Suggested works on logistics

[Sean Manning]

Christmas is coming up, which means refreshing my list of books I want (as well as thinking about books for other people). What can my fellow forum-dwellers recommend on ancient and medieval logistics? I already have Engels' Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army. I can't remember the standard work on the subject for the Roman army.

[Mitra]

http://books.google.com/books?id=LfRiXN ... 5EksEMfsBY

[Mitra]

http://books.google.com/books?id=ntMeWd ... u_WpcZEUvw

http://books.google.com/books?id=7NlnGQ ... mars&hl=it

http://books.google.com/books?id=tjiSAA ... tics&hl=it

http://books.google.com/books?id=YN7bdQ ... zZYK6Az0LY

[Mitra]

http://books.google.com/books?id=dbaXHw ... tics&hl=it

[Alexandr K]

Hi,
Jonathan Roth's dissertation is here.

[amazon]Hunger and the Sword[/amazon] by Erdkamp.

[amazon]Panis Militaris[/amazon] by Junkelmann.

Greetings
Alexandr

[Matthew Amt]

Peddie, John. The Roman War Machine. Alan Sutton Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-7509-0673-1

Great writer, sounds like he'd be a hoot to talk to! Lots of war stories from WWII for comparisons, stuff like that. The whole book isn't about logistics, but some is.

Matthew

[Sean Manning]

Thanks all. Some of those books ring a bell (Geoffrey Parker's book in particular)- I'll look into them.

[Caius Fabius]

Well, up until the 1800's logistics problems and their possible solutions didn't change much. Everything was still transported by animal or water, and no steam engines, or gasoline engines were used. There were no really unusual advances in preservation, or transportation, and the soldiers' logistical problems were mostly the same. Even combat before the advent of rifled barrels doesn't change too much, so books written 'out of period' may still be of interest, and often quote the ancient sources for ideas.

[Mitra]

Not still published

"Feeding the Roman Army"

edited by Sue Stallibrass and Richard Thomas
These ten papers from two Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (2007) sessions bring together a growing body of new archaeological evidence in an attempt to reconsider the way in which the Roman army was provisioned. Clearly, the adequate supply of food was essential to the success of the Roman military. But what was the nature of those supply networks? Did the army rely on imperial supply lines from the continent, as certainly appears to be the case for some commodities, or were provisions requisitioned from local agricultural communities. If the latter was the case, was unsustainable pressure placed on such resources and how did local communities respond? Alternatively, did the early stages of conquest include not only the development of a military infrastructure, but also an effective supply-chain network based on contracts? Beyond the initial stages of conquest, how were provisioning arrangements maintained in the longer term, did supply chains remain static or did they change over time and, if so, what precipitated those changes? Addressing such questions is critical if we are to understand the nature of Roman conquest and the extent of interaction between indigenous communities and the Roman army. Case studies come from Roman Britain (Alchester, Cheshire, Dorset), France, the Netherlands and the Rhine Delta, looking at evidence from animal products, military settlements, the size of cattle, horses, pottery and salt. The editors also provide a review of current research and suggest a future agenda for economic and environmental research. 160p, b/w illus (Oxbow Books 2008)

[Mithras]

Conquest, his book on the invasion of Britain is full of similar info, a great read for that reason. Alex K, Roth's work is great! Just what I need at the moment for research .... thanks for the link!!!

Peddie, John. The Roman War Machine. Alan Sutton Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-7509-0673-1

Great writer, sounds like he'd be a hoot to talk to! Lots of war stories from WWII for comparisons, stuff like that. The whole book isn't about logistics, but some is.

Matthew

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I think I have these books, just gotten sidetracked along the way....

[Aryaman2]

Well, up until the 1800's logistics problems and their possible solutions didn't change much. Everything was still transported by animal or water, and no steam engines, or gasoline engines were used. There were no really unusual advances in preservation, or transportation, and the soldiers' logistical problems were mostly the same. Even combat before the advent of rifled barrels doesn't change too much, so books written 'out of period' may still be of interest, and often quote the ancient sources for ideas.

That is not exactlly true, there was a major change in the mid 17th century, the implementation of supply lines. Before that, as Engels showed clearly in his book on Alexander´s campaigns, army had no supply lines, they supplied themselves foraging or from depots stablished previously in the route. It was in the mid 17th century, with the French army of Louis XIV that supply lines were first stablished. That is very well explained in one of the linked books, Feeding Mars. However I only recomend the book for the Modern period, the articles on Ancient/Mediaeval periods are rather weak.
Parker´s book on the army of Flanders, despite the title of one of the chapters, doesn´t discuss at all logistics.

[Mitra]

Supply lines from the rear always exist (see Corbulo campaign in Armenia annales 13.39). The choice of supply type change with the context: army dimension, tradition, speed march, territory productivity, organization, etc. In Alexander context the problem is not that the king don't know the convoy organisation concept, but the fact he hasn't the time to organize depots and supply lines over such big distances, without stop the army march.

[Sean Manning]

I got Parker's book for Christmas and I'll think about which other books I want to buy with some money I have saved up. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Unfortunately the Barington Atlas of the Classical World is also calling to me, since it seems to be the only really good atlas of the ancient world in print right now. And there doesn't seem to be any good English book on ancient Geography after Mary Cary's one which is out of print.

[sitalkes]

It's probably worth reading some background also, such as MI Fnley's "The Ancient Economy" V.D. Hanson's "Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece", GT Griffith's "The Mercenaries of the Hellenistic World" Volume II & Voume V of Pritchett's "The Greeek State at War" and "Supplying War: Logisitics from Wallenstein to Patton" by M Van Creveld. The last is relevant as 18th century logisitcs weren't much different from the Ancient world and there are ancient world examples. It also has a fascinating chapter on the World War 2 North African campaign, where it says that the Afrika Korps was the only completely motorised formation in the German army, and had as many trucks (mostly captured) as the whole of the rest of the German army at the time.