History of the Art of War, Vol 1 - Warfare in Antiquity

607 Pages·1990·4.4 MB·English

by  Hans Delbrück

HISTORY OF THE ART OF WAR, VOLUME I

By Hans Delbrilck
Translated by Walter J. Renfroe, Jr.
Warfare in Antiquity

Warfare in Antiquity
HISTORY OF THE ART OF WAR
VOLUME I
By Hans Delbrück
Translated from the German by Walter J. Renfroe, Jr.
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln and London
English language edition copyright © 1975 by Walter J. Renfroe, Jr.
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Bison Book printing: 1990
Most recent printing indicated by the first digit below:
10 9 8 7 6 5 43
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Delbrück, Hans, 1848-1929.
[Geschichte der kriegskunst im Rahmen der politischen Geschichte.
Volume I—II. English]
History of the art of war / by Hans Delbrück: translated from the
German by Walter J. Renfroe, Jr.
p. cm.
Translation of: Geschichte der Kriegskunst im Rahmen der
politischen Geschichte, v. I—II.
Contents: v. I. Warfare in antiquity—v. II. The barbarian invasions.
ISBN 0-8032-6584-0 (set).—ISBN 0-8032-9199-X (v. I).—
ISBN 0-8032-9200-7 (v. II)
1. Military art and science—History. 2. Naval art and science—
History. 3. War—History. I. Title.
U27.D34213 1990
355'.009—dc20
89-24980 CIP
Reprinted by arrangement with Greenwood Press, Inc.
Originally titled HISTORY OF THE ART OF WAR WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK
OF POLITICAL HISTORY, by Hans Delbrück, Volume I, ANTIQUITY. Translated
from the German by Walter J. Renfroe, Jr., and published as part of the Green
wood Press Series, Contributions in Military History, Westport, CT. Maps drawn
by Edward J. Krasnoborski. Originally published in German under the title GES
CHICHTE DER KRIEGSKUNST IN RAHMEN DER POLITISCHEN GES
CHICHTE. Copyright © 1975 by Walter J. Renfroe, Jr. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations 8
Translator's Foreword 9
Preface to the First Edition 11
Preface to the Second Edition 19
Preface to the Third Edition 23
Volume I
Warfare in Antiquity
Point of Departure 27
BOOK I
The Persian Wars
I. Army Strengths: Introductory Material 33
II. Greek Arms and Tactics 53
III. Greek Army Strengths: Conclusion 63
IV. The Persian Army 67
V. Battle of Marathon 72
VI. Thermopylae 91
VII. Artemisium 98
VIII. Battle of Salamis 103
IX. Battle of Plataea 111
BOOK II
The Greeks at Their Height
I. Greek Tactics up to the Peloponnesian War 123
II. Strategy: Pericles 135
III. Mercenaries 144
IV. Refinement of the Existing Tactical System in
the Fourth Century 149
V. Theory: Xenophon 158
VI. Epaminondas 165
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Table of Contents
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BOOK III
The Macedonians
I. The Macedonian Military System 175
II. Alexander and Persia:
The Battle on the Granicus 185
III. The Battle of Issus 191
IV. The Battle of Gaugamela 210
V. The Battle on the Hydaspes 221
VI. Alexander as a Military Commander 230
VII. The Diadochi 235
BOOK IV
Ancient Rome
I. Knights and Phalanx 255
II. The Manipular Phalanx 272
III. Roman Drill, Campcraft, and Discipline 283
IV. Pyrrhus 297
V. The First Punic War 301
BOOK V
The Second Punic War
Introduction
I. The Battle of Cannae 315
II. The Basic Strategic Problem of the
Second Punic War 337
III. The Strategic Prologue of
the War in Retrospect 353
IV. Rome Wins the Upper Hand 365
V. The Battle of Zama-Naraggara and
the Echelon Tactics 370
VI. Hannibal and Scipio 380
BOOK VI
The Romans as World Conquerors
I. Romans and Macedonians 393
II. The Professional Army: Cohort Tactics 412
III. The Centurions 429
IV. Mithridates 437
V. Romans and Parthians 441
Table of Contents 7
BOOK VII
Caesar
I. Introduction 453
II. The Helvetian Campaign 459
III. Ariovistus 479
IV. The Subjection of the Belgae 488
V. Vercingetorix 495
VI. The Roman Art of War Against the Barbarians 508
VII. The Civil War in Italy and Spain 515
VIII. The Campaign in Greece 528
IX. The Battle of Pharsalus 538
X. The Last Campaigns of the Civil War 556
XI. The Elephants 561
Conclusion 565
Index 573
List of Illustrations
Figure 1. Battle of Marathon 74
Figure 2. Battle of Issus 193
Figure 3. Battle of Zama-Naraggara 382
Figure 4. Battle between Caesar and Ariovistus 484
Figure 5. Siege of Alesia 503
Figure 6. Siege of Ilerda 521
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Translator's Foreword
This translation into English of the first volume of Hans
Delbrück's Geschichte der Kriegskunst im Rahmen der politischen
Geschichte is based on the third edition of that volume, which was
published in Berlin in 1920. I have endeavored to adhere as closely
as possible to the original, both in spirit and in style, and I have
assumed that those using this book will be familiar enough with
military history and the political history that Delbrück used as his
background to eliminate any need for supplementary explana
tions on the part of the translator. In those very rare cases where it
was felt necessary to point out an obvious error or oversight ap
pearing in the German version, this has been done within the body
of the text. No notes have been added by the translator.
Delbrück's frequent use of Greek and Latin citations has created
a problem in translating the text into English at this time, more
than fifty years after the appearance of his third edition and over
seventy years since the first edition was published in 1900. Al
though it could be assumed that the scholar of Delbrück's day
would be familiar with both Greek and Latin, such an assumption
can no longer be made, especially with respect to Greek. In a few
cases, where Delbrück has cited a Greek or Latin word parentheti
cally, without using it as a central point in the development of his
argument, I have taken the liberty of omitting it completely. In
most cases, however, Greek expressions have been translated into
English and are given in quotation marks, followed by an asterisk.
In a few cases, where Delbrück expounds at some length on the
meaning of a Greek word, an English transliteration of the word is
shown. For obvious reasons of economy no use has been made of
the Greek alphabet. In the case of Latin, the cited passages are
shown in the original, followed in most cases by the English transla
tion in parentheses.
I am indebted to Assistant Professor Bruce Taggart of the De
partment of Classics, Boston University, for his translations of the
Greek and Latin citations.
In his statement of distances Delbrück varied between the use of
German miles and of kilometers. Where he gives such figures in
kilometers, the same unit of measure has been retained; where he
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