War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe, and Mesoamerica (review)

War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: Asia, the Mediterranean, and Mesoamerica. Edited by Kurt Raalflaub and Nathan Rosenstein (Cambridge, Mass., Center for Hellenic Studies, 1999) 484 pp. $50.00

The process that resulted in War and Society started from a casual conversation between two historians remarking about the lack of historical literature on the subject. Hence, this volume features fourteen chapters that survey ancient warfare in the Old World and New.

Robin Yates surveys early China and discusses how warfare was an essential component of the sacrificial system that legitimized the state. Wayne Farris describes the close relationships between manly honor and Samurai warfare in medieval Japan. Warfare was a constant factor in ancient Egyptian society and politics; it was an integral part of the official worldview, argues Andrea Gnirs. To Peter Briant, Achaemenid warfare saw the spread of purely Persian institutions of war to other regions and populations.

Raaflaub analyzes Archaic and Classical Greek warfare, which saw the citizen's role as a soldier in a city-state--as part of a process of interaction between military and economic, political, and social factors--become more specialized after the late fifth century. Charles Hamilton argues that Hellenistic tactical inflexibility led to the downfall of the once-successful phalanx system. Brian Campbell's analysis of Roman imperial warfare describes the growing chasm between Roman ideology and the empire's increasingly non-Roman armies, reflected in the rising difficulty of finding recruits.

Later Byzantine history was dominated by the institutions that organized and supported the military during an era of constant defense against outsiders; so argues John Haldon, who stresses the importance of centralized government. This view contrasts sharply with medieval Europe, where citizen soldiers remained important in a decentralized political environment. Bernard Bachrach states that this flexibility, inherited from the Romans, was of great importance during the Crusades. In contrast, Patricia Crone shows how early Islamic warfare was marked by the rise of free men, apart from the military organizations controlled by the state.

David Webster and Ross Hassig provide comparative essays on Maya and Aztec warfare. Webster notes that Maya warfare differed from that of the Old World in its technological simplicity and reliance on human muscle, but he also points to many similarities, especially the need to understand both kinds in their social and political contexts. Hassig emphasizes the factionalism that divided Aztec society, and discusses the contrasts between Indian and Spanish tactics during the conquest, a war of "indigenous interests, indigenous motivations, and indigenous goals" (381). Brian Ferguson's important theoretical essay argues persuasively that war is so woven into the fabric of social life that many states could not survive without it. Finally, Victor Davis Hanson and Barry Strauss contribute an epilogue about the close connection between agriculture and war in pre-industrial societies. Thus, one must examine land tenure, the nature of rural settlement, crops, and human adaptations to understand fully the recruitment, organization, and maintenance of armies. Ancient warfare was a rational and violent means to achieve political and other goals, whereas it is self-defeating when waged between capitalist states.

This beautifully edited and well-written volume provides an invaluable synthesis of various complex issues surrounding pre-industrial warfare. In an era when edited books of dubious value abound, it is a rare treat to find one that is destined to be seminal and widely consulted for a long time to come. One only regrets the omission of Inca warfare, which would have provided an interesting contrast to ancient military activity in Central America. Anyone seriously interested in war and its social implications will value this book.

Brian Fagan
University of California, Santa Barbara

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