Most exciting ancient battles
August 16, 2011 2:24 PM Subscribe
What are some of the most interesting historical war/rebellion stories from ancient times? Specifically interested in great true stories from ancient Greece, Persia, Mesopotamia, and Middle Eastern areas.
Difficulty: no tales involving heavenly interference-- interested only in stories that are rooted in fact, (even if they've fallen into the "legend" category over the centuries.) I know many of these tales can't be verified and may be nothing more than ancient propaganda, but as long as there are no Gods descending to help one side win, it's okay with me.
Examples of the kinds of stories I'm talking about: The Battle of Salamis, Battle of Thermopylae, Alexander the Great's conquests, etc.
The more specific the incident, the better. Bonus points if you can point to a great book or movie about the subject.
Thanks!
Difficulty: no tales involving heavenly interference-- interested only in stories that are rooted in fact, (even if they've fallen into the "legend" category over the centuries.) I know many of these tales can't be verified and may be nothing more than ancient propaganda, but as long as there are no Gods descending to help one side win, it's okay with me.
Examples of the kinds of stories I'm talking about: The Battle of Salamis, Battle of Thermopylae, Alexander the Great's conquests, etc.
The more specific the incident, the better. Bonus points if you can point to a great book or movie about the subject.
Thanks!
Have you read Herodotus and Thucydides? They are the first and best sources of exactly what you ask for (Xenophon is also good). Herodotus in particular is an entertaining read.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 3:00 PM on August 16, 2011
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 3:00 PM on August 16, 2011
I'm going to reference the Bible here, because there are actually at least two stories which fit the bill perfectly.
Right off the bat, there's Absalom's rebellion against David in 2 Samuel 13-18. This one's got the works: incest, fratricide, conspiracy, you name it. And while there are periodic references to God, the Almighty basically sits this one out.* Granted, there isn't that much archaeological evidence for this, but there isn't any against it, and David is generally recognized as having been an actual person of significance circa 10th century BC Judea.
This story has actually become a pretty significant part of Western culture, particularly David's lament, so it's worth reading for that alone.
There's also Jeroboam's rebellion in 1 Kings 12, but that one isn't nearly as interesting or involved. God's pretty quiet there too.
Sticking with the theme, but now going outside Scripture, there's Josephus' account by of the Siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, circa AD 70.
*The rebellion is described in earlier chapters as a punishment for the Bathsheeba Incident, but once Absalom does his thing, David is basically on his own.
posted by valkyryn at 3:01 PM on August 16, 2011
Right off the bat, there's Absalom's rebellion against David in 2 Samuel 13-18. This one's got the works: incest, fratricide, conspiracy, you name it. And while there are periodic references to God, the Almighty basically sits this one out.* Granted, there isn't that much archaeological evidence for this, but there isn't any against it, and David is generally recognized as having been an actual person of significance circa 10th century BC Judea.
This story has actually become a pretty significant part of Western culture, particularly David's lament, so it's worth reading for that alone.
There's also Jeroboam's rebellion in 1 Kings 12, but that one isn't nearly as interesting or involved. God's pretty quiet there too.
Sticking with the theme, but now going outside Scripture, there's Josephus' account by of the Siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, circa AD 70.
*The rebellion is described in earlier chapters as a punishment for the Bathsheeba Incident, but once Absalom does his thing, David is basically on his own.
posted by valkyryn at 3:01 PM on August 16, 2011
The Siege of Baghdad in 1258 by the fearsome Mongolian army. It was a splendid city, cultural capital of the Islamic Caliphate -- and the Mongols utterly destroyed it, massacring nearly a million people and throwing so many priceless documents from the House of Wisdom into the Tigris that its waters ran black with ink.
posted by Rhaomi at 3:03 PM on August 16, 2011
posted by Rhaomi at 3:03 PM on August 16, 2011
Flaubert's Salammbô, about the real mercenary rebellion that took place in Carthage in 240 BCE.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 3:26 PM on August 16, 2011
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 3:26 PM on August 16, 2011
Good primary sources:
Roman:
Caesar's Commentaries.
Spartacus (multiple roman sources in the notes).
Byzantium:
The Wars of Justinian (and other books by Procipius)
Mongolia:
The Secret History of the Mongols
posted by empath at 3:31 PM on August 16, 2011
Roman:
Caesar's Commentaries.
Spartacus (multiple roman sources in the notes).
Byzantium:
The Wars of Justinian (and other books by Procipius)
Mongolia:
The Secret History of the Mongols
posted by empath at 3:31 PM on August 16, 2011
I just heard a CBC program yesterday about the first war corespondent/journalist, Thucydides, who covered the Athenian/Spartan war. It's real, not fiction.
