Beyond the Battlefields: New Perspectives on Warfare and Society in the Graeco-Roman World

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.
About the Author: Edward Bragg has submitted a doctorate in Ancient History at Wadham College, Oxford, as well as following a PGCE in Classics at Kings College, London. His research focuses on the methods that Roman commanders employed during the Republic to promote their military achievements in the city of Rome. He has published an article in Omnibus on Caesar's perception of violence. Lisa Irene Hau is a teaching fellow at Bristol University, having completed her doctorate in Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London in 2007. Her research focuses on ancient historiography as literature, more specifically on moralizing themes and techniques in historiography. She has published an article on Diodorus of Sicily and Polybius in Classica et Mediaevalia (2006). Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis submitted her doctorate in Classical Archaeology at St John's College, Oxford in 2007. Her research focuses on the archaeology and history of Roman gardens, architecture and art, with particular interests in garden design, ancient plants, and the construction of space. She has published several articles on ancient Roman gardens in excavation reports and in Levant. She also co-edited Crossing Frontiers: The Opportunities and Challenges of Interdisciplinary Approaches to Archaeology (2007).