Abstract
This article uses Thucydides’ literary evidence to argue that elevated terrain was prevalent in the battles of the Peloponnesian War, contrary to the orthodox view of the Classical Greek battlefield. This argument has four parts. First, Thucydides’ battles are defined and listed. Second, the references to terrain in these battle accounts are catalogued. Third, this collated data is analysed to demonstrate that elevated terrain was indeed prevalent on the battlefields of the Peloponnesian War. And, fourth, some of the military effects of this elevated terrain are explored.
Bibliography
Bettalli, M. “I trofei sui campi di battaglia nel mondo Greco.” MEFRA 121 (2009): 363–371.10.3406/mefr.2009.10898Suche in Google Scholar
Butera, C. and M. Sears. Battles and Battlefields of Ancient Greece. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military: 2019.Suche in Google Scholar
Cartledge, P. “Surrender in ancient Greece”. In How Fighting Ends, edited by H. Afflerbach and H. Strachan, 15–28. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 2012.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693627.003.0003Suche in Google Scholar
Cawkwell, G. “Orthodoxy and hoplites.” CQ 39 (1989): 375–389.10.1017/S0009838800037447Suche in Google Scholar
Crowley, J. Psychology of a Hoplite. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 2012.Suche in Google Scholar
Detienne, M. “La phalange: problèmes et controverses.” In Problèmes de la guerre en Grèce ancienne, edited by J. Vernant, 119–142. La Haye: Mouton, 1968.10.1515/9783111330570-007Suche in Google Scholar
De Vivo, J. “The memory of Greek battle: material culture and/as narrative of combat.” In Combat Trauma and the Ancient Greeks, edited by P. Meineck and D. Konstan, 163–184. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.10.1057/9781137398864_8Suche in Google Scholar
Foster, E. “Campaign and battle narratives in Thucydides.” In The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides, edited by R. Balot, S. Forsdyke and E. Foster, 301–315. New York: Oxford U. P., 2017.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199340385.013.6Suche in Google Scholar
Funke, P. and M. Haake. “Theatres of war: Thucydidean topography.” In Brill’s Companion to Thucydides, edited by A. Rengakos and A. Tsakmakis, 369–384. Leiden: Brill, 2006.10.1163/9789047404842_015Suche in Google Scholar
Garlan, Y. War in the Ancient World. Trans. J. Lloyd. London: Chatto & Windus, 1975.Suche in Google Scholar
Goldsworthy, A. “The othismos, myths and heresies: the nature of hoplite battle.” War in History 4 (1997): 1–26.10.1191/096834497667100325Suche in Google Scholar
Gomme, A. A Historical Commentary on Thucydides: Books II-III.2, The Ten Years War. Oxford: Clarendon, 1956.10.1093/actrade/9780198140016.book.1Suche in Google Scholar
Hammond, M. Thucydides: The Peloponnesian War. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 2009.10.1093/oseo/instance.00266021Suche in Google Scholar
Hanson, V. “The ideology of hoplite battle, ancient and modern.” In Hoplites, edited by V. Hanson, 3–11. London: Routledge, 1991.Suche in Google Scholar
Hanson, V. “Hoplite battle as ancient Greek warfare: when, where, and why?” In War and Violence in Ancient Greece, edited by H. van Wees, 201–232. London: Duckworth, 2000.10.2307/j.ctvvnbwv.11Suche in Google Scholar
Hanson, V. The Western Way of War. Second edition. Berkeley: University of California, 2009.Suche in Google Scholar
Hanson, V. “The hoplite narrative.” In Men of Bronze, edited by D. Kagan and D. Viggiano, 256–275. Princeton: Princeton U. P., 2013.10.23943/princeton/9780691143019.003.0012Suche in Google Scholar
Hau, L. “Nothing to celebrate? The lack or disparagement of victory celebrations in the Greek historians.” In Rituals of Triumph in the Mediterranean World, edited by A. Spalinger and J. Armstrong, 57–74. Leiden: Brill, 2013.10.1163/9789004251175_006Suche in Google Scholar
Hornblower, S. Thucydides. London: Duckworth, 1987.Suche in Google Scholar
Hornblower, S. A Commentary on Thucydides, Vol. III. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 2008.Suche in Google Scholar
Hunt, P. “Warfare.” In Brill’s Companion to Thucydides, edited by A. Rengakos and A. Tsakmakis, 385–414. Leiden: Brill, 2006.10.1163/9789047404842_016Suche in Google Scholar
Kagan, D. and D. Viggiano. “The hoplite debate.” In Men of Bronze, edited by D. Kagan and D. Viggiano, 1–56. Princeton: Princeton U. P., 2013.10.1515/9781400846306-004Suche in Google Scholar
