ABSTRACT

The modern discipline of Roman military history traces its ancestry back to Polybius. Focusing on both the practical aspects of Roman war-making and the political, cultural, and imperial implications of these practices, Polybius is the first historian (at least whose work is extant) to explore what is now called “war and society” in antiquity. He thus paved the way for later writers to move toward more systematic and relational approaches to ancient, and particularly Roman, warfare. This introductory chapter discusses Polybius’ contribution to the development of the discipline, as well as recent trends in the field. Specifically, Roman warfare is no longer seen as an isolated phenomenon which occurred on the fringes of empire, but as a valuable lens for understanding the basic nature of Roman society. This chapter contextualizes the development of Roman military history, as it relates to the Roman Republic, over the past half century and explores the ways in which the study and our understanding of warfare have changed. Emphasizing particularly the impact of Nathan Rosenstein’s work, although placed solidly in the wider context of the scholarly field, it offers a status quaestionis as well as new directions.