This thesis investigates the military equipment of the south Italic peoples known to the Romans as Samnites, Campanians, Lucanians and Apulians during the 5th to 3rd centuries BC. According to the ancient sources this period was characterised by two distinct phases of military conflict. The first phase was from the end of the 5th to the beginning of the 4th century when south Italic peoples seized control of Greek and Etruscan urban centres along the coast. The second phase was from the middle of the 4th to the early 3rd century when Roman involvement in the region resulted in a series of wars. Archaeological evidence shows that within this historical context a number of developments and innovations occurred in the south Italic panoply. Greek ideas and influences were adopted and integrated into native Italic forms of armour that suited local needs and tastes. It is also evident that south Italic arms and armour had a significant influence on the Romans. South Italic military equipment, however, has long been treated as an ancillary chapter to the better-documented Greek and Roman armies and never as a subject of investigation in its own right. This is surprising since such a large quantity of evidence exists from warrior burials, which consists of not only the arms and armour but of depictions of this equipment in tomb and vase-paintings. This thesis seeks to bring together a large corpus of material and information for the first time and investigate not only tactical and technical aspects but also less obvious meanings. These include questions of identity, cultural significance and the role of this equipment in a larger continuum of development and evolution.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:689418 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Burns, M. |
| Publisher | University College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1445381/ |
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