The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society c5.28

c5.28

Probably the best studied material regarding this function of the war band is that of the ancient Germanic peoples. Authors of ancient Rome had already noticed the difference between the polycephalous (or acephalous) organizations of the settled tribes and the war band's uniting of individual members from different tribes under a successful leader. It is especially this type of organization, based on the association of different ethnic elements under a single leadership, the conquest of land, and the establishment of overlordships in new areas, that seems to have determined to a great extent the essence of medieval kingship.²⁸