Konijnendijk, R. “Mardonius’ senseless Greeks.” CQ 66 (2016): 1–12.10.1017/S0009838816000367Suche in Google Scholar
Konijnendijk, R. Classical Greek Tactics. Leiden: Brill, 2017.10.1163/9789004355576Suche in Google Scholar
Krentz, P. “Casualties in hoplite battles.” GRBS 26 (1985a): 13–20.Suche in Google Scholar
Krentz, P. “The nature of hoplite battle.” ClassAnt 4 (1985b): 50–61.10.2307/25010823Suche in Google Scholar
Krentz, P. “Fighting by the rules: the invention of the hoplite agôn.” Hesperia 71 (2002): 23–39.10.2972/hesp.2002.71.1.23Suche in Google Scholar
Krentz, P. “War.” In The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare, edited by P. Sabin, H. van Wees and M. Whitby, 147–185. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P., 2007.10.1017/CHOL9780521782739.007Suche in Google Scholar
Krentz, P. “Hoplite hell: how hoplites fought.” In Men of Bronze, edited by D. Kagan and D. Viggiano, 134–156. Princeton: Princeton U. P., 2013.10.1515/9781400846306-010Suche in Google Scholar
Lazenby, J. “The killing zone.” In Hoplites, edited by V. Hanson, 87–109. London: Routledge, 1991.10.4324/9780203423639_chapter_4Suche in Google Scholar
Lendon, J. Soldiers and Ghosts. New Haven: Yale U. P., 2005.Suche in Google Scholar
Luginbill, R. “Othismos: the importance of the mass-shove in hoplite warfare.” Phoenix 48 (1994): 51–61.10.2307/1192506Suche in Google Scholar
Ober, J. “Hoplites and obstacles.” In Hoplites, edited by V. Hanson, 173–196. London: Routledge, 1991.10.4324/9780203423639_chapter_7Suche in Google Scholar
Ober, J. The Athenian Revolution. Princeton: Princeton U. P., 1996.10.1515/9780691217970Suche in Google Scholar
Paul, G. “Two battles in Thucydides.” Echos du Monde Classique 31 (1987): 307–312.Suche in Google Scholar
Pritchett, W. Studies in Ancient Greek Topography, Part 2: Battlefields. Berkeley: University of California, 1969.Suche in Google Scholar
Pritchett, W. The Greek State at War, Part II. Berkeley: University of California, 1974.10.1525/9780520342064Suche in Google Scholar
Raaflaub, K. “War and the city: the brutality of war and its impact on the community.” In Combat Trauma and the Ancient Greeks, P. Meineck and D. Konstan, 15–46. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.10.1057/9781137398864_2Suche in Google Scholar
Rawlings, L. The Ancient Greeks at War. Manchester: Manchester U. P., 2007.10.7228/manchester/9780719056574.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Tritle, L. A New History of the Peloponnesian War. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.10.1002/9781444315677Suche in Google Scholar
Trundle, M. “Commemorating victory in Classical Greece: why Greek tropaia?” In Rituals of Triumph in the Mediterranean World, edited by A. Spalinger and J. Armstrong, 123–138. Leiden: Brill, 2013.10.1163/9789004251175_009Suche in Google Scholar
van Wees, H. Greek Warfare. London: Duckworth, 2004.Suche in Google Scholar
Waterfield, R. Herodotus: the Histories. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 2008.Suche in Google Scholar
Wilson, J. Pylos 425 BC. Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1979.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Potent kings and antisocial heroes: lion symbolism and elite masculinity in ancient Mesopotamia and Greece
- Time Is Running. Ancient Greek Chronography and the Ancient Near East
- “Bad News” in Herodotos and Thoukydides: misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda
- Thucydides and Topography: the neglected prevalence and significance of elevated terrain in Classical Greek battles
- Ancient Roman Naval Rams as Objects of Phallic Power
- Overburdened Gauls: the case of Florus and Sacrovir’s revolt of 21 CE
- “In Imitation of Hadrian:” memory and urban construction in the Late Antique Near East
- Was There a Military Revolution at the End of Antiquity?
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Potent kings and antisocial heroes: lion symbolism and elite masculinity in ancient Mesopotamia and Greece
- Time Is Running. Ancient Greek Chronography and the Ancient Near East
- “Bad News” in Herodotos and Thoukydides: misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda
- Thucydides and Topography: the neglected prevalence and significance of elevated terrain in Classical Greek battles
- Ancient Roman Naval Rams as Objects of Phallic Power
- Overburdened Gauls: the case of Florus and Sacrovir’s revolt of 21 CE
- “In Imitation of Hadrian:” memory and urban construction in the Late Antique Near East
- Was There a Military Revolution at the End of Antiquity?