Introduction

War has played an immense role in the history of humankind. Indeed, a lengthy absence of war can be considered an exception, not a normal state of things. At the same time, the relationship between war and masculinity has been very close throughout history. Warfare has, in most communities, traditionally appeared as something reserved for men, and this has also caused ideological constructions, such as ideas of martial masculinity and manly virtus, which already in premodern societies had a significant cultural value. This volume takes a closer look at the cultural relationship between war and masculinity from the Roman Empire to the Middle Ages, situating itself within the broader framework of gender and masculinity studies in premodern history. The first five chapters focus on Roman history, while the next three deal with Late Antiquity and the Byzantine era. The last two chapters concentrate on the Medieval West. As the chapters emphasize, in the premodern world, martial valor was considered a natural part of masculinity, but, at the same time, its role was to serve the whole community instead of individual ambitions or destructive social rivalry.