Ancient warfare is war as conducted from the beginnings of history to the end of the ancient period. In Europe, the end of antiquity is often equated with the fall of Rome in 476. In China, it can also be seen as ending in the fifth century, with the growing role of mounted warriors needed to counter the ever-growing threat from the north. Ancient warfare - Overview. The difference between prehistoric and ancient warfare is less one of technology than of organization. The development of first city-states, a ...

Including:

• Ancient warfare - Overview
• Ancient warfare - Chariots
• Ancient warfare - Infantry
• Ancient warfare - Cavalry
• Ancient warfare - Naval warfare
• Ancient warfare - Tactics and weapons
• Ancient warfare - Strategy
• Ancient warfare - Tactics
• Ancient warfare - Weapons
• Ancient warfare - Sieges
• Ancient warfare - Cultures
• Ancient warfare - Chinese
• Ancient warfare - Persian
• Ancient warfare - Egyptian
• Ancient warfare - Germanic
• Ancient warfare - Greek
• Ancient warfare - Indus Valley
• Ancient warfare - Japanese
• Ancient warfare - Roman
• Ancient warfare - Important ancient wars
• Ancient warfare - Important ancient battles
• Ancient warfare - Unit types
• Ancient warfare - Sources

Read more here: » Ancient warfare: Encyclopedia - Ancient warfare

See also:

Ancient warfare, Ancient warfare - Overview, Ancient warfare - Chariots, Ancient warfare - Infantry, Ancient warfare - Cavalry, Ancient warfare - Naval warfare, Ancient warfare - Tactics and weapons, Ancient warfare - Strategy, Ancient warfare - Tactics, Ancient warfare - Weapons, Ancient warfare - Sieges, Ancient warfare - Cultures, Ancient warfare - Chinese, Ancient warfare - Persian, Ancient warfare - Egyptian, Ancient warfare - Germanic, Ancient warfare - Greek, Ancient warfare - Indus Valley, Ancient warfare - Japanese, Ancient warfare - Roman, Ancient warfare - Important ancient wars, Ancient warfare - Important ancient battles, Ancient warfare - Unit types, Ancient warfare - Sources

Read more here: » Ancient warfare: Encyclopedia II - Ancient warfare - Overview

Ancient warfare - Chinese. Main article: Military history of China Ancient China during the Shang Dynasty was a Bronze Age society based on chariot armies. Archaeological study of Shang sites at Anyang have revealed extensive examples of chariots and bronze weapons. The overthrow of the Shang by the Zhou saw the creation of a feudal social order, resting militarily on a c ...

See also:

Ancient warfare, Ancient warfare - Overview, Ancient warfare - Chariots, Ancient warfare - Infantry, Ancient warfare - Cavalry, Ancient warfare - Naval warfare, Ancient warfare - Tactics and weapons, Ancient warfare - Strategy, Ancient warfare - Tactics, Ancient warfare - Weapons, Ancient warfare - Sieges, Ancient warfare - Cultures, Ancient warfare - Chinese, Ancient warfare - Persian, Ancient warfare - Egyptian, Ancient warfare - Germanic, Ancient warfare - Greek, Ancient warfare - Indus Valley, Ancient warfare - Japanese, Ancient warfare - Roman, Ancient warfare - Important ancient wars, Ancient warfare - Important ancient battles, Ancient warfare - Unit types, Ancient warfare - Sources

Read more here: » Ancient warfare: Encyclopedia II - Ancient warfare - Cultures

Combined arms operations dates back to antiquity, where armies would usually field a screen of skirmishers to protect their spearmen during the approach to contact. In more elaborate situations the armies of various nationalities fielded different combinations of light, medium, or heavy infantry, cavalry, chariotry, camelry, elephantry, and artillery (mechanical weapons), with the cooperating units variously armed with side-arms, spears, or missile weapons in order to coordinate an attack in time and space th ...

