Military Tactics of the Antique World as a Present of Development of Modern Operative and Sourcing Tactics

Abstract

The article is devoted to the genesis of operational-search tactics in the context of the historical formation and development of military art of the period of the antique age. In the process of analyzing the scientific work of domestic and foreign scholars it became clear that during the existence of the Roman Empire
(the empire), under the influence of military art (general tactics), the main provisions of intelligence and counter-intelligence activities, which can be found in the existing regulatory legal acts regulating operational search activity.

It is noted that in general, the rapid development of general tactics of the Romans contributed to the introduction into the military art of knowledge of various sciences and military technology. In the context of the study, the development of such sciences as logic and psychology is of particular importance. After all, many aspects of tactics are based on the knowledge of these sciences. In the process of analyzing the works of historian scholars on the military art of the Ancient World, it became clear that the battle success of the Romans depended heavily on the use of the right tactics. A thorough analysis of scientific research enabled the classification of agents, depending on their tasks, which were used in ancient Rome. 1. Defectors agents are the lowest level of intelligence reconnaissance, which usually consisted of ordinary people living in hostile territory and were recruited or cooperated with the Roman authorities of their own accord. 2. Special agents (external agents) performed complex tasks in the field of reconnaissance and subversion in the enemyʼs rear. For them, the relevant «legends» were thoroughly developed and such agents were sent to the enemy's territory for several months or even years. Their prerogative was the right to involve individuals in confidential cooperation. 3. Link agents performed tasks for the transmission of information in oral form using secret or encrypted messages. 4. Agents-initiators – locals who, on their own initiative, expressed a desire to cooperate confidentially with the Roman authorities and perform various minor tasks. 5. Agents-diplomats – ambassadors or persons accompanying them, who performed various kinds of tasks of international importance under the «diplomatic cover». 6. Agents of influence – high-ranking local authorities, who for one reason or another decided to secretly defend the interests of another state in their country. The task of these individuals was to carry out tasks of strategic nature for Rome (engagement of a country that was interested in the war, avoiding hostile invasion, influence on economically viable issues-privileges in trade), and so on. 7. Internal agents – Roman citizens or slaves. The main task – to provide information on persons who committed a crime. The motivating component of such cooperation was material encouragement, freedom, Roman citizenship. For obvious reasons, the slaves were best served by such work.