Classicism, barbarism and Roman warfare

This paper will discuss the image of the cavalryman in the sources of the late Roman Empire. It aims to refute Anthony Kaldellis’ thesis on the preface of the History of the wars of Justinian. Unlike the American scholar, I argue here that much of the authors of the time, including Procopius, were favourable to the development of cavalry in the Roman army. This demonstraties a significant change in Roman atitudes towards warfare. Indeed, while the legionary infantryman was seen as a major symbol of the Roman military ethos during the early Empire, the mounted warrior gains visibility in the sources from the late third century onwards. This change is due to the raising of State guerrilla warfare to the rank of main defensive strategy by the late Roman Empire and has also connections with the emulation of “barbarian” military tactics. It goes along with a renewal of the official dicourse on mounted archery, once depreciated by classical authors. Julian, Procopius and Agathias do not hesitate to make of the hippotoxotês the Homeric warrior par excellence, exceeding in value all other types of fighters. Official art and religion are not to be outdone; so much so that the figure of cavalryman, caparisoned in the oriental way and equipped with the nomadic bow finally outshines that of the heavy infanmtryman in many documentary fields. The analysis thus reveals the importance of cultural factors in the understanding of ancient military history. If the inertia of the classical ideology may hinder the adoption of new practices, the integration of foreign militry traditions must be justified by the dominnat culture to be considered legitimate. This evolution of the discourse on war is not without consequences for the entire imperial military policy

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art history · Barbarian · Barbarism · Civilization · Classicism · Empire · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Roman art · Roman Empire · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Historical and Architectural Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law

• Was There a Military Revolution at the End of Antiquity

  Conor Whately•Journal of Ancient History•2021

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