The “Protocols” for the Hittite “Royal Guard” during the Old Kingdom: Observations on Elite Military Units and their Possible Warfare Applications

In this article, we intend to analyse the importance and modus operandi of a military unit (generally known as “Royal Guard”) whose function was, among other things, the protection of the Hattuša-based Hittite kings. For this essay, we will be mainly using two Hittite textual sources known as “instructions” or “protocols”. We aim to find a connection between these guards and their function regarding the protection of the royal palace as well as their military enlistment in that elite unit. The period to be covered in this analysis comes directly from the choice of sources: the Hittite Old Kingdom, confined between the chronological beacons of the 17th, 16th and 15th centuries BC. With this analysis, we intend to provide some relevant data that may contribute to a better understanding of these elite military units, particularly in regards to their probable warfare functions. Were they used in battle? How were they armed? What was their tactical importance in combat? How was the recruitment done? How were the units formed? These will be some questions that we will try to answer throughout this article. Keywords: guard, palace, command, warfare, infantry

Earned Citizenship through Military Service

This chapter uses the civic republican tradition as a theoretical lens to examine how previously excluded groups were able to draw on their wartime service to demand equal treatment as citizens and why unauthorized immigrants should be able to earn naturalization through military service. It first considers how Mexican American veterans were able to leverage their military service to demand the rights and benefits of first-class citizenship. It then interprets this historical account through a frame of “Mexican American republicanism,” connecting loyalty and service to citizenship claims. Unauthorized immigrants who want to follow this pathway to citizenship can no longer do so, given current barriers to enlistment. This chapter closes by analyzing and critiquing U.S. policies governing immigrant military enlistment. As a whole, this chapter serves as a work of applied political theory with implications for the contemporary U.S. immigration reform debate.