Week 5: Monday, February 13
The midterm exam will consist of two parts. The first will consist of questions that will require a short answer in response. The second will require you to write an essay. Check out Tips for Success on Examinations.
Section 1: Short-Answer Questions
Seven of the following questions will appear on the midterm. You will have to answer one of them. These are not merely identifications. I want thorough, thoughtful answers. You should probably spend at least 15 minutes answering the short answer question. Surprise, surprise: most of these are taken from the Food for Thought. One word of warning: although we have touched upon all of these issues in class, our discussions have not always covered topics in their entirety. The advantage will belong to those who have read and taken notes in class—not to those who have merely written down what they heard in class without having read anything.
1) According to Knox and Murray, what is the difference between a "military revolution" and a "revolution in military affairs"?
2) Why did Tiglathpileser treat his enemies so badly? Why did he boast about his atrocities? Why did he go into such painstaking detail about his campaigns and the punishments doled out to his opponents?
3) What was the whole purpose of Lycurgus' system? What set of values did the Spartans attempt to impart to their citizens?
4) Why was classic Greek hoplite warfare limited—at least until the Peloponnesian War?
5) How did Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great synthesize Greek and Persian strengths (among other things) to help remove the limits from war?
6) How did Alexander go about conducting his battles? What characteristics did he manifest in preparing and fighting these battles?
7) What political attitudes and circumstances contributed to Roman military strength?
8) According to Polybius, why could Roman formations defeat the Macedonian phalanx?
9) What seem to have been Hannibal's strengths as a general?
10) How did barbarian forces like the Goths and Huns change themselves as a result of constant interaction and fighting with the Roman armies?
11) How did the siege of Rome (537-538) and the Byzantine victory at Busta Gallorum (552) highlight the shortcomings of Gothic armies?
12) What accounted for the Byzantine victory at Casilinum? How did Narses win the battle against the Franks? Please be as thorough as possible.
Section 2: Essays Questions
I have provided information about four essay topics. Essay questions dealing with two of these questions will appear on the exam. You will have to answer one of them.
1) Armed conflict helped create civilization, and once civilization emerged, it found it could not do without armed conflict. At the same time, however, armed conflict found that it required civilization to be effective. Explain. (Please employ specific examples to support your argument.)
2) What sorts of factors and developments appear to have removed the limits from warfare in classical antiquity (i.e. from the origins of civilization in the Near East to the end of the Western Roman Empire)?
3) Did the armies or societies of classical antiquity ever witness a military revolution? Please refer to specific examples.
4) As you survey the armies and societies of classical antiquity, do you think the sources of military success were more or less constant, or did they tend to fluctuate over time?
And Finally. . . .
Look at Hannibal below. He is surveying his troops after Cannae as they strip the Roman dead and wave Roman standards in triumph. Be like Hannibal and slaughter this test.
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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle, 2006.