Tag antiquity
From reading Polybius, I gather that the basic unit of the Roman Army was not the Legion, at least not in the days of the Republic during Polybius’ lifetime. Instead, it was the Consular Army, which consisted of two Legions…. Continue Reading →
The Histories by Polybius is the next book in classics arc. It covers the period from the beginning of the First Punic War in 267 B.C. to 167 B.C. when he claims the Roman Empire was essentially complete and ruled… Continue Reading →
I am currently reading Polybius’ Histories, and I have finally gotten to the part where he describes the events during the Second Punic War. Last night I read his account of the battle of Lake TRasimene in 217 B.C…. Continue Reading →
I am currently on an arc of reading Latin classics I have not read but always wanted to. I finished the first one a few days ago, the Penguin Classics edition of The Makers of Rome by Plutarch. It is… Continue Reading →
Caesar’s Gallic Wars are a series of eight books that Caesar either wrote or had written detailing his actions during the eight years he was the Roman governor in Gaul. They are best understood as an exercise in propaganda… Continue Reading →
The Battle of Carrhae in 53 B.C. was one of the biggest military disasters Rome ever suffered, ranking right up there with Cannae, The Teutoberg Forest, and Lake Trasimene. The battle occurred in what is today Syria between a… Continue Reading →
This is a curious word and does not mean today what it meant to the Ancient Romans who coined the term. Merriam-Webster defines decimate as: DECIMATE; transitive verb 1: to select by lot and kill every tenth man of 2:… Continue Reading →
Bread and Circuses
I was driving back to the office from an appointment today and heard on the radio that there were demonstrations in Athens this morning in sympathy with the Italians against proposed austerity measures. I immediately started to reflect on… Continue Reading →