Exploiting the abundant primary sources available, this book examines the diverse ways in which war shaped the Hellenistic world.
An overview of war and society in the Hellenistic world.
Highlights the interdependence of warfare and social phenomena.
Covers a wide range of topics, including social conditions as causes of war, the role of professional warriors, the discourse of war in Hellenistic cities, the budget of war, the collective memory of war, and the aesthetics of war.
Draws on the abundance of primary sources available.
List of Figures x
List of Maps xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Table of Important Events xvii
Preface xxi
1 The Ubiquitous War1
1.1. The Visibility of War
1.2. The Frequency of Wars
1.3. Reasons to Fight
2 Between Civic Duties and Oligarchic Aspirations: Devoted Citizens, Brave Generals, and Generous Benefactors18
2.1. Fighting Against a Neighbor: A Privilege of the Polis
2.2. Warfare as a Citizens Duty
2.3. City and Land: Structure and Hierarchy
2.4. The Defense of the City as the Stage of Civic Elites
2.5. Local Hero: The Statesman as a Military Leader
2.6. Euergetism in War and the Ideology of Inequality
2.7. From Individual Services to the Heredity of Leadership
3 The Age of War: Fighting Young Men44
3.1. Restless Warriors
3.2. Training Fighters
3.3. Rituals for Young Warriors
4 The Interactive King: War and the Ideology of Hellenistic Monarchy57
4.1. War and the Acceptance of Monarchical Rule
4.2. The King and His Army
4.3. The King and the City
4.4. The Wolf as a Sheep: Royal Peace-makers
4.5. War and Mortal Divinity
5 War as a Profession: Officers, Trainers, Doctors, Engineers78
5.1. The Professionalization of Hellenistic Warfare: Definitions and Modifications
5.2. The Social Context of Mercenary Service
5.3. The Conditions of Service
5.4. Garrisons and Foreign Troops in Hellenistic Cities
5.5. Professional Ideals: Discipline, Solidarity, Masculinity
5.6. Professional Risks: Doctors and Patients
5.7. War as a Science: Trainers, Tacticians, and Inventors
6 The Gender of War: Masculine Warriors, Defenseless Women, and Beyond102
6.1. War and Masculinity
6.2. In the Shadow of Soldiers: Women in Garrisons and Forts
6.3. Spectators, Judges, and Defenders: Womens Share of War
6.4. Anonymous Victims
7 The Cost and Profit of War: Economic Aspects of Hellenistic Warfare115
7.1. The Budget of War: Fiscal Aspects of Hellenistic Warfare
7.2. War and Agriculture
7.3. The Economy of Booty
7.4. Winners and Losers: The Impact of War on the Hellenistic Economy
8 An Age of Miracles and Saviors: The Effects of Hellenistic Wars on Religion143
8.1. Communicating with the Gods, Boasting to Mortals
8.2. War and Cult Transfer
8.3. Violence against Sanctuaries and the Discourse of War
8.4. War and the Supernatural
8.5. Pragmatism Versus Tradition: War and the Dynamics of Rituals
9 The Discourse of War166
9.1. War Reflections
9.2. War Reveals the Character of Men and Groups
9.3. Naming Wars
9.4. Deciding and Justifying War
9.5. The Right of Conquest
9.6. Longing for Peace
10 Aesthetics of War189
10.1. Images of Violence in Hellenistic Literature and Art
10.2. Blood is Beautiful: Realism and Subtlety in the Representation of Violence
10.3. The Beauty of the Unexpected: Peripeteia and the Paradoxon in Narratives of War
11 The Memory of War214
11.1. The Memory of War: Individual, Collective, Cultural
11.2. War in Hellenistic Historiography
11.3. The Monumental Historiography of War
11.4. Oral Commemoration of War
11.5. Commemorative Anniversaries
11.6. War Monuments
11.7. Collective Identity and the Glorification of the Individual
12 Breaking Boundaries: How War Shaped the Hellenistic World245
Bibliography 256
Name Index 282
Subject Index 293
Source Index 304
