Spurius
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The major areas of modern Pakistan was in Sattagydia-Gandara and Parikania in the Parthian Empire. These roughly correspond to Bulchistan, Punjab, N.W.F.P and the Northern Areas. Sattagydia and Gandara have a long history of Persian influence, as noted by this early inscription by Darius. The people and area were noted on maps and such, but there was nothing that set them apart from other peoples in the Parthian Empire. Except for the fact that multiple religions existed peaceably in the areas. (What a change over the millennia.)
The dominate ethnic group of the area, the Pashtuns, have been in the area for at least that long too. They may have been a mingling of Aryans and local peoples and possibly be the
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First off, here's a rule of thumb that I endorse:
Never subscribe to conspiracy what can be explained by incompetence.
I don
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I would have to agree that the Battle of Britain was the most significant battle in/around Britain.
Culloden was an interesting point in history though; it was the last battle fought on British soil, and the conclusive defeat of poor old Bonnie Prince Charlie
Yep, I voted that way too. The most significant battle IN Britain, based on possible results for the world, was "The Battle of Britain" (IMHO). Though this is followed very closely by Hastings and its effects on the British character.
The most significant battle FOR Britain, I'd say Hastings with Culloden and "The Battle of Britain" as a photofinish 1-2-3...depending on who's discussing the issues.
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Hah? Is the sun getting to ohighyo? Or option B: "WHAT?, you are drinking WHAT?"
"Hah? Is sun profit when ohighyo? Maybe. Or melior B : anyone , you are imbibe Anyone? Can't, walk all way to school.
"Got those...forced translator blues", Making fun of Engrish everywhere.Butt....let's get back to talking about Vulcan's, or Oliver Reed's, butt!
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Did not the Kirk say:
"Do you know the one, "All I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by..." You could feel the wind at your back, about you - the sounds of the sea beneath you. And even if you take away the wind and the water, it's still the same. The ship is yours, you can feel her, and the stars are still there." -TOS, The Ultimate Computer, 53:2:34
Let us take a moment to contemplate the logic of this.
*WHOOSH* What was all your statement meaning is ours?
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The most telling and logical of Roman innovations ,was to always hire the chaps who were really difficult to beat if the opportunity arose.
Hence the ever increasing need for gold
As to Roman adaptability, I remember reading (Livy books XXI-XXX on the 2nd punic war) that while the Romans were laying siege to Capua (after Capua went to Hannibal), the Campanian cavalry was far superior to the romans. Then, the Romans adapted and every cavalry man took a partner infantry guy with a spear. After much training, the infantry were able to dismount quickly. Then, when the two opposing cavalry forces met, just before impact the spearmen would dismount and the Campanian cavalry would crash into waiting spearpoints. Thus the romans were able to combing cavalry and infantry.That would be a funny once to see. The Campanians were missile poor if I remember correctly, so that would be a sound tactic to keep the enemy cavalry off balance thus ineffective.
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Cavalry is always worth more as a threat than an actual impact. In fact the only time they are really effective is when they charge in on a broken or running enemy. So in essence, you can't turn your back on them.
If the legion in question is cavalry poor, then it is in trouble if caught in an open position. The horsemen can keep on their heels any direction they move. The only hope for the legion is to out last (or wait out) the horsemen. This can be painful with horse archers, but the alternative is being wiped out.
Staves, caltrops and other pointy objects can deny the ground to enemy cavalry but they also work against you moving too.
If the legion has good cavalry support, then the primary job for both groups of horsemen is to keep their opposite numbers busy. If they can out manouver and scatter their opponents, then cavalry can be used to flank and roll-up the enemy while they concentrate on the roman infantry attack.
You could look up tactics in the West Point history series or in a large variety of military history books. Secondary sources are plentiful, but primaries are a bit fewer. I'll get back to you about them.
