Battles and generals : combat, culture, and didacticism in Procopius' Wars / by Conor Whately.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Whately, Conor, author.

Series:

History of warfare ; Volume 111.

History of Warfare, 1385-7827 ; Volume 111

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War (Philosophy).

Byzantine Empire--History, Military--527-1081.

Byzantine Empire.

Byzantine Empire--History--Justinian I, 527-565.

Procopius. History of the wars.

Procopius.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (290 p.)

Place of Publication:

Leiden, The Netherlands ; Boston, [Massachusetts] : Brill, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Battles and Generals: Combat, Culture, and Didacticism in Procopius’ Wars, Whately reads Procopius’ descriptions of combat through the lens of didacticism, arguing that one of Procopius’ intentions was to construct those accounts not only so that they might be entertaining to his audience, but also so that they might provide real value to his readership, which was comprised, in part, of the empire’s military command. In the course of this analysis we discover that the varied battles and sieges that Procopius describes are not generic; rather, they have been crafted to reflect the nature of combat – as understood by Procopius – on the three fronts of Justinian’s wars, the frontier with Persia, Vandal north Africa, and Gothic Italy.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction

1 The Life of Procopius

2 How to Defeat the Persians in Combat

3 How to Defeat the Vandals in Combat

4 How to Defeat the Goths in Combat

5 Book Eight

6 Procopius’ Worldview and the Wider Intellectual Context

Appendix 1: Glossary of Procopian Battles and Sieges

Appendix 2: Win/Loss Records of the Persian and Roman Armies in the Persian Wars

Select Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-31038-X

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004310384 DOI