Was There a Military Revolution at the End of Antiquity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22105221 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Conor Whately (University of Winnipeg, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 203-220 |
| Publication date | 2021-06-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Ancient History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2324-8106 • E-ISSN: 2324-8114 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/jah-2020-0029 |
| OpenAlex | W3150843777 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 47 |
In a book on Justinian’s wars of conquest, Peter Heather has argued that Rome’s ability to wage war in the sixth century CE was helped, to a large degree, by the military revolution that took place in Late Antiquity, which consisted of two principal parts: an increased deployment of Roman soldiers to the eastern frontier, and a shift towards Hunnic tactics. In this essay, however, I argue that these claims are misguided, and using five criteria set out by Lee Brice in an article on military revolution during the reigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great of Macedon, I show that the changes which Heather argues in favour of had begun long before Late Antiquity. Instead, what we see is the continued gradual evolution of Rome’s military, with the Roman state shifting troops to the east from the beginning of the imperial era, and the first documented implementation of steppe-inspired changes dating to the second century
Ancient history · Archaeology · CONQUEST · Frontier · Late Antiquity · Military history · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History
Procopius and the Sixth Century
War and Warfare in Late Antiquity (2 vols.)
The Roman Empire in Late Antiquity
The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire
The Empire at War
Military forces
The army, c. 420–602
How the Steppes Became Byzantine
Emperors and Armies, ad 235–395
Clemens Koehn, Justinian und die Armee des frühen Byzanz. (Millennium-Studien, Bd. 70.) Berlin/Boston, De Gruyter 2018
Archery in the Preface to Procopius' Wars
Weapons, Technological Determinism, And Ancient Warfare
The Greek and Macedonian Art of War
Empire and Ideology in the Graeco-Roman World
Unit Sizes in the Late Roman Army
Military Equipment and Weaponry
Saxon military revolution, 912–973
The Evolution of Army Style in the Modern West, 800–2000
The Greek and Macedonian Art of War
Classicism, barbarism and Roman warfare
The Barbarians in Justinian's Armies
Procopius, Agathias and the Frankish Military
The Eurasian Way of War
The Huns
Understanding Greek Warfare
Classical Greek Tactics
Twilight of Empire
Social Change and Military Revolution in Early Modern Europe
Arms and Armour of the Warrior Saints
Marcus Aurelius’ Rain Miracle and the Marcomannic Wars
Warfare in Roman Europe, AD 350-425
The "Military Revolution," 1560-1660--a Myth
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |