The present volume owes its origin to a conference held in January 1998 at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. The theme 'War as a Cultural and Social Force' was chosen by an interdisciplinary group formed by the Centre for the Study of Antiquity, University af Aarhus, after a series of more informal discussions on war in antiquity. We are grateful to the other members of the group: Erik Ostenfeld, Klavs Randsborg, Uffe Østergaard and in particular to Per Bilde.

The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters generously housed and sponsored the conference and this publication; thanks are also due to the Carlsberg Foundation for financial support without which the project could not have been carried out and to Mary Waters Lund for revising the English text. We wish to express special thanks to Pia Grüner of the Royal Academy for her patience and help during the whole process.

Lise Hannestad & Tønnes Bekker-Nielsen