Warfare in Ancient Greece - Book Review

January 13, 2022

A dry read of facts and figures on weapons, armour, helmets and cavalries in ancient Greek history. Interesting, but dry.

From the Back Cover

In this first comprehensive study of Ancient Greek warfare for over 35 years, Tim Everson discusses clearly and thoroughly the background, weapons and tactics of the ancient Greeks.

He describes the weapons, armour, helmets, chariots and other military equipment used in from c. 1550 to 150 BC and traces how and when various pieces of equipment came into use; whether they were introduced from other regions or were native developments; the effectiveness of the armour and weapons used and when and why things changed (or not).

Set against a background of a broad history of Greek warfare - how they fought, why they fought and the developments in tactics over the centuries - he examines both the archaeological evidence of actual finds, as well as ancient depictions of military equipment on vases and in sculpture and literary evidence of Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides and many other ancient authors.

Warfare in Ancient Greece

Details

• 2004
• Sutton Publishing
• Written by Tim Everson

What’s the Book About?

Ranging from 1600-150 BC Warfare in Ancient Greece talks about the broad range of weapons, armour, helmets and other hardware used by the Ancient Greeks.

The book is broken up into 5 chapters:

1. The Early Mycenaean Period (1600-1300 BC)
2. The Late Mycenaean Period and the Dark Age (1300-900 BC)
3. The Emergence of Hoplite Warfare (900-525 BC)
4. The Periods of the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars (525-400 BC)
5. The Hellenistic Period (400-150 BC)

Each chapter is broken up into the military pieces used during that age - in general you read about:

• Helmets
• Body Armour (from metal cuirasses to the linothorax)
• Shields
• Spears
• Swords

Later chapters include information on skirmish weapons, cavalry and ballistic weapons like catapults and ballistas.

Did I Like It?

No. The book read like a thesis with many references to his scholarly peers on Greek history. There are over 150 scholarly references that Everson uses as sources to reinforce and substantiate the concepts he puts forward in his book.

The book was essentially a treatise of facts and figures on ancient Greek military pieces right down to the thickness of the bronze plating used in cuirasses (1-1.5mm thick for those who are curious).

For a weapons recreation specialist looking to produce exact replicates, this could be a good reference, but as a book it lacks the context in which these pieces were used, leaving you with just the description of the pieces. There is no story weaved about the pieces - what battles they were wielded in, the heroes that stood out, the dusk or dawn of the battle.

Another drawback to the book is the placement of the illustrations. They’re all over the book. Normally this isn’t a bad thing, unless you are on page 75 and the book is referencing figure 49c - which is way over on page 137. What’s worse is that the book makes references to the same image on multiple pages or chapters so you’re constantly flipping back and forth - again, trying to find the image because you didn’t colour code tag all 72 images in the book.

The book also references pages and illustrations from other books, like you would expect from a thesis, but you don’t have these books (over 150 references) so you lose the context that Everson is referring to. And no, I’m not going to buy all 150+ books, okay, maybe a couple.

The Book Itself

This is a nice looking book - on the outside. It’s a slick black hardcover with golden lettering on the spine. However, when you open it up, the pages are glossy and have a textbook feel which doesn’t make for a relaxing evening read. I ended up using a highlighter to mark key points in the book - just as I typically do with my textbooks.

Who is this Book For?

Everson says that this book will appeal to anyone interested in ancient and classical history, as well as historians of warfare and archaeologists.

Maybe, but there is no story being weaved here. It is just a dry set of facts and figures. Interesting information to be sure, but dry. Rather dry.

This is not a book for someone with a passive interest in history, nor is it a book for someone looking to read about the fighting that took place, the places of battle, and the people who stood out.

Would I Recommend It?

Unfortunately I would not recommend this book to the average reader of ancient history. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone really and I feel bad about writing this.

I really wanted to like this book, but it didn’t draw me in. It just felt like I was back in class studying so that I can pass my midterms.