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Essays

Essay titles for 2003-4:

Essay 1:

Deadline for submission is 12.00, Monday 29th November 2003

1. Is Homeric Warfare a chaotic jumble of practices from different periods of Greek History?

H. Bowden, ‘Hoplites and Homer: warfare, hero cult and the ideology of the polis’, in Rich & Shipley, War and Society 45-63.
M.I. Finley, The World of Odysseus (1954)
P.A.L. Greenhalgh, Early Greek Warfare (1973) 40-62.
A. Jackson, ‘War and Raids for Booty in the World of Odysseus’, in Rich & Shipley 64-76.
H. van Wees, ‘Leaders of Men? Military Organisation in the Iliad’, CQ 36, 1986, 285-303.
H. van Wees, ‘Kings in Combat: battles and heroes in the Iliad’, CQ 38, 1988, 1-24.
H. van Wees, Status Warriors (1993)
H. van Wees, ‘The Homeric Way of War: the Iliad and the Hoplite phalanx’, Greece & Rome 41, 1994, 1-18, 131-55.
H. van Wees, ‘Heroes, Knights and Nutters: warrior mentality in Homer’, in A.B. Lloyd, Battle in Antiquity 1ff.

2. Did Hoplite Warfare Intensify or Ameliorate the Horrors of War?

F.E. Adcock, The Greek and Macedonian Art of War (1957) 1-14
A. Andrewes, The Greek Tyrants (1956) 31-42, 78-91
P. Cartledge, ‘Hoplites and Heroes: Sparta’s contribution to the technique of ancient Warfare’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 97, 1977, 11-27.
G.L. Cawkwell, ‘Orthodoxy and Hoplites’, Classical Quarterly 39, 1989, 375-89.
V.D. Hanson, The Western Way of War. Infantry Battle in Classical Greece (1989)
V.D. Hanson (ed.), Hoplites. The Classical Greek Battle Experience (1991) – n.b. the contributions by J.K. Anderson (15-37) and Hanson (63-84).
A. Holladay, ‘Hoplites and Heresies’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 102, 1982, 94-103.
O. Murray, Early Greece (2nd ed., 1993) 124-58.
R. Osborne, Greece in the Making (1996) 170-85.
J. Salmon, ‘Political Hoplites?’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 97, 1977, 84-101.

3. How Effective was Sea Power in the Greek World?

F.E. Adcock, The Greek and Macedonian Art of War (1957) 29-46
L. Casson, The Ancient Mariners (2nd ed., 1991)
B. Jordan, The Athenian Navy in the Classical Period (1975)
F. Meijer, A History of Seafaring in the Classical World (1986)
J.S. Morrison & R.T. Williams, Greek Oared Ships (1968)
J.S. Morrison, Long Ships and Round Ships (1980)
J.S. Morrison & J.F. Coates, The Athenian Trireme (1986)
H.A. Ormerod, Piracy in the Ancient World (1924)
J. Rougé , Ships and Fleets of the Ancient Mediterranean (1981)
C.G. Starr, The Influence of Sea Power in Ancient History (1988)

Essay 2:

Deadline for submission is 12.00 3rd February 2004.

1. Why did the Romans win the Punic Wars?

A.E. Astin, Scipio Aemilianus (1967)
J. Briscoe, in Cambridge Ancient History VIII (2nd ed., 1989) 44-79
T. Cornell, B. Rankov, & P. Sabin (edd.), The Second Punic War, a Reappraisal (1996)
B. Craven, The Punic Wars (1980)
J.F. Lazenby, Hannibal’s War (1978)
J.F. Lazenby, The First Punic War (1996)
H.H. Scullard, Scipio Africanus (1970)
H.H. Scullard, in CAH VIII (2nd ed., 1989) 537-69.

2. Did Marius introduce a Professional Army?

M.J.V. Bell, ‘Tactical Reforms in the Roman Republican Army’, Historia 14, 1965, 404-32
P.A. Brunt, ‘The Army and the Land in the Roman Revolution’, JRS 52, 1962, 69-86 [reprinted in id. The Fall of the Roman Republic and Related Essays (1988) 240-80]
R.J. Evans, Gaius Marius. A Political Biography (1997)
E. Gabba, ‘The Origins of the Professional Army at Rome’, in id. Republican Rome. The Army and the Allies (1976) 1-19
E. Gabba, ‘The Roman Professional Army from Marius to Augustus’, ibid. 20-69.
K. Hopkins, Conquerors and Slaves (1978) 25-37
L. Keppie, The Making of the Roman Army: from Republic to Empire (1984) 57-68
H.M.D. Parker, The Roman Legions (1928) 21-46
J. Rich, ‘The Supposed Roman Manpower Shortage of the Later Second Century BC’, Historia 32, 1983, 287-331

3. What were the Effects of Augustus’ Army Reforms?

Augustus’ settlement– general
J.A. Crook, in CAH X (2nd, ed., 1996) 70-112
H.H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero (5th ed., 1982)
R. Syme, The Roman Revolution (1939) 313-524

Augustus’ settlement– specific
B.M. Dobson, in P. Connolly, Greece and Rome at War (1981) 213-28
L. Keppie, The Making of the Roman Army: from Republic to Empire (1984) 145-71
H.M.D. Parker, The Roman Legions (1928) 72-92
G. Webster, The Roman Imperial Army (1985) 24-38

4. Was the pax Romana a Reality under the Principate?

D. Braund, ‘Piracy under the principate and the ideology of imperial eradication’, in Rich & Shipley, War 195-212
P.A. Brunt, ‘Did Imperial Rome Disarm her Subjects?’, Phoenix 29, 1975, 260-70 = id. Roman Imperial Themes (1990) 255-66.
S.L. Dyson, ‘Native Revolts in the Roman Empire’, Historia 20, 1971, 239-
S.L. Dyson, ‘Native Revolt Patterns in the Roman Empire’, ANRW II.3 (1975) 138-75
K.R. Hopwood, ‘Bandits, Elites and Rural Order’ in A. Wallace-Hadrill (ed.), Patronage in Ancient Society (1989) 171-
B.D. Shaw, ‘Bandits in the Roman Empire’, Past and Present 105, 1984, 3-52
G. Woolf, ‘Roman Peace’ in Rich & Shipley, War 171-94.

5. What Military Problems did the Romans face fighting either the Celts or the Parthians?

Celts
Caesar, Conquest of Gaul = Gallic War
P. Connolly, Greece and Rome at War (1981) 113-26
B. Cunliffe, Greeks, Romans and Barbarians (1988)
J.F.C. Fuller, Julius Caesar (1965) 97-165
A.K. Goldsworthy, The Roman Army at War, 100 B.C. -A.D. 200 (1996) 53-60, 171-247
L. Rawlings, in Cornell, Rankov, & Sabin, The Second Punic War, a Reappraisal (1996)
J. Warry, Warfare in the Classical World (1980) 158-70

Parthians
Plutarch, Life of Antony 37-50
B. Campbell, ‘War and Diplomacy: Rome and Parthia, 31 B.C.-A.D. 235’, in Rich & Shipley, War 213-40
M.A.R. Colledge, The Parthians (1967)
N.C. Debevoise, A Political History of Parthia (1938)
A.K. Goldsworthy, The Roman Army at War, 100 B.C. -A.D. 200 (1996) 60-8, 171-247
F. Stark, Rome on the Euphrates (1966) 106-267
J. Warry, Warfare in the Classical World (1980) 155-7

See Departmental Guidance on Writing Essays.