La guerra e i suoi strumenti nelle “Etimologie” di Isidoro di Siviglia

Abstract

Isidore of Seville (559-636) is particularly known for his “Etymologiae”, considered the first encyclopedia of Western culture, which intends to expose the totality of human knowledge. Isidore, from an ancient Roman-Iberian family, archbishop of Seville, was a prominent political personality in Visigothic Spain. With his historiographical, exegetical, theological and philosophical production he tried to realize an ambitious political-cultural project of recovery of the Latin and Greek classics and of the Jewish tradition, according to the organization of the Christian world. From the point of view of the New Military Anthology, it is of particular interest to examine the parts that recall the art of war and oplology. The essay then examines the words and concepts that refer to war and weapons, in the classical world or in early Middle Ages. There are the Roman and Byzantine military institutions, but also the combat techniques of the barbarian peoples, with the relative methods of use. The text also examines the parts in which the “Etymologiae” deal with sectors close to war subjects and knowledge of weapons, such as the concept of “bellum iuxtum”, political and legal systems, theatre, public performances and games’ world, highlighting the contribution of Isidore of Seville to the preservation of classical culture and knowledge of everyday life during the early stage of the High Middle Ages.