Book Description

In The Trojan War as Military History, the author's starting point is the fact that the Iliad, notwithstanding the fantastical/mythological elements (the involvement of gods and demigods), is the earliest detailed description of warfare we have. Stripping away the myths, Manousos Kambouris analyses the epic and combines it with other textual and archaeological evidence to produce a coherent narrative of the conflict and of Bronze Age warfare in the Aegean. The author presents the most detailed analysis possible of Mycenaean Greek armies - their composition and organization, the warriors' weapons, armor and tactics, and those of their enemies. He finds sophisticated combined-arms forces blending massed infantry with missile troops and chariots, employing open battle, deception and special operations in what amounted to total war. The author's detailed examination of the mechanics of Bronze Age combat is enriched by his use of insights from experimental archaeology using replica equipment. No less illuminating or significant than the minutiae of heroic duels is the setting of the strategic context of the conflict and the geopolitical relationship of the Mycenaean Greeks with their rivals across the Aegean. Seeking to integrate the supernatural/divine element of the Iliad within the power structure and struggle of the day, the author lashes the Trojan War to the chariot of rationality and drags it from the mists of mythology and into the realm of History.