Logistics of ancient Western armies.

by zipadyduda

For example Alexander's campaigns, or perhaps later like Hannibal's or Caesar's. The logistics of feeding those armies sort of confound me. These armies would march tens of thousands of soldiers for hundreds of miles over several years. With no refrigeration and salt pretty much the only known preservative, I can imagine such group of hungry men sucking the agricultural resources out of a 100 mile radius of wherever they are at a given time by procuring any and all food resources by force and perhaps some diplomacy.

  1. How did they transport their food, tents, etc. Did each soldier wear a backpack when on the move? Or did they have dedicated transport wagons etc.? Did they carry around blankets, plates, and cups wherever they went? Or did they use something instead of plates like a cloth.
  2. What kind of support staff did they have. For example were there dedicated cooks and servants that followed the army?
  3. How often would they eat when on the move? What were the meals like?
  4. Were campaign routes planned primarily around the acquisition of drinking water? Or was this never really an issue?

Thanks in advance.

Searocksandtrees

hi! I don't recall that any of these posts will answer your questions directly, so hopefully someone will drop by with answers for you, but it so happens that I rounded up a bunch of posts on logistics just the other day; you may find them of interest

General

Alexander the Great

Ancient Rome

Agrippa911

I can recommend two books on this actual subject. Engel's "Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army" and Roth's "The Logistics of the Roman Army".

The latter is a much more extensive coverage of all aspects of Roman logistics including re-enactor data alongside primary sources. Engels is very much focused on the campaigns of Alexander and doesn't really cover anything outside it.

And yes, the feeding of thousands upon thousands of men is a neglected and quite frankly jaw-dropping achievement by these ancient states.

Hood408

I unfortunately don't have too much time to go into detail, but there is a fascinating article written by John F. Shean called Hannibal's Mules: The Logistical limitations of Hannibal's Army at the Battle of Cannae.

Goes into plenty of detail to the logistical situation for Hannibal and offers an explanation as to why Hannibal did not lay siege to Rome when he clearly had the chance.