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During an Antiques program on PBS, a Republic of Texas artillery officer's sword, made in Massachusetts, was shown. It looked very much like a gladius, of about the same length, but thinner. A point was brought up that the blade was peened at the end of the handle as earlier swords of the type had the tendency for the blade to fall out of the handle. Looking at my gladius would proove nothing, as it is a copy made in Spain recently. Does anyone know if The Romans had this problem or was their gladius peened? Rivited? It seems odd to me that so obvious a feature would be left off of the Texas sword.
The answer would be: where and when?
I haven't seen an example of a rivited tang but they may have existed. The gladius Hispaniensis had a pommel tip on the tang to help hold the ball base grip.
Then you can see the "Pompeii" style in the 1st cen. CE. It too used a ball, but there was a piece of flat bronze between the tang and the ball to wedge it in place.
In the 2nd cen CE, there are examples of pommel rings attached to the tang and used in lieu of a ball. That only lasted a brief period before going back to the ball.
As far as the Texas sword; they did base it off of the gladius but how much of a sword tradition has there been in the US? A few faults in manufacture can be forgiven, especially since it was highly doubtful that it would ever be used in combat
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The character of Otto Prohaska is one of the most sympathetic and wry ones created in modern fiction, IMHO.
All three books have a great feel to them, some what depressing in places (it is WWI in the doomed Empire) but a good way to inspire research into a relatively uncovered area of WWI. At least not covered very much in the USA...
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I saw the limb straightener/immobilizer and the ability to heal non-fragmented broken limbs is the same as a clean slash...well known and used by the earliest cultures.
How up are you on peregrini sources of wound treatment? I've got some information from later times, but I was wondering if you or your extended contacts had some good recomendations on other cultures techniques.
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Penetration wounds, especially deep ones, are much harder to treat than slashing cuts.
From early times fairly sophisticated techniques for cleaning, stiching, binding, and basic antibiotic smears/compresses were developed to give a good chance of full recovery from slash wounds. The trouble is, these techniques are not what you want to do to treat penetrating wounds, and packing open is a great route for infection.
So the claims that the glaudius was so deadly come from its penetration, though I would argue that spears have killed many more and hold the champion hand powered weapon title....
Now for retrieval, as long as the formation didn't suffer, you could pull a man back however you could grab him. Various circumstances would prohibit this, or course, and it assumes that there is someone NOT involved in an immediate fight. A big assumtion on the front line.
I would guess that if the legionaire could retreat with the wounds, he did. If he fell, well the second rank would have to cover and the next guy could maybe pull him back. Failing that the fighting would have to advance beyond him, or a lull to occur, before help could come. Of course roman surgeons were very skilled and often drawn from experienced personel, so hopefully it was a barbarian slashing wound. Even with a penetrating wound, the romans did fairly well from what I've read.
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Hmmm,
Fiction Books: I,Claudius, the Horatio Hornblower series, A Sailor of Austria by Biggins, and my favorite since 12-years-old : "All's Quiet on the Western Front".
Fact: Geez.... Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and Berlin Diary, One Gallant Rush by Buchard, Paul Revere's Ride by Fischer, and just about anything by Lamb....just to name a few.
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Let me add a couple suggestions/augmentations to the ones already suggested.
1) After using the really handy history here on UNRV, do a search on Perseus and read/scan any bibliographic material suggested.
2) Ask in the appropriate forum for siggestions on good books. Read said books but really use their bibliography. Then go on line and search for the books listed at the closest university to you, or at the largest library close by. Make time to retrieve said books and scan the shelves around them. I've found the best resources two or three books down from what I though was going to be a major information source.
3) Research is tough, and family life makes it even more fun, but if and when you think you have done enough...bang out a paper. No really, produce a term paper like you did in school. On the third revision (or so) you'll really have your ideas come into focus. After that, you can probably post a concentrated bullet point somewhere here and have a really good discussion with two or more people.
