2.54 FC – Warfare Ideology

Apparitions of providential horsemen find their matrix in ancient dioscurophanies, such as the one reported at Lake Regillus (499 BC) by Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Through a phenomenon of symbolic porosity, this figure of the celestial horseman resurfaces in Judeo-Hellenistic literature precisely in 2 Maccabees 3:25–26, where two young horsemen repel Heliodorus in direct…

From 519 to 548 CE, the Aksumite kings Kaleb and Wa’zeb commissioned several military inscriptions commemorating their victories in wars against the South Arabian kingdom of Himyar. In erecting such inscriptions, these monarchs were following in a longstanding tradition among Ethiopian rulers upon the conclusion of successful military campaigns. What makes them unique is that,…

Attraverso il concetto di mètis, quella forma speciale di intelligenza empirica e astuzia pratica ereditata dalla tradizione greca e teorizzata da Marcel Detienne e Jean-Pierre Vernant, il presente paper si propone una rilettura innovativa della trattatistica militare bizantina, esplorando il nesso tra prassi bellica e riflessione filosofica. A differenza degli autori classici e della tradizione…