Page 132 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

132 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

involved in such activities, most probably because after the sack of Rome by the Gauls follow-
ing the defeat in the battle of the Allia in 390 BC, the city itself was never again besieged. 10
While non-combatant male citizens continued to engage in street fighting right into the
empire during civil wars, there is no evidence for such active participation of women and
11
children in Roman cities. In fact, from the beginning of the late Republic onwards, Rome
underwent a significant transformation: society, which was basically one of warrior-citizens,
so to speak, turned into one which employed first some of its own members and later even
outsiders to perform military functions. The main reason for this development can be found
in the fundamental changes Roman military affairs underwent from the decades after the fi-
nal destruction of Carthage onwards. These changes completely reshaped the relationship of
the civilian population towards war and had a profound influence Roman society.

the greek city state
Before turning to the Romans it is instructive to take a very brief look at the Greek experi-
ence of war. In the context of a Greek city state, any military effort was in a way a total one,
as only those who were able to carry arms - and indeed could afford them in the first place -
enjoyed full citizenship. Thus, when the Greek city state went at war, taking part in the fight-
ing was one of the most important political acts defining its citizens. this also meant that
12
there was no proper “military” in the sense of a permanent establishment within the society;
war was always an effort of all citizens, the city state as a whole effectively transformed into
a “military”, so to speak.
The consequences for those citizens that could not take part in combat - the elderly, wom-
en and children - were twofold: On the one hand most if not all of them would have had a di-
rect relationship to those involved in military action through family ties; on the other hand, as
the war effort was one undertaken by the whole community, when something went wrong the
whole community would be drawn into it - often ending up on the tops of their houses throw-
ing things at an invader. Although Greek society knew sharp distinctions between private and
public spheres, with political action and war normally firmly located within the public sphere
and therefore entirely confined to male citizens, once war broke into the private sphere, so
to speak, the active participation even of women was not only accepted, it was even backed
as was shown above by military theorists and philosophers. When in need, everybody was to
be mobilized, and indeed such an eventuality may well have been one of the reasons for the
physical education Spartan women received. 13

rally acceptable.
10 No military activity by the non-combatant citizens of Rome is attested for the invasion of the Gauls.
11 In 88 BC Sulla’s first attack in Rome was frustrated by citizens throwing tiles and stones, see Plut. Sull. 9.
When during the civil war following the death of Nero the failed attempt of emperor Vitellius at negotiations
with Vespasian’s brother resulted in street fighting in Rome, the followers of the Flavians were pushed back
to the Capitol. There they defended themselves throwing tiles and stones at their opponents, see Tac. Hist.
3.71 and D.C. 64.19.3.
12 On citizen armies in the Greek and Roman world in general see Y. Garlan, War in the Ancient World, London
1975, 86-93. For the citizen armies of the Hellenistic world see A. Chaniotis, War in the Hellenistic World,
Oxford 2005, 20-26.
13 Plut. Lyk. 14. The military value of the participation of non-combatant citizens is debatable. Arist. Pol. 1269b