The occurrences of barbarus can be divided in two broad categories: the foreigner is characterized by his savagery (feritas) or by his inferiority (uanitas). When Caesar uses barbarus to designate ...his enemies, most occurrences fall into the latter category. This way he suggests the inadequacy of his foreign enemies and emphasizes his own ability as a Roman to defeat most of the barbarians.
This chapter looks at the way the content and temporal dimension of self-defence were viewed at the ‘Major War Criminals’ Trial’ in Nuremberg and at the Tribunal in Tokyo. First, the contentions of ...some of the Germans accused as to the reasons for invading Norway and the Prosecution’s counter-arguments are given attention. On that basis, the approach to self-defence and aggression taken by the Nuremberg judges is described. Further, the arguments of the Japanese accused regarding the Pacific War and the Netherlands’ declaration of war are looked at and the relevant findings of the Tokyo judgment presented. Finally, this chapter draws conclusions as to the significance of the two judgments for the content and temporal dimension of self-defence in the immediate aftermath of the adoption of the UN Charter.
This chapter begins with an historical account of the sinking of the Costa Rica during WWII and the escape of Australian soldiers to Crete, then fast-forwards to 2010 when the author's uncle asks her ...about a box of 80 letters written by her grandfather during the years of the war to his son (the author's father), then aged from 10 to 16. She decided to write a play to share her grandfather's war experiences. Her interest lay in the space between the history and the story; in this case, the bridge between the history and the story is a box of letters. The chapter examines the challenges the author faced around authenticity, honesty and compassion when turning a person's story respectfully into a play. At times there was a conflict and at other times a synergy between the processes as an historian, a social researcher, a playwright and a daughter. Simultaneously exploring the 'other' and the 'self', the crystalline process for research became an expression of self, as well as of the research: self as researcher, writer, documenter and daughter whose perceptions reflected and refracted history, story, community, family and identity. The chapter includes an extract from the play, based on one of her grandfather's most stressed letters following his pivotal experiences in Crete and Crete, to his son who had just turned 11. Author abstract, ed
This thesis has three parts which can be briefly described as the nature of the threat, the instrument of response and the method of response. Before discussing the military system of the Roman ...empire, it is necessary to examine its enemies, to see how and why they fought. The first part of the thesis looks at the limitations of the evidence concerning barbarians. It then discusses the social and economic basis of barbarian life, showing their potential for war and the type of threat presented to the Roman empire. The next section deals with the types of conflict between Rome and the barbarians and the reasons for it. There then follows a detailed discussion of barbarian armies and their equipment, strategy and tactics when fighting the Romans. The second section discusses the Roman army. Initially, the organisation of the army is examined, then its troop types and their equipment. This is done with regard to both land and naval forces. Then the sources of soldiers and the problem of barbarization are discussed in some depth. Lastly, the types of fixed defences are briefly examined. Having examined the instrument of response, the third section discusses how it was used. It starts by examining the conditions affecting decision-making at this period, then discusses foreign policy, i.e. whether to use force or alternative methods, with regard to both barbarians and internal enemies. Strategy, i.e. the type of operation employed to defeat the enemy, is then discussed with regard to defence against barbarians, attack against barbarians and against internal enemies. The following part, on operations, discusses how the army performed in the field and analyses tactics for fighting field battles, naval battles and sieges.
Includes footnotes. Review(s) of: A History of the Later Roman Empire AD 284-641, by Stephen Mitchell, Blackwell History of the Ancient World. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007. Pp. xv + 469. ISBN ...1-4051-0856-8. GBP19.99.
Ethnic nationalism, the desire for one's race to be pure and to exclude others from one's claimed territory, can in extreme cases cause ethnic cleansing, as we saw in the Yugoslav civil wars of the ...1990s. To think of ourselves as having a monochrome nationality, a primary marker to distinguish ourselves from others, can result in an antagonistic view of identity - British versus Irish, Croat versus Serb, and so on. This can lead to nations, in the name of a false sense of historical coherence, behaving badly.
