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Eunapius Titus

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About Eunapius Titus

  • Rank
    Miles
  • Birthday 06/26/1988

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    Titus Ultor
  • MSN
    Tidus_Katarae@hotmail.com
  • Website URL
    http://www.wildfiregames.com/0ad

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  • Location
    San Diego, CA
  • Interests
    Ancient history, particularly Republican Rome and Iberia.<br /><br />Avatar credited to: angelic-moon.com
  1. Eunapius Titus

    Invincible?

    The pool of manpower was vital to Roman success. The troops at Cannae were simply a fresh, brand new levied "super legion". Everyone in that army was inexperienced, from the skirmisher to the commander. Hannibal's army was experienced, efficient and well-led. While the battle was lost, the fact that Rome had several legions abroad and still managed to levy a force of 60,000 to 80,000 men (by some estimates) in a relatively short period of time is simply amazing. Rome not only won militarily, they won politically. Throughout the conquering of Gaul and Iberia, Roman diplomats and generals skillfully played upon tribal politics in order to spread their influence and military power locally. The only way that the Iberian leader Viriato was captured and defeated was by breaking a peace treaty and assassinating him at night. Yes, the manipular legion was incredibly effective as a fighting force in general. But I think Rome also had something more than a simply tactical advantage, one which essentially handed them the entire world: willingness. No other culture could so endlessly throw men and resources at a given objective, until victory was essentially inevitable. After Teutoberg, the Roman army simply replaced the lost men and went back into the land they had just lost thousands and thousands of men in. No other culture was willing to lie, steal and connive their way to victory, regardless of reputation or honor. The Roman army wasn't invincible so much as simply unyielding. Keep pushing, and the other side virtually always collasped by the end.
  2. Eunapius Titus

    Scotland Unconquered

    The general anti-Romanist attitude and tactics of the Caledonian tribes at this point were very reminiscent of the Celtiberians several hundred years ago. Anyone who's studied the bloody and lengthy nature of that conquest might quail at attempting to pacify the wild north. Especially, as has been mentioned, when there's no much to loot or to grow in Scotland. At least Iberia had a strategic location (this was before and during the Punic Wars), great farmland (a massive number of olives are still grown there), and valuable resources to make it worth the cost and effort. Mix that with the general vastness of Rome, and it would be essentially folly to waste Roman resources and lives.
  3. Eunapius Titus

    Ancient Tug Of War

    I'm afraid that testudo was, for all intensive purposes, alike the phalanx only in the fact that both formations require the men to retain a rigid formation with limited mobility. I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in a testudo formation attempting to push through a phalanx, or any other group of enemies. It is an easy formation to break, and it breaks in a very messy manner. The testudo has one simply, unadulterated purpose: missle protection. Think of it this way: I wouldn't want to try to fight in combat as a tortoise (testudo), but I certainly wouldn't mind the shell.
  4. Eunapius Titus

    Roman Siegecraft

    In all but the deepest of the Middle Ages, the beseiged has a definite disadvantage against his opponent. The reason is simply: mobility and supply. When carrying out a siege, mobility is essentially completely unhindered in all but an area in the center of the battlefield. For the defenders, they are stuck in that very area. The beseiger can resupply, re-equip, bolster his forces, or basically do anything he wants in most cases. The besieged is fortunate if anyone realizes their plight or is able to defend it. The reason that the various non-Roman cultures did not particularly advance in "siegecraft" is simply: they weren't on the offensive. Pax Romana extended beyond the borders of the Empire. Quite frankly, mounting an offensive against Rome was suicidal except in a very limited attempt, and attacking a neighbor simply allowed the Romans an easy victory and an easy ally. Siegecraft became a Roman technique not because of any lack of ability or lack of technology. It became a Roman technique by lack of foreign use.
  5. Eunapius Titus

    Rome's Heavy Cavalry

    Right. Even if the Romans did field a significant force of cavalry, whether light, heavy or otherwise, it was in all likelihood auxiliary or simply allied. Heavy cavalry simply didn't figure in with the general strategy of any legion, and I'd wager that the vast majority of Roman generals wouldn't be able to use them effectively even if they did wield a number of them on the battlefield.
  6. Eunapius Titus

    Battle Preliminary

    I have definitely never heard of this sort of ritual in a Roman legion. I could imagine maybe Germanic tribes having a similiar sort of idea, but this very idea seems so un-Roman in the historical sense.
  7. Eunapius Titus

    Invincible?

