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A: the castle of Imola, east of Bologna, as it would have appeared in the early 14th century. B1-B3: a tower house in Genoa (a - main hall; b - middle rooms; c - shops;

warfare was a matter of manoeuvre, raiding and sieges, with few pitched battles. This often entailcd prolonged campaigns where profes-sionals were morę effective dian part-time militias. In 14di-century Florence, for example, militia senice obligations usually only lasted from ten to fourteen days. Even so it was rare for morę than a tliird of the militia to be called up at one time. Instead of summoning all tliose from one quarter, a proportion would be taken from each, the aim being to avoid disrupting economic life.

Tactical units varied in size according to cir-cumstance, but the venticinquina (or 25-man unit) was one of the most widely employed. Another interesting feature was the habit of forming tactical units of men from similar trades or occu-pations, presumably to strengthen comradeship and morale. The smiths, physicians and musicians who accompanied tliese armies on campaign would also have helped maintain both the fighting effectiveness and the morale of the troops. Crossbowmen were generally brigaded separately from the otlier infantry, as were the guaslatori and the ‘army market’ wliicli accom-panied the troops. The late-13th-century Florentine baggage train was divided into two sections, each with a special guard unit under its own officer: one defended the vital carroccio, the otlier protected the camp followers.

On the march, Italian armies tended to follow the achice of the late-Roman military author Yegatius, with light infantry and light cavalry defending the baggage train. In enemy territory archers and crossbowmen would be placed at the head of the column, the carroccio in the centre with caralry in the rear. Wagons provided the main form of military transport: this is not sur-prising, given that morę of the old Roman road system had survived in Italy than in most other parts of western Europę, and that during the 14th century the Italian city States paved their major trade routes. Wagons came in several shapes and sizes, but in hilly areas mules and donkeys were used instead. Pack-horses or ronzini were differen-tiated from the far morę expensive war-horses, and were forcibly ‘borrowed’ from the citizens.

Despite a tendency to conduct longer and longer campaigns, most remained limited in both scope and in the number of men involved. In a

d - undercroft). C: Casa Maruffo in Genoa, a house with a tower attached. D: Case Gattilusio in Genoa, a pair of houses built in 1310.