Augustus as Commander in Chief: Approaching Strategy and Leadership in (Civil) War.

When focusing on Augustus as a commander in chief, a strategist, and a field commander - and especially the formative years of the civil war(s) -, there are numerous potential approaches. We know that he fought battles, campaigns, and wars. Sometimes he did well, sometimes less so. Traditionally, Au...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scripta Classica Israelica Vol. 41; pp. 31 - 57
Main Author: Lange, Carsten Hjort
Format: Article
Published: Israeli Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=158417375&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 158417375
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        03344509
        JDEY
      jtl: Scripta Classica Israelica
      issn: 03344509
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: 2022
      vid: 41
      pid: 97168
      pub: Israeli Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies
    artinfo:
      ui:
        158417375
        10.71043/sci.v41i.6563
      ppf: 31
      ppct: 26
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Augustus as Commander in Chief: Approaching Strategy and Leadership in (Civil) War.
      aug:
        au: Lange, Carsten Hjort
        affil: Aalborg University, Denmark
      su:
        Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D.
        Civil war
        Command of troops
        Military history
        Agrippa, Marcus Vispanius, ca. 63 B.C.-12 B.C.
        Rome
      sug:
        subj:
          Rome
          Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D.
          Civil war
          Command of troops
          Military history
          Agrippa, Marcus Vispanius, ca. 63 B.C.-12 B.C.
      keyword:
        Actium
        Agrippa
        attrition
        Augustus/Young Caesar
        civil war
        commander in chief
        field commander
        Illyricum
        learning curve
        military leader
        Mutina
        Naulochus
        Perusia
        Philippi
        strategy
        the Cantabrian Wars
      ab: When focusing on Augustus as a commander in chief, a strategist, and a field commander - and especially the formative years of the civil war(s) -, there are numerous potential approaches. We know that he fought battles, campaigns, and wars. Sometimes he did well, sometimes less so. Traditionally, Augustus has not been viewed as a good general, but he was, or so this article claims, an excellent commander. We shall here discuss the actual fighting only when it has a direct bearing on what might be termed the 'command structure', in this case during the triumvirate and beyond, and its formulation of strategy. Rather, the main question is as follows: how did the learning curve followed by Young Caesar on his rise to power create a new, shared command structure as part of a monarchical system, with Augustus as commander in chief? If we look at political initiative in warfare and military campaigns, rather than just considering warfare from a tactical point of view, then leadership is always a learning curve. This is accordingly a question of how we, as scholars, approach ancient warfare, strategy, and the relationships between commanders: for example, the 'high command' or commander in chief in one theatre and the field commander in the other. This is thus an article on how we, as scholars, approach Roman military history in general.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2022
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N