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Swords in Ancient Chinese Warfare
Although the bow and crossbow were the weapons of choice for much of China's history, the sword played its part, especially when warriors were forced to dismount and face the enemy at close quarters. Widely used from around 500 BCE, swords...
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Fortifications in Ancient Chinese Warfare
While ancient Chinese warfare was often characterised by large armies in pitched battles, siege warfare and the sacking of cities were also regular features. Huge earth walls with towers and encircling ditches or moats became the normal strategy...
Definition
Roman Warfare
Roman warfare was remarkably successful over many centuries and across many territories. This was due to several important factors. Italy was a peninsula not easily attacked, there was a huge pool of fighting men to draw upon, a disciplined...
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Aztec Warfare
The Aztecs engaged in warfare (yaoyotl) to acquire territory, resources, quash rebellions, and to collect sacrificial victims to honour their gods. Warfare was a fundamental part of Aztec culture with all males expected to actively participate...
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Carthaginian Naval Warfare
The Carthaginians were famed in antiquity for their seafaring skills and innovation in ship design. The empire their navy protected stretched from Sicily to the Atlantic coast of Africa. Able to match the tyrants of Sicily and the Hellenistic...
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Viking Warfare
Viking warfare, along with its key component of raiding, is inextricably connected with the expansion of Scandinavian influence along the North Atlantic and into the Mediterranean in the Viking Age (c. 790-1100 CE), where the Vikings' heavy...
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Inca Warfare
The warfare of the Inca civilization was characterised by a high degree of mobility, large-scale engagements of hand-to-hand combat, and the establishment of a network of fortresses to protect an empire of over 10 million subjects. Conquest...
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Elephants in Greek & Roman Warfare
In the search for ever more impressive and lethal weapons to shock the enemy and bring total victory the armies of ancient Greece, Carthage, and even sometimes Rome turned to the elephant. Huge, exotic, and frightening the life out of an...
Definition
Anglo-Saxon Warfare
Anglo-Saxon warfare was characterised by frequent and violent conflicts between petty kings, which ultimately led to the rise of larger kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Mercia, the Kingdom of Northumbria, and the Kingdom of Wessex. In early...
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Archers in Ancient Chinese Warfare
The bow was the most common weapon in ancient Chinese warfare and the skill of using it was the most esteemed martial art for millennia. Archers were used as infantry, chariot riders, and cavalry over the centuries, and while the weapon's...