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Gladius Hispaniensis

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Everything posted by Gladius Hispaniensis

  1. Ave The historian Lafferty in his "The Fall of Rome" written back in the '60s has made a comment that Stilicho's army would have broken Caesar's or Pompey's armies "like sticks" because, according to him, the latter were "summer-time soldiers" from the citizen levy while the former were true professionals. I found this irritating because it was so absurd. AFAIK the Roman Army was fully professional by the time of Marius. As for the quality of the soldiers themselves, this must largely be confined to the realm of speculation. One might as well try to compare the quality of modern U.S marine with a Janissary of the Ottoman Empire. Any thoughts on this?
  2. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Absurd comment by Lafferty

    Quid? Quomodo?
  3. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Absurd comment by Lafferty

    Just out of curiosity, why do you consider Stilicho's army to have been better than Julian's?
  4. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Europe's debt to Islam given a skeptical look

    Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I also saw hundreds of cedar trees festooned with Christmas lighting and I have also heard Christmas carols openly over the radio there, just as in Western countries. No Stars of David because there is hardly any Jewish presence there. Plenty of Christians though, all practising openly. There are also Christian officers in the Royal Jordanian Army, some of whom were friends with my Dad, just as there were Christians in Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army. My aunt, who was an Evangelical Christian, lived many years in the Middle East and said she was never harassed for her faith, which she made no attempt to hide. I don't think anyone here is claiming that Spanish is an Arabic tongue.
  5. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Europe's debt to Islam given a skeptical look

    Quite commendable. Only the word tolerant needs to be used in a relative sense. It would be absurd to equate the tolerance of the Islam of that period to the religious tolerance of modern societies. As history students we, of course, should be aware that historical societies should be judged against their historical backdrop and not by modern standards and this is something people that are not into history often fail to realise. Islamic societies of that time period were remarkably more tolerant than contemporary Christian societies but the comparison ought to end right there.
  6. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Europe's debt to Islam given a skeptical look

    That's interesting. I remember spending two years of my childhood in Jordan and seeing the city of Amman decked out like a bride every Christmas. Back to the topic - Muslim scholars in Spain did translate a lot of classical works from Greek to Arabic and these were subsequently learned and transmitted by itinerant European scholars. This spurred the Enlightenment as much as the mass emigration of Byzantine scholars did. The fact that the Arabs transmitted knowledge borrowed from other civilizations cannot be held against them. No one criticizes the Romans for adopting and implementing ideas that rightly belonged to neighboring civilizations. After all the Arabian peninsula was a cultural backwater not too long before Islamic civilization reached its zenith. Considering just this one fact, I think the rise to cultural prominence of the Arabs was rather remarkable. Also, algebra (al jabr - the counting), algorithms (Al Khwarizmi), and alchemy (al keemia - the chemistry) owe their origins to the Arabs. Avicenna discovered the circulation of blood through the body long before Harvey did.
  7. Gladius Hispaniensis

    What's the last book you read?

    "The Fall of Rome" by R.A. Lafferty
  8. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Who was Brutus's father?

    Ave Can anyone please name the father of Marcus Brutus and husband of Servilia? He was apparently killed on Pompey's orders. Does anyone know the reason for that? It's really surprising that Brutus took Pompey's side in the civil war considering this fact.
  9. Gladius Hispaniensis

    A question for linguists

    Ave Here's a question that's been intriguing me of late - why has the Greek tongue survived while Latin has not? Although I realize that Greek itself has gone through several evolutions in it's life, one can make an arguable case that it has survived more or less intact, especially in it's homeland. The same cannot be said of Latin, which, in Italy, actually evolved into a completely distinct language. And this in spite of the efforts of the Roman Church to preserve it in liturgical form. I would appreciate any input on this. Thanks in advance.
  10. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Who was Brutus's father?

    I think you missed my point PP. I don't disagree with what you wrote but my contention is this: When did the Roman public ever feel squeamish about the genocide of a foreign people? Why would slaughtering a million Gauls, or any other nation for that matter, have turned people against him? Cato's censorious comments on this matter were a political dig in Caesar's ribs. I'm not convinced his outrage was genuine in any way.
  11. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Who was Brutus's father?

    Not that I'm at all partial to Caesar, but I don't see how butchering a million Gauls would have struck the Romans, Brutus included, as particularly odious. How many Roman commanders showed restraint in their campaigns? And in any case, Pompey's murder of the elder Brutus was hardly an example of honourable conduct either. If Caesar had murdered envoys, Pompey had also perfidiously put to death a man who had put himself in his power.
  12. Gladius Hispaniensis

    What's the last book you read?

