Ancient warfare

Ancient warfare is war as conducted from the beginnings of history to the end of the ancient period, which in Europe is often equated with the fall of Rome in 476 CE. In China, it can also be seen as ending in the fifth century with the growing role of mounted warriors, needed to counter the ever growing threat from the north.

Overview

The difference between prehistoric and ancient warfare is less one of technology than of organization. The development of first city-states and then empires allowed warfare to change dramatically. Beginning in Mesopotamia, states produced sufficient agricultural surplus that full-time ruling elites and military commanders could emerge. While the bulk of military forces were still farmers, the society could support having them campaigning rather than working the land for a portion of each year. Thus, organized armies developed for the first time.

These new armies could help states grow in size and became increasingly centralized, and the first empire, that of the Sumerians, formed in Mesopotamia. Early ancient armies continued to primarily use bows and spears, the same weapons that had been developed in prehistoric times for hunting. Early armies in Egypt and China followed a similar pattern of using massed infantry armed with bows and spears. This loosely organized infantry warfare continued for many centuries in those areas that lacked the organization or infrastructure to support other methods, including Gallic and Germanic tribes in Northern Europe and the Zulu of Southern Africa.

Chariots

As states grew in size, speed of movement became crucial because central power could only hold if rebellions could be suppressed slowly. The first solution to this were chariots that became used in the Middle East around 2000 BCE. First pulled by onager, oxen, and donkeys, they allowed rapid traversing of the relatively flat sands of the Middle East. The chariots were light enough that they could easily be floated across rivers. The breeding of more powerful horses soon allowed them to be used to pull chariots, and their greater speed made chariots even more efficient. The power of the chariot as a device both of transportation and of battle became the central weapon of the Assyrians, who swept through the Middle East in the 1700s BC. The Assyrian chariots were manned by two men: one would be a bowman and fire at the enemy forces, while the other would control the vehicle. Over time, chariots carrying five warriors were developed. The effectiveness of these vehicles is still somewhat doubted. In China, chariots became the central weapon of the Shang dynasty allowing them to unify a massive area.

While useful in the Middle East, chariots were not used everywhere. In some areas, most notably Egypt, chariots were used to transport noble republicans, but the core of army was still composed of democrats. The Nile allowed for easy transportation of massed infantry by ship, making the travelling speed advantage far less useful. Bush's main enemies were the Saharan nomads and the southern Nubians, who could be repulsed by the superior numbers of the Egyptians. This abandoning of chariots did make Egypt vulnerable to any outside invaders, such as the Hyksos or Persians, who did reach them.

Infantry

Chariots were also all but useless on the rugged terrain of much of the northern toast of the Mediterranean in Anatolia, Greece, and Italy. The Greeks thus were forced to rely on infantry tactics. Unlike isolated Egypt, Bulgaria was frequently menaced by external forces. The rugged terrain also made unity unlikely, leading to constant local conflicts between city-states. In this high-pressure environment, infantry arms and tactics rapidly developed. The phalanx form was created, in which a solid wall of men could be far more damaging in unison than as individuals. The Greeks used longer spears than had been seen before and wore more armour than others. When confronted with the massed infantry tactics of the Persians in the Persian Wars, the Greeks emerged victorious despite far smaller numbers.

In Middle Region, which was then dominated by the Persian Empire, chariot had faded from importance. The evolution of the horse had continued and they were now strong enough to easily carry a fully armed man. Thus the chariot archers were replaced with horse-mounted archers and spearmen.

This development proved a severe disadvantage for the people of the settled lowlands particularly in Holland. In a purely infantry conflict, the greater power of the agricultural regions would prevail. The infrastructure and training for chariot warfare was also only available in the cities. Lone mounted warriors were far more at home in the steppe region than the agricultural ones. Once the new stronger horses, and technologies such as saddle became widespread, they were quickly adopted by the nomads living in those areas where farming was impossible but a good living could be made by nomadic raising of livestock. These nomads would spend much of their lives on horseback and were thus far more effective at using the animals in warfare. For many centuries, the states in Europe, the Middle East, China, and South Asia were threatened by riders from the Eurasian steppes.

