In the tumultuous epoch launched by the barhariiin miRralions, svarfare came to be the rule amunR nations rather than the exception. The first civilizations had all c-n-dured periods of strife, but most of their energies had Rone into huildinR cities rather than sacking them. (Jnce the tribes fM>rder-in«? the civilized world hrnuKht their combative genius to bear early in the second millennium, however, no p«*wer dared ne-Rlc*ct the study of war. Henceforth, rulers would be quick lt» abandon the c«>mbn1s >if court for the rigors <if the field. And the inventions of Rrealc*st consequence would fte new modes of destrudion.
The first breakthrough in the machinery of warfare —the two-wheelc? d chariot in-lri>duced by Asiatic tribes — reached the height of its glory in 1285 BC at the Battle of Kadesh rpage. s where the
Egyptians and Hittites deployed thousands of the highly maneuverable vehicles. The men. horsc-s, and equipment that made up these huge fortes were t-xpensive to maintain, however, and such clashes sapped the re«»urces of the two powers. Soon they concluded a peace treaty and relaxed their guard, creating an opening along the Mediterranean coast for the migratory hands known as the Sea Peoples. With their. sd-vent, the galley came to rival the chariot. is an instrument of aggression.
The Sea Peoples were not the first to rely on fighting ships, of course. The Egyptians in p. irticutar tiMrk pride in their fleet.
And around 1185 they bestc-d the Sea Pc-o-ples in one of the first recorded naval battles rp. iges V2-VJ). Yet the defeated forces proved resilient, .mong their number were the Philistines, who settled in Palestine, whi-re they eivlc-d Egyptian domination of the region and entered into an epic struggle with the Israelites and ludeans.
Several centurk's later, the rival p«iwers of Palestine were overwhelmed by the Assyrians — among the first and most formidable exprtnents of total war. following the example of his predecessors, Assyria's King Sennacherib waged «ampaigtH in PalcstiiH-direc ted mainly ag. iiml population centers. Equipped with a mighty siege machine, his forces t«M, k the fortified |udc-an city of La-chish in 71)1 fpages 94-V5), rc-ducing to submission the defiant King Hezekiah.
For all its grim efficient y, Ihe Assyrian army had a flaw; It relied heavily on foreign c4Miscripts of s«>mctimes-questi«*nable l«iy-ally. It remained t«> the Creek city-states to develop dedicated, strictly disciplined citizen armies. Nowhefv was that gt»al pursued more rigorously than in Sparta, where Fiovs trained together from Ihe ageol sevem. Such rcgimenlalitjn made the Spartans masters of Ihe phalanx, Ihe t bwe formation in whit h Ihe men themselves funt lioned as a machine fpages The militant v of Spar-
La transcended family lies, inspiring Ihe tale ol the - mother who commanded her son as he left lor battle to return clasping his shield — or lying upon it.
World History
