War in the Hellenistic World: A Social and Cultural History

Angelos Chaniotis0631226079, 9780631226079, 9780470775219

In the 300 years between the conquest of Alexander the Great and the battle at Actium, continual warfare had a dramatic effect on Hellenistic society and culture. Exploiting the abundant primary sources available, this book examines the many different ways in which war shaped the Hellenistic world.
The volume shows how war was intimately connected with economic, social and political life, looking at the connections between war and religion, the ideology of Hellenistic monarchy, the rule of elites, and technological change. At the same time, the book continually draws attention to the experience of war, both from the battlefield perspective of professional soldiers, and from that of its victims – non-combatants, women and children.

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Table of contents :
CONTENTS……Page 9
List of Figures……Page 12
List of Maps……Page 13
List of Abbreviations……Page 15
Table of Important Events……Page 19
Preface……Page 23
1.1. The Visibility of War……Page 27
1.2. The Frequency of Wars……Page 31
1.3. Reasons to Fight……Page 38
2.1. Fighting Against a Neighbor: A Privilege of the Polis……Page 44
2.2. Warfare as a Citizen’s Duty……Page 46
2.3. City and Land: Structure and Hierarchy……Page 52
2.4. The Defense of the City as the Stage of Civic Elites……Page 55
2.5. Local Hero: The Statesman as a Military Leader……Page 57
2.6. Euergetism in War and the Ideology of Inequality……Page 62
2.7. From Individual Services to the Heredity of Leadership……Page 65
3.1. Restless Warriors……Page 70
3.2. Training Fighters……Page 72
3.3. Rituals for Young Warriors……Page 77
4.1. War and the Acceptance of Monarchical Rule……Page 83
4.2. The King and His Army……Page 88
4.3. The King and the City……Page 94
4.4. The Wolf as a Sheep: Royal Peace-makers……Page 97
4.5. War and Mortal Divinity……Page 98
5.1. The Professionalization of Hellenistic Warfare: Definitions and Modifications……Page 104
5.2. The Social Context of Mercenary Service……Page 106
5.3. The Conditions of Service……Page 108
5.4. Garrisons and Foreign Troops in Hellenistic Cities……Page 114
5.5. Professional Ideals: Discipline, Solidarity, Masculinity……Page 119
5.6. Professional Risks: Doctors and Patients……Page 122
5.7. War as a Science: Trainers, Tacticians, and Inventors……Page 123
6.1. War and Masculinity……Page 128
6.2. In the Shadow of Soldiers: Women in Garrisons and Forts……Page 130
6.3. Spectators, Judges, and Defenders: Women’s Share of War……Page 132
6.4. Anonymous Victims……Page 137
7.1. The Budget of War: Fiscal Aspects of Hellenistic Warfare……Page 141
7.2. War and Agriculture……Page 147
7.3. The Economy of Booty……Page 155
7.4. Winners and Losers: The Impact of War on the Hellenistic Economy……Page 163
8.1. Communicating with the Gods, Boasting to Mortals……Page 169
8.2. War and Cult Transfer……Page 175
8.3. Violence against Sanctuaries and the Discourse of War……Page 180
8.4. War and the Supernatural……Page 183
8.5. Pragmatism Versus Tradition: War and the Dynamics of Rituals……Page 186
9.1. War Reflections……Page 192
9.2. War Reveals the Character of Men and Groups……Page 194
9.3. Naming Wars……Page 197
9.4. Deciding and Justifying War……Page 198
9.5. The Right of Conquest……Page 207
9.6. Longing for Peace……Page 210
10.1. Images of Violence in Hellenistic Literature and Art……Page 215
10.2. Blood is Beautiful: Realism and Subtlety in the Representation of Violence……Page 217
10.3. The Beauty of the Unexpected: Peripeteia and the Paradoxon in Narratives of War……Page 233
11.1. The Memory of War: Individual, Collective, Cultural……Page 240
11.2. War in Hellenistic Historiography……Page 243
11.3. The Monumental Historiography of War……Page 246
11.4. Oral Commemoration of War……Page 250
11.5. Commemorative Anniversaries……Page 253
11.6. War Monuments……Page 259
11.7. Collective Identity and the Glori.cation of the Individual……Page 266
12 Breaking Boundaries: How War Shaped the Hellenistic World……Page 271
Bibliography……Page 282
Name Index……Page 308
Subject Index……Page 319
Source Index……Page 330