What is it about?
The aim of this paper is firstly, to emphasize the way in which the ideas and instructions of Aeneas Tacticus are articulated in a rigorous and clear plan and, secondly, to draw attention to some of the issues which are not specific to the military, but began to be considered relevant to the overall picture of the treatise.
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Why is it important?
In addition to the prospect of military conflict between cities, Aeneas’ treatise also provides an insight into the history of ancient Greece, particularly life in rather small towns and their related communities. Thus, we can see how they design strategies to defend their city, what they stand for, what are the living conditions in small communities during the siege, what is the technology available to them and other aspects of life in wartime but also in peacetime or in between attacks, because the people were trying to continue their religious, cultural, economic and political, even in war.
Perspectives
The history of Greek cities in the fourth century B.C. in which Aeneas writes his treatise and in which take place most of the episodes he mentions to illustrate his precepts, is deeply marked by crises, pressures for social changes, political conspiracies and instability inside cities and competition between the cities.The deepening of our knowledge about the Greek language spoken in the period when the manual was written explains some questionable linguistic aspects of the Aenean studies. Over the last few decades, the emphasis is on capitalizing on other resources except those about the military that the text proposes.
Dana Dinu
University of Craiova Romania
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Ancient Greek Military Theory And Practice. Aeneas Tacticus (II), International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION, January 2017, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/kbo-2017-0129.
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