A N C I E N T
WARFARE
VOL IV, ISSUE 4
Darkness descends:
End of the Bronze Age Empires
With:
• Mycenaean warfare
• Egypt versus the Sea Peoples
Also:
• Unorthodox tactics in Thucydides
• Debate: fleets of the Empire
And much more!
www.ancient-warfare.com
AW nr4 aug10.indd 1
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AW nr4 aug10.indd 2
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A N C I E N T
WARFARE
Publisher: Rolof van Hövell tot Westerflier
Editorial staff: Jasper Oorthuys (editor),
Eugene Harding (copy), Dirk van Gorp
Website design: Christianne C. Beall
Contributors: Stephan Berry, Josho Brouwers,
Duncan B.Campbell, Ross Cowan, Raffaele D’Amato,
John Diamond, Ed Haines, Ian Hughes,
Bridget McDermott, Paul McDonnell-Staff,
Ollie Randall, Mark Schwartz, Christopher Webber.
Illustrations: Andrew Brozyna, Igor Dzis, Angel García
Pinto, Brendan Keeley, Carlos de la Rocha,
Johnny Shumate, Graham Sumner.
CONTENTS
4
NEWS AND LETTERS
THEME
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DARK DEATH
The bronze sword in the Iliad
Darkness descends
6 INTRODUCTION
38
CUTTING EDGE
TECHNOLOGY
Elucidating the secrets of early
metallurgy
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34 BRINGER OF
10 THE SOURCE
The Harris Papyrus
13 PALACE WARRIORS 43 SPECIAL
The end of Mycenaean civilisation
in Greece
Tricks of the trade
49
THE DEBATE
54
REVIEWS
58
ON THE COVER
Fleets of the Empire
20 THE WEAPON
Bronze battle-axes of the
Middle East
Books, games and models
22 HOMES FOR
HEROES
Mycenaean citadels in Bronze
Age Greece
ISSN: 1874-7019
27 THE WAR OF THE
Printed in the European Union
The battle of the Delta
EIGHTH YEAR
Ancient Warfare
AW nr4 aug10.indd 3
3
08-08-2010 23:09:28
news
A multitude of peoples
Raffaele D’Amato responds to Christian
Koepfer’s letter in issue IV.2.
© Karwansaray Publishers
Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to Christian
Koepfer about my reconstruction of an
Etruscan centurion of the 4th century
BC on the cover of Ancient Warfare IV.1.
First of all I would like to invite him
to read the article well and to not just
look at the images. The article states that
the basic attire has been copied from a
funerary slab (not an urn) from Volterra
representing an Etruscan centurion
and the sacrifice of Roman prisoners.
As you know I furnished the picture of
the slab, but it could not be published
because of its bad quality. However, the
slab (now without any color) represents
a centurion dressed exactly as Johnny
Shumate illustrated according to my
instructions, i.e. with Apulo-Corinthian
helmet and quilted armor. Obviously
4
the objects missing in the main source
have been reconstructed from other
contemporary sources.
Secondly, I would like just remind
him of the common employment of
this kind of helmet in the Etruscan
area regardless of their Italiote
origin or import, which is not under
discussion. This is attested not only by
the specimens Koefper recorded, but is
also evidenced by large number of such
helmets represented in Etruscan urns
and paintings (Tarquinia, for instance),
as well in early Roman artwork (funeral
cists from Praeneste) dated from the
5th to the 2nd century BC. On this topic
I recommend Connolly’s Greece and
Rome at War (chapter on the Italian
military systems) and especially Bottini
in Antike Helme (p. 121, 4th century BC).
I am sorry to disappoint him, the
traces of color of the textile armor
on the urn is pink-brown, exactly as
reproduced by Shumate, (the white color
is given by the alabaster background)
and a second warrior on the same urn
wears the same armor with the same
color. This may not be so clear on the
photo (though visible on the upper
row of the quilting material), but quite
obvious when observing the urn in
person. I do not doubt the existence
of armor in a similar color, considering
the artists’ knowledge as well as the
use of painted armor made of metallic
or perishable materials.
It is true that the shoes are lower
than those on the sculpture, but the
caligae of the original slab, reaching up
to the calves, are scarcely visible. We do
not have actual specimens of caligae
(to my knowledge) until the 1st century
BC so it is clear that a reconstruction of
a low calf Etruscan boot must be based
on the lower part of the visible urn and
early extant archaeological specimens.
The scabbard is based on the
reconstruction by Quesada Sanz of a
Etruscan statuette dating to the
early 3rd century BC, wearing what
seems to be either quilted or lamellar
armor, a sword in its scabbard and
a Montefortino-type helmet. Now in
the Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore,
MD.
Spanish falcata identical to the model
employed (JRMS 8 p. 254). The same
swords were used concurrently by both
Italic and Iberian peoples, so some
scabbards must have been similar.
Finally, on the wide use of
painted metallic helmets in Ancient
times, including Pseudo-Corinthian
helmets with lines painted in white,
I recommend the reconstruction by
German Archaeologists in Bunte Götter,
p. 113.
Raffaele D’Amato
The debate: Clash of the
phalanx
Dear Editor,
The debate over othismos can be
reconciled by a liberal dose of
cold equations in place of heated
speculation. If there is to be a literal
push of all ranks in the phalanx, then
the hoplites must be packed tight, belly
to back with their shields in between.
Any space between men will cause the
force from men behind to be absorbed
within the file and not passed on to
their foes. Once we realize that the
hoplites must act like a dense crowd,
some elements of the Orthodox view
become untenable. The force generated
by a hoplite charging like an unhorsed
knight into the enemy line pales in
comparison with the steady, grinding
push of dense packed ranks described
in the Crowd-Othismos model. Thus,
from a pushing perspective a charge
of more than few meters adds nothing,
and in fact saps the power of phalanx
as their cohesion deteriorates.
Decoupling the charge from the
push eliminates much of the case
against a literal othismos. Battles
do not need to proceed to othismos
immediately and may never get there.
An extended period of spear-fencing
with phalanxes some 1.5-2 meter apart
picking at each other or even javelin
throwing in the early period could
occur. In a crowd, men are pushing
while standing up and must repack
in tight after every short advance. This
could be sustained for a very long time,
with any advance being a slow cycle
of the crowd becoming more and less
dense like a crawling earthworm.
Othismos could cease for extended
periods after it started, with men
Ancient Warfare
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08-08-2010 23:09:29