The panel on desertion in ancient Greek and Roman Warfare will be part of the Warfare in the Ancient World International Conference (WAWIC) 2025. The aim of this panel is to investigate the dimension of non-participation in war and its nuances, in particular from a social history perspective, and to provide a more realistic and truthful image of the motivations that led individuals not to conform to the imposed model of the “good soldier”. Therefore, "deserter" becomes an "umbrella" term to outline the image of a marginalized part of ancient society.
Desertion is a topic rarely considered by ancient sources within the context of military chronicles or when discussing the various aspects of war. This happens for two main reasons: on one hand, the strong tendency to moralize participation in war as full adherence to the values of the city marginalizes any behavior that deviates from the norm as non-conforming to an ideal civic model; on the other hand, the great attention given to the military action itself, in the description of maneuvers and formations, tends to abstract the human dimension, which emerges only in the personal deeds of individuals deemed worthy. Current studies have initiated a return to the perception of war, favoring a social and cultural perspective aimed at understanding the rhetorical construction of war in the ancient world. However, most of the time, this has remained “on the battlefield,” or at least has focused on participation in the different phases before, during, and after the military action.
This panel aims to address the theme of non-participation in war, understood as desertion, defection, retreat, mutiny, and the lack of full participation to imposed orders. This approach responds to the need to refute the so-called militarism of the ancient world, a prejudice that still influences many interpretations, and to challenge three main views that can be directly traced back to the sources. From the Greek side, the formulation of the citizen-soldier duality defined any behavior outside the norm an expression of the rupture of the concord within the polis and the consequent loss of one's political role. From the Roman side, the recognition of some form of “natural violence” linked the concepts of virtus and andreia to Rome’s inclination towards war. In the end, the appeal to the “glorious death” and to soldier’s duties in the face of danger marked a moral and noble construction of one’s identity. War was, unfortunately, a constant dimension, and precisely because of its nature as a total social fact, the panel aims to explore it in its “lowest” sphere, focusing on the perception of those who wanted to return home or who simply did not want to risk their lives for something decided by others.
However, some examples that can be found directly in ancient sources could pose a problem. We all recall the famous “abandonment of the shield” by the poet Archilochus. the case of the Spartan Aristodemus at the battle of Plataea, or the countless rhetorical stereotypes of the desperate resistance to the Carthaginian threat. These are moments in which individual action prevails over communal duty, sometimes clashing with severe criticism precisely because, by not following orders, one seeks personal glory or pragmatically assesses the risk of a given operation. As interesting as they may be, these examples are still expressions of participation in battle by other means and do not truly give voice to dissent, to the non-fulfillment of duties, or to the attempt to genuinely escape the most dangerous moment of the battle. Ultimately, the risk would be to focus on describing the phenomenon solely in its “alien” terms, morally framing it from the perspective of those who judge without allowing the judged to speak.
The aim of this panel, therefore, is to investigate the dimension of non-participation in war and its nuances, in particular from a social history perspective, and to provide a more realistic and truthful image of the motivations that led individuals not to conform to the imposed model of the “good soldier”. Therefore, "deserter" becomes an "umbrella" term to outline the image of a marginalized part of ancient society.
For this reason, we encourage proposals that highlight the different institutional, geographical, cultural, and temporal context with regard to the topic of non-military participation in the Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman worlds. Some lines of research may include:
1. Desertion during a military campaign: motivations, methods, and challenges to an individual or group’s decision.
2. Methods of disengagement and withdrawal from military duties: social and economic reasons.
3. Practices of condemnation and regulation: legislative norms and consequences of the act of desertion.
4. The representation of deserters as non-citizens: the breakdown of the civic ideals and the construction of an alternative morality.
5. The choice not to fight: theories and reflection on the value of war and peace in poetry, literature, and philosophy.
6. The image of non-participation: the iconography of desertion.
This panel will be part of the Warfare in the Ancient World International Conference (WAWIC) 2025, which will be held in-person in Duluth (MN) for North American participants and simultaneously in Münster, Germany for European participants. These in-person gatherings will be connected via Zoom for several panels.
Individual presentations should be in English and no longer than 20 minutes; online presentations are also possible. However, participation in presence is desirable if there are no special personal reasons preventing it. Depending on the funding, participants in Münster (especially doctoral students) will ideally have part of their travel expenses reimbursed.
The contributions are planned to be published in an edited volume. Further details will be provided after the conference.
We welcome contributions from researchers of all career stages: the conference aims equally at doctoral students, early career researchers and established academics. For the contributions, please send an abstract of 300 words and a brief bio to Dr. Fabrizio Biglino (f.biglino@unito.it) and Han Pedazzini (han.pedazzini@unito.it) BEFORE January 10th 2025. For general information about the conference contact Prof. Lennart Gilhaus (lgilhaus@uni-bonn.de)