Year 10: Term 2: Ancient Warfare

Western Way of War (Victor Davis Hanson)

This is based on five principles:

1. the exploitation of technology (receptive to new technology: technology compensates for inferior numbers)
2. unusually rigid forms of discipline (especially important when infantry plays a crucial role)
3. challenge and response (West became successful because able to respond quickly to change)
4. continuous innovation (willingness to look to the past (precedent) AND accept ideas from range of sources e.g. Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul, Schlieffen Plan)
5. mechanisms for state financing of war. (structures in place to fund war – stable government, taxation – war is expensive)

The Art of War (Sun Tzu)

A (very) abridged version…

1. Plan carefully to improve chance of victory - some things to consider…terrain, leadership, season.
2. Waging war: war is expensive – successful campaigns require limiting costs – win decisive engagements quickly.
3. Strategic attack: defines the source of strength as unity, not size. Among other things to consider to succeed in any war: form of attack, strategy, alliances, army
4. Disposition of the army: it is important to defend existing positions until a commander can move safely. Recognize strategic opportunities and do not create opportunities for the enemy.
5. Forces: explains the use of creativity and timing in building an army's momentum.
6. Weaknesses and strengths: an army's opportunities come from the openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of the enemy.  Ability to respond to changes; a battlefield is not static.
7. Military manoeuvres: explains how to avoid direct conflict and, if faced with it, how the commander can win in that situation.
8. Variations and adaptability: army and commander have to be flexible in responding to changing circumstances.
9. Movement and development of troops: describes different situations an army is faced with in new enemy territory, and how to respond to these situations. Think about what your opponent may do.
10. Terrain: looks at the three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers and barriers) and the advantages/disadvantages of various field positions e.g. accessible ground has good communications, many access points for both you and your opponent
11. The nine battlegrounds: describes the nine common situations (or stages) in a campaign, from scattering to deadly, and the specific focus that a commander will need in order to successfully deal with them.
12. Attacking with fire: explains how to use the environment as a weapon and to respond to how others use it.
13. Intelligence and espionage: crucial that you know what your opponent is doing so spies etc. are very important.

Fordham University's Internet History Sourcebooks Project  
(Ancient and Medieval History)

This website has an excellent range of primary sources for both Ancient and Medieval history.

Features Plutarch, Aristotle, Casius Dio, Europides, 
Herodotus, Thucydides, etc.

 

This could include Heavy and Light Infantry, Heavy and Light Cavalry, Fortification, Siegecraft, the Long bow, and the humble Stirrup.

Alexander at the Siege of Tyre (engineers) 332 BC

Battle of  Alesia (Julius Caesar def. Vercingetorix and Commius) 52 BC (engineers and the siege tower)

Battle of Hastings (William of Normandy def. Harold of England 1066). William had better armour and weapons. For example - the cavalry were all equipped with mail hauberk, there is some evidence that archers used crossbows in addition to bows and arrows, some battle maces were also used along with spears and swords, round shields and kite shaped shields.

Battle of Crecy ( King Edward III with his son, the Black Prince, def. Philip VI, King of France1346). Long bow proved superior - the rate of fire was up to one arrow every 5 seconds against the crossbow’s rate of a shot every two minutes; the crossbow requiring to be reloaded by means of a winch. Also English army possessed simple artillery; improvements in the composition of black powder reducing the size of guns and projectiles and making them sufficiently mobile to be used in the field. French did not have artillery.

Battle of Agincourt (King Henry V of England def. the Constable of France, Charles d’Albret, Comte de Dreux 1415). Again, the long bow proved superior - A trained archer could shoot six aimed arrows a minute which could wound at 400 yards, kill at 200 and penetrate armour at 100 yards. Terrified the French knights' horses.

See this website: 10 Reasons Why the French Lost at Agincourt

Don't forget - the Greeks invented military technology! Also Try these: Moats, Longbows (Agincourt), Crossbows, Mounted cavalry (Genghis Khan), Trebuchet and ramming rods (sieges), Fireballs, oil cannisters and drums (sieges), Chariots, Axes (Vikings), Armour, heavy swords (Japan), spears, Walls (China), Falcata (Hannibal - Battle of Cannae).

Importance of chariots: 'Chariots were perhaps the most dominant instrument of warfare before nuclear weapons. Indeed, historian William H. McNeill has called them the superweapon of their day. When they appeared in the Levant in the eighteenth century BC, they swept all before them. From Egypt to Mesopotamia, states either adopted chariots or ceased to compete in interstate war'. The Battle of Kadesh (275 B.C.) illustrates this.

From Foreign Policy Research Initiative

The ENTIRE collection of resources provided by the BBC Library can be searched on ONE single, powerful search platform, which retrieves print books, eBooks, database articles and websites. Click HERE for assistance.

• Wars that changed history: 50 of the world's greatest conflicts 

  Contents: Thutmose III's Campaigns, Greco-Persian Wars, Pelopoponnesian Wars, Wars of Alexander the Great, Punic Wars, Qin Wars of Unification, Gallic Wars, Caesarian-Pompeian Civil War, Barbarian Invasions of the Roman Empire, Muslim Wars of Expansion, Charlemagne's Wars, Norman Conquest, Crusades, Mongol Conquests, Hundred Years War.
• Masters of the battlefield 

  Offers vivid portraits of legendary military leaders whose brilliance on and off the battlefield embody this maxim.
  
  Contents: Epaminondas; Alexander the Great; Han Xin; Hannibal; Scipio Africanus; Julius Caesar; Belisarius; Genghis Khan
• The 100 most influential world leaders of all time 

  Includes these brilliant commanders:
  Alexander the Great; Julius Caesar; Attila the Hun; Muhammed; Charlemagne; William I, Saladin, Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc.
• Warlords of Republican Rome 

  Includes Julius Caesar and Pompey.
• Encyclopedia of insurgency and counterinsurgency 

  Includes: Boudicca, Julius Caesar, The Battle of Teutoberg Forest and Vercingetorix.
• World military leaders 

  Profiles the influential military leaders throughout history. Spanning the centuries from 3500 BC to the present, this comprehensive A-to-Z dictionary presents the stories of the military leaders whose actions precipitated enormous change in the world around them.
• Warfare in the Roman Republic 

  Contents: Battle of Actium, Marc Antony, Battle of Cannae, Carthage, Cleopatra, Scipio Africanus, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Battle of Zama, Macedonian Wars, Gaius Marius, Pompey, Punic Wars, Battle of Pydna, Battle of Zama.

   

   

   

  
  Ancient Warfare Technology
• Warfare in the ancient world 

  Includes: Great Wars of Classical Greece (Persian War, Battle of Salamis)

   

   

   

   

   

  

The Cambridge illustrated history of warfare: the triumph of the West

Call Number: 355.009 CAM

Warfare in the Classical World

Call Number: 355.0093 WAR

Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs

Call Number: 355.0093 MAY

 World History Encyclopedia

Also:

• Ancient World Magazine: Ancient Societies

• Ancient Military.com: The Weapons of the Ancient World

• Military Factory.com: Weapons of Ancient and Medieval Warfare

• Legends and Chronicles: Ancient Weapons

• University of Alaska Fairbanks: Ancient Warfare

• Weaponry and armour in the Ancient World 
  Retrieved from the Infobase database.