The War Cry in the Graeco-Roman World
eBook - ePub

The War Cry in the Graeco-Roman World

  1. 200 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The War Cry in the Graeco-Roman World

About this book

This book aims to reconceptualise the Graeco-Roman military phenomenon of the "war cry"; the term itself is inadequate for defining an ancient military practice that has been misrepresented in modern media and understudied by contemporary scholars.

Gersbach introduces the term and paradigm "battle expression" to replace "war cry", which acknowledges the variety of undertakings, visual and sonic, that military forces from the Graeco-Roman world presented on the battlefield before, during or after battle. The "battle expression" was sophisticated in nature; it could include significant cultural song or dance that required high levels of rehearsal and execution. Conversely, battle expression types demonstrated spontaneous wit and humour on the part of a military force that aimed to capitalise on the experiences of a battle. These performances served a variety of purposes outside of instilling group cohesion among the participants and to intimidate the onlooking enemy. This book associates the psychological dimension of warfare, religious identity and military strategy supported by the High Command to this practice. In addition, the author draws comparisons with later historical periods, as well as the actions of modern-day European football supporters in stadiums, to reconstruct the atmosphere created by ancient military forces on the battlefield.

The War Cry in the Graeco-Roman World is suitable for students and scholars of Classical Studies, particularly those interested in ancient warfare and military history, as well as those studying the history of warfare more broadly.

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Yes, you can access The War Cry in the Graeco-Roman World by James Gersbach in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
2022
Print ISBN
9781032248585
eBook ISBN
9781000812732
Edition
1
Topic
History
Index
History

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Series
  4. Title
  5. Copyright
  6. Contents
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. 1 From war cry to the “battle expression”
  9. 2 Graeco-Roman literary and archaeological sources
  10. 3 Battlefield atmosphere
  11. 4 Group cohesion
  12. 5 Intimidating the enemy
  13. 6 The religious dimension of battle in antiquity
  14. 7 Socio-political and military identity
  15. 8 Battlefield oaths
  16. 9 Conclusion
  17. Bibliography
  18. Index