Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece, Revised Edition

The ancient Greeks were for the most part a rural, not an urban,
society. And for much of the Classical period, war was more common than
peace. Almost all accounts of ancient history assume that farming and
fighting were critical events in the lives of the citizenry. Yet never
before have we had a comprehensive modern study of the relationship
between agriculture and warfare in the Greek world. In this completely
revised edition of Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece,
Victor Davis Hanson provides a systematic review of Greek agriculture
and warfare and describes the relationship between these two important
aspects of life in ancient communities. With careful attention to
agronomic as well as military details, this well-written, thoroughly
researched study reveals the remarkable resilience of those farmland
communities.
In the past, scholars have assumed that the
agricultural infrastructure of ancient society was often ruined by
attack, as, for example, Athens was relegated to poverty in the
aftermath of the Persian and later Peloponnesian invasions. Hanson's
study shows, however, that in reality attacks on agriculture rarely
resulted in famines or permanent agrarian depression. Trees and vines
are hard to destroy, and grainfields are only briefly vulnerable to
torching. In addition, ancient armies were rather inefficient systematic
ravagers and instead used other tactics, such as occupying their
enemies' farms to incite infantry battle. Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece
suggests that for all ancient societies, rural depression and
desolation came about from more subtle phenomena—taxes, changes in
political and social structure, and new cultural values—rather than from
destructive warfare.