Ancient Warfare II.3, June/July 2008

Theme: the Age of the Trireme.

Introduction: Jasper Oorthuys, 'introduction to the theme'.

The Source: Michael B. Charles, 'A picture speaks...'
When used together with literary and archaeological sources, representational evidence has allowed us to reconstruct the appearance of Greek triremes with great accuracy.

Theme: Paul McDonnell-Staff, 'With ships for spears'. Illustrated by Andrew Brozyna.

Costly, fast, manoeuverable and requiring a huge crew, the Greek trieres outclassed all ships before it as a weapon. Boarding was still used, but 'modern' tactics used the ship itself as a weapon.

Theme: Stefanos Skarmintzos, 'Hoplite Marines'. Illustrated by Igor Dzis.
From the Bronze Age we have information on the existence of organized naval forces. The need to protect the coasts from piracy evolved in the need of protecting the ships and marine commercial roads. Fighting took place 'hand to hand' with the clash of the rival crews. The need to create a body of men that would fight on the boats and on land, leading the assaults, was rendered imperative.

Theme: Christa Steinby, 'Rome's first fleets'.
Popular knowledge has it that Rome only took to the seas when it started to campaign in Sicily during the First Punic War. Not so, based on literary and archaeological evidence we can state that Rome's involvement in seafaring starts from the 6th century.

Theme: Jona Lendering, 'Stumbling to disaster. The battle of Sybota'. Illustrated by Johnny Shumate and Carlos de la Rocha.
Tensions between states are inevitable. When diplomats can control these tensions, we call it peace, and it is not a good thing when diplomacy fails. It is true that conflicts sometimes just vanish or become irrelevant compared to other problems, but there is every reason to get worried when negotiators cannot reach a solution.

Features

The find: Christian Koepfer, 'A culture rising. Hallstatt Noblemen.'.
In 1846 the public servant responsible for mining for the little community of Hallstatt in the Salzkammergut in Austria, Johann Georg Ramsauer, accidentally discovered a large iron-age cemetery while opening a new rubble quarry. Untypical for the time, Ramsauer, with the help of one of his miners, Isidor Engl, meticulously excavated and documented the burial ground.

Special: Ross Cowan, 'Longest Lived: Legio Quinta Macedonica Antiqua'. Illustrated by Graham Sumner.
Legio Quinta Macedonica was the longest lived of all the Roman legions. Formed between 43 and 40 BC, it is still attested in the seventh century AD. The early history of the legion is well known. This article will trace the legion from AD 293 until its final appearance in 635/6.

Be a general: Murray Dahm, 'Command by Example' Illustrated by Andrew Brozyna.
This will look at the remarkable career of Frontinus who not only wrote military literature but has left works on topics as widespread as aqueduct management and land surveying. Afterwards, we'll see if we can put his military teachings as they survive in the Strategemata to the test.