Horse, Wheel, and Saddle
Recent Works on Two Ancient Military Revolutions
In: International Bibliography of Military HistorySearch for other papers by Barton C. Hacker in
Current site
Google Scholar
Military revolutions are a normal consequence of the central role of military institutions in complex societies. They have everywhere occurred regularly, if infrequently; they are scarcely limited to Western Europe, or even to the modern world. This essay discusses recent writings on two military revolutions in the ancient world, both centered on the military horse: first, its domestication and its role in pulling war chariots; second, the transition from horse driving to horse riding in battle. The chariot revolution of the second millennium BC profoundly reshaped warfare and transformed polities all across Eurasia. The cavalry revolution of the first millennium BC proved equally transformative and far longer lasting. Despite the controversy that has come to surround the concept of military revolution, it may still be fruitfully applied to important aspects of the large-scale historical interactions between societies and their armed forces.
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John T. Correll, “Signs of a Revolution.” Air Force-Magazine.Com: Online Journal of the Air Force Association, Vol. 78 (August 1995), URL: http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1995/August%201995/0895edit.aspx; Williamson Murray, “Thinking about Revolutions in Military Affairs,” Joint Forces Quarterly (Summer 1997): 69-76, URL: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA354177; Simon Bernard, “The Revolution in Military Affairs: Approach with Caution,” Army Doctrine and Training Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 4/Vol. 4, No. 1 (Winter 2000/Spring 2001): 54-62; Scott Stephenson, “The Revolution in Military Affairs: 12 Observations on an Out-of-Fashion Idea,” Military Review (May-June 2010): 38-46; Michael Raska, “The ‘Five Waves’ of RMA Theory, Processes, and Debate,” Pointer: Journal of the Singapore Armed Forces, Vol. 36, Nos. 3-4 (March 2011): 1-12.
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Nanny Kim, “Cultural Attitudes and Horse Technologies: A View on Chariots and Stirrups from the Eastern End of the Eurasian Continent,” in “Science between Europe and Asia,” Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 275, No. 1 (2011): 57-73.
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Peter R.S. Moorey, “The Emergence of the Light, Horse-drawn Chariot in the Near-East, c. 2000–1500 BC,” World Archaeology, Vol. 18, No. 2 (October 1986): 196-215, at 199-203. For a comprehensive review of the steppe evidence for chariot technology and use in warfare, see Elena E. Kuz’mina. “Transport,” chap. 8 in The Origin of the Indo-Iranians, ed. J.P. Mallory, trans. Svetlana Petina and P. Prudovsky (Leiden, Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries Series, Vol. 3; Leiden, 2007), 107-140.
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See also Moorey, “Emergence of the Light, Horse-drawn Chariot”; Jacob Wright, “Chariots: Technological Developments from the 3rd Millennium to the Hellenistic Age,” in Encyclopedia of Material Culture (Santa Barbara, CA, forthcoming (available online at URL: http://emory. academia.edu/JacobWright/Papers/868089/Chariots_Technological_Developments_from_the_3rd_Mill._to_the_Hellenistic_Age.
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Horse, Wheel, and Saddle
Recent Works on Two Ancient Military Revolutions
In: International Bibliography of Military HistorySearch for other papers by Barton C. Hacker in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Military revolutions are a normal consequence of the central role of military institutions in complex societies. They have everywhere occurred regularly, if infrequently; they are scarcely limited to Western Europe, or even to the modern world. This essay discusses recent writings on two military revolutions in the ancient world, both centered on the military horse: first, its domestication and its role in pulling war chariots; second, the transition from horse driving to horse riding in battle. The chariot revolution of the second millennium BC profoundly reshaped warfare and transformed polities all across Eurasia. The cavalry revolution of the first millennium BC proved equally transformative and far longer lasting. Despite the controversy that has come to surround the concept of military revolution, it may still be fruitfully applied to important aspects of the large-scale historical interactions between societies and their armed forces.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 672 | 97 | 3 |
| Full Text Views | 203 | 4 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 89 | 12 | 3 |
