Soldiers' Home

Abstract

News of a great defeat and the destruction of a mighty army descends upon the city like a shroud. This chapter analyses the realities of soldiers’ homecomings not only in the ancient world but more broadly, looking at the experiences of modern conflicts from the American Civil War to Afghanistan for comparative guidance. Western literature begins with the story of the returning warrior and the very name Odysseus and his return home to the woman he left behind has become a byword for a long and arduous journey. There are depressing and ugly dimensions to war and the conduct of war that discourage scholarly study of the returning soldier and lives complicated by physical and psychic trauma. Allison Cooley suggests that “it was not usual to commemorate the human cost of war through memorials,” as the Romans evidently preferred to remember defeat by incorporating it into ritual, an effort to win back divine favor.

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