Michael P. Speidel

Last updated
Michael P. Speidel
Born(1937-05-25)May 25, 1937
Pforzheim, Germany
NationalityGerman, American
Education
Scientific career
FieldsMilitary historian
Institutions

Michael Paul Speidel (born May 25, 1937) is a German-born American military historian and archaeologist who specializes in the study of the Roman army and ancient warfare. He is considered one of the world's foremost experts on ancient warfare. [1]

Contents

Biography

Michael Paul Speidel was born in Pforzheim, Germany on May 25, 1937. His nephew Michael Alexander Speidel is also a historian.

Speidel received his Ph.D. in ancient history from the University of Freiburg in 1962. His Ph.D. thesis was on the Emperor's Guard. [2] He then went to the United States to lecture ancient history. In 1968 Speidel became Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has since been promoted to Full Professor at the university, where he teaches the history of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, the ancient Near East, the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire, and world cultures. [2] Now Professor Emeritus, he is a member of the German Archaeological Institute.

Speidel specializes in the study of the Roman army, particularly its epigraphy, on which he has written a number of books. In recent years, Speidel has conducted extensive archaeological research on the warfare of ancient Eurasia and ancient Germanic mythology. He is considered one of the world's foremost experts on ancient warfare. [1]

Selected works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geri and Freki</span> Two wolves in Norse mythology

In Norse mythology, Geri and Freki are two wolves which are said to accompany the god Odin. They are attested in the Poetic Edda, a collection of epic poetry compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the poetry of skalds. The pair has been compared to similar figures found in Greek, Roman and Vedic mythology, and may also be connected to beliefs surrounding the Germanic "wolf-warrior bands", the Úlfhéðnar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Milvian Bridge</span> 312 AD battle in the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Maxentius drowned in the Tiber during the battle; his body was later taken from the river and decapitated, and his head was paraded through the streets of Rome on the day following the battle before being taken to Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berserker</span> Old Norse warrior fighting in a fury

In the Old Norse written corpus, berserkers were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word berserk. Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praetorian Guard</span> Bodyguards of the Roman emperors

The Praetorian Guard was an elite unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors.

The equites constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an eques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial guard</span> Special group of troops directly associated with the ruler of an empire

An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, including the regular armed forces, and maintain special rights, privileges and traditions.

Dacian <i>draco</i> Standard ensign of troops of the ancient Dacian people

The Dacian draco was a military standard used by troops of the ancient Dacian people, which can be seen in the hands of the soldiers of Decebalus in several scenes depicted on Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy. This wind instrument has the form of a dragon with open wolf-like jaws containing several metal tongues. The hollow dragon's head was mounted on a pole with a fabric tube affixed at the rear. In use, the draco was held up into the wind, or above the head of a horseman, where it filled with air and gave the impression it was alive while making a shrill sound as the wind passed through its strips of material. The Dacian draco likely influenced the development of the similar Roman draco.

A vexillatio was a detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force created by the Roman army of the Principate. It was named from the standard carried by legionary detachments, the vexillum, which bore the emblem and name of the parent legion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vagdavercustis</span> Germanic goddess

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Saxon warfare</span> Military tactics

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiberius Claudius Maximus</span> Late 1st/early 2nd century Roman cavalryman

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early Germanic warfare</span>

Warfare seems to have been a constant in Germanic society, and archaeology indicates this was the case prior to the arrival of the Romans in the 1st century BCE. Wars were frequent between and within the individual Germanic peoples. The early Germanic languages preserve various words for "war", and they did not necessarily clearly differentiate between warfare and other forms of violent interaction. The Romans note that for the Germans, robbery in warfare was not shameful, and most Germanic warfare both against Rome and against other Germanic peoples was motivated by the potential to acquire booty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castra Nova equitum singularium</span>

The Castra Nova equitum singularium was an ancient Roman fort in Rome housing part of the emperor's cavalry bodyguard. The site of the fort now lies beneath the Basilica of St John Lateran. The Castra Nova, or "new fort", was one of two cavalry forts that provided a base in Rome for the mounted bodyguard of the Roman emperors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dacian warfare</span> Historical overview article

The history of Dacian warfare spans from c. 10th century BC up to the 2nd century AD in the region defined by Ancient Greek and Latin historians as Dacia, populated by a collection of Thracian, Ionian, and Dorian tribes. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Dacian tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkans. Apart from conflicts between Dacians and neighboring nations and tribes, numerous wars were recorded among Dacians too.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equites singulares Augusti</span>

The equites singulares Augusti were the cavalry arm of the Praetorian Guard during the Principate period of imperial Rome. Based in Rome, they escorted the Roman emperor whenever he left the city on a campaign or on tours of the provinces. The equites singulares Augusti were a highly trained unit dedicated to protecting the emperor. Men who served in the equites singulares Augusti held a Roman public status as equites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batavi (military unit)</span>

The Batavi was an auxilia palatina (infantry) unit of the late Roman army, active between the 4th and the 5th century. It was composed by 500 soldiers and was the heir of those ethnic groups that were initially used as auxiliary units of the Roman army and later integrated in the Roman Empire after the Constitutio Antoniniana. Their name was derived from the people of the Batavi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornuti</span>

The Cornuti ("horned") was an auxilia palatina unit of the Late Roman army, active in the 4th and 5th century. It was probably related to the Cornuti seniores and the Cornuti iuniores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Numerus Batavorum</span>

The Numerus Batavorum, also called the cohors Germanorum, Germani corporis custodes, Germani corpore custodes, Imperial German Bodyguard or Germanic bodyguard was a personal, imperial guards unit for the Roman emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty composed of Germanic soldiers. Although the Praetorians may be considered the Roman Emperor's main bodyguard, the Germanic bodyguards were a unit of more personal guards recruited from distant parts of the Empire, so they had no political or personal connections with Rome or the provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Nicopolis ad Istrum</span> Battle between Roman and Gothic forces (250)

The Battle of Nicopolis ad Istrum was fought between the Roman army of Emperor Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus, and the Gothic army of King Cniva, in 250 AD. The Romans were victorious.

References

  1. 1 2 Charles, Michael B. (December 2014). "Reviewed Work: Ancient Germanie Warriors. Warrior Styles from Trajan's Column to Icelandic Sagas by Michael P. Speidel". Latomus . Société d’Études Latines de Bruxelles. 65 (2): 496–498. JSTOR   41544127. That the work comes from the pen of M. P. Speidel, one of the world's foremost experts on ancient warfare, makes this volume especially worthy of consideration.
  2. 1 2 "Michael P. Speidel". University of Hawaii at Manoa. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2020.