See also:

Combined arms, Combined arms - Ancient warfare, Combined arms - Early modern warfare, Combined arms - Late 20th Century warfare

Read more here: » Combined arms: Encyclopedia II - Combined arms - Ancient warfare

Armoured warfare in modern warfare is understood to be the use of armoured fighting vehicles as a central component of the methods of war. Armoured warfare - First World War. Modern armoured warfare began with the development of the tank during the First World War. Following the First World War, the technical and doctrinal aspects of armoured warfare became more sophisticated and diverged into multiple schools. Ancient warfare, Modern warfare, Hist ...

Including:

• Armoured warfare - First World War
• Armoured warfare - The inter-war period
• Armoured warfare - Second World War
• Armoured warfare - Arab-Israeli wars
• Armoured warfare - NATO and Warsaw Pact
• Armoured warfare - Tank tactics
• Armoured warfare - Airborne threats
• Armoured warfare - Support

Read more here: » Armoured warfare: Encyclopedia - Armoured warfare

Ancient history is the study of significant cultural and political events from the beginning of human history until the Early Middle Ages. Although the ending date is largely arbitrary, most Western scholars use the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476 as the traditional end of ancient history. Another term that is often used to refer to ancient history is antiquity, although this term is most often used to refer specifically to ...

Including:

• Ancient history - The study of ancient history
• Ancient history - Archaeology
• Ancient history - Primary sources
• Ancient history - Chronology
• Ancient history - Prehistory
• Ancient history - Important events
• Ancient history - End of ancient history in Europe
• Ancient history - Some prominent civilizations of ancient history
• Ancient history - Europe and the Mediterranean
• Ancient history - East Asia
• Ancient history - Central and Southwest Asia
• Ancient history - Saharan and Sub-Saharan Africa
• Ancient history - The Americas
• Ancient history - References and further reading

Read more here: » Ancient history: Encyclopedia - Ancient history

Chemical warfare is warfare (and associated military operations) using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy. Chemical warfare is different from the use of conventional weapons or nuclear weapons because the destructive effects of chemical weapons are not primarily due to any explosive force. The offensive use of living organisms (such as anthrax) is considered to be biological warfare rather than chemical warfare; the use of nonliving toxic products produced by living organisms (e ...

Including:

• Chemical warfare - Chemical warfare technology
• Chemical warfare - Chemical weapon agents
• Chemical warfare - Chemical agent delivery
• Chemical warfare - Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare
• Chemical warfare - Efforts to eradicate chemical weapons
• Chemical warfare - Chemical weapon proliferation
• Chemical warfare - History
• Chemical warfare - Chemical warfare in ancient and classical times
• Chemical warfare - The rediscovery of chemical warfare
• Chemical warfare - Chemical warfare in World War I
• Chemical warfare - Chemical warfare in the interwar years
• Chemical warfare - Chemical warfare in World War II
• Chemical warfare - Chemical warfare during the Cold War
• Chemical warfare - Chemical weapons and terrorism

Read more here: » Chemical warfare: Encyclopedia - Chemical warfare

Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects. Though the lower-echelon units of a combined arms team may be of homogeneous types, a balanced mixture of such units are combined into an effective higher-echelon unit, whether formally in a table of organization or informally in an ad hoc solution to a battlefield problem. For example an armored division — the modern paragon of combined arms doctrine — consists of a mixture of infa ...

Including:

• Combined arms - Ancient warfare
• Combined arms - Early modern warfare
• Combined arms - Late 20th Century warfare

Read more here: » Combined arms: Encyclopedia - Combined arms

For the Boston area punk band see Siege (band). For the James Mason book see Siege (book) A siege is a prolonged military blockade and assault of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that refuses to surrender and cannot be easily taken by a frontal assault. Sieges usually involve surrounding the target and blocking the provision of supplies, typically coupled with siege engines, artillery bombardment or sapping (als ...