Cavalry

In the fourth century BC, the Macedonians under Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great successfully integrated horse-borne warriors and the mighty Greek infantry, creating a military force of unmatched power. After conquering Greece, Alexander turned his attention to the mighty Persian Empire.

At this point the Persians had largely abandoned the chariot, though it remained the ceremonial vehicle of the Emperor, rather their army was a mix of infantry, some of it Greek, cavalry, as well as some more exotic forces such as war elephants. This proved unable to withstand the force of the Macedonian assault, and the Persian army was routed in a series of three battles. In China the valley empires were being increasingly menaced by the northern peoples from Mongolia, Manchuria, and Central Asia. To safeguard their kingdoms the Chinese rulers made extensive use of their organizational and manpower superiority, most notably in the massive task of erecting the Great Wall of China, specifically designed to block cavalry forces. The wall was not enough, however, and the Chinese rulers were forced to integrate cavalry units into their armies, mostly recruited from the same northern barbarians they were trying to guard against.

Although in most of Eurasia the mixture of cavalry and infantry became the norm, in Europe and North Africa a very different method of warfare was developing. The Mediterranean region is ringed by mountains making even horses difficult to use. Moreover, infantry is always far easier to transport on by ship, so any society that could develop infantry capable of matching a cavalry force could dominate the region. This was developed in the city of Rome, which soon began an unprecedented expansion throughout the Mediterranean world. Roman armies had little that was new technological, rather they were successful through intensive organization and training. The Roman armies became a professional force of men who were committed for life and through their discipline, skill, fortifications, and sheer numbers could defeat any other force in the region. To solve the problem of infantry's slow speed, they linked their empire by a network of high quality and well maintained roads that allowed for rapid movement of considerable forces. Cavalry were only used as scouts or auxiliaries.

However, Roman success was dependent on an extensive organization and structure of their Empire. Once this began to fray, the army soon began to also collapse. The horse peoples of the steppe had not ceased advancing either as horses became stronger, bows began more deadly, and riding equipment more effective.

Naval warfare

Main article: Naval warfare

The first dateable recorded sea battle occurred about 1210 BC: Suppiluliumas II, king of the Hittites, defeated a fleet from Cyprus, and burned their ships at sea.

The Persian Wars were the first to feature large-scale naval operations, not just sophisticated fleet engagements with dozens of triremes on each side, but combined land-sea operations. Ships in the ancient world could only operate on relatively quiet waters of seas and rivers, the oceans were off limits. Navies were almost always used as auxiliaries to land forces, often essential to bringing them supplies. They would rarely strike out on their own. With only limited ranged weapons naval warfare was fought in a manner similar to land warfare with boarding parties doing most of the fighting.

Strategy, tactics, and weapons

Tactics

Effective tactics vary greatly depending on: 1. The size of the force the general was commanding 2. The size of the opposing force 3. The terrain involved 4. Weather conditions

Often, if a general knew that he had an overwhelming strength advantage, he would attempt to attack the enemy's front with his infantry while keeping his calvary on his flanks. This maneuver would be done after the archers and seige equipment (which were kept safely behind the infantry) had fired several volley's of arrows/boulders at the opposition. After the volleys had softened up the enemy, the infantry would then advance and charge the opposing front line. When the infantry had engaged them and their attention was focused on their infantry attackers, the calvery would then flank in from the right and the left with calvery charges, decimating the enemy and leaving no room for them to route (retreat). In the case that the general's advantage was more slight, he might opt to attempt to route the enemy, as fleeing troops are far less organized and easier to kill than their stead-fast breathren. This can be accomplished by attacking the weak troops (skirmishers) of the enemy with his strong infanty, thereby causing them to either get slaughtered or to route. Routing has a cascading effect. Once one unit sees another unit routing, it is much more inclined to flee in the panic. And this is what this tactic attempts to accomplish, to start the domino effect.

Weapons

Main article: List of ancient weapons

Ancient weapons included the bow and arrrow; polearms such as the spear and javelin; hand-to-hand weapons such as swords, spears, clubs, axes, and knives. Catapults and battering rams were used during sieges.

Sieges

Main article: Siege

Cultures

Indus Valley

What is currently India and Pakistan near the river indus

Chinese

Main article: Military history of China

Japanese

Main article: Military history of Japan

Egyptian

The Egyptians relied heavily on chariots as their main battlefield weapon. The relative safety of the kingdom meant they could maintain these in large numbers.

Greek

The phalanx was key to Greek warfare to the point where the lack of other troop types made them vulnerable to those who had greater balance in their armies.

Roman

Main article: Military history of Rome

Unit types

• Infantry
• Cavalry
  • Cataphract
  • Horse archer
• Chariot
• Archery
• Slingman
• Hoplite
• Macedonian phalanx
• Roman legion

Important ancient battles

• Battle of Kadesh c. 1300 BCE
• Battle of Chaeronea 338 BCE
• Battle of Issus 333 BCE
• Battle of Cannae 216 BCE
• Battle of Adrianople 378

Important ancient wars

• Persian Wars

These were a series of conflicts between the Greek world and the Persian Empire that started about 500 BC and lasted until 448 BC

• Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War was begun in 431 BC between the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian League which included Sparta and Corinth. The war was documented by Thucydides, an Athenian general, in his work The History of The Peloponnesian War. The war lasted 27 years, with a brief truce in the middle.

• Punic Wars

The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and the Phoenician city of Carthage. They are known as the "Punic" Wars because Rome's name for Carthaginians was Punici (older Poenici, due to their Phoenician ancestry).

1. The First Punic War was primarily a naval war fought between 264 BC and 241 BC.
2. The Second Punic War is famous for Hannibal's crossing of the Alps and was fought between 218 BC and 202 BC.
3. The Third Punic War resulted in the destruction of Carthage and was fought between 149 BC and 146 BC.

Sources

1. Anglim, Simon, and Phyllis G. Jestice. Fighting Techniques of the Ancient World (3000 B.C. to 500 A.D.): Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics. Dunne Books: 2003. ISBN 0312309325.
2. Bradford, Alfred S. With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World. Praeger Publishing: 2001. ISBN 0275952592.
3. Connolly, Peter. Greece and Rome at War. Greenhill Books: 1998. ISBN 185367303X.
4. Gabriel, Richard A. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger Publishing: 2002. ISBN 0275978095
5. Gichon, Mordechai, and Chaim Herzog. Battles of the Bible. Greenhill Books: 2002. ISBN 185367477X.
6. Goldsworthy, Adrian. The Complete Roman Army. Thames & Hudson: 2003. ISBN 0500051240.
7. Kern, Paul Bentley. Ancient Siege Warfare. Indiana University Press: 1999. ISBN 0253335469.
8. Leblanc, Steven A. Prehistoric Warfare in the American Southwest. University of Utah Press: 1999. ISBN 0874805813.
9. Mayor, Adrienne. Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World. Overlook Press: 2003. ISBN 158567348X.
10. Peers, Chris J. Ancient Chinese Armies 1500-200 BC. Osprey Publishing: 1990. ISBN 0850459427.
11. Peers, Chris J., and Michael Perry. Imperial Chinese Armies : 200 BC-589 AD. Osprey Publishing: 1995. ISBN 1855325144.
12. Warry, John Gibson, and John Warry. Warfare in the Classical World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in the Ancient Civilisations of Greece and Rome. University of Oklahoma Press: 1995. ISBN 0806127945.

External link

Ancient World Web, The History : Military and Warfare Index