Book Your Summer Shop Summer Reading
Where War Began: A Military History of the Middle East from the Birth of Civilization to Alexander the Great and the Romans
Bloody fighting between rival tribes and clans has existed since the dawn of Homo sapiens, but war as we knew it began to take the more organized forms we recognize today in the ancient Near East, starting in the vital region near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (modern Iraq) and ultimately extending west to the Mediterranean Sea through what became the Holy Land of the Bible, a region eventually contested by Egypt, the Roman Empire, and others, and extending north and east into the mountains of Persia (modern Iran). In this informed and accessible history, Arthur Cotterell tells the story of how the story of the development of civilization is also the story of the development of organized warfare

This story begins around 4,000 to 3,000 BC with the Sumerians, one of the first dominant civilizations of fertile Mesopotamia, and their wars with their neighbors. The Sumerians eventually gave way to the Babylonians, whose period of dominance saw rudimentary “great power” rivalries begin to form with the likes of Egypt and the Hittites and the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC). This period resolved with the fall of Babylon and the rise of other powers, ultimately the Persian Empire of Cyrus and Darius, one of the great ancient dynasties, which battled the Greeks directly (as chronicled in Herodotus) and indirectly as rival Persian factions battled each other (e.g., as chronicled in Xenophon’s account of the storied Ten Thousand).

In the period that followed, the Near East was dominated by Alexander the Great, whose legendary campaigns conquered Persia and ventured east into modern India. This era saw the refinement of the Greek hoplite tactics that remained standard for many hundreds of years. After Alexander the Great, and the rise of the Seleucids and Parthians where Persians once reigned, the Roman Empire began to exert its power in the region, especially at its colonies in Judea and Syria.

Spanning some 4,000 years and drawing anecdotes and quotations from ancient sources, Where War Began is a lively narrative of the origins of war in a region that is still afflicted by war and that still shapes global politics.

"1141021107"
Where War Began: A Military History of the Middle East from the Birth of Civilization to Alexander the Great and the Romans
Bloody fighting between rival tribes and clans has existed since the dawn of Homo sapiens, but war as we knew it began to take the more organized forms we recognize today in the ancient Near East, starting in the vital region near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (modern Iraq) and ultimately extending west to the Mediterranean Sea through what became the Holy Land of the Bible, a region eventually contested by Egypt, the Roman Empire, and others, and extending north and east into the mountains of Persia (modern Iran). In this informed and accessible history, Arthur Cotterell tells the story of how the story of the development of civilization is also the story of the development of organized warfare

This story begins around 4,000 to 3,000 BC with the Sumerians, one of the first dominant civilizations of fertile Mesopotamia, and their wars with their neighbors. The Sumerians eventually gave way to the Babylonians, whose period of dominance saw rudimentary “great power” rivalries begin to form with the likes of Egypt and the Hittites and the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC). This period resolved with the fall of Babylon and the rise of other powers, ultimately the Persian Empire of Cyrus and Darius, one of the great ancient dynasties, which battled the Greeks directly (as chronicled in Herodotus) and indirectly as rival Persian factions battled each other (e.g., as chronicled in Xenophon’s account of the storied Ten Thousand).

In the period that followed, the Near East was dominated by Alexander the Great, whose legendary campaigns conquered Persia and ventured east into modern India. This era saw the refinement of the Greek hoplite tactics that remained standard for many hundreds of years. After Alexander the Great, and the rise of the Seleucids and Parthians where Persians once reigned, the Roman Empire began to exert its power in the region, especially at its colonies in Judea and Syria.

Spanning some 4,000 years and drawing anecdotes and quotations from ancient sources, Where War Began is a lively narrative of the origins of war in a region that is still afflicted by war and that still shapes global politics.

