General Queries 12. The Cosmology of War
From The Observatory
General Queries
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Author’s Note: 1
The following author’s note (starting with a bibliographic source without an introduction or transition characteristic of his writing throughout The Creation of Order) appeared at the end of Chapter 12. Can you help us work its contents into the body of this chapter to be consistent with the rest of The Creation of Order? A new section in Chapter 12 may be created for it to work there.Suggest an edit or addition for Note 1. Join the research!
Dandamaev on War
[Muhammed A. Dandamaev, A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire (Leiden: 1989).] [economic history of the Achaemenids, Chapter 4: Army, pp. 26–28]Verify CitationA full citation is missing. Can you help us find it based on the details and bracketed note?
“The Persian nobility usually appeared for a campaign luxuriantly dressed up for the occasion and accompanied by vehicles with concubines and servants.”Citation NeededIs this quotation from Dandamaev or from Theopompus or someone else?
Theopompus described Artaxerxes III invading Egypt (FHG I,Verify CitationWhat does this stand for? fragments 125, 263). He described the ritualistic dimension of Persian military practices, reflecting the solarized religion of Ahura-Mazda:
“According to Curtius Rufus (III.3 828),Specify CitationShould this be 8–28 or 828? And should it have a label (line, page, etc.)?Verify CitationCan someone please verify this source and help us add a full source link/citation? the Persians had a custom of not setting out on a campaign prior to the rising of the sun. The signal to sally forth was given by a trumpet from the royal tent. In addition, they raised over the tent a shining image of the sun made out of glass. They carried the eternal sacred flame in front of the troops on silver altars, behind which travelledSpelling of TermWas this spelled “travelled” or “traveled” in the original? Can someone with access to the text help us check the quotation? the magi, who sang ancient hymns. Behind them traveledSpelling of TermWas this spelled “traveled” or “travelled” in the original? Can someone with access to the text help us check the quotation? 365 youths in purple cloaks. Farther on rode a chariot dedicated to Jupiter (Ahura-Mazda), to which were harnessed white horses, and behind this chariot was a horse dedicated to the sun.”Paragraph BreakCan you help us check if this is indeed meant to be a paragraph break in the original source?
“At some distance followed ten more chariots ornamented with gold and silver, and behind them were mounted horsemen from 12 different countries in their tribal arms. Behind them traveledSpelling of TermWas this spelled “traveled” or “travelled” in the original? Can someone with access to the text help us check the quotation? the 10,000 ‘immortals’ with golden necklaces and in cloaks and tunics embroidered with gold and decorated with precious stones.”
“Then cameVerify Citation“came” was “come” in the original version of The Creation of Order; can someone with access to the source text check the quotation? 15,000 so-called relatives of the king (an honorary title), well-dressed. Then, royal spearmen, and the king himself in a chariot decorated with gold and silver images of the gods, its connecting rod glittering with with precious stones. An eagle with spread wings (statue) was between two golden statues of gods. The king wore a purple tunic with a white belt, his cloak embroidered with gold, in a headdress with violet lace with white stripes. He had 200 of his attending magnates, and behind them came 10,000 spearmen, followed by another 30,000 foot soldiers.”Verify CitationIt was unclear if this was a quotation or the author’s words (we added the open-quotation mark before “Then came”); for now we left it all as a quotation.Paragraph BreakCan you help us check if this is indeed meant to be a paragraph break in the original source?
“Finally, wives and children of the king drew up the rear, with eunuchs, 360 royal concubines, and also the wives of relatives and retainers of the kings.”Verify CitationIt was unclear if this was a quotation or the author’s words (we added the open-quotation mark before “Then came”); for now we left it all as a quotation.
The numbers 360 (royal concubines) and 365 (young men in purple cloaks) are solar calendrical numbers. The overall effect was to make the military attack not all that much different from a sacred celebration replete with many shared cosmological reference points. (The Archaic Cosmology of Cities: Building the Kosmos on Earth has discussed Joshua’s preparations to attack Jericho with regard to storming its walls.)
Author’s Note: 2
The following author’s note (without an introduction or transition characteristic of his writing throughout The Creation of Order) appeared at the end of Chapter 12. Can you help us work its contents into the body of this chapter to be consistent with the rest of The Creation of Order? A new section (perhaps on military music) in Chapter 12 may be created for it to work.
