This thesis studies interactions between Egypt and the Aegean during the Middle to Late Bronze Ages, focusing on reciprocal influences in the spheres of healing, warfare, and legitimation of power. Chapter 1 provides an introduction, starting with an overview of previous research. The next two sections discuss a couple of issues of general significance, namely chronology and the Egyptian terminology for Aegean peoples and locations. The last two sections deal with issues of methodology and explain the aims of this work. Chapter 2 is devoted to healing practices. Like the two chapters that follow, it begins with a cross-cultural comparison between the Egyptian and Aegean milieus. The basis for the discussion is provided by references to Crete in a couple of Egyptian medical texts. Other potential indications of an exchange of medical lore include containers that might have been used for medical preparations, amulets with healing properties, and possible similarities in practices and medical terminology. Chapter 3 treats warfare, considering it in its broadest sense as a cultural phenomenon, besides looking for evidence suggesting military interaction or cooperation between Egypt and the Aegean. The material under scrutiny ranges from the decoration of weapons to the exchange of raw materials destined for the production of military equipment. Ideology and iconography also contribute to the discussion. Chapter 4 explores the possibility of Egyptian influence in the development of the Aegean ideologies of power and the exploitation of foreign contacts as a source of legitimation. The main body of the chapter deals with the role of exotica in the pursuit of prestige. Some potential examples of the adoption of foreign customs and ideas are also discussed. Chapter 5 summarises the conclusions of the previous chapters concisely and discusses how they may fit within the broader context of the study of Egyptian–Aegean relations. Finally, some possible lines of research for the future are suggested.

L’étude a pour objet le combat de cavalerie dans le monde romain du Ier siècle a.C. au VIe siècle p.C. Il s’agit d’un travail de synthèse, traitant de la doctrine d’emploi de la cavalerie aux époques impériale et proto-byzantine. Les questions organisationnelles et stratégiques sont abordées, mais la focale est surtout mise sur la tactique et la physionomie du combat. L’objectif de cette recherche est de rendre compte de l’évolution de l’art de la guerre durant la fin de l’Antiquité en analysant spécifiquement les enjeux liés au développement et à l’utilisation de la cavalerie. L’importance croissante des troupes montées dans la stratégie impériale marque en effet une rupture importante dans l’histoire de l’armée romaine. Au primat des guerres offensives, de la bataille rangée et de l’infanterie lourde succède progressivement celui de la temporisation, de la guérilla frontalière et des cavaliers-archers. Ces changements, qui n’ont jamais fait l’objet d’une analyse approfondie, sont ici situés dans le temps long de l’Antiquité romaine. Le dialogue des sources narratives, techniques, figurées et archéologiques permet de dégager un schéma évolutif cohérent, un « développement organique des formes de combat » (Hans Delbrück) que nous nous efforçons de réinscrire dans le contexte plus large de l’évolution de la culture militaire impériale, en attachant une importance particulière au rapport des Romains à la guerre et à leur perception idéale des rôles respectifs de l’infanterie et de la cavalerie. / This study is about cavalry warfare in the Roman world from the 1st century BC to the 6th century AD. It is a work of synthesis dealing with the employment doctrine of cavalry in the imperial and early Byzantine eras. Organizational and strategic issues are discussed, but the focus is mainly put on tactics and battle mechanics. The aim of this research is to account for the evolution of the art of war during the end of Antiquity by analyzing specifically the stakes involved in the development and use of cavalry. The growing importance of mounted troops in the imperial strategy marks an important change in the history of the Roman army, with a gradual shift from offensive warfare, pitched battle and heavy infantry toward deception, frontier warfare and mounted archery. These changes, which have never been the subject of a thorough analysis, are here reviewed in the overall context of Roman history. The cross-analysis of narrative, technical, iconographic and archaeological sources reveals a coherent evolutionary pattern, an "organic development of forms of combat" (Hans Delbrück), which we endeavor to reinsert in the wider context of a changing Roman military culture, attaching particular importance to the Romans' relationship to warfare and to their ideal perception of the respective roles of infantry and cavalry.