    Currently reading "Death of the Roman Republic - From 146 BC the birth of the Roman Empire" by Stewart Perowne
  13. Ave I was watching an old programme hosted by Leonard Nimoy titled "Mysteries of the Pyramids" in which the narrator states that Alexander actually massacred priests in Heliopolis and Persepolis. I was rather startled when I heard that. The burning of Persepolis isn't news to me, of course, but slaying local priests is completely unlike Alexander. IIRC he was trying to placate and win over the Persian populace after conquering them. Any input on this one?
  14. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Roman Military Strategies?

    That makes sense. It is also interesting that the curved blade seems to have become more prevalent later among Eastern warriors like the Saracens. Although I am sure it did not originate there (witness the Falcata), this type of weapon is now almost associated with armies of the Muslim empires while its use seems to have pretty much disappeared in Western Europe.
  15. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Roman Military Strategies?

    What is the difference between a slashing and a slicing attack in sword-fighting
  16. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Roman Military Strategies?

    Surprisingly enough, it had the advantage of being lighter - always an advantage in close combat. That's why I am surprised the eastern legions did not readily adopt it, considering the hot climes in which they had to march and fight. Maybe it was a matter of supply? Eastern armourers probably made what they traditionally made, whereas armourers closer to Rome were more amenable to new techniques. Regarding Lorica Squamata, I believe it became more commonoplace during the later empire for two reasons: its cheapness of manufacture, and effectiveness against slashing attacks of barbarian longswords. Probably. That last point is of interest. It indicates that Barbarians who fought the Romans of the early empire period and before typically used thrusting rather than slashing movements with their swords. From Caesars Commentaries it would seem they actually preferred spears but I am guessing that when they did use swords it was more in a thrusting role. I cannot remember where I read this but apparently the reason was because the carbonizing process that converts iron into steel was not very prevalent among Northern European tribes, hence a slashing attack with an iron longsword would have seriously dented or bent the weapon. Until the advent of steel a thrusting movement in combat would have made more sense. Again I cannot remember the source for this but if anyone has information to the contrary I would welcome it.
  17. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Do you play a sport?

    Ave I don't know if this would be classified as a sport but I have been into bodyweight culture for a while now. For those that don't know, this is a physical exercise culture that emphasizes the use of one's own bodyweight for workouts. Simple push ups and sit ups are an obvious example, but there is a lot more to it. I am very happy with the results attained and the best part of it is that I don't have to waste time and treasure going to and from gyms. I really recommend this for anyone interested in physical culture and general fitness.
  18. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Roman Military Strategies?

    Surprisingly enough, it had the advantage of being lighter - always an advantage in close combat. That's why I am surprised the eastern legions did not readily adopt it, considering the hot climes in which they had to march and fight.
  19. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Roman Military Strategies?

    Peter Connolly's "Greece and Rome at War" is also an excellent source. Just be aware that the author states mistakenly that the lorica segmentata armour of Roman legionaries started in the 30s C.E. This was before they discovered this type of armour in the Teutoburg Wald recently. That particular battle was fought in 9 C.E. therefore legionaries must have started wearing the l.s at least by that time.
  20. Gladius Hispaniensis

    The Stone Box And Jesus' Brother's Bones

    I think one of the main problems with this "find", as with the other famous one regarding Jesus's DNA, is that it is virtually impossible to prove which Jesus or James the inscription talks about. These were hardly uncommon names in the Palestine of the 1st century.
  21. Gladius Hispaniensis

    "Cleopatra": Title or Name?

    Thanks for that info Nephele. It seems odd that Octavius murdered her son by Caesar and spared her offspring by his arch-rival Mark Antony. Do our sources tell us the reason for this odd anomaly?
  22. Gladius Hispaniensis

    "Cleopatra": Title or Name?

    She had Caesarion from Gaius Caesar who was murdered by Octavius. I wasn't aware she had offspring by Mark Antony.
  23. Gladius Hispaniensis

    The Thomas Controversy

    I seriously doubt it. Oral legend is more likely. His shrine is in Mylapore, near present day Madras. He was supposedly martyred there, and the Christians of St. Thomas have a large following in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Thomas is an enigmatic character, not least because Thomas is not a name at all. It is a word which means "twin" in Hebrew. In some versions of the Gospels he is known as Thomas Didymus which doesn't really clarify the matter because Didymus also means twin in Greek, leading to the grotesque appellation "twin twin". In some versions of the Apocrypha he is known as "Thomas, twin brother of the Lord". Interesting.
  24. Gladius Hispaniensis

    The Stone Box And Jesus' Brother's Bones

    Yes, that was the siege of Antioch iirc. Surprisingly enough, there were many prominent Crusaders who considered Bartholomew a phony and later made him undergo a trial by fire - quite literally. According to one source, the fellow even survived the ordeal, only to be torn to pieces by an overenthusiastic mob seeking bits of his clothing to keep as relics. Pathetic.
  25. Gladius Hispaniensis

    Did Alexander the Great kill priests at Persepolis?

    Yes, it was "In Search Of". I would say that Mr. Spock's comments on the subject are eminently illogical.
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