Beyond the Battlefields

Book excerpt: Beyond the Battlefields explores the relationship between warfare and society in the Graeco-Roman world through the various lenses of history, art, literature and archaeology. The study of ancient warfare often evokes images of crusty old scholars pouring over battle tactics and strategy. This book, a collection of thirteen essays by young scholars, examines the political, social, economic and artistic affects of war in ancient society in Greece and Rome, from Homeric times to the sixth century AD. Essays focus on a wide range of topics from espionage and ancient spin doctors to fantasies of peace in the Iliad and triumphal plants. Each article in this book presents the next scholarly generation’s new and dynamic approach to ancient warfare and seeks to demonstrate how much there is still to learn and understand about ancient society and warfare if we venture beyond the battlefields. “This volume represents a new wave of interest in warfare as a far more than merely military phenomenon.” Professors Brian Campbell and Hans Van Wees, excerpt from the Introduction.