Greek and Roman Military Manuals: Genre and History

This volume explores the ancient military manual as a genre, examining its reflection of warfare practices from early Archaic Greece to the Byzantine period. Contributions from scholars cover a wide range of topics, including readership, siege warfare, mercenaries, defeat, textual history, and religion. It reveals the complex ways in which ancient Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines sought to understand and impose order upon war.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 298 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive volume delves into the enigmatic realm of ancient military manuals, shedding light on their classification as a genre and their reflection of warfare practices. Drawing from the expertise of a diverse array of scholars, the chapters explore a wide range of military manuals spanning from early Archaic Greece to the Byzantine era, covering various topics such as readership, siege warfare, mercenaries, defeat, textual history, and religion. The coverage includes prominent contemporary siege manual writers like Xenophon, Frontinus, Vegetius, and Maurice, allowing for a close examination of their texts. Through meticulous analysis, the book unveils the intricate ways in which ancient Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines sought to comprehend and impose order upon the enigmatic phenomenon of war. Serving as a valuable resource for students and scholars of warfare and military literature in the classical and Byzantine periods, this volume provides insights into the multifaceted collection of texts that formed military manuals.

Weight: 570g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367541767