But mostly I offer this bit of advise: Don't stick to reading history you like. Read one you know you'll probably disagree with, say, every third or fourth book you read. It will sharpen your critical skills as you pick them apart, so you can use the skills on histories you like.
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Thanks to everyone so far. Not easy, is it? Spurius, can you give me a reference to the Desmond Morris research?
Morris, Desmond, Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures, Crown, 1995, p.92 (if some old footnotes of mine are correct).
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Well, there is the troubling ambiguous line by Juvenal in his third satire about the thumb being extended to save the gladiator...translated as simply extended, up raised and downturned by differing scholars. But it does imply that the extended thumb did play a part in arena judgements.
There's a work by Pliny from the first century CE that reads: 'to bend or bow down the thumbs when we give assent unto a thing, or do favour any person, is so usuall, that it is growne into a proverbial speech, to bid a man put down his thumb in token of approbation.' (translated by Philemon Holland in 1601). So that seems to say that thumbs down is the safe gesture. But that was also in reference to regular life and the arena always seemed to have contrary rituals.
Then you can muddy the waters by adding in Desmond Morris's research where the thumb's up was generally regarded as good in northern europe, but was least recognized as a good gesture in Italy.
Add in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, starting in the 1870 edition, states:
"If they wished him to live, they shut up their thumbs in their fists (pollice compresso favor judicabatur); if to be slain, they turned down their thumbs..."
Finally, you have to decide in thumbs down meant a direction or mearly that the thumb was tucked into the fist or palm and thumbs up mearly means to extend a thumb. Is the thumb really a weapon representation and "thumb out" means weapon out and "thumb in" is sheathe the weapon.
So, with all that...and more I imagine is out there...I'll make my semi-educated guess:
Hell if I know
But I'll go with up = bad, down or in = sew him up.
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My Lord:
Spurius Curius Furius?
Well, my nomen personale is what I was talking about... It means "Wise Protection" and was a popular U.S. sitcom that ended this year.
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Hmmm, my name peaked in the 19-teens at 16 and steadily dropped until now it's out of the top hundred.
But at least "Everybody loves" me.
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For some reason Viggen's last post managed to remind me about one of my favorites; different world war but still Germany:
Blue Max with George Peppard, James Mason & Ursula Andress...
I think I just got a double feature line-up for this weekend (after kids are down). Blue Max followed by Paths of Glory.
Another possible pairing, Tunes of Glory and The Hill.
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It just occured to me, and it probably has to you too and I just missed the posting, but making sections of the map available to be used as "wallpaper " or backgrounds could be used as a kind of reward for ...say...PayPal contibutions, being a good person, way to go for that good post, ect.
Only sections, not the whole thing of course. That would still be the special gift.
Also, just in case you really wanted a headache and do lots of work Moonlapse, is it possible to have an interactive map with layers and perhaps links to set reference articles on this site? I know some educators would pay for that...heck, I might!
I'll be quiet now....
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Indeed , Pedarius is just too pedestrian.
:sniper: Hold still, darn you!
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I was wondering about the feeling sick part.
Do you feel it's a blow to preservation?
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The most wonderful artifact of the ancient world has been returned to Greece!
Story here. I'm sick, just sick.
Can I (or dare I) ask why?
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Moral: Make your own food whenever and wherever possible.
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How does one knock down an entire building upon oneself and live anyway?
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Have you butt pointed at or near a window or door, *BOOM*, only make it partway (or even fully) out to be covered with minimal debris spread from the building.
This does remind me of that Jeff Foxworthy bit:
Make sure you back up when a redneck hollars: Hey! Watch this!
Unrv Is Everywhere...
in Hora Postilla Thermae
Posted
I thought the :
"Smoky, almost tarry black fruit up front, with tobacco and green cardamom notes. Medium- to full-bodied, with fine, well-integrated tannins and a hint of lightly polished oak on the finish. Well-crafted and poised for a bit of aging in bottle. Best after 2005. 2,445 cases made."
reference was more fitting.
Cheers... :drunk: