Let’s bump it forward in time slightly to Gettysburg, the Battle of Little Round Top. I had to do a paper on this battle while at BNOC. 20th Maine was told to hold the hill at all costs to keep the north’s flank secure. They had already held off countless charges and were out of ammo. Col. Chamberlain did the only thing left for him to do. I don’t know how he managed to get down that hill dragging those brass balls behind him.
The orchestra seemed like it was a pretty big advantage.
The typical 300 Spartans legend is not historically accurate.
Although King Leonidas dismissed most of his army,.. he kept a rear guard of approx. 1500, Comprising 300 Spartans, and out of state forces of 700 Thespians, 400 Thebians ... Leonidas also had a few hundred Helotes (armed slaves).
Originally Posted by billhilly
Romans... Then there was the speed of their maneuvers. Using flags and whistles, they could rapidly redeploy their formations to address changes on the battle field.
I've read a few in depth scholarly books on the Roman military (and still in the middle of other such books) covering the Monarchy, Republic and Empire... I don't recall mentions of whistles being employed by them.
Archeologically, I don't know of whistles being found at Roman fortresses or battle sites.. Whistles have [rarely] been found, (Regensburg) but only in the area of the legionary fortress.
I also do not know of any surviving written evidence for whistles being used by Roman soldiers.
-Bulletproof and Waterproof don't mean Idiotproof.
Let’s bump it forward in time slightly to Gettysburg, the Battle of Little Round Top. I had to do a paper on this battle while at BNOC. 20th Maine was told to hold the hill at all costs to keep the north’s flank secure. They had already held off countless charges and were out of ammo. Col. Chamberlain did the only thing left for him to do. I don’t know how he managed to get down that hill dragging those brass balls behind him.
The orchestra seemed like it was a pretty big advantage.
I know right? How could you not win with that rousing score blaring in the background?
Let’s bump it forward in time slightly to Gettysburg, the Battle of Little Round Top. I had to do a paper on this battle while at BNOC. 20th Maine was told to hold the hill at all costs to keep the north’s flank secure. They had already held off countless charges and were out of ammo. Col. Chamberlain did the only thing left for him to do. I don’t know how he managed to get down that hill dragging those brass balls behind him.
Them Alabama guys had forced march 25 miles since 3am that morning, and went into the attack with empty canteens. Logistics matter.
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
My people, the Celts of England and Wales, were a warrior culture 2,000 years ago. We controlled all of Great Britain. We loved to go to war and had shields, spears, and above all swords. The damn Romans came across the Channel in about the year 43 AD and they just mopped us up. We had the courage and the weapons but the Romans had the organization. The Romans took all of England and only stopped at the Scottish border.
That's what always impressed me about the Romans - their organization and engineering skills. They built aqueducts that moved water over 50 miles just by gravity and roads that you can still find pieces of today, not to mention the military organization. Kind of funny to think about that then and how the Italians now are part of a joke about organization.
Heaven is where: The police are British. The cooks are French. The mechanics are German. The lovers are Italian and It's all organized by the Swiss.
Hell is where: The police are German The cooks are British The mechanics are French The lovers are Swiss and It's all organized by the Italians.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Scene from the Movie Spartacus,.. Imagine being one of the barbarian horde and seeing that monster coming at you.
Apparently Spartacus and his army of slaves roamed the land from south to north and north to south defeating the Romans on a number of occasions..( known as the Third Servile war) Most of the fear was in Roman minds, that he might actually enter Rome! .. with the best veteran legions being stationed in other parts of the empire.
IIRC, Spartacus even routed some veteran Legions.
Why was Spartacus so successful? Well its possible his previous military service as a Thracian auxiliary fighting alongside Roman Legions helped...
Spartacus was also an escaped gladiator, so not your average slave... He organised training schools/regimes as his slave army grew,.. teaching them skills-tactics including Roman ones. and as he defeated the Romans along the way he was also able to equip his men like Romans.
-Bulletproof and Waterproof don't mean Idiotproof.
