Author: Publisher:
ISBN: 9781785703010
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Ancient Historiography on War and Empire
Author: Ancient Historiography on War and Empire
Author: Timothy HowePublisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1785703021
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
In the ancient Greek-speaking world, writing about the past meant balancing the reporting of facts with shaping and guiding the political interests and behaviours of the present. Ancient Historiography on War and Empire shows the ways in which the literary genre of writing history developed to guide empires through their wars. Taking key events from the Achaemenid Persian, Athenian, Macedonian and Roman ‘empires’, the 17 essays collected here analyse the way events and the accounts of those events interact. Subjects include: how Greek historians assign nearly divine honours to the Persian King; the role of the tomb cult of Cyrus the Founder in historical narratives of conquest and empire from Herodotus to the Alexander historians; warfare and financial innovation in the age of Philip II and his son, Alexander the Great; the murders of Philip II, his last and seventh wife Kleopatra, and her guardian, Attalos; Alexander the Great’s combat use of eagle symbolism and divination; Plutarch’s juxtaposition of character in the Alexander-Caesar pairing as a commentary on political legitimacy and military prowess, and Roman Imperial historians using historical examples of good and bad rule to make meaningful challenges to current Roman authority. In some cases, the balance shifts more towards the ‘literary’ and in others more towards the ‘historical’, but what all of the essays have in common is both a critical attention to the genre and context of history-writing in the ancient world and its focus on war and empire.
Ancient Historiography on War and Empire
Author: Timothy HowePublisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1785703005
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
In the ancient Greek-speaking world, writing about the past meant balancing the reporting of facts with shaping and guiding the political interests and behaviours of the present. Ancient Historiography on War and Empire shows the ways in which the literary genre of writing history developed to guide empires through their wars. Taking key events from the Achaemenid Persian, Athenian, Macedonian and Roman ‘empires’, the 17 essays collected here analyse the way events and the accounts of those events interact. Subjects include: how Greek historians assign nearly divine honours to the Persian King; the role of the tomb cult of Cyrus the Founder in historical narratives of conquest and empire from Herodotus to the Alexander historians; warfare and financial innovation in the age of Philip II and his son, Alexander the Great; the murders of Philip II, his last and seventh wife Kleopatra, and her guardian, Attalos; Alexander the Great’s combat use of eagle symbolism and divination; Plutarch’s juxtaposition of character in the Alexander-Caesar pairing as a commentary on political legitimacy and military prowess, and Roman Imperial historians using historical examples of good and bad rule to make meaningful challenges to current Roman authority. In some cases, the balance shifts more towards the ‘literary’ and in others more towards the ‘historical’, but what all of the essays have in common is both a critical attention to the genre and context of history-writing in the ancient world and its focus on war and empire.
Roman Historiography
Author: Andreas MehlPublisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118785134
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
Roman Historiography: An Introduction to its Basic Aspects and Development presents a comprehensive introduction to the development of Roman historical writings in both Greek and Latin, from the early annalists to Orosius and Procopius of Byzantium. Provides an accessible survey of every historical writer of significance in the Roman world Traces the growth of Christian historiography under the influence of its pagan adversaries Offers valuable insight into current scholarly trends on Roman historiography Includes a user-friendly bibliography, catalog of authors and editions, and index Selected by Choice as a 2013 Outstanding Academic Title
The Many Faces of War in the Ancient World
Author: Graham WrightsonPublisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443882402
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340
Book Description
This volume on different aspects of warfare and its political implications in the ancient world brings together the works of both established and younger scholars working on a historical period that stretches from the archaic period of Greece to the late Roman Empire. With its focus on cultural and social history, it presents an overview of several current issues concerning the “new” military history. The book contains papers that can be conveniently divided into three parts. Part I is composed of three papers primarily concerned with archaic and classical Greece, though the third covers a wide range and relates the experience of the ancient Greeks to that of soldiers in the modern world – one might even argue that the comparison works in reverse. Part II comprises five papers on warfare in the age of Alexander the Great and on its reception early in the Hellenistic period. These demonstrate that the study of Alexander as a military figure is hardly a well-worn theme, but rather in its relative infancy, whether the approach is the tried and true (and wrongly disparaged) method of Quellenforschung or that of “experiencing war,” something that has recently come into fashion. Part III offers three papers on war in the time of Imperial Rome, particularly on the fringes of the Empire. Covering a wide chronological span, Greek, Macedonian and Roman cultures and various topics, this volume shows the importance and actuality of research on the history of war and the diversity of the approaches to this task, as well as the different angles from which it can be analysed.
Images and Insults
Author: Christopher BarnesPublisher: Franz Steiner Verlag
ISBN: 9783515086899
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 180
Book Description
The Pyrrhic War attracted a great deal of attention in antiquity as the first contest between the burgeoning Roman Empire and the powers of the Hellenistic world. While blame for the initiation of hostilities fell squarely upon the polity of the Tarentines, scholars have long been wary of accounts relating how this conflict began. Three episodes set at Taras prove important for the construction both of Roman history and of narratives in antiquity. Approached as a case study of inventio in historiography, this monograph examines the aims and techniques of authors from Polybius to Zonaras in their depictions of the war's onset. No two of our sources offer the same version of events and new details emerge over the course of time. Analysis of the perception of injury, on the part of the Romans and the Tarentines, considers the implications of the �just' war on the writing of history.
On the War for Greek Freedom
Author: HerodotusPublisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 1603846794
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 231
Book Description
Designed for students with little or no background in ancient Greek language, history, and culture, this new abridgment presents those selections that comprise Herodotus’ historical narrative. These are meticulously annotated, and supplemented with a chronology of the Archaic Age, Historical Epilogue, glossary of main characters and places, index of proper names, and maps.
The War That Made the Roman Empire
Author: Barry StraussPublisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982116684
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
"The story of one of history's most decisive and yet little known battles, the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, which brought together Antony and Cleopatra on one side and Octavian, soon to be emperor Augustus, on the other, and whose outcome determined the future of the Roman Empire"--
War in Late Antiquity
Author: A. D. LeePublisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470766239
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313
Book Description
The first book to focus on the social impact of warfare and theRoman army in Late Antiquity. Explores the implications of war and the army in a broad rangeof areas encompassing politics, the economy, and social life Pays particular attention to the experience of war from theperspective of non-combatants Investigates the religious dimension of military life and therole of the army in implementing religious policy Approaches familiar subjects from new perspectives, offeringnovel insights into the many facets of late Roman history
Roman Warfare
Author: Adrian GoldsworthyPublisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 154169922X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
From an award-winning historian of ancient Rome, a concise and comprehensive history of the fighting forces that created the Roman Empire Roman warfare was relentless in its pursuit of victory. A ruthless approach to combat played a major part in Rome's history, creating an empire that eventually included much of Europe, the Near East and North Africa. What distinguished the Roman army from its opponents was the uncompromising and total destruction of its enemies. Yet this ferocity was combined with a genius for absorbing conquered peoples, creating one of the most enduring empires ever known. In Roman Warfare, celebrated historian Adrian Goldsworthy traces the history of Roman warfare from 753 BC, the traditional date of the founding of Rome by Romulus, to the eventual decline and fall of Roman Empire and attempts to recover Rome and Italy from the "barbarians" in the sixth century AD. It is the indispensable history of the most professional fighting force in ancient history, an army that created an Empire and changed the world.
