Roman Warfare and Military Violence in Late Antiquity

Lee, Doug

Abstract

Although there has been a tendency in modern scholarship on the Roman Empire in late antiquity (early third to early seventh century BCE) to view the period through the lens of transformation rather than violent upheaval, warfare undoubtedly became more frequent, at least compared with the first two centuries BCE, and impacted on regions of the empire long insulated from significant military conflict. The empire of late antiquity faced more significant external challenges, as well as more regular bouts of civil war. Increased use of archery, with its potential to inflict mass casualties, was a distinctive feature of battle in this period; siege warfare became more common, so that civilian populations experienced the violence of war more directly; and expansion in the size of the army placed increased pressures on recruitment and logistical support – pressures which resulted in greater use of force by the state to maintain the military establishment. Changes in the structure of the army also meant that troops were more frequently billeted on the civilian population, who thereby became more exposed to casual violence at the hands of their own troops. In these different ways, late antiquity can be considered a period of Roman history when military violence became more prevalent.

Citation

Lee, D. (2020). Roman Warfare and Military Violence in Late Antiquity. In M. Trundle, M. Hudson, L. Fibiger, & G. G. Fagan (Eds.), The Cambridge World History of Violence. Volume 1. The Prehistoric and Ancient Worlds (257-276). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316341247.014

• Acceptance Date: Oct 21, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Mar 1, 2020
• Publication Date: Mar 31, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 3, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 2, 2020
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Volume: Vol.1
• Pages: 257-276
• Book Title: The Cambridge World History of Violence. Volume 1. The Prehistoric and Ancient Worlds
• Chapter Number: 12
• ISBN: 9781316341247; 9781107120129; 9781107545861
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316341247.014
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1123218
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-violence/roman-warfare-and-military-violence-in-late-antiquity/947FBEE8D2DEC459D6ADF6C75AE235AF