The syntheses of military and political systems, ideologies, and social structures that emerged during this age, syntheses profoundly influenced by warfare and the varying role of warrior elites, proved to have lasting influence on the course of societies in different parts of Eurasia. The major civilizations moved from this age into a period of increasing divergence of traditions built on the foundations laid during this time.
Two factors tended, however, to mitigate, at least to some extent, the trend toward divergence. The first was the growing importance of seaborne trade contacts and the increasing cross-cultural contact and exchange of goods and ideas. This carried with it the potential for increasing levels of naval warfare, the early history of which is the topic of Chapter 5. The other factor that increased cross-cultural contact was a period of renewed movement of peoples through migration, often resulting in invasions of settled societies. These migrations, which are the topic of Chapter 6 and link all the chapters in Part 2, were often the result, directly or indirectly, of the growth of imperial power that characterized the age covered in this chapter.
Briant, P. From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Peter T. Daniels, trans. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2002. A history of the empire including excellent coverage of administrative and military matters. Briant further develops some of these themes in his chapter, “The Achaemenid Empire,” in K. Raaflaub and N. Rosenstein, War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).
The Cambridge History of Ancient China; From the Origins of Civilization to 221 bce. Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1: The Ch’in and Han Empires, 221 b.c.-a.d. 220. Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. A valuable discussion in several chapters from both books of not only the political, social, and economic background of the military forces of ancient China but also the makeup of the armies of China.
Cook, J. M. The Persian Empire. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1983. A very detailed history of the Persians from the time of Cyrus until the destruction by Alexander. Cook assumes a previous knowledge of ancient Near Eastern history.
Frye, R. N. The History of Ancient Iran. Munich: C. H. Beck, 1983. A general history of Iran from earliest times through the fall of the Sassanians; includes sections on military and political organization. Particularly useful are Frye’s discussions on sources and literature.
Kar, H. C. Military History of India. Calcutta: Firma KLM, 1980. Includes solid sections on the history, structure, and organization of the Mauryan military.
Lewis, Mark Edward. Sanctioned Violence in Early China. Albany: SUNY Press, 1992. A sophisticated analysis of the cultural causes and consequences of military transformation in Warring States China, showing the mutual development of ideology and organization. See also Lewis’s “The Han Abolition of Universal Military Service,” in Warfare in Chinese History, Hans Van deVen, ed. (Brill: Leiden, 2000), for a discussion of the basic structure of the Han armies, as well as evolving military strategy of the Han dynasty.
Loewe, Michael. “The Campaigns of Han Wu-ti.” In Chinese Ways in Warfare, Frank A. Kierman Jr, ed. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974). A useful account of the Han military.
Mielczarek, M. Cataphacti and Clibanarii. Studies on the Heavy Armoured Cavalry of the Ancient World. Lodz: Oficyna Naukowa MS, 1993. A discussion of the evolution of the heavy cavalry that formed the basis of later Iranian armies, including the sources and their impact on the West.
Nath, Rajendra. Military Leadership in India: Vedic Period to Indo- Pak Wars. New Delhi: Lancers Books, 1990. Contains good, comprehensive sections on the influences on Mauryan military leadership Thapar, Romila. Early India, from the Origins to 1300. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. A thorough survey of early Indian history, placing military and political developments in their social and cultural contexts.