10-08-2006, 01:47 AM
Hello all,
I have been occasionally lurking on this interesting forum after Dan Howard brought it to my attention. I thought I'd sign up to enlist members' help in suggesting sources for research for a coming paper (and for reading for fun should time run out before I've read everything I really want to!) I am a Canadian undergraduate with a long-term hobby interest in premodern warfare. I will probably introduce myself properly in the Introductions thread at some point.
I am working on a high-quality undergraduate essay on Hellenistic warfare, with an emphasis on the interaction between Greek and non-Greek troops, military traditions, and fighting styles. I have read most of the classics on Achaemenid Persia (Olmstead, J.M. Cook, etc) and on Classical warfare (Connolley, K.J. Anderson's "Military Theory and Practice", VDH's hoplite battle book, etc.) I also have other useful sources on the Achaemenid army such as Paul Rahe's Cunaxa article, the Encyclopedia Iranica articles on "army" and "kardakes," Nick Sekunda's two relevant Ospreys ("Army of Alexander the Great" and "Achaemenid Persian Army"). I have read part of G.T. Griffith's The Mercenaries of the Hellenistic World and will look at one B. Bar Kochva's The Selucid Army: Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns. There are also the primary sources, although for the Hellenistic period they are famously difficult and I expect I will only have time and space to read and analyze bits and pieces.
Unfortunately, I don't think we have any good general surveys of Hellenistic warfare available in the university or department libraries. Recommending books in case I'm wrong, or can get them through interlibrary loan or purchase, would nevertheless be appreciated. A lot of surveys of Classical warfare skimp on bibliography, and skip from Alexander's death to the rise of Rome with little detail on Hellenistic warfare. I understand that Duncan Head has written a useful book on Hellenistic warfare, and one on the Achaemenid army, but am not sure I will be able to get ahold of either, especially since the latter is long out of print.
One area I am especially interested in is the incoroporation of Near Eastern troops and fighting styles into Hellenistic armies. Hellenistic tactics were characterized by the use of combined arms, and there were only so many Greeks and Macedonians available, even for the phalanx. I know that there was some recruitment of 'native' pikemen, especially since Egypt and Mesopotamia had respectable heavy infantry traditions of their own, but details are hard to find.
I have access to a decent reference library with interlibary loan privileges and access to resources like JSTOR, and about six weeks before the paper is due. Again, I'm looking in particular for good discussions of Hellenistic warfare after Alexander, and for sources on recruitment and non-Hellenic troops.
Thanks in advance for any help.
I have been occasionally lurking on this interesting forum after Dan Howard brought it to my attention. I thought I'd sign up to enlist members' help in suggesting sources for research for a coming paper (and for reading for fun should time run out before I've read everything I really want to!) I am a Canadian undergraduate with a long-term hobby interest in premodern warfare. I will probably introduce myself properly in the Introductions thread at some point.
I am working on a high-quality undergraduate essay on Hellenistic warfare, with an emphasis on the interaction between Greek and non-Greek troops, military traditions, and fighting styles. I have read most of the classics on Achaemenid Persia (Olmstead, J.M. Cook, etc) and on Classical warfare (Connolley, K.J. Anderson's "Military Theory and Practice", VDH's hoplite battle book, etc.) I also have other useful sources on the Achaemenid army such as Paul Rahe's Cunaxa article, the Encyclopedia Iranica articles on "army" and "kardakes," Nick Sekunda's two relevant Ospreys ("Army of Alexander the Great" and "Achaemenid Persian Army"). I have read part of G.T. Griffith's The Mercenaries of the Hellenistic World and will look at one B. Bar Kochva's The Selucid Army: Organization and Tactics in the Great Campaigns. There are also the primary sources, although for the Hellenistic period they are famously difficult and I expect I will only have time and space to read and analyze bits and pieces.
Unfortunately, I don't think we have any good general surveys of Hellenistic warfare available in the university or department libraries. Recommending books in case I'm wrong, or can get them through interlibrary loan or purchase, would nevertheless be appreciated. A lot of surveys of Classical warfare skimp on bibliography, and skip from Alexander's death to the rise of Rome with little detail on Hellenistic warfare. I understand that Duncan Head has written a useful book on Hellenistic warfare, and one on the Achaemenid army, but am not sure I will be able to get ahold of either, especially since the latter is long out of print.
One area I am especially interested in is the incoroporation of Near Eastern troops and fighting styles into Hellenistic armies. Hellenistic tactics were characterized by the use of combined arms, and there were only so many Greeks and Macedonians available, even for the phalanx. I know that there was some recruitment of 'native' pikemen, especially since Egypt and Mesopotamia had respectable heavy infantry traditions of their own, but details are hard to find.
I have access to a decent reference library with interlibary loan privileges and access to resources like JSTOR, and about six weeks before the paper is due. Again, I'm looking in particular for good discussions of Hellenistic warfare after Alexander, and for sources on recruitment and non-Hellenic troops.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Nullis in verba
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
