Warfare through history from Werner Forman Archive
Werner Forman Archive press release – 29 November, 2018.
The terrible scourge of warfare seems as old as humankind.
During antiquity, as soon as farming and cities were established, resources were available to deploy armies against enemies.
The civilisations of the Middle East are known as the birthplace of sophisticated, complex societies, but they were also the cradle of organised warfare, as great Kings tried to conquer their neighbours.
“The Assyrians descended like a wolf on the fold,” wrote the poet Tennyson in the 19th century, so their legendary ruthlessness had endured in legend long after their empire had vanished.
Although warfare evolved throughout the period of antiquity to early medieval times, and the Greeks and Romans were known for the sophistication of their tactics and military engineering, most fighting was brutally close-quarter with spear, sword and shield.
Werner Forman Archive holds many images of warfare from early ancient period to the Vikings and the Samurai.