A Greek army on the march : soldiers and survival in Xenophon's Anabasis / John W.I. Lee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lee, John W. I. (John Wolte Infong), 1971- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Greek mercenaries--History--To 1500.

Greek mercenaries.

Greece--History--Expedition of Cyrus, 401 B.C.

Greece.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 323 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Professor Lee provides a social and cultural history of the Cyreans, the mercenaries of Xenophon's Anabasis. While they have often been portrayed as a single abstract political community, this book reveals that life in the army was mostly shaped by a set of smaller social communities: the formal unit organisation of the lochos ('company'), and the informal comradeship of the suskenia ('mess group'). It includes full treatment of the environmental conditions of the march, ethnic and socio-economic relations amongst the soldiers, equipment and transport, marching and camp behaviour, eating and drinking, sanitation and medical care, and many other topics. It also accords detailed attention to the non-combatants accompanying the soldiers. It uses ancient literary and archaeological evidence, ancient and modern comparative material, and perspectives from military sociology and modern war studies. This book is essential reading for anyone working on ancient Greek warfare or on Xenophon's Anabasis.

Contents:

Introduction

The march route

The army

Unit organization and community

The things they carried

Marching

Resting

Eating and drinking

The soldier's body

Slaves, servants, and companions

Beyond the battlefield.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 293-317) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-18009-0

1-281-24312-4

9786611243128

0-511-37769-X

0-511-37678-2

0-511-37584-0

0-511-37434-8

0-511-48283-3

0-511-37858-0

OCLC:

437197094