Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World

hill forts. Beneath them were trained offi cers who oversaw a well-disciplined infantry and cavalry. It is possible that Axum’s ...

natural consequence of its unique geography. Running the entire length of Egypt from its southern border to the Medi- terranean ...

MIDDLE KINGDOM (CA. 2040–CA. 1640 B.C.E.) Soon aft er the long reign of Pepi II, a period of political tur- moil ensued in Egypt ...

ing the organization of its infantry forces and bombarding them with arrows. However, the chariot’s use as a mobile plat- form f ...

Mend on the Orontes River, was widely publicized, with many scenes of the battle engraved on the walls of several temples in Egy ...

BEFORE 3500 B.C.E. Warfare seems to have been a constant preoccupation for Near Easterners, even as far back as the end of the l ...

standing army, consisting of 5,400 men, with whom he ate daily. Th e Sumerian battlewagon was a clumsy vehicle, with four heavy ...

tites during the 1300s b.c.e., giving Assyria a chance to assert its independence, which it did under King Ashu-uballit I (r. ca ...

PERSIAN EMPIRE (CA. 538–CA. 331 B.C.E.) Th e Persian Empire is also known as the Achaemenid Em- pire, named for its founder Acha ...

Th e Parthian and Roman armies battled each other for nearly 300 years, from the fi rst century b.c.e. to the third century c.e. ...

Th e Parthians organized their army into 1,000-man units called dragons. Th e most important part of the army was its cavalry. T ...

states, no single state had much power. Th us, they joined into a series of continuously shift ing alliances as a way of defendi ...

c.e.). One of the most important battles in ancient Chinese history was the Battle of Fei in 383 c.e., when the numerically infe ...

India as a unifi ed empire did not fl ex its military might un- til the Maurya Dynasty, which maintained a standing army of thre ...

by cavalry and infantry in the shape of a lotus fl ower, protect- ing the archers. If enemy troops managed to force their way in ...

riod (ca. 80 0 0 –ca. 40 0 0 b.c.e.), and mass buria ls such as t hose found at the Neolithic (ca. 7000–ca. 2000 b.c.e.) sites o ...

In battle Celtic horsemen hung the heads from the necks of their horses as part of the intimidation of opponents that was always ...

During the Roman conquest of Europe the Romans lost an entire legion near Belgium when a group of Celtic tribes under unifi ed l ...

this way. Family groups were organized into clans composed of their relatives. Th e clans were organized into tribes. Th e tribe ...

eventually withdrew back into Gaul. Arminius became chief of his tribe and a war leader of several tribes. He was assas- sinated ...