Classical Studies : Military History :
a guide to library resources

Contents:

DICTIONARIES & ATLASES

Dictionaries and encyclopedias provide starting points for definitions, background information and, often, further references on a topic.

Some starting points for finding descriptions and maps of battles in the Classical World include:

Brassey's battles (1986) [print]
[Guide to conflicts, campaigns and wars]

Dictionary of battles (1987) [print]
[Guide to the world's battles from 405BC to contemporary times]

Imperial Battle Map Index [web access]
[Maps of major battles within the era of the Roman Empire]

World atlas of military history [print]
[Volume 1 of this atlas covers the period to 1500]

FINDING BOOKS USING THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE

Books can be found by searching the library catalogue. The following are terms which can be browsed using the Subject Heading option:

Athens (Greece) History, Military

Fortification Roman

Greece Army

Greece History, Military

Greece History Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C

Greece History Persian Wars, 500-449 B.C.

Military Art and Science History

Military art and science Greece History

Military art and science Rome

Military history, Ancient

Punic wars

Rome Army

Rome History, Military

Rome History Naval

Rome History Servile Wars, 135-71 B.C

Or construct your own keyword searches. Here are some examples:

"greek fire"
carthage and rome
navy and (greece or rome)
greece and war? and (persia or iran)

For individuals search by name under the Subject Heading option (eg. Hannibal) or where appropriate by keyword, eg: herodotus and (persia? or iran)

Click here if you need help with constructing keyword searches using techniques such as truncation and Boolean operators

FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES USING DATABASES & BIBLIOGRAPHIES

For most topics the databases listed in the Databases for Classics guide should be sufficient, but those researchers needing to undertake a more comprehensive literature search should note the following additional sources:

L'Annee philologique [print]
[The premier index for Classics - if it's unfamiliar, read this description before attempting to use it. See especially Section VIII.F: Art militaire in each annual printed volume for topics in military history]

Armamentarium: Bibliography [web access]
[A bibliography on Roman arms and armour which appears to cover material up to the late 1990's]

Development of the Roman Navy : A bibliography [web access]
[Bibliography of Thomas P. Roche Master's thesis at the University of Vermont (1991)

Roman Army : a bibliography [web access]
[Compiled By Professor J.P. Adams, Department of Modern and Classical Languages & Literatures, CSUN]

War and Peace in Classical Antiquity [web access]
[A resource bibliography from Rob S. Rice, The University of Pennsylvania (1996)

PRIMARY SOURCES

The following provide translations of primary sources relevant to military history

Documents in Military History [web access]
[A collection of translated primary sources for military history]

Greek and Roman military writers : selected readings [print]
[Translations of ancient military writers writing about the technical aspects of military practice and the management of armies]

Roman army, 31 BC-AD 337 : a sourcebook [print]
[Translated sources of literary & epigraphic material, papyri & coins]

Warfare in ancient Greece : a sourcebook [print]
[Key texts in translation together with comprehensive commentaries]

WEB RESOURCES

Roman military history
[Some starting points for exploring Roman military history via the Web]

De re militari Online Resources
[De re militari is the web-site of the Society for Medieval Military History. The on-line resources include the Byzantine, Greek and Roman periods]

This page is maintained by Jennifer Osborn
Last update: 4 July 2007