That's what always impressed me about the Romans - their organization and engineering skills. They built aqueducts that moved water over 50 miles just by gravity and roads that you can still find pieces of today, not to mention the military organization. Kind of funny to think about that then and how the Italians now are part of a joke about organization.
Heaven is where: The police are British. The cooks are French. The mechanics are German. The lovers are Italian and It's all organized by the Swiss.
Hell is where: The police are German The cooks are British The mechanics are French The lovers are Swiss and It's all organized by the Italians.
Never gets old, especially if you’ve been.
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
The Romans took all of England and only stopped at the Scottish border.
Romans under General Gnaeus Julius Agricola, went all the way up into what was then termed Caledonia (N.E. Scotland) defeating the Picts at the battle of Mons Grapius, 83 AD.
208 AD, Roman emperor Septimius Severus went into Caledonia, but the campaign was cut short in 210, due to his illness and death.
-Bulletproof and Waterproof don't mean Idiotproof.
The Romans took all of England and only stopped at the Scottish border.
Romans under General Gnaeus Julius Agricola, went all the way up into what was then termed Caledonia and defeated the Picts at the battle of Mons Grapius, 83 AD.
208 AD, Roman emperor Septimius Severus went into Caledonia, but the campaign was cut short in 210, due to his illness and death.
I have a Septimius Severus silver coin that was minted for the very occasion I believe. Found it in 1996 while in Puerto Rico training with my MP unit in an old school desk in section of the base that had been in service since WWII. Only thing I can think of is that some GI must have stashed it there and it ended up getting stuck in a seam in the metal folds of table. I’ve had it ever since. It’s in relatively good shape compared to some of the others I’ve been able to find on the net.
Septimius Severus didn't have it easy when he ventured into the highlands region, with the Pict tribes having advantage with terrain and their Guerilla warfare, [Romans excelling in open ground set-piece battles].. but not to be outdone; He re-occupied the fortifications Agricola had built in his campaign and set about controlling what territory he could and systematically destroying regions(people and property) which he couldn't... this had the effect of bringing the tribes to the negotiating table, putting the brakes on Pict raids Into Roman Britannia.
A successful campaign.. 👍
His son then led a total search & destroy mission in 210 AD - north of the Antonine Wall. (genocidal kill everyone you see approach) to be followed by Septimius Severus to fully occupy Caledonia, but he fell ill, and his son Caracalla called such plans off.
-Bulletproof and Waterproof don't mean Idiotproof.
Let’s bump it forward in time slightly to Gettysburg, the Battle of Little Round Top. I had to do a paper on this battle while at BNOC. 20th Maine was told to hold the hill at all costs to keep the north’s flank secure. They had already held off countless charges and were out of ammo. Col. Chamberlain did the only thing left for him to do. I don’t know how he managed to get down that hill dragging those brass balls behind him.
Them Alabama guys had forced march 25 miles since 3am that morning, and went into the attack with empty canteens. Logistics matter.
Let’s bump it forward in time slightly to Gettysburg, the Battle of Little Round Top. I had to do a paper on this battle while at BNOC. 20th Maine was told to hold the hill at all costs to keep the north’s flank secure. They had already held off countless charges and were out of ammo. Col. Chamberlain did the only thing left for him to do. I don’t know how he managed to get down that hill dragging those brass balls behind him.
Them Alabama guys had forced march 25 miles since 3am that morning, and went into the attack with empty canteens. Logistics matter.
+1. Most of them walked from Chambersburg.
And despite all that they came within a whisker of taking that hill. A lot of good men lost their lives on both sides that sad day. . .
For those who enjoy scenes like that from Spartacus, you might want to download a free copy of Rome Total War. Excellent game. I bought it for my PC when it first came out in 2004, and still play it. For the past five or six years, I've been playing it on the free downloadable version, since my PC broke down, so can't use the PC version since I bought the Mac, but the free download is available for both Mac and PC, not to mention for tablets.