You can listen here Thucydides: The First Journalist on the CBC website.
posted by nogero at 5:41 PM on August 16, 2011
You can listen here Thucydides: The First Journalist on the CBC website.
posted by nogero at 5:41 PM on August 16, 2011
He's not typically well-known in the west, but I'd recommend Adrienne Mayor's look at Mithradates in The Poison King. It's more biography than a treatise on military tactics, but it's not lacking in battles.
posted by Amanojaku at 5:48 PM on August 16, 2011
posted by Amanojaku at 5:48 PM on August 16, 2011
In particular from Thucydides, you should enjoy the story of Alcibiades.
posted by nicwolff at 8:17 PM on August 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by nicwolff at 8:17 PM on August 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Julius Caesar was in a lot of battles, but three important ones in the Civil War and after that might be good to start with are the Battle of Pharsalus (48 BC) where he thrashed Pompey; the Battle of Philippi (42 BC) after his death where Mark Antony and Octavian (later Augustus) thrashed the assassins Brutus and Cassius; and then the Battle of Actium (31 BC) where Octavian thrashed Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
Plutarch is a good source for all of these (Oxford Classics has some nice new translations), but they're all covered in great detail in every biography of any of these people, and in every book about that period of Roman history, in as much detail as you could probably want.
posted by wdenton at 8:58 PM on August 16, 2011
Plutarch is a good source for all of these (Oxford Classics has some nice new translations), but they're all covered in great detail in every biography of any of these people, and in every book about that period of Roman history, in as much detail as you could probably want.
posted by wdenton at 8:58 PM on August 16, 2011
Best answer: I'm taking it that by "ancient times" you essentially mean BCE, or at least before the "Dark Age" after the end of Imperial Rome. "Most exciting/interesting" is of course a little arbitrary, but personally I tend to find that human interest (such as political intrigue and power struggle) usually trumps pure military considerations. Assuming that you are well aware of the major textbook engagements of the Graeco-Roman canon let me point to some less well-known incidents.
FWIW I'm totally seconding the first answer re. Xenophon's Anabasis (which was the aftermath of Prince Cyrus' ill-fated revolt against his brother Artaxerxes II in BCE401). The Great Jewish Revolt - including Titus' siege of Jerusalem - is also very dramatic and of major cultural importance (since the destruction of the Temple initiated the diaspora), as is the subsequent siege of Masada. This links interestingly both with the ferocious power struggle of the year of the 4 Roman emperors (CE79), as well as with the fascinating persona of Queen Berenice of Judea (Titus' lover). Josephus is a good (although heavily biased) source for this, and biographies and/or fiction relating to any of the major players are well worth reading.
What about the battle of Kadesh in BCE1294 - the first historical battle described in any detail? Ramesses II, perhaps the greatest Pharaoh of them all, led an Egyptian army against the Hittites but found himself cut off by a surprise counterattack. He was lucky to survive the experience, and historians generally conclude that the Hittites' new iron weapons counterbalanced the superior numbers and organisation of the Egyptians. The battle was essentially a draw, and Ramesses married a Hittite princess to cement the boundary settlement (perhaps the oldest historical peace treaty).
Sticking with the Middle East, the protracted struggle between Rome and Persia gave rise to many little known but extremely vicious battles. "Fire in the East", the opening book of the current "Warrior of Rome" series by Oxford historian Harry Sidebottom, describes the historic siege of Roman-held Dura-Europos on the Euphrates by Sassanid King Shapur I in CE256. As the fortified town was abandoned after the massacre of its population it is now one of the best-preserved sources of information on daily life in the ancient Middle East. The same war also led to the capture (probably by treachery) and death in captivity of the Roman emperor Valerian, famously shown in a Sassanid rock carving at Naqsh-e-Rustam. Naturally, this caused a power vacuum back in Rome which is the subject of the rest of Sidebottom's account.
If you like tragic lost causes then consider the helot uprisings against their Spartan overlords (both before and following the earthquake of BCE464) and Boudicca's revolt in CE60 (although the latter came pretty close to ejecting the Romans from Britain). If you are interested in "good men" held up as shining examples of virtue, then look up Cincinnatus and the Gracchii brothers.
If you are keen on historical "supermen" heroes then of course Alexander, Julius Caesar - and far less well known characters such as Flavius Aetius (who beat off Attila at the Catalaunian Fields) and Count Belisarius (who preserved the Empire for Justinian the Great, a first-rate administrator but no soldier) fit the bill. However I find that rather than their better-known exploits while already in power, close study of their way to the top is even more rewarding. Alexander's quest to unify Greece as a springboard for his Persian adventures is a classic study in ruthless pursuit of a fixation - he destroyed what was left of the pre-Macedonian Greek civilisation (including the Theban Sacred Band) in order to forge his war machine. Likewise Julius Caesar's rise to power - described in carefully crafted prose by himself and one of his generals - is an amazing decade of never-ending monomania across Gaul, Turkey, Spain and North Africa. Like with Alexander, he left the ethos of the Roman Republic in ruins, and with the exception of Bonaparte he has no real equal in the Mad Genius General category.