Note: See also this query about a missing mention of “paean” in the Chapter 12 body.Suggest an edit or addition for Note 2. Join the research!
Military Music (Athenaeus)
Athenaeus[1] reported (XIV.626–628, citing Herodotus[2] I.17) that music was used to provide rhythmic order for military maneuvers. The Spartans “march to battle with the music of flutes, the Cretans with the lyre, the Lydians with Pan’s pipes and flutes.” He added that “In ancient times music was an incitement to bravery.” There were war-dances with helmet, shield and spear, or sword (see Plato,[3] Laws, p. 815A), and a verse attributed to Socrates read “Whoso honor the gods best with dances are the best in war.”
- ↑ Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists: Or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus, C.D. Yonge (tr.), Vol. 3 (London: 1854), via Andrew Smith’s Attalus, Book 14, lines 626–628.
- ↑ Herodotus, The Histories, A.D. Godley (tr.) (Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1920), via Tufts University’s Perseus Digital Library Project, Book 1, Chapter 17.
- ↑ Plato, Laws. From Plato in Twelve Volumes, R.G. Bury (tr.), Vols. 10 and 11 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1967 and 1968), via Tufts University’s Perseus Digital Library Project, p. 815a.
Author’s Note: 3
The following author’s note (without an introduction or transition characteristic of his writing throughout The Creation of Order) appeared at the end of Chapter 12. Can you help us work its contents into the body of this chapter to be consistent with the rest of The Creation of Order? And can you help us add transitions/explanations around the quotations? A new section in Chapter 12—perhaps on military music as mentioned in the general query about military music (Athenaeus)—may be created for it to work.Suggest an edit or addition for Note 3. Join the research!
Trumpet (Larissa Bonfante Warren)
The source of the word “trumpet” is complex.Omitted TextOriginally this sentence was “The word ‘trumpet’ is more complex.” But it was unclear because context was missing: more complex than what? Can you help us transition and expand it? In an article on the Etruscan/Roman military triumph, Larissa Bonfante[1] (1970: p. 62) stated that “The Etruscan word *triumpe, from the Greek triambos, equivalent to Latin tripudium, originally meant a particular musical beat and dance. It was probably introduced… as marching and singing directions designed to set the beat for a parade which was no longer a primitive procession, but a more formally organized military pompa, led by Etruscan musicians and Etruscan officers.”Verify CitationCan someone with access to the text check the quotation and page number?
Bonfante[2] believed that the Etruscans “introduced or transformed music in all phases of life, in games, funerals and military life; the Etruscan army trumpet, called by the Greeks the salpinx, was known in all the Mediterranean world, and was exported widely.”Verify CitationCan someone with access to the text check the quotation and page number?
- ↑ Larissa Bonfante Warren, “Roman Triumphs and Etruscan Kings: The Changing Face of the Triumph,” Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 60 (1970), pp. 49–66.
- ↑ Larissa Bonfante Warren, “Roman Triumphs and Etruscan Kings: The Changing Face of the Triumph,” Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 60 (1970), pp. 49–66.
Author’s Note: 4
The following author’s note (without an introduction or transition characteristic of his writing throughout The Creation of Order) appeared at the end of Chapter 12. Can you help us work its contents into the body of this chapter to be consistent with the rest of The Creation of Order? And can you help us add transitions/explanations around the quotation? A new section in Chapter 12 (perhaps related to the military and taxes) may be created for it to work.Suggest an edit or addition for Note 4. Join the research!
Taxes and War (source unknown)
[See Taxes 3,]Add ContextWe are not sure what “Taxes 3” refers to; do you know, and can you help us work it into the text? Regarding the shift of ilku from military duties to taxes, this deranged archaic economic life. “In the fifth century BC the word ilku, which initially had the meaning of ‘service from the land,’ and which continued to retain this meaning even in the first millennium BC, is used most frequently of all in Babylonia to designate royal taxes from the land. Such a widespread usage of this term can be explained by the fact that the military obligations of the royal colonists in the fifth century BC were usually replaced by taxes, whereas they continued to use that same word ilku, which gradually began to supplant the term mandattu, to designate the duties of these colonists in respect to the state.”Citation NeededHelp us add a citation for this fact, ideally including source link(s) if possible.
