Tag Archives: soldiers

Caesar Escapes Just Like Indiana Jones

Posted on November 7, 2013 by

See him: the tough old general swimming for his life, keeping under water as much as he can while the arrows splash all around him in the water. He holds his notes in the air.  A general needs his papers. … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Caesar, history, Romans, warfare | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

What Rome Learned from Hispania

Posted on October 15, 2010 by

Rome picked up all kinds of tricks and useful knowledge from the peoples it conquered. While fighting the native Spaniards, for instance, the Roman officers saw the virtues of the short sword they carried. Both its edges were sharp and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1, archaeology, Numancia, Romans, Spain, sword, warfare | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Caesar’s Army: Basic Facts

Posted on September 19, 2010 by

Organization A LEGION comprised 6000 soldiers. It was made up of 10 COHORTS, each containing 600 soldiers. The cohort was composed of 3  MANIPLES (200 soldiers each). A maniple contained  2 CENTURIES (one hundred men = a century) and their … Continue reading →

Posted in 1, Caesar, history, Romans, sword, war, warfare | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Your Time to Be a Hero 2

Posted on January 18, 2009 by

“I can’t sleep,” Xenophon said to the officers, “and I know you can’t either.” Their generals were all gone. The Persian king had sworn a truce and invited them to his camp to talk, then cut them down. Now, without … Continue reading →

Posted in books, history, The Greeks, war, warfare | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

How Rome Conquered the World (Part 2)

Posted on August 20, 2008 by

So Polybius told the Romans how they had nearly lost their city because they refused to ransom their own soldiers. What was that story? Hannibal’s biggest victory was at Cannae. He annihilated the Roman army of 50,000 and took about … Continue reading →

Posted in books, history, Romans, warfare | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

The Crow: or the First Punic War (Part 3)

Posted on May 9, 2008 by

The Carthaginians were right: it took time to train sailors and oarsmen and Rome didn’t have time. But that wasn’t the first problem Rome ever had. Rome had been having problems for five hundred years. They believed problems could all … Continue reading →

Posted in books, history, literature, old ships, Punic War, Romans, warfare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The Crow: or the First Punic War (Part 2)

Posted on May 7, 2008 by

It wasn’t the Carthaginians that seized Messana. It was a bunch of silly mercenaries. Topography of Sicily (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license photo by Zamonin) Messana is in Sicily. And just down the island is the city of … Continue reading →

Posted in books, engineering, history, literature, old ships, Punic War, Romans, warfare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments