Yozan Mosig
Yozan Dirk Mosig is a Professor of Psychology with a deep interest in Ancient History (particularly the period of the Punic Wars). A native of Germany, Dr. Mosig lived for several years in Spain and for 15 years in Argentina before coming to the U.S. He attended Eastern New Mexico University for his undergraduate studies, and the University of Florida for his graduate work, earning a M.A. in 1969 and the Ph.D. in psychology in 1974. He has travelled extensively, is fluent in several languages, and has been a professor at the University of Nebraska-Kearney since 1977.
Dr. Mosig is a Zen Buddhist monk (trained under Zen Master Dainin Katagiri) and an 8th Degree Black Belt in Okinawan Karate and Kobudo (weaponry) with over 50 years of training in the martial arts. He has received the Robert Bloch Award from the New England Lovecraft Society for his research on H. P. Lovecraft, and the Pratt-Heins Award in Scholarship from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. For the past 15 years he has been conducting research on the Punic Wars and the life and personality of Hannibal Barca (247-183 B.C.E.), the great Carthaginian general who led an army (with 37 elephants) over the Alps to invade Italy and defeated the Romans in a series of battles (including the one at Cannae, on August 2, 216 B.C.E., widely regarded as the most brilliant military victory in history).
Dr. Mosig has presented his research internationally on a variety of topics. Among his recent presentations are: “Revision and Reconstruction in the Second Punic War: Zama-Whose Victory?” at the Fifth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, American University of Paris, France, July 17, 2007; “Revision and Reconstruction in the Punic Wars: Cannae Revisited,” at the Fourth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia, July 5, 2006; “Western and Eastern Conceptions of the Self,” at Taraz University, Taraz, Kazakhstan, May 2002, and “The Archetypal Power of Sibelius,” at the Third International Jean Sibelius Conference, Helsinki, Finland, December 9, 2000. He has also taught workshops and seminars on Zen Meditation, Stress Management, and Martial Arts in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela, and on H. P. Lovecraft in Italy.
Dr. Mosig has prepared a number of articles on Hannibal and the Punic Wars for an online audience, including “A problem of sources,” “A question of hatred,” “Of rivers and elephants,” “The Kriegsschuldfrage in the Punic Wars,” “Demonizing Carthage: Propaganda wars in the Ancient Mediterranean,” “Cannae: An issue of command,” “Cannae: The riddle of the horse,” “Cannae: The psychology of battle,” “Cannae aftermath: The Maharbal fallacy,” and “The delights of Capua: Myth of reality?” Dr. Mosig has also contributed articles commemorating the 2228th anniversary of the battle of Cannae to the Italian Gazzetta dell’Archeologia On Line, published by the Comitato Italiano pro Canne della Battaglia (July-August 2012). He is currently working on a book on Hannibal for Apollonia Publishers in Tunisia.
For a list of resources in Prof. Mosig’s library, click here.
- Hannibal: Victories of the Great Hero from Ancient Carthage - December 19, 2018
- Alexander the Great and Hannibal Barca: A comparison - March 9, 2017
- A Note on Hannibal’s Losses During the Crossing of the Alps - July 18, 2016
