Militarism and the Indo-Europeanizing of Europe

Robert Drews studied ancient history—Near Eastern, Greek and Roman—at the Johns Hopkins University and received his degree in 1960. For the next 45 years he taught the full slate of ancient history at Vanderbilt University, and became interested especially in the evolution of religion and of warfare. In the latter field his publications include Coming of the Greeks (1988), The End of the Bronze Age (1993) and Early Riders: The Beginnings of Mounted Warfare in Asia and Europe (2004).

‘Drews’s new book ... is clearly argued and will serve the neophyte as a convenient introduction to the voluminous research—recent and classic— in the several scholarly fields whose data are adduced here’ - Journal of the American Oriental Society 141.1 (2021)‘Cet ouvrage fournit un ‘modèle’ pour comprendre l’histoire de la guerre européenne, avec ses armes et ses premières batailles, un champ de recherches trop souvent écarté pour des raisons idéologiques déplacées (pp. 56-57), ou simplement pour des raisons de mode. Quant à l’articulation de cette histoire avec la linguistique historique indo-européenne, beaucoup reste à faire, comme l’auteur l’admet in fine. Toutefois, son ouvrage fournit des perspectives qui respectent pour l’essentiel le travail des linguistes et qui, enrichies d’études anthropologiques et archéologiques plus larges, leur permettront d’affiner leurs propres hypothèses’ - Pierre Sauzeau in Bryn Mawr Classical Review‘Today’s archaeology, exemplified by the work of, for example, Helle Vandkilde or Kristian Kristiansen, is again interested in Indo-European migrations, war, weapons, and the flow of interaction throughout the Old World. Drews has studied these issues, through the lens of Near Eastern and ancient Greek history, throughout his career and across shifting trends in history and archaeology. Militarism and the Indo-Europeanizing of Europe draws on this experience to produce a synthesis from Caucasia to Scandinavia; to address at length topics previously remarked on in passing; and to comment on a number of current debates about the role and nature of militarism, warfare, chronological issues, Indo-European dispersions, the arrival of the Greeks in Greece, and the history of Europe’ - Christopher Prescott in AJA‘Drews’s conclusions will, no doubt, engender a vigorous response from PIE scholars over the merits of his thesis. Regardless, Militarism and the Indo-Europeanizing of Europe is a fascinating read for the student of warfare or antiquity, even without a background in archaeology, linguistics, or Indo-European studies’ - Nathan Perz in Journal of Military History

• List of illustrationsAcknowledgementsAbbreviations1 The Origins and Spread of Proto-Indo-European2 The Kurgan Theory and the Taming of Horses3 Warfare in Western Eurasia in the Third and Early Second Millennium BC4 Chariot Warfare, the Beginning of Militarism, and its Indo-European Connection5 The Beginnings of Militarism in Temperate Europe6 The Beginning of Militarism in Greece7 The Question of OriginsAppendix: The Chronological QuandaryBibliography of Works CitedIndex