Author’s Note: 5
The following author’s note (without an introduction or transition characteristic of his writing throughout The Creation of Order) appeared at the end of Chapter 12. Can you help us work its contents into the body of this chapter to be consistent with the rest of The Creation of Order? And can you help us add transitions/explanations around the quotations? A new section (perhaps on military dynamics) in Chapter 12 may be created for it to work.Suggest an edit or addition for Note 5. Join the research!
Military Dynamics (Dandamaev)
[Muhammad A. Dandamaev/Philip L. Kohl (tr.), AgricultureVerify CitationCan you help us identify this (ideally linked) source for a full citation (speaking specifically about “Agriculture”—is this a journal)? 43Verify CitationShould 43 be labeled as “p. 43”?:]Verify CitationA full citation was missing for this source. Can you help us figure out what the work is and help us cite it fully? Regarding military dynamics, “The dimensions of the allotments gradually diminished, since they were divided among the heirs.” Each “was obliged to serve the king from his share.” This “led to the ruin of the military colonists. Hence, in the fifth and fourth centuries BC the Achaemenids had to rely in their military policy primarily on mercenaries, and not on the owners of the allotments, who did not always even have military equipment.”Verify CitationCan someone with access to whatever text this is from check the quotations and add page numbers for full citations?
Author’s Note: 6
The following author’s note (starting with a bibliographic source without an introduction or transition characteristic of his writing throughout The Creation of Order) appeared at the end of Chapter 12. Can you help us work its contents into the body of this chapter to be consistent with the rest of The Creation of Order? And can you help us add transitions/explanations around the quotations? A new section in Chapter 12 may be created for it to work.Suggest an edit or addition for Note 6. Join the research!
Temples and War (Snodgrass 1980)
[Anthony Snodgrass, Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment (London: 1980), pp. 63–64:]
Temples also were linked with the process of overseas expansion and colonization. “Several ancient narratives of early colonial foundations begin with an account of a consultation of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.”[1] The priests must have had good geographical information, at least at Delphi. Ancient Greek colonists’ dedications made it a repository for such knowledge. Thank-offerings were made after successful commercial voyages, originally backed by the temples (Delphi, and Hera of Samos). “Mutual dependence between the sanctuaries and the land, both for arable and for livestock farming, was close. Sacrifices, it goes without saying, commonly took the form of agricultural produce and farm animals. … Many Greek sanctuaries were in a real sense war museums, and on occasion they served as armouries too. Not only were the portable dedications of arms and armour usually a tithe of the spoils taken from defeated enemies, or else personal offerings of their own equipment by grateful victors; but sometimes the temples themselves were built with the proceeds of successful campaigns. In later times, at least, booty-dedications took other forms as well: we hear of male and female captives being dedicated as temple-slaves, and of plots of profitable land being made over to the sanctuary to increase its revenue.”[2]
In short, “the activities of a Greek sanctuary, far from being a detached and spiritual sphere, were very close to the heart of all political, economic and military life.”[3] See Pausanias’s Description of Greece.Add ContextMore context/development in the text is needed here.
- ↑ Anthony Snodgrass, Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment (London: 1980), pp. 63–64.
- ↑ Anthony Snodgrass, Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment (London: 1980), pp. 63–64.
- ↑ Anthony Snodgrass, Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment (London: 1980), p. 64.
Author’s Note: 7
The following author’s note (without an introduction or transition characteristic of his writing throughout The Creation of Order) appeared at the end of Chapter 12. Can you help us work its contents into the body of this chapter to be consistent with the rest of The Creation of Order? A new section—perhaps on military music as mentioned in the general query about military music (Athenaeus)—in Chapter 12 may be created for it to work.
Note: See also this query about a missing mention of “paean” in the Chapter 12 body.Suggest an edit or addition for Note 7. Join the research!
Military Music Continued (Snodgrass 1980)
[Anthony Snodgrass, Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment (London: 1980), p. 106, regarding music and war:]Key Concept Missing in Chapter BodyCan you add a mention of “paean” here that is teased in the Key Concepts section of Chapter 12?
A Corinthian vase c. 675 BC shows a piper, “an indispensable participant in the later Spartan phalanx where his music kept the men in step, and therefore perhaps a sign of incipient phalanx tactics,”[1] as well as morale-boosting effects.
- ↑ Anthony Snodgrass, Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment (London: 1980), p. 106.
