Instead of ambush, skirmish, or combat between individual heroes, the Greeks of the fifth century BC devised a ferocious, brief, and destructive head-on clash between armed men of all ages. This work shows how this brutal enterprise was dedicated to the same outcome as consensual government - an unequivocal, instant resolution to dispute.



The Greeks of the classical age invented not only the central idea of Western politics - that the power of state should be guided by a majority of its citizens - but also the central act of Western warfare, the decisive infantry battle. Instead of ambush, skirmish, or combat between individual heroes, the Greeks of the fifth century B.C. devised a ferocious, brief, and destructive head-on clash between armed men of all ages. In this bold, original study, Victor Davis Hanson shows how this brutal enterprise was dedicated to the same outcome as consensual government - an unequivocal, instant resolution to dispute. Linking this new style of fighting to the rise of constitutional government, Hanson raises new issues and questions old assumptions about the history of war. A new preface addresses recent scholarship on Greek warfare.