Military Leadership from Ancient Greece to Byzantium: The Art of Generalship

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2022

Military Leadership from Ancient Greece to Byzantium

The Art of Generalship

Edited by: Shaun Tougher

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474459969

Overview
Contents

About this book

Considers the ideals and realities of generalship across the Greek, Roman and Byzantine worlds

Addresses a neglected aspect in the study of ancient warfare
Analyses views generated in different ancient cultures about the theory and practice of generalship
Brings together the latest research on generalship from a wide spectrum of academic experts
Contains discussion of the theory and practice of generalship in other contemporary cultures including Persia, Arabia and China

This volume is unique in addressing a key aspect of ancient warfare across a broad chronological and cultural span, focusing on generalship from Archaic Greece to the Byzantine Empire in the twelfth century AD. Across this broad span, it explores a range of ideas on how to be a successful general, showing how the art of generalship – a profession that has been occupied variously by the political elite, the mercenary soldier and the eunuch – evolved and adapted to shifting notions of how a good military leader should act.

Highlighting developments and continuities in this age-old profession across the Graeco-Roman world, this volume brings together the latest research on generalship from both established and new voices. The chapters examine both ideals of generalship and specific examples of generals, considering the principles underpinning the roles they played and the qualities desired in them. They discuss in particular the intersection between military and political roles, the addresses delivered by generals to their troops, the virtue of courage and the commemoration of victory as well as defeat. In addition, contributors consider cross-cultural comparisons of generalship, with specific chapters devoted to Persian, Arab and Chinese views.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
List of Contributors Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xii
Introduction Richard Evans and Shaun Tougher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Kings, Tyrants and Bandy-Legged Men: Generalship in Archaic Greece Cezary Kucewicz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	6
2 Commemorating Thermopylae: The andreia of Glorious Defeat as a Literary Construct Richard Evans Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
3 Plato on Military and Political Leadership Nicholas Rockwell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	52
4 Reconstructing Early Seleucid Generalship, 301–222 bc Alex McAuley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
5 Generalship and Knowledge in the Middle Roman Republic Michael Taylor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
6 Command Assessment in the Bellum Gallicum: Caesar and Fortuna David Nolan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	98
7 Remembering P. Quinctilius Varus: Opposing Perspectives on the Memory and Memorialisation of the Failed General in the Annales of Tacitus Daniel Crosby Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
8 Decius and the Battle near Abritus David Potter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
9 Ammianus and the Heroic Mode of Generalship in the Fourth Century ad Conor Whately Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
10 The Fine Line between Courage and Fear in the Vandal War Michael Stewart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	164
11 The Generalship of John Troglita: Art in Artifice Martine de Marre Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
12 The Best of Men: Cross-Cultural Command in the 630s ad Eve MacDonald Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
13 Tian Yue Marshals His Tropes: Public Persuasion and the Character of Military Leadership in Late Tang China David A Graff Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
14 The Ideal of the Roman General in Byzantium: The Reception of Onasander’s Strategikos in Byzantine Military Literature Philip Rance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	242
15 Generalship and Gender in Byzantium: Non‑Campaigning Emperors and Eunuch Generals in the Age of the Macedonian Dynasty Shaun Tougher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	264
16 The Politics of War: Virtue, Tyche, Persuasion and the Byzantine General Dimitris Krallis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	284
Epilogue Richard Evans and Shaun Tougher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	306
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	351

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 376
Keywords: Classics & Ancient History

eBook

Published: May 9, 2022
ISBN: 9781474459969