Ancient Warfare IV.1, 2010

Release February 15th.

Theme: A multitude of peoples: Before Rome ruled Italy.

Introduction: Paul McDonnell-Staff, 'Introduction to the theme.' Illustrated by Carlos de la Rocha

The Source: Michael J. Taylor, 'A dedication to Mars. The Lapis Satricanus.' Illustrated by Andrew Brozyna

In 1977, Dutch archaeologists discovered a stone tablet at Satricum, near modern-day Conca, about 60 kilometers southeast of Rome. The stone had been recycled to construct a temple to the morning goddess Matuta Mater in the 480s BC, but in the process an older inscription was preserved.

Theme: Corrado Re, 'Hero to Hoplite. Villanovan and Etruscan warriors.' Illustrated by Johnny Shumate

As the first important civilization to spread over most of Italy, the Etruscans preceded Rome as the peninsula’s main power. They were also the first important enemies for the rising city, dominating the town for some time.

The roots of the Etruscans lie in the earlier Villanovan Culture (9th-8th centuries BC). The latter can be considered the forerunner of the Etruscans, although the term Villanovan does not imply a direct and unequivocal identification. It indicates shared cultural traits, but does not define ethnicity.

Commerce from the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East during the 7th century BC brought the Orientalizing period, fundamental to the rise of a particular Etruscan identity.

Theme: Christian Koepfer, 'Samnite warriors. Southern Italian warriors 500-300BC.' Illustrated by Sebastian Schulz

In southern Italy, two main cultural groups are identifiable through archaeological evidence and literary accounts from the above-mentioned period: the indigenous Italic peoples, labeled by the Romans mostly as ‘Samnites’, and the Greeks, which will not be investigated in this article. In certain regions, such as around Naples, we have evidence for cultural exchange between these two groups to such an extent that they cannot be clearly distinguished archaeologically anymore.

Theme: Fred Ray, 'Sparta's Italiote descendants. Barbarian wars of the Tarentines.' Illustrated by Angel Garcia Pinto

The Sallentine Peninsula that forms the heel of Italy saw a fierce struggle in classical times between indigenous peoples and settlers from Greece. Iapygan tribes had long held sway over this region, having crossed the Adriatic Sea from northwest Illyria (Albania) in the distant past. Our scanty records don’t reveal early native reaction to the arrival of Greek immigrants, but it’s likely to have quickly turned hostile.

Theme: Ross Cowan, 'Victory by divine intervention. The battle of Bovianum'

In 311 BC, the Roman consul Iunius Bubulcus invaded Samnium, captured the famous stronghold of Bovianum and fought his way clear of an ambush to win one of the greatest victories of the Samnite Wars. Or did he? The ancient written sources are contradictory, and the tradition that the consul was in fact defeated, may gain support from an intriguing Lucanian tomb painting.

Theme: Alberto Perez, 'Agile status symbols. Chariots in Italy.'

Two-wheeled war chariots appear around 750 BC as a prestige item brought to Italy by traders from the eastern Mediterranean and Greek colonizers. In Greece they had survived the Dark Ages as descendants of Mycenaean chariots, and we find them frequently depicted on Late Geometric pottery. Homeric epics recount how the noble warriors rode into battle on their chariots, driven by a charioteer, but the advent of hoplite warfare relegated them to religious ceremonies and races, as in the Olympic games.

Features

Special: Stephan Berry, 'Evidence of trauma. Bioarchaeolgy and the ancient battlefield.' Illustrated by Andrew Brozyna

Scientific approaches, such as physical and chemical analyses, computer tomography or molecular biology, had many fruitful applications in archaeology over the last decades. Such methods also provide fascinating new insights on the battlefields and the fate of the warriors of antiquity – and of the civilians, who were affected by war as well.

The debate: Duncan Campbell, 'The debate: Did Rome have a Grand Strategy?'

When Augustus died in AD 14, his empire stretched from Spain and Portugal in the west to Syria in the east, and from the English channel in the north to Tunisia and the Libyan coastal strip in the south. It was his final wish, as reported by Tacitus, that the empire should not be extended beyond its existing boundaries. Clearly, over the next three hundred years, this advice was not always followed. Many of his successors exercised their own judgement in running the empire. But to what extent did any of them follow a grand strategy?