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This book examines how siege warfare was able to unleash unrestrained violence. It shows how the methods of siege warfare devalued the skills of traditional warriors, along with the shared values of honor and prowess that limited the violence of traditional field battles.
A “crisply written, well researched . . . superb piece of scholarship about one of the most dramatic and decisive battles in the ancient world” (Journal of Military History). At Zama (in what is now Tunisia) in 202 BC, the armies of two great empires clashed: the Romans under Scipio Africanus and Carthaginians, led by Hannibal. Scipio’s forces would win a decisive, bloody victory that forever shifted the balance of power in the ancient world. Thereafter, Rome became the dominant civilization of the Mediterranean. Here, Brian Todd Carey recounts that battle and the grueling war that led up to it. He offers fascinating insight into the Carthaginian and Roman methods of waging war, their military organizations, equipment, and the tactics the armies employed. He also delivers an in-depth critical assessment of the contrasting qualities and leadership styles of Hannibal and Scipio, the two most celebrated commanders of their age. With vivid prose and detailed maps of the terrains of the time, Hannibal’s Last Battle is an essential text for fans of military history and students of the classical period.
Throughout human history, technological innovation has functioned as a driver of civilization and inspired many people's belief in progress. When it comes to warfare, where technology is applied with a cruel and deadly logic, a nuanced view is needed. From siege engines to drones, innovation has often served a less enlightened aim: elimination of the enemy. This collection of new essays from specialists in military history examines the interdependence between war and technology from a number of regional perspectives.
Where Heaven and Earth Meet is a Festschrift in honor of Daniel F. Callahan, Professor of History at the University of Delaware. It is an interdisciplinary collection that celebrates and advances research in his principal scholarly interests. One central focus is on the writings of Ademar of Chabannes and what they reveal about heresy, music, warfare, and the Peace of God in the early Middle Ages. Another is on Western religious history (ecclesiastical houses, hagiography, and papal writings), and the collection is rounded out by studies of early Islamic Jerusalem as well as Arabic numismatics. Contributing authors include Professor Callahan’s former classmates, graduate students, colleagues and admirers of his research. The collection will be of interest to researchers in art history, history, musicology, and religion. Contributors are: Bernard S. Bachrach, Daniel F. Callahan, Lawrence G. Duggan, Michael Frassetto, Matthew Gabriele, James Grier, John D. Hosler, Anna Trumbore Jones, Lawrence Nees, Richard R. Ring, Jane T. Schulenburg
In 1209 Simon of Montfort led a war against the Cathars of Languedoc after Pope Innocent III preached a crusade condemning them as heretics. The suppression of heresy became a pretext for a vicious war that remains largely unstudied as a military conflict. Laurence Marvin here examines the Albigensian Crusade as military and political history rather than religious history and traces these dimensions of the conflict through to Montfort's death in 1218. He shows how Montfort experienced military success in spite of a hostile populace, impossible military targets, armies that dissolved every forty days, and a pope who often failed to support the crusade morally or financially. He also discusses the supposed brutality of the war, why the inhabitants were for so long unsuccessful at defending themselves against it, and its impact on Occitania. This original account will appeal to scholars of medieval France, the Crusades and medieval military history.
Massacres and mass killings have always marked if not shaped the history of the world and as such are subjects of increasing interest among historians. The premise underlying this collection is that massacres were an integral, if not accepted part (until quite recently) of warfare, and that they were often fundamental to the colonizing process in the early modern and modern worlds. Making a deliberate distinction between ‘massacre’ and ‘genocide’, the editors call for an entirely separate and new subject under the rubric of ‘Massacre Studies’, dealing with mass killings that are not genocidal in intent. This volume offers a reflection on the nature of mass killings and extreme violence across regions and across centuries, and brings together a wide range of approaches and case studies.
King Manasseh of Judah is one of the most intriguing characters in the Bible. 2 Kings presents him as the wickedest of monarchs. In 2Kgs 24:3–4, he is accused of having provoked God to destroy Judah on account of the innocent blood he had shed in Jerusalem (cf. 2Kgs 21:16). In his study Krzysztof Kinowski investigates this accusation, viewing it against the biblical and ancient Near East backgrounds, and casts a new light upon Manasseh's role in the fall of Jerusalem. The mention of bloodshed in this affair appears to be the outcome of a process of scapegoating of Manasseh, ongoing in 2 Kings and reflecting both the legal and the cultic paradigms governing the biblical historiography. The link between Manasseh's bloodshed and the destruction of Judah on account of the cultic land's blood-defilement points towards a group of priestly scribes involved in the production of the 2Kgs 21 and 24 narratives. This assumption lies behind the scholarly discussion about the Priestly-like strata and priestly touches in the Books of Kings.
Translated into Spanish, The Book of Discipline details the plan by which United Methodists govern themselves, and describes their understanding of what is expected of laity and clergy as we seek to be effective witnesses in the world and make disciples of Jesus Christ. As the product of more than 200 years of General Conferences of the denominations that form The United Methodist Church, the Discipline honors the past and addresses the future. The Book of Discipline includes: Church Law & Polity Our Constitution Our history Our doctrinal standards Our theological task Wesley’s inspiring words And more...
The first-ever survey of inspirational battle speeches from Greco-Roman times to the present
A Very Short Introduction on war and technology throughout human history