Including:

• Siege - Ancient and medieval siege warfare
• Siege - Mongol siege warfare
• Siege - Sieges in the age of gunpowder
• Siege - Emerging theories on improving fortifications
• Siege - New styles of fortresses employed
• Siege - Marshal Vauban
• Siege - Advent of mobile warfare
• Siege - Modern warfare
• Siege - Recent sieges
• Siege - Police actions
• Siege - Bibliography
• Siege - Notes

Read more here: » Siege: Encyclopedia - Siege

A weapon is a tool which can be used during combat to kill or incapacitate, to destroy property, or to otherwise render resources non-functional or unavailable. It may be used to attack and defend, and consequently also to threaten. The use of weapons has been recorded since the advent of cave painting, and the process has been formulated resulting in both martial arts and strategic doctrines. Metaphorically, anything used to damage (even psychologically) can be referred to as a weapon. A weapon can be as simple as a club or as ...

Including:

• Weapon - History
• Weapon - Ancient Weapons
• Weapon - Combustion-powered weapons
• Weapon - Nuclear Weapons
• Weapon - Information Warfare
• Weapon - Types of weapons
• Weapon - Weapons by era

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An ambush is a long established military tactic in which an ambushing force uses concealment to attack an enemy that passes its position. Ambushers strike from concealed positions such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops. The tactic is generally used to gather intelligence or to establish control over an area. Ambushes have been used consistently throughout history, from ancient to modern warfare. Ambush - Procedure. In modern warfare, an ambush is most often employed by ground troops up to platoon ...

Including:

• Ambush - Procedure
• Ambush - Preparation
• Ambush - Waiting
• Ambush - Execution

Read more here: » Ambush: Encyclopedia - Ambush

Contravallation is a standard military tactic of siege used in ancient and modern warfare. It is the process of the attacking army building a line of fortifications around the besieged city facing away from the city (to protect themselves from attacks by allies of the city's defenders and to enhance the blockade of the city) and also the resulting fortifications (known as 'lines of contravallation'). Lines of contravallation generally consist of earth ramparts and entrenchments that encircle the besieged city and are built para ...

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A vimāna is a mythological flying machine, described in the ancient literature of India. References to these flying machines are commonplace in ancient Indian texts, even describing their use in warfare. As well as being able to fly within Earth's atmosphere, vimānas were also said to be able to travel into space and travel submerged underwater. Descriptions in the Vedas and later Indian literature detail vimānas of various shapes and sizes: In the Vedas: the sun, and flying wheeled chariots pulled by ani ...

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Adrian Goldsworthy (born 1969) is a British historian and military writer. After studying at St John's College, Oxford, he completed a Ph.D in ancient military history in 1994. Goldsworthy is the author of several books on the subject, including: The Roman Army at War 100 BC - AD 200 (OUP, 1996) Roman Warfare (Cassell, 2000) ISBN 0304352659 The Punic Wars (Cassell, 2000) ISBN 030435967X Fields of Battle: Cannae (Orion, 2001) ISBN 0304357146 In the Name of

Read more here: » Adrian Goldsworthy: Encyclopedia - Adrian Goldsworthy

Circumvallation is a standard military tactic of siege used in ancient and modern warfare. It describes the process of the attacking army building a line of fortifications around the besieged city facing towards the city (to protect itself from sorties by its defenders and to enhance the blockade). The resulting fortifications are known as 'lines of circumvallation'. Lines of circumvallation generally consist of earth ramparts and entrenchments that encircle the besieged city. The line of circumvallation can be used as a base for launching assaults against the besieged city o ...

Including:

• Circumvallation - Examples of circumvallation in military history

Read more here: » Circumvallation: Encyclopedia - Circumvallation

Victor Davis Hanson (born 1953) is an American military historian and political essayist, best known as a scholar of ancient warfare as well as a commentator on modern warfare. He is also a grape farmer and a critic of social trends related to farming and agrarianism. Victor Davis Hanson - Early life education and today. Hanson grew up on a family farm at Selma, in the San Joaquin Valley of California. His mother was a lawyer and judge, his father an educator and college administrator. Along with his older ...

