For heuristic reasons, the range of topics related to cultures of war is divided into two fields of research:

A. Forms of Expression

This section examines the various forms of expression found in cultures of war—namely, military organization, practices of war, rituals associated with acts of war, religious cults and objects, and the everyday lives of soldiers. Sources for this analysis may include, for example, military manuals, historical accounts, or hagiographic literature (e.g., in the context of religious rites). Military architecture will be analyzed archaeologically, and religious objects and their ritual use will be examined. Different texts and items (including music) require a nuanced analysis that takes into account genre-specific and cross-genre aspects, as well as the subject matter and the longevity of traditional concepts. This applies specifically, among other things, to the illustrations in Byzantine *Taktika* and *Belopoiika* or the depiction of prisoners, The wounded, and the dead—where the continuity or divergence from ancient iconographic types is particularly worth examining—or, for example, in the depiction of military saints, where something new tends to emerge.

B. Interpretive Frameworks

This encompasses theories, concepts, strategies, and notions of war; the legitimization of war and the normative foundations for behavior in war; as well as the ways in which rulers and military elites present themselves, and conceptualizations of adversaries in their various forms and adaptations. For example, archetypes of the warrior and their use as a means of legitimizing rule, justifications for war based on biblical texts, and war propaganda and enemy stereotypes can be examined using written and archaeological sources; examples include panegyrics, codes of chivalry, theological treatises, forms of representation in funerary contexts, festive cycles in church painting, or musical propaganda.

These two analytical fields of research are applied to four thematic areas that appear to be fruitful for all participating disciplines. This focus establishes a clearly defined research program that enables an interdisciplinary examination of the overarching question regarding the place of Byzantine culture in the Euro-Mediterranean region from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. The aim is to achieve a balanced distribution of research projects across the research fields and thematic areas, so that as many aspects of the research program as possible are covered and different academic disciplines are integrated with one another. Individual projects may also fall under multiple thematic areas or address both the level of expression and the level of interpretation. Fellows working on a particular thematic area therefore also benefit from the research of fellows in other thematic areas, both through informal exchanges and through discussions in the colloquium, which alternates its focus among the thematic areas.

In the second funding phase, four cross-cutting themes are being added to the four thematic areas; based on the work conducted during the first funding period, we have identified these as meaningful additions. Specifically, these themes address the consequences of war, gender roles and gender issues, narratives of war, and cultural practices in the context of war. The increased focus on the consequences of war—which have a comprehensive impact on societies and shape them—links all thematic areas equally. Related to this is the topic of gender roles and gender issues, as the focus now also extends to actors who were less directly involved in the practical conduct of war (women, children). Concepts of masculinity also fall within this area. Many of the dissertation proposals have also shown that war narratives constitute an important category of analysis. Therefore, in the second funding period, the focus will be on how wars are represented in various contexts and which narrative patterns are employed for this purpose. Finally, praxeological questions will be brought more to the forefront through the inclusion of bodily practices and interactions both between people and between people and objects. These four cross-cutting themes will further link the four thematic areas and also require new methodological approaches, which will be taught to the doctoral candidates in workshops.

What are cultures of war?

War, in the sense of an armed conflict between different groups, represents an underlying anthropological constant. War can therefore be described as a shared aspect of human experience and culture. In order to analyze this experience in a comprehensive and appropriate manner, a broad understanding of cultures of war is necessary—one that encompasses all aspects of human experience with and in war. Accordingly, we adopt a broad understanding of cultures of war, encompassing, on the one hand, the norms, interpretations, attributions of meaning, and general reflections on war, and, on the other, the forms and practices of warfare (both material and immaterial). This term brings into focus both the mentality and the materiality that characterize a specific culture of war.

We define “cultures of war” as any phenomenon that, in one way or another, deals with an armed conflict—whether potential or actual—between different groups of people, or with the depictions of such conflicts in all possible media. This definition allows us to connect and compare phenomena that might previously have seemed unrelated, and to analyze war as an integral part of human existence.