One of the most prevalent, in both academic and popular circles, ideas, concerning the Minoan civilization is the idea of a peaceful character of Minoans in comparison with the ‘war-like’ Myceneans . Some of these ideas take roots from the works of Arthur Evans, who wrote about Pax Minoica back in the first half of the 20th century, but they are still accepted by many modern historians and archaeologists as well. For instance, Krzyszkowska writes in her article ‘So Where’s the Loot? The Spoils of War and the Archaelogical Record’: ‘The stark fact is that for the prehistoric Aegean we have no direct evidence for war and warfare per se’ . Some other historians, such as Castleden, go even further and made such radical claims as ‘they (Minoans)
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As Marinatos shows in his book ‘Sir Arthur Evans and Minoan Crete: Creating the Vision of Knossos’, Evans did not imply that Minoan civilization was peaceful and non-warrior culture, but quite the opposite. He compared Pax Minoica to Pax Romana, the peace made possible exactly because of the military prowess and strong naval power of the nation . That leads us to the next question, namely, is there any evidence is support of the theory that Minoans were not quite as peaceful as they sometimes …show more content…
The most important for us are the types C and D swords, since it has been proven that the main workshop of them was based at Knossos, in other words, they were of defintiely Minoan origin, unlike type B swords, which were likely developed by early Mycenaeans . These double-edged swords have better developed hilts and shoulders of the blade, and, as experimental archaeology shows, were designed for different combat styles . For instance, the type D swords were designed for a ‘hammer’ grip, which suggests more cutting actions, while the type C swords favours so-called ‘sabre’ grip, allowing more fencing style . That lead us to the following conclusions. First of all, it seems clear that these swords were the weapons of war, not of the hunt, cooking or some other mundane task. Second, different sword types, existing at the same time, allow us to presume that Minoans used different swords for different combat situations, therefore Minoan warfare was much more developed and intense, rather than ‘ritualised and relatively
As Marinatos shows in his book ‘Sir Arthur Evans and Minoan Crete: Creating the Vision of Knossos’, Evans did not imply that Minoan civilization was peaceful and non-warrior culture, but quite the opposite. He compared Pax Minoica to Pax Romana, the peace made possible exactly because of the military prowess and strong naval power of the nation . That leads us to the next question, namely, is there any evidence is support of the theory that Minoans were not quite as peaceful as they sometimes …show more content…
The most important for us are the types C and D swords, since it has been proven that the main workshop of them was based at Knossos, in other words, they were of defintiely Minoan origin, unlike type B swords, which were likely developed by early Mycenaeans . These double-edged swords have better developed hilts and shoulders of the blade, and, as experimental archaeology shows, were designed for different combat styles . For instance, the type D swords were designed for a ‘hammer’ grip, which suggests more cutting actions, while the type C swords favours so-called ‘sabre’ grip, allowing more fencing style . That lead us to the following conclusions. First of all, it seems clear that these swords were the weapons of war, not of the hunt, cooking or some other mundane task. Second, different sword types, existing at the same time, allow us to presume that Minoans used different swords for different combat situations, therefore Minoan warfare was much more developed and intense, rather than ‘ritualised and relatively