Including:

• Victor Davis Hanson - Early life education and today
• Victor Davis Hanson - Carnage and Culture
• Victor Davis Hanson - Stances
• Victor Davis Hanson - Iraq War
• Victor Davis Hanson - American education & Classical studies
• Victor Davis Hanson - Politics
• Victor Davis Hanson - Influences
• Victor Davis Hanson - Works

Read more here: » Victor Davis Hanson: Encyclopedia - Victor Davis Hanson

Swordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in fencing with a sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to European Medieval warfare. Swordsman translates gladiator, the term for the professional fencers of Ancient Rome. Several modern sports and martial arts have components based upon older principles of swordfighting. Among these are fencing, kendo, iaido, ken ...

Including:

• Swordsmanship - Styles of swordfighting
• Swordsmanship - Sword and shield
• Swordsmanship - Two-handed sword
• Swordsmanship - Chronology
• Swordsmanship - Middle Ages
• Swordsmanship - Renaissance
• Swordsmanship - Modern fencing

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The term galley can refer to any ship propelled primarily by man-power, using oars. Most galleys also use masts and sails as a secondary means of propulsion. Various types of galleys dominated naval warfare in the Mediterranean from the time of Homer to the development of effective naval gunnery around the 15th and 16th centuries. Galleys fought in the wars of ancient Persia, Greece, Carthage and Rome until the 4th century. After the fall of the Roman Empire, galleys saw continued, if somewhat reduced, use by the Byzantine Empi ...

Including:

• Galley - Ancient galleys
• Galley - The first galleys
• Galley - Penteconters
• Galley - Triremes
• Galley - Quinqueremes and polyremes
• Galley - Later galleys
• Galley - Medieval galleys in northern Europe
• Galley - The Renaissance
• Galley - The last galleys
• Galley - Other links
• Galley - Other meanings

Read more here: » Galley: Encyclopedia - Galley

In religion, folklore, and mythology a demon or demoness is a supernatural being that has generally been described as a malevolent spirit but outside Christian circles was viewed as a sort of elemental spirit: compare daemon and djinn. A demon is frequently depicted as a force that may be conjured and insecurely controlled. The "good" demon in recent use is largely a literary device (eg: Maxwell's demon). In common language, "demonizing" one's opponent is an aspersion. As the Indo-Iranian Avestan and Vedic traditions and also other branches of Indo-European mythologies show, the not ...

Including:

• Demon - Etymology
• Demon - Demons in ancient Persia
• Demon - Demons in the Hebrew Bible
• Demon - Influences from Chaldean mythology
• Demon - In Jewish rabbinic literature
• Demon - The King and Queen of Demons
• Demon - In the New Testament and Christianity
• Demon - In Christian myth and legend
• Demon - War in Heaven
• Demon - Demonologies
• Demon - In pre-Islamic Arab culture
• Demon - In Islam
• Demon - In Hinduism
• Demon - Demons in other cultures and religions
• Demon - Demons in Hellenistic Neopaganism
• Demon - In art literature and television
• Demon - In science
• Demon - In games
• Demon - External link

Read more here: » Demon: Encyclopedia - Demon

Ancient sources contain many stories of siege, such as the siege of Jericho in the Old Testament or the Siege of Troy described by Homer in the Iliad. Alexander the Great's Macedonian army was involved in many sieges. There are two which are of particular note: Tyre and Sogdian Rock. Tyre was a Phoenician island-city about 1km from the mainland, and thought to be impregnable. The Macedonians built a mole (causeway) out to the island. It is said to have been at least 60m (200ft) wide. When the causeway was within artillery range ...

See also:

Siege, Siege - Ancient and medieval siege warfare, Siege - Mongol siege warfare, Siege - Sieges in the age of gunpowder, Siege - Emerging theories on improving fortifications, Siege - New styles of fortresses employed, Siege - Marshal Vauban, Siege - Advent of mobile warfare, Siege - Modern warfare, Siege - Recent sieges, Siege - Police actions, Siege - Bibliography, Siege - Notes

Read more here: » Siege: Encyclopedia II - Siege - Ancient and medieval siege warfare