9780300119794-0300119798-Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity

Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity

ISBN-13: 9780300119794
ISBN-10: 0300119798
Edition: 7/23/06
Author: J. E. Lendon
Publication date: 2006
Publisher: Yale University Press
Format: Paperback 480 pages
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Book details

ISBN-13: 9780300119794
ISBN-10: 0300119798
Edition: 7/23/06
Author: J. E. Lendon
Publication date: 2006
Publisher: Yale University Press
Format: Paperback 480 pages

Summary

Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity (ISBN-13: 9780300119794 and ISBN-10: 0300119798), written by authors J. E. Lendon, was published by Yale University Press in 2006. With an overall rating of 4.1 stars, it's a notable title among other Greece (Ancient Civilizations History, Rome, Reference, Historical Study & Educational Resources, Strategy, Military History, World History, History, Encyclopedias & Subject Guides) books. You can easily purchase or rent Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity (Paperback) from BooksRun, along with many other new and used Greece books and textbooks. And, if you're looking to sell your copy, our current buyback offer is $0.48.

Description

A major new history of battle in the ancient world, from the age of Homer through the decline of the Roman empire

What set the successful armies of Sparta, Macedon, and Rome apart from those they defeated? In this major new history of battle from the age of Homer through the decline of the Roman empire, J. E. Lendon surveys a millennium of warfare to discover how militaries change—and don’t change—and how an army’s greatness depends on its use of the past.

Noting this was an age that witnessed few technological advances, J. E. Lendon shows us that the most successful armies were those that made the most effective use of cultural tradition. Ancient combat moved forward by looking backward for inspiration—the Greeks, to Homer; the Romans, to the Greeks and to their own heroic past. The best ancient armies recruited soldiers from societies with strong competitive traditions; and the best ancient leaders, from Alexander to Julius Caesar, called upon those traditions to encourage ferocious competition at every rank.

Ranging from the Battle of Champions between Sparta and Argos in 550 B.C. through Julian’s invasion of Persia in A.D. 363, Soldiers and Ghosts brings to life the most decisive military contests of ancient Greece and Rome. Lendon places these battles, and the methods by which they were fought, in a sweeping narrative of ancient military history. On every battlefield, living soldiers fought alongside the ghosts of tradition—ghosts that would inspire greatness for almost a millennium before ultimately coming to stifle it.

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