Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953 September 5, 1953 in Fowler, California) is an American conservative commentator, classicist and military historian.
He is most famous for his theory on the "Western (Greco-Roman) Way of War". Also known for his esoteric but illuminating application of his experience as a farmer to Ancient Military History.
His works contain examples of:
- Badass Army: Every...Single..."Western"...Army. Apparently.
- Big Badass Battle Sequence: He really does know how to describe battles well.
- Call That a Formation?: Averted. Hoplites fight in formation. Get it?
- Combat by Champion: Hoplite battles were like this on a gigantic scale according to Hanson; a ritualistic way for farmers to settle their quarrels quickly and get back home. They involved whole armies though.
- Determined Homesteader: Hoplites. Plus the author.
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Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Greek wars were really, really, horrible. Got it? Except it is hard to describe ten-thousand big hairy guys with spears, shields and armor, crashing into each other without making it sound really, really, cool. - Four-Star Badass: Lots naturally. Especially the authors hero, Epaminondas.
- Home Guard: Citizen-hoplites who Hanson thinks are really cool. Most Greek city-states were defended by this. Easy on taxes and you only have to turn out once or twice a year. Sparta was rather different.
- Honor Before Reason: According to the author, it was impossible for an invader to actually destroy a cities agricultural economy because of the actual difficulty in destroying crops. The real reason they came out to fight was because their homes were held hostage. The author actually tested this on his own grapevines.
- Land of One City: Greek city states.
- Police State: Sparta
- The Republic: Athens and Thebes
- Slave Liberation: The Theban invasion of Sparta which was intended to encourage this.
- The Spartan Way: Deconstructed. Hanson dislikes Spartans, and also notes their military flaws.
- War Is Glorious: Not supposed to be the intention but one can't help but think this on reading Hanson.
