Warfare in Antiquity: History of the Art of War, Volume I (Paperback)

Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that Delbruck, being a Prussian military officer, can instantly sniff out absurdities in the sources that most other historians just credulously accept. The best example of this is Polybius' description of Roman pre-cohort battle formations. According to Polybius, a legion would be arranged in checkerboard fashion so that, during crucial moments in the battle, rear lines of fresh troops could advance and continue the fight while soldiers in the front would withdraw to recuperate. More conscientious historians (see Osprey's "Armies of the Carthaginian Wars") have at least tried to address the problem of why an enemy wouldn't just pour through the gaps in the front line and attack the Romans in the flanks. Only Delbruck has been brave enough, though, to abandon any attempt to reconcile this fanciful description with military reality and argue that, instead of a fighting formation, Polybius' checkerboard square instead describes a pre-battle MARCH formation.

This is only one example of how Delbruck persuasively challenges classical warfare's conventional wisdom. He also argues that Darius' invading Persian army was no larger than the allied Greek one that ultimately defeated it at Marathon, that Caesar's brilliant conquest of Gaul was mostly the result of superior maneuverability and logistics, and that, far from regularly destroying barbarian armies more than five times their size, Roman legions could only achieve tactical parity with barbarians whose harsh living conditions made them naturally brave and cohesive warriors.

One need not accept all these conclusions (I myself am somewhat skeptical about the last one) to find much of value in this book. At the very least it will make one a more critical and active reader, able to question both less-than-stellar primary sources and the historians who over time have just parroted them.

Not only Delbruk is brave enough to argue and discard many things that historians bypass or take as true, like the supossed numerical superiority of the Persians in their conflicts with the Greeks and Macedonians, the true use of elephants in battle or the way the ancient Roman maniples were an improvement to the phalanx. He practically rewrites many battles (Marathon, Salamis, Issus, Zama, Alesia), discarding absurd notions and finding a logical interpretation for the flow of the battle. I my opinion, he describes these battles much better than any other author I've read. However, as noted before, you should have an idea of the general history of the conflicts and their outcome, because Delbruk only discusses pure military aspects. But, if you ever felt that the overwhelming numerical superiority of barbarian armies is a gross exageration or Roman tactics seem absurd, you MUST get this book.

Hans Delbruck writes at the end of the 19th century and follows the steps of other excellent German historians such as Mommsen. The book, though, could well have been written yesterday. Delbruck's erudition is simply incredible, and the author's intimate knowledge of ancient languages, including old German, allowed him to systematically cross-check what little remains of manuscripts written between the 3rd and 6th century AD.

For the reader, the most enjoyable aspect of the narrative is perhaps that it goes right down to a level of details rarely seen in a history book. Following Delbruck's thread of reasoning you can well imagine how Roman legions lived and fought, and how German tribes were socially organised. You can also easily understand the process by which these formidable Roman legions slowly dissolved and how the German political, social and military systems progressively took over in the course of four centuries.

The topic itself is extremely complex, not least because of the scarcity of reliable contemporary testimonials. The legends and exagerated tales of huge German hordes crossing the Rhine to destroy a flourishing civilisation are nowadays so entrenched in our Western culture that it takes the patience and intelligence of someone like Delbruck to disentagle the facts.

Finally, be warned that this is no historical romance. Delbruck's style is as dry and precise as Germanic scientific litterature can be, and each section is followed by an Excursus in which the author argues around alternative theories.

Highly recommended.