Ancient Military History

Catalog description

This course is a comprehensive survey of ancient and classical warfare (prehistory to c. AD 500) in Western Civilization from the origins of warfare in the Paleolithic period to the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century. The millennia under study in this course were a dynamic period in warfare, full of important discoveries and innovations in martial technologies, strategy, organization and combined-arms tactics, fortification, siege craft, and naval warfare. Students will read and analyze a wide variety of sources on ancient and classical warfare in Mesopotamia and the Near East (Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Hittite, Assyrian and Persian), Egypt (Old, Middle and New Kingdom), Greece (Mycenaean, Archaic, Hellenic and Hellenistic) and Rome (Republican and Imperial) in order to develop an appreciation of the important contributions of these civilizations to the continuity of warfighting in the Western world. (Prerequisite: HIST300/HS334 for History and Military History majors only)