Description:
Considers the ideals and realities of generalship across the Greek, Roman and Byzantine worlds.
Brief description: Shaun Tougher is Professor of Late Roman and Byzantine History at Cardiff University. He has a BA from Queen's University Belfast and a PhD from the University of St Andrews. He works especially on dynastic history (primarily the Constantinian and Macedonian dynasties) and on gender and society (notably eunuchs, but also imperial women and questions of masculinity). His publications include The Reign of Leo VI (886-912) (Leiden, 1997), Julian the Apostate (Edinburgh, 2007), The Eunuch in Byzantine History and Society (London and New York, 2008), and The Roman Castrati: Eunuchs in the Roman Empire (London and New York, 2021).
Review Quotes: [Generalship in Ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium] makes an important contribution towards rewriting the history of the development of archaic warfare: an exploration of the literary construct of the glorious defeat at Thermopylae, which turned a terrible defeat into an act of heroism; an examination of the absence of distinction between military and diplomatic skills among the early Seleucid court elite; and a fascinating exploration of how Middle Republican generals acquired the skills and knowledge to conduct their campaigns, despite their limited terms of office.--Kostas Vlassopoulos, University of Crete "Greece & Rome"