Ambush : surprise attack in ancient Greek warfare / by Rose Mary Sheldon.

London : Frontline Books, 2012.

xxvi, 282 p. : ill, maps ; 24 cm.

"The stereotyped view of ancient Greek warfare is that it was dominated by the open, pitched battle devoid of trickery or maneuvre, decided by the head-on clash of rival hoplite phalanxes. As well as supposedly being the norm for this period, the decisive battle has become seen as the typical mode of 'Western' warfare, contrasted with an 'Eastern' style of fighting based on ambush, deceit and guerrilla-style tactics. In this book, Colonel Rose Mary Sheldon, an expert in intelligence history, shows that in fact surprise attacks and other strategems were a central part of Greek warfare from the age of Homer to the wars of Alexander the Great's successors. Chapters cover ambush tactics, night attacks, surprise seaborne landings and the use of trickery to capture towns and cities. The importance of lightly-armed troops in a country where much of the terrain was unsuited to the hoplite phalanx is demonstrated, as is the fact that despite missle weapons being deemed dishonourable, they were nonetheless an essential part of warfare. Like commanders and armies in all ages of history, the Greeks used the tactics and stratagems they needed to achieve victory in the situations they found themselves in. This book corrects the traditional view of ancient Greek warfare, shaped as it is both by the biases and beliefs of the Greeks themselves, and those of later historians who have extended that stereotype to create an idea of culturally-distinct ways of warfare in a form of 'military Orientalism' that has a particular relevance today with the insurgencies in Afghanistan and elsewhere"--Publisher's description, p. [4] of dust jacket.

Surprise attack in ancient Greek warfare

English

December 13, 2012

Includes bibliographical references (p. 243-271) and index.