The Field and the Forge offers an innovative approach to the pre- industrial history of Europe and the Mediterranean basin from Roman times through to the Industrial Revolution. This wide-ranging analysis demonstrates how technology changed the scope of state and empire building, and explores why this scope was realized in the ancient world rather than the medieval west. This work not only considers the who and what of history, but provides a clear demonstration of why things happened INDICE 1 Introduction - Time, Space, and Population Section I: The Organic Economy and Demographic Space 2 Population Dynamics 3 Production and Technology 4 The Means of Transport 5 Trade and Traffic Section II: Military Technology 6 Battlefields before Gunpowder 7 Gunpowder Revolution 8 Military Capital Section III: Force, Power, and Space 9 War and the Organic Economy 10 Power and Space I: Expanding Control 11 Power and Space II: Maintaining Control Section IV: War, Population, and Resources 12 The Cost of War: Manpower and Resources 13 Population, Production, and Technology 14 The Cost of War: Mortality and Population Loss 15 Spending, Taxing, and Borrowing 16 Conclusion Bibliography Appendixes