So take your pick. I haven't included any mythical examples, but if pressed I find Jason and the the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece very interesting - and Medea adds a very modern dissonant note to this old tale ... alongside the Iliad, naturally. BTW recent archaeological research has finally yielded evidence of a much larger Troy than that excavated by Schliemann and others, giving a better (although still imperfect) correlation between Homer's account and physical findings: rather than constituting the entire settlement, the small citadel found on the hill was indeed surrounded by a much larger town!
posted by kairab at 6:38 AM on August 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
FWIW I'm totally seconding the first answer re. Xenophon's Anabasis (which was the aftermath of Prince Cyrus' ill-fated revolt against his brother Artaxerxes II in BCE401). The Great Jewish Revolt - including Titus' siege of Jerusalem - is also very dramatic and of major cultural importance (since the destruction of the Temple initiated the diaspora), as is the subsequent siege of Masada. This links interestingly both with the ferocious power struggle of the year of the 4 Roman emperors (CE79), as well as with the fascinating persona of Queen Berenice of Judea (Titus' lover). Josephus is a good (although heavily biased) source for this, and biographies and/or fiction relating to any of the major players are well worth reading.
What about the battle of Kadesh in BCE1294 - the first historical battle described in any detail? Ramesses II, perhaps the greatest Pharaoh of them all, led an Egyptian army against the Hittites but found himself cut off by a surprise counterattack. He was lucky to survive the experience, and historians generally conclude that the Hittites' new iron weapons counterbalanced the superior numbers and organisation of the Egyptians. The battle was essentially a draw, and Ramesses married a Hittite princess to cement the boundary settlement (perhaps the oldest historical peace treaty).
Sticking with the Middle East, the protracted struggle between Rome and Persia gave rise to many little known but extremely vicious battles. "Fire in the East", the opening book of the current "Warrior of Rome" series by Oxford historian Harry Sidebottom, describes the historic siege of Roman-held Dura-Europos on the Euphrates by Sassanid King Shapur I in CE256. As the fortified town was abandoned after the massacre of its population it is now one of the best-preserved sources of information on daily life in the ancient Middle East. The same war also led to the capture (probably by treachery) and death in captivity of the Roman emperor Valerian, famously shown in a Sassanid rock carving at Naqsh-e-Rustam. Naturally, this caused a power vacuum back in Rome which is the subject of the rest of Sidebottom's account.
If you like tragic lost causes then consider the helot uprisings against their Spartan overlords (both before and following the earthquake of BCE464) and Boudicca's revolt in CE60 (although the latter came pretty close to ejecting the Romans from Britain). If you are interested in "good men" held up as shining examples of virtue, then look up Cincinnatus and the Gracchii brothers.
If you are keen on historical "supermen" heroes then of course Alexander, Julius Caesar - and far less well known characters such as Flavius Aetius (who beat off Attila at the Catalaunian Fields) and Count Belisarius (who preserved the Empire for Justinian the Great, a first-rate administrator but no soldier) fit the bill. However I find that rather than their better-known exploits while already in power, close study of their way to the top is even more rewarding. Alexander's quest to unify Greece as a springboard for his Persian adventures is a classic study in ruthless pursuit of a fixation - he destroyed what was left of the pre-Macedonian Greek civilisation (including the Theban Sacred Band) in order to forge his war machine. Likewise Julius Caesar's rise to power - described in carefully crafted prose by himself and one of his generals - is an amazing decade of never-ending monomania across Gaul, Turkey, Spain and North Africa. Like with Alexander, he left the ethos of the Roman Republic in ruins, and with the exception of Bonaparte he has no real equal in the Mad Genius General category.
So take your pick. I haven't included any mythical examples, but if pressed I find Jason and the the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece very interesting - and Medea adds a very modern dissonant note to this old tale ... alongside the Iliad, naturally. BTW recent archaeological research has finally yielded evidence of a much larger Troy than that excavated by Schliemann and others, giving a better (although still imperfect) correlation between Homer's account and physical findings: rather than constituting the entire settlement, the small citadel found on the hill was indeed surrounded by a much larger town!
posted by kairab at 6:38 AM on August 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Rome's war with Clusium generated three of its national heroes: Horatius Cocles, the defender; Gaius Mucius Scaevola, the thwarted assassin; and Cloelia, the liberator.
posted by Iridic at 12:05 PM on August 17, 2011
posted by Iridic at 12:05 PM on August 17, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 2:38 PM on August 16, 2011 [3 favorites]