All warfare is ritualized to a degree. Even the late 19th-century Geneva Convention, which is intended to impose some restraints upon modern conflicts, is a form of ritualization. In laying down, for example, that in order to be recognized as proper soldiers and receive the prescribed treatment as POWs, combatants should wear a recognized uniform, the Convention imposes a dress code upon participants. Of course, when thinking of ritualized warfare, most commentators cite examples from intertribal conflicts in cultures such as Papua New Guinea. Here, even in the 20th century, it has been possible to observe the kind of battles depicted in Neolithic cave paintings. Groups of warriors, all decked out in paint and feathers, perform the kind of manoeuvres not far removed from a dance. True, some may be killed by spears or arrows, but the main intention is to impress the opposition and then come to an agreement as to which side should pay the other a tribute in pigs. Such battles are crucial for the transition from boys to men which warrior societies demand.
To a modern audience this may seem very distant from ‘civilized’ behaviour, but even in ancient Greece, seen as the ancestor culture for the western world, city-state warfare had ritualized aspects. In the campaigning season the citizen hoplite armies of spearmen would parade between the two cities involved, burning crops and carrying off cattle as a demonstration of force. Sometimes, but not always, there would be a confrontation in the open field, in which the two phalanxes strove to overcome one another in a shoving match. Upon the outcome of this endeavour depended the resulting treaty between the two parties. In common with practice throughout the ancient world, auguries (see omens) were taken before battle. After the engagement a trophy was erected from a hoplite panoply (see armour, body) on a wooden frame set to decay in time—a symbolic statement about the temporary nature of human endeavour in the military sphere.
Throughout all warfare the importance of a parade through enemy territory has been recognized. This might be in the form of a cattle raid found in all cultures and celebrated in poetry. The ‘Cattle Raid of Cooley’ is one of the Irish language's most famous pieces. The warring kingdoms of Ireland used these raids as a way of establishing status; the most successful ruler became High King in a constantly fluctuating polity. In the medieval period the chevauchée, literally a ride through enemy territory during which damage was inflicted upon the territories in the form of ravaging, also had a symbolic aspect. The disgrace suffered by the lord whose subjects had to endure such treatment unprotected could result in him losing influence over lands and their population.
In battle itself, there has been a great deal of ritualized behaviour. A notable example from 19th-century America was the clash of culture between Europeans and the aboriginal population. It was customary for the Plains Indians, lightly equipped horsemen, in their skirmishes associated with raiding, to carry a long stick with which they could ‘count coup’, which is to say to tap an opponent without injury (see Plains Indians wars). This was seen as a grave loss of face for the recipient. Needless to say, European soldiers simply shot the deliverer of the blow, to the dismay of the Indians. In medieval Europe a defeated nobleman could expect more mercy, however. If in fear of his life, he could, by handing over his glove as surety, surrender and be held for ransom. Often this lasted for years, the prisoner giving his parole that he would not try to escape. Thus, the whole risk of warfare was ritualized for a privileged élite. In medieval Europe and other cultures it was also possible to make a challenge to personal combat or to send out a champion, with the decision of the battle between two armies (theoretically at least) resting on the result of the individual duel. The contest between Robert Bruce and Bohun before Bannockburn was one such. Had Bohun succeeded, the Scots might have lost heart.
In Meso-American cultures the reason for engaging in battle was not necessarily for territorial aggrandizement or the tribute, but specifically for the taking of prisoners. In Aztec culture these were known as ‘flower wars’. The captives were then used as sacrificial victims to the gods of the victor; one ritual feeding another. More usually in warfare designed to capture the opposition, the defeated side became the slaves of the victors, as in Classical Greece and Rome.
Bibliography
- Divale, W., War in Primitive Societies: A Bibliography (Santa Barbara, Calif., 1973)
— Matthew Bennett
