Jericho, which, along with Uruk, has a claim to the title of the world's oldest city, has provided archaeologists with solid evidence that a fortified city stood on the site before 7000 BCE.

The earliest pictographs of armies at war come from the kingdom of Kish, dated to about 3500 BCE. Warfare certainly did not begin in 2700 BCE, however. The Assyrians required large armies owing to their policy of territorial expansion and ruthless suppression of revolt against central rule and, in this, they epitomize the underlying cause of war: the tribe mentality.Ĭave cattum (CC BY-SA) Early Warfare & Military Tactics Shalmaneser's forces in his campaigns numbered over 120,000. At the Battle of Megiddo in 1479 BCE the Egyptian army numbered 20,000 by the time Shalmaneser III ruled over the Assyrian Empire in 845 BCE armies had grown in mass and size. The earliest armies were relatively small corps of shock troops until the introduction of peltast units. The majority of battles have turned on the infantry's ability to close with the enemy and kill him' (7) and this holds true, in most cases, even after the introduction of cavalry units and the war chariot. According to the historian Simon Anglim, et.al., 'Infantry is the backbone of any army, being the one unit that can attack or defend equally effectively. (Copyright) Armies & Their DevelopmentĪrmies contained two types of infantry: Shock Troops, whose purpose was to close with the opposing forces and try to break their lines, and Peltasts who were more mobile and moved in a looser formation in order to fire long-range weapons at the enemy. Contending armies of opposing nations have historically settled political disputes on the battlefield even though, in time, these armies changed in formation and size. 236-183 BCE) in the defeat of Carthage (and so the ascendancy of Rome) or that of Philip II of Macedon (l.382-336 BCE) in uniting the city-states of Greece. This same pattern holds for other nations throughout time whether one cites the success of Scipio Africanus (l. In China, the Zhou Dynasty gained ascendancy through battle in 1046 BCE and the conflict of the Warring States Period ((476-221 BCE) was resolved when the State of Qin defeated the other contending states in battle and unified China under the rule of emperor Shi Huangdi (r. 2613 BCE) is thought to have risen from war when the Pharaoh Manes (or Menes) of the south conquered the region of northern Egypt (though this claim is disputed). 2334-2279 BCE) unified the region under the Akkadian Empire, war was still waged in putting down rebellions or fending off invaders. The history of one of the earliest civilizations in the world, that of Mesopotamia, is a chronicle of nearly constant strife. Throughout history, individuals, states, or political factions have gained sovereignty over regions through the use of war.

Advance wars by web factions