focuses on changing issues in strategy and grand strategy-on Greek motives, goals, and responses to military success and failure, the Macedonians, Persians, Romans, and Carthaginians being given due weight. These five chapters cover chronological fundamentals, but deal with modalities and patterns more than with campaigns, and with campaigns more than with battles. Johannes Heinrichs, in "Bronze Age and Early Greek Wars," sees Mycenaean warfare in terms of "the centralized organization of life," then deals with Homer as evidence of an ideological rather than sociological character. Among late Archaic Wars, Sparta's efforts to dominate the southern Peloponnesus illustrate a grand strategy that evolves from annexation to domination. The next chapter, Sabine Mèuller's "The Persian Wars to Alexander," gives a holistic account of the conflicts between the Achaemenids and both the Greeks and Macedonians, one that dismantles propaganda and rationalizations in order to demonstrate interdependence as well as rivalry. Frances Pownall's chapter on "Internal Wars from the 'First Peloponnesian War' to Chaeronea" covers much the same period but centers on alliance systems and spheres of influence; one after another, the Greeks states failed to implement strategies that would that would do more collective good than harm. She emphasizes Persia's role in this sequence of events"--

Book Synopsis

Provides a broad and deep exploration of ancient Greek and Macedonian warfare

A Companion to Greek Warfare is an authoritative survey of all major areas in the field of Greek and Macedonian military history, covering diverse operational, economic, social, psychological, and cultural aspects of ancient warfare. Bringing together essays by both international authorities and young scholars, this edited volume exposes readers to alternative views and original interpretations in a host of old and new topics.

Wide in scope, the book presents thematically organized chapters that explore the nature of Greek warfare, military training, discipline, and organization, the economics, pathology, and psychology of war, and depictions of war in Greek art and literature. Entire chapters deal with neglected topics such as espionage, propaganda, war crimes, emotional trauma, the role of women in warfare, Greeks in foreign service, and the armies and methods of the Greeks' and the Macedonians' opponents. Presenting a uniquely wide range of topics and contexts, this volume:

• Features contributions from ancient historians and scholars, including archaeologists, naval historians, and other specialists
• Offers broad chronological and geographical coverage, including the Bronze Age and early Greek wars, the Persian Wars, the campaigns of Alexander, and the wars in Sicily
• Edited by internationally recognized experts in early Greek prosopography, warfare, and military history; Macedonian warfare and military history; Greek law and customs; and the history of scholarship in the field of Greek warfare

Part of the acclaimed Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World series, A Companion to Greek Warfare is an important resource for instructors, students, and scholars in all fields of ancient Greek history, particularly military history, and the perfect addition to the library of any general reader with interest in ancient military history.