Food and War in Herodotus’ Histories

Abstract

This paper aims to study the way Herodotus relates food and war in his work. In the first part we consider the economic causes of war, those related to populations’ food supplies. In the second part we focus on the role of food in a war scenario. In spite of the great relevance given by Herodotus in the construction of his war narratives to the characters of kings and generals, the Greek historian is perfectly aware of the economic implications the military conflicts usually have throughout the history of mankind.

http://dx.doi.org/10.14195/2183-1718_66_7