Hugh Elton

The Climate and Environment of Byzantine Anatolia: Integrating Science, History, and Archaeology

The integration of high-resolution archaeological, textual, and environmental data with longer-term, low-resolution data affords greater precision in identifying some of the causal relationships underlying societal change. Regional and microregional case studies about the Byzantine world—in particular, Anatolia, which for several centuries was the heart of that world—reveal many of the difficulties that researchers face when attempting to assess the influence of environmental factors on human society. The Anatolian case challenges a number of assumptions about the impact of climatic factors on socio-political organization and medium-term historical evolution, highlighting the importance of further collaboration between historians, archaeologists, and climate scientists.

The Roman Army at War, 100 BC-AD 200

This detailed examination of the way in which the Roman army operated during a war and how it fought a battle breaks away from existing studies that mostly concentrate on the army in peacetime and attempts to understand the army as an institution whose ultimate purpose was to wage war. Adrian Goldsworthy explores the influence of the Roman armys organization on its behaviour during a campaign, emphasizing its great flexibility in comparison to most of its opponents. He considers the factors determining the result of a conflict and proposes, contrary to orthodox opinion, that the Roman army was able to adapt successfully to any type of warfare. Following the technique pioneered by John Keegan in The Face of Battle (1976), Dr Goldsworthy builds up a precise picture of what happened during battle: tactics employed; weaponry; leadership; behaviour of individuals as well as groups of soldiers; and, of utmost importance, morale. _ _ This book is intended for scholars and students of ancient history, particularly Roman history, and archaeology. Also of interest to archaeologists.

Warfare in Roman Europe, AD 350-425.

This study discusses the practice of warfare in Europe, from both Roman and barbarian perspectives, in the late 4th and early 5th centuries AD. It analyzes the military practices and capabilities of the Romans and their northern enemies, at policy, strategic, operational and tactical levels, and covers civil wars, sieges and naval warfare. Dr Elton discusses the issue of barbarization, and shows that it did not affect the efficiency of the Roman Army. Other sections of the book discuss organization, fortifications and equipment.