Quote:
Originally Posted by guidoLaMoto
I think many of us make the mistake of viewing the world of the 1st century BC as being organized as an early version of modern society...In fact, it's probably better to compare it to life among the pre-Colombian American Indians-- Wars were not organized affairs, declared by an Act of Congress. They were more along the lines of raiding -- "Hey guys! Let's sneak over to Veii and steal of few sheep tonight. Anybody wanna go along?"
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Indeed the formal act of declaring war and casus belli was a concept not yet established. Sometimes it was to raid, more often it was to subjugate a population and exact tribute and resources, sometimes it was to put down a rebellion in some far flung province. It wasn't even 1st century BC, but common for a few 1,000 years prior, almost as soon as in history when hunter gatherers started to develop into societies. These "kingdoms" (which might range from far reaching and established monarchies to little walled city states) were almost constantly at war with each other and ebbing and resurfacing in later decades. Actually even war was a strange concept - war would be mobilizing an army, fighting it out in one main battle, winning or losing, and that was it. One would win or...lose your head, lose your kingdom, or at best if lost retreat and get a chance to fight another year. It was also very opportunistic, the old "enemy of an enemy is now a friend" was common, and were often triggered by regime changes (a king dying for instance) as a neighboring kingdom would then take advantage of the power vacuum to make his move.
Bauer points out that the Persian Wars however, is really the first instance in history where all these "kingdoms" with a common identity and background (in this case, what is now known as Greece) joined up to fight a common enemy.
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