Discover Ancient Warfare Magazine Vol VIII-6 - The Roman Conquest of Greece

Ancient Warfare viii.6



Topic : The Roman conquest of Greece



Subject: joseph hall, the roman conquest of greece - historical introduction



From the rivers and plains of northern Macedonia to the southern heart of the peninsula – among whose rugged mountains and plateaus lay the venerable poleis of ancient Greece – countless kingdoms, city-states, leagues and tribes alternately fought for supremacy and survival in an ever-shifting flux of alliances. Into this world, already ancient before their arrival, crashed the young Roman Republic which, though relatively unknown at first, eventually came to dominate a region once so fiercely independent.



Source: Michael J. Taylor, Pydna Monument at Delphi - Engraved in Stone



After defeating and capturing Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, and imposing a post-war settlement, Aemilius Paulus set out on a grand tour of Greece, a combination of religious pilgrimage, imperial recognition and well-earned holiday. His itinerary inevitably included the great Panhellenic sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, and there, among the other monuments, he beheld a pillar that Perseus had been building for himself; at the top was a platform where a royal statue would stand. Paullus promptly ordered the incomplete pillar to be reworked as a monument to himself, with his own statue installed in the place of the deposed king’s image.



Topic: Gabriel Baker, Greek Reactions to Roman Warfare: The Ugliest Violence and Anarchy



In 200 BC, the Roman Republic declared war on King Philip V of Macedonia for a second time. Although Macedonian strength had diminished since the reign of its most famous monarch, Alexander the Great, Philip was still formidable and maintained a tight grip on the southern Greeks through a network of alliances, garrisons, and fortified cities. Seeking to loosen this hold and expand his enemy’s resources, a Roman expeditionary force quickly crossed the Adriatic, attacking targets throughout Greece and neighboring regions. Before the year was out, many Greeks could see legionaries walking through their fields and the sails of Roman warships billowing in their waters.



The reenactor: Jasper Oorthuys, two Roman legionaries of the Republic - soldiers of Rome



Everyone immediately recognises the Republican Roman soldiers on the right. Chain mail, short sword, helmet, scutum and let us not forget the caligae, mark these men as legionaries. To locate them chronologically it is necessary to examine their equipment.



Topic: owen rees, the last of the greeks - filopemen



At a time when greek history is traditionally cast in the shadow of its macedonian superiors, a small ray of light emerges with the life and career of one of the greatest innovators of warfare produced by any of the greek states. philopoemen does not stand out as the best of a bad bunch. he was a man of resilience, fortitude and cunning; a man who could match the military ingenuity of generals like iphicrates and alexander the great on a fraction of the budget. he was loved by the greeks, respected by the romans and feared by his enemies. it is time his story became better known.



Subject: michael park, the battle of cynoscephalae, 197 bc - the dog heads



The mist, though cleared from the ridge tops, clung to the ground and rolled down into the valley of Enipeus to the south. Though the shouts and cries of the combatants could be heard from the slopes, little could be discerned. On his side, the Macedonian king Philip V vacillated between engaging or retreating. The Illyrian and mercenary Thureophoroi (all of his auxiliary troops apart from the Thracians), as well as over half of his cavalry, had been engaged in the escalating "encounter" skirmish that had developed into a battle for the heights of Cynoscephalae (the Dogs' Heads), a ridge of rugged, parallel-outlier hills jutting out into the Pharsalus Plain.



Subject: ruben post, weapons, armor and greek society - weapons make the man



For the Greeks of the Iron Age and Archaic period, weapons were among the most powerful symbols of one's place in society. Elites carried weapons openly in everyday life and decorated their homes with expensive weapons, while most of the poor fought with whatever rudimentary weapons they could make or obtain. Examining the role of weapons in society is of equal importance to the historian of the Greek city-states of the late Classical and early Hellenistic periods.



Topic: Sydney E. dean, team of the roman-macedonian wars - pilum vs pike



Rome’s ultimate victory in the wars with Macedonia has been attributed to superior organization and tactics. Organization and tactics are inherently tied to the weaponry and armor deployed by each combatant. The versatility and flexibility of the legions were made possible because Roman weapons and shields allowed soldiers to move quickly from one threat to another and to traverse difficult terrain without breaking formation. Macedonian reliance on the pike as their primary offensive weapon made their army unwieldy, an opportunity that the legions were quick to exploit.



Special: Alberto Pérez Rubio, women and war in the late Iron Age - Fighting as a woman



Half of the warriors were women! Shield maidens are not a myth! In the wake of the success of the television series Vikings, a 2011 article by Shane McLeod examining the sex ratio of Norse immigrants to eastern England received widespread, if distorted, publicity. McLeod compared skeletal evidence from several burials with their grave goods, confirming that a woman could be buried with “masculine” goods, such as weapons – a notion already widely acknowledged among archaeologists.



Special: Matthew Beazley, Julian's campaigns against the Germans - recovery of Eastern Gaul



Flavius ​​claudius julianus (julian) was appointed caesar by the emperor constantius ii in 355 ad. prior to his appointment, julian had not held any previous political or military office. however, he was one of constantius's last surviving relatives. the emperor, fighting in the east, needed someone to deal with border issues along the rhine. for too long the germans had been raiding and living within gaul without real retaliation.
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