Authors can send a proposal by email to editor@ancient-warfare.com.
We prefer proposals that contain the following parts (if possible)

• A summary of the article (approximately 250 words). What will you discuss? What will be your point of view?
• A table of contents, with a short summary of every section.
• A short list of the most important sources that will be used
• A list of possible illustrations or photos that you would like to add to the article (we can provide some illustrations and photos if necessary; keep in mind that we can only use photos of a certain quality and resolution).
• An estimate of the length of the article.

Don’t write an entire article for a proposal. After all, your proposal might not be published, at least not at that moment. If your article is being published (the editor in chief will decide on that after the proposal deadline for an issue) you have three months to finish it, so time will not be a problem.

The following guidelines should be observed when writing for Ancient Warfare

• Articles are written for a large audience, interested in ancient military history. This means that the article should be both informative and based on modern academic research, but written in a smooth and easily accessible style.
• Be original. Captivate the reader with an interesting narrative. The course of battles, developments in wars, strategies and weaponry is more attractive than a digression on literary sources or a detailed account of a scientific debate (except when the topic of your suggested article is a particular debate).
• However, don’t ignore the sources or ongoing debates altogether. Some well-chosen quotations and references can contribute substantially to the quality of the article.
• Don’t write in a pedantic manner; readers don’t need to know how much you know about every little detail. More specialized names and terms may be used, but don’t overdo it. Keep in mind that not everybody is familiar with the terminology.
• Don’t be too elaborate. Decide beforehand what you would like to write about and stick to this in your account. Any extra information not directly related to the main story can be put in a sidebar if necessary.
• We don’t use footnotes in our magazine. Any references to sources should be incorporated in the article itself. You can list a few important works on the subject in a ‘Further reading’-textbox.
• The article itself should roughly number between 2000-4000 words. This is only an approximation. The exact number of words will be decided upon by the editor in chief, after the final decision on the issue’s contents is made. This depends on the article’s topic, the section to which it will belong, and the content of the other articles in the issue.
• Your command of the English language should be excellent, at least within the article itself. If spelling and grammar is insufficient, the article will not be accepted for publication.

Sections

Ancient Warfare consists of a number of sections, which will determine on what sort of topic the article should focus. Authors can submit a proposal for one of the following sections:

• Introduction: an introduction to the main theme, with background information on the time, place and important events.
• Main theme: all articles directly related to the main theme. This can be a battle, a certain type of warrior, equipment or weapon, logistics, strategy or an important commander or historical figure, etc.
• The source: focuses on primary/important sources on which (some of) the theme’s information is based.
• The weapon: will deal with a specific (type of) weapon, armour or equipment. This can be related to the main theme, though another area/period is also possible.
• The warrior: focuses on a certain (type of) soldier, either a unit or an important general/combatant in history.
• Siege warfare/the fortification: an article about an important siege, a fortification or siege-equipment/weaponry. This can be related to the main theme, though it can also cover another area/period.
• Special: articles about certain special aspects of ancient warfare, like treatment of wounds, logistics, military signaling, etc. etc.
• The battle/campaign: a non-theme article on a certain battle and/or campaign unrelated to the main theme of an issue.
• Reviews: of books, (video)games, miniatures, or other things connected to ancient military history. In essence not main theme related, though some overlap may exist.

Payment and rights

Authors will receive 10 eurocent per word (except for reviews). The editors of Karwansaray preserve for themselves the right to change layout and content of articles as they deem necessary.