    Like all armies, the Roman army faced both its positive times and its negative times. But, as has been mentioned, these seem to rely more on leadership than on the army itself. The army remained, even when it was just levied, a stalwart and steady force, only beaten very rarely on even ground, given capable leadership. They were, however, ordinary men.
  8. Eunapius Titus

    Roman Women

    Well. The restrictions on women certainly did vary throughout Roman history, both during the Republic and the Empire. It really depended more on whose wives or mothers had stronger wills than the men, in my opinion, than on any sort of "femininst" movement. Women were certainly better off in Rome than they were in Greece, where they were essentially trapped in the house all day with only festivals and work as a way out, and were essentially chattle. Roman women, at the least, could leave the house.
  9. Eunapius Titus

    How To Make/tie A Toga

    Well. It's supposed to leave that side fairly open, which is why it was worn with a tunic, and why women didn't wear it all. Maybe a stola or something would work better for you?
  10. Eunapius Titus

    Roman Bones Puzzle Vatican Archaeologists

    But remember that the Bible actually contains several examples of higher class citizens' conversions to Christianity. Not to tout a "side", but its important to note that a few examples of any nameable social stratum would have most likely had some converts, as with any religion, even if the beliefs were not mainstream in that given sector of society.
  11. Eunapius Titus

    Italy Owes Wine Legacy To Celts

    Lol. Peter Ellis. *made the mistake of buying one of his books in his younger, foolish days of last winter* I definately see that trend. Nearly every aspect of Western Culture seems to be the fruit of the Celts, these days. I hold that the prior trend of giving credit for everything solely to the Mediterranean states was a bit extreme, but it seems its swung to the other side too much.
  12. Eunapius Titus

    Ancient Tug Of War

    I would also note that it wasn't even necessarily important to fully flank the said phalanx. To simply get the Roman line orientated slightly past the left edge (the Romans' left) would be disastrous for the phalanx. The reason is simple: The last man had only half shield coverage, and only an ungainly pike to defend the other half. Now, granted. I wouldn't want to be one of the hastatii pushing my way using the curved scutum through the wall of pikes in front of me. But if a small number of soldiers managed to force members of the phalanx to revert to using their swords or to fall back from position, the stability of the phalanx is greatly reduced. Mix that with a hail of pila and a second line of fresh, more experienced principes to finish off the formation, and you can see why a manipular Republican legion would have an advantage over a pure phalanx. However, by the time of Rome's rise, most Greek and Hellenistic phalanx-based armies were much more complex, using skirmishers, archers, strong cavalry, and elephants along with more fluid leadership styles. Using these, it was possible to return the favor and break the legion's ranks. This led to the many great battles and struggles between Hellenistic nations and Rome.
  13. Eunapius Titus

    The Cherusci

    Well. I've always believed that the association was more based in the nature of a fine sword in itself. To an average tribesman, a bejeweled, well-crafted sword would cost more than he could make in a lifetime. A spear would be a more likely weapon for these sorts, but the beauty and grace of a sword is one which captures inspiration even today. Marines, anyone?
  14. Eunapius Titus

    Iberians, Celts, And Visigoths

    Here's a few more things about Iberia I've learned throughout the years. Despite Celtic influence in the northern and eastern area of Iberia, most of the peninsula remained with the strong native culture for many years. The Iberians were cattle-herders, rarely planting and tending to be more of a wandering sort of people. This is due to the weather in Iberia (the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain), which gave relatively few sunny days per year, compared to the Mediterranean climates of Carthage, Rome, Greece, Egypt, and the like. There was a narrow band around the Southern and Eastern coasts that was very fertile, but major powers tended to control these areas, including the Greeks, Carthaginians, Celts (I realize that they're not actually a unified nation) and the Romans. The Iberians were fierce fighters and defenders, master of guerilla warfare long before anyone had really conceived of such a strategy as a manner of managing an entire war. Storehouses containing tens of thousands of sling-bulletes have been found throughout the area. Heroes such as Viriato used ambushes and raids to completely stave off the advange of Roman hegemony. In fact, most of the success of Romans in this area lies in political tricks than military strength. Their equipment in battle became a Roman standard. They are credited with engineering the javelin as a weapon to be carried by dedicated infantry who would also weild a sword. More importantly, the sword they used most commonly, the espasa, was renamed the "gladius" by the Romans. Perhaps you've heard of it.
  15. Eunapius Titus

    Latin Influence In The English Language

    English was influenced by Latin (and by extension, Greek) on three major occasions, and each invasion brought a different aspect of the language into play. 1) Christianity and the early Dark Ages. While the Celts who lived in Britain when the Romans brought their new religion to the isle were a far cry from the Anglo-Saxons who later invaded, the religion outlasted both the legions and the Celts in the area. As such, ecclesiastical words (such as ecclesiatical, actually) were instilled in the language at its very roots, and never went away. A few Roman words remained in more regular usage to describe remaining Roman inventions, but they were wiped out during the Viking invasions. 2) The Norman Invasion. As mentioned before, this brought over the very Latinized French language. In fact, it was forbidden to write in English, or for it to be spoken in the courts. During this time, French words (usually derived from Latin, if not simply cognates) became standard for words for higher class life. The English language did not die out among peasants, however, and evolved steadily into a language of the lower classes. 3) Renaissance and later: As the Classical texts are rediscovered and essentially cantonized, Latin works its way into scholarly and intelligent contexts in both Anglocized and pure forms. Until about the time of Newton, Latin remains the language of a growing and fertile international, intellectual community. I'd say probably about twenty to thirty percent of English words are derived directly from Latin. If you add in Latin-influenced French words, the number probably approaches forty to forty-five. Greek takes up a relatively small percentage, and Germanic words occupy the rest. In individual subsections of the language, I'd say Latin has a crushing majority in religious terms (particularly in regards to Catholicism) and scholarly (though Greek does maintain a decent percentage here).
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