32.95 In Stock
Where War Began: A Military History of the Middle East from the Birth of Civilization to Alexander the Great and the Romans

Where War Began: A Military History of the Middle East from the Birth of Civilization to Alexander the Great and the Romans

by Arthur Cotterell
Where War Began: A Military History of the Middle East from the Birth of Civilization to Alexander the Great and the Romans
Add to Wishlist
Where War Began: A Military History of the Middle East from the Birth of Civilization to Alexander the Great and the Romans

Where War Began: A Military History of the Middle East from the Birth of Civilization to Alexander the Great and the Romans

by Arthur Cotterell

Overview

Bloody fighting between rival tribes and clans has existed since the dawn of Homo sapiens, but war as we knew it began to take the more organized forms we recognize today in the ancient Near East, starting in the vital region near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (modern Iraq) and ultimately extending west to the Mediterranean Sea through what became the Holy Land of the Bible, a region eventually contested by Egypt, the Roman Empire, and others, and extending north and east into the mountains of Persia (modern Iran). In this informed and accessible history, Arthur Cotterell tells the story of how the story of the development of civilization is also the story of the development of organized warfare

This story begins around 4,000 to 3,000 BC with the Sumerians, one of the first dominant civilizations of fertile Mesopotamia, and their wars with their neighbors. The Sumerians eventually gave way to the Babylonians, whose period of dominance saw rudimentary “great power” rivalries begin to form with the likes of Egypt and the Hittites and the Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC). This period resolved with the fall of Babylon and the rise of other powers, ultimately the Persian Empire of Cyrus and Darius, one of the great ancient dynasties, which battled the Greeks directly (as chronicled in Herodotus) and indirectly as rival Persian factions battled each other (e.g., as chronicled in Xenophon’s account of the storied Ten Thousand).

In the period that followed, the Near East was dominated by Alexander the Great, whose legendary campaigns conquered Persia and ventured east into modern India. This era saw the refinement of the Greek hoplite tactics that remained standard for many hundreds of years. After Alexander the Great, and the rise of the Seleucids and Parthians where Persians once reigned, the Roman Empire began to exert its power in the region, especially at its colonies in Judea and Syria.

Spanning some 4,000 years and drawing anecdotes and quotations from ancient sources, Where War Began is a lively narrative of the origins of war in a region that is still afflicted by war and that still shapes global politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780811771450
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date: 10/01/2022
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 6.23(w) x 9.35(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

Arthur Cotterell was formerly a principal at Kingston College in London, where a performing arts theater is named for him. He has spent many years combining senior educational management with historical research to write books on the ancient world and mythology. A respected author of more than thirty books, he has been published by Penguin and Oxford University Press. His credits include The Minoan World, The Penguin Encyclopedia of Ancient Civilizations, Ancient China, and The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Mythology. He lives in Surrey, England, outside London.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Battle Plans vii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Sumer and Akkad 5

War before Civilization 6

The Beginnings of Organized Warfare 14

The Ruthless Ascendancy of Akkad 25

Ur and Elam 34

Chapter 2 International Rivalry 38

Hammurabi's Babylon 38

Mitanni and the Chariot 44

Egyptian Expansion 47

Kassite Babylon 55

The Battle of Kadesh 58

The Sea Peoples 66

Chapter 3 The Great Mesopotamian Powers 70

The Rise and Domination of Assyria 71

The Fall of Elam and Assyria 94

The Babylonian Revival 101

Chapter 4 The Persian Empire 106

The Conquests of Cyrus the Great 107

From Cambyses to Darius 115

The Greek Challenge 121

The Ten Thousand 132

Imperial Decline 135

Chapter 5 The Macedonian Supremacy 138

Thebes and Hoplite Tactics 139

Further Macedonian Innovation 145

Alexander the Great's Conquest of Persia 152

The Advance to India 160

Seleucid Elephants 166

Chapter 6 The Iranian Revival 170

The Shrinking of Seleucid Power 172

The Rise of Parthia 178

Rome versus the Sasanians 189

Chapter 7 The Smaller States 202

Troy and Asia Minor 202

Bactria and India 208

Judea and Syria 217

Petra and Arabia 223

Palmyra and Egypt 227

Chapter 8 Famous Sieges 233

Hammurabi of Babylon's Capture of Larsa 237

The Assyrian Sack of Babylon 240

Nebuchadrezzar II's Destruction of Jerusalem 246

Alexander the Great's Siege of Tyre 250

Rome's Capture of Jerusalem 257

The Sasanian Siege of Amida 263

Further Reading 267

Index 269

About the Author 277

From the B&N Reads Blog
Page 1 of

Related Subjects

History
Military History
General & Miscellaneous Military History
History
Military History
General & Miscellaneous Military History

Customer Reviews