|
It's a miracle that the empire lasted as long as it did all things considered. It's not easy having a century of complete nut cases having absolute power.
|
#
¿
May 25, 2012 00:55
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 13:22 |
|
|
Octy posted:I know. It's a great way to make money if you can live with yourself. His death was pure karmic justice.
|
|
#
¿
May 27, 2012 14:38
|
|
|
Could the Romans have weathered the disaster at Manzikert if things had gone a bit differently right after the battle?
|
|
#
¿
May 30, 2012 00:54
|
|
|
Alhazred posted:
It's funny how Mussolini considered himself the successor to the Roman Empire when anyone actually from ancient Rome would have considered him an inept moron.
|
|
#
¿
May 30, 2012 18:17
|
|
|
I love Greek Fire so much. It was largely responsible for why the Romans were able to weather the storm of the Arab sieges of Constantinople during the 7th-8th centuries.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 7, 2012 03:37
|
|
|
Would anyone be so kind as to write a bunch of stuff about how the Eastern Romans basically got screwed by modern Western history? I know I'm hardly alone here when I say that I think the Medieval Romans fail to get even a fraction of the credit they deserve. But why is that?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 7, 2012 03:55
|
|
|
Iseeyouseemeseeyou posted:How did Rome fair having 4 Emperors in the later empire? The phrase 'Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic' comes to mind.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 8, 2012 01:37
|
|
|
Basically Rome owned.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 22, 2012 06:03
|
|
|
Mister Gopher posted:But that changed by the time the Eastern Roman Empire began to take off. Factions formed around chariot teams and the colors they represented, and had opinions about religion, citizenship, etc that always opposed. The blue-green divide caused the Nikea riots. Holy poo poo, that makes Soccer hooliganism look like childs play.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 23, 2012 01:28
|
|
|
The 4th Crusade has got to be one of the most shameful events in all of history. Putting aside the civilian losses during the sacking, which were considerable, the amount of priceless artifacts and long-forgotten knowledge that was maliciously destroyed in the orgy of violence can never be properly estimated. The fact that this tragedy was completely senseless and easily avoidable just makes everything that much worse.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 27, 2012 00:27
|
|
|
FizFashizzle posted:As bad as it was, it was nothing compared to the Mongol sack of baghdad. The rivers ran black with ink from all the books that were destroyed, and they even destroyed all their irrigation systems. That was just an awful period of history in general. Within a span of just over 50 years the two greatest cities in the world, both crown jewels of two of the most important civilizations in history, were utterly destroyed.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 27, 2012 01:05
|
|
|
Are there any websites that really showcase the different types of legionnaire equipment over the history of Rome? What I mean by that is I would love to see side by side pictures of "Legionnaire in 100 BC" "Legionnaire in 50BC" etc. Like something you might find in an Osprey book. Is there anything like that?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 9, 2012 19:47
|
|
|
I really think it's time for another general history thread in GBS. Someone would have to run the idea by the mods first though.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 12, 2012 02:20
|
|
|
Who were some of the more socially progressive statesmen/philosophers/other big names in ancient Rome? How did they feel about things like slavery, gender, and religion?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 17, 2012 05:59
|
|
|
I love the classical world as much as anybody but you are looking through some seriously rose tinted glasses if you think society was better off back then.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2012 20:54
|
|
|
There's something that I've always been confused about regarding the Post-Marian Legions. During the late Republican period, especially during the Civil Wars, what did it mean to "raise a legion" for ones use? Meaning how did a general go about doing it? I can see how it worked in Pre-Marian days as you would basically recruit en-masse from the able-bodied population for the duration of a war and then let them return home once it was done. But after Marius this obviously all changed so I can't quite wrap my head around how in such a short span of years so many new legions were raised by all sides. Caesar personally raised a half dozen legions for his campaign in Gaul, Crassus raised a bunch for Parthia. And once Civil War broke out Augustus/Antony/Brutus were raising dozens of legions from all over the place. Did they hold huge recruiting drives from their own controlled territory each time they needed more troops? Was there always a huge pool of unused veterans just hanging around ready to rejoin whoever had the coin to hire them? Did the generals simply let standards slip in terms of training and deveotion just to get more men on their side? Since this was a 25 year commitment I can only imagine so many people being available to just join up at a moments notice. Does my confusion on this make sense? Where the hell did all these legions come from?! Thankfully once the Empire is solidified and the army is capped at 30 standing legions things make far more sense in terms of a standing professional army. Shimrra Jamaane fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Sep 18, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2013 04:25
|
|
|
Jazerus posted:They just stamped their feet and the legions sprung out of the ground all over Italy. That's as plausible an explanation as I can imagine. Arglebargle III posted:Sure they did? The Rwandan Genocide was mostly accomplished by machete. To be fair it was pretty highly coordinated by radio.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2013 19:36
|
|
|
I found this over in the Funny Pictures thread and thought it too good not to share.
Shimrra Jamaane fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Oct 7, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2013 06:32
|
|
|
So are the works of Adrian Goldsworthy worth reading? If not who does this thread recommend for good books on ancient Rome?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 12, 2013 06:51
|
|
|
It's taken me years but I've finally started watching I Claudius. I'm 2 episode in and I'm really enjoying it but the underlying theme that Livia is the ultimate puppeteer who is manipulating literally everyone and everything is kind of taking me out of it. I know its based off of classical histories that paint her as the evil stepmother but I know how historically wrong it is.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2015 23:31
|
|
|
I'm reading the whole thread from the beginning since I'm behind like 10k posts and this one from 3 years ago sure rings true today...Bitter Mushroom posted:Crassus really strikes me as the Donald Trump of his day.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 24, 2016 15:25
|
|
|
Making my way through the thread from the very beginning andCyrano4747 posted:I can't believe I'm actually trying to logically think this through in my head but here we go. . . well this was something
|
|
#
¿
Aug 30, 2016 00:38
|
|
|
So, the Mongols. Would they have been able to conquer Europe all the way to the Atlantic if they had tried?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2018 04:10
|
|
|
Someone please recommend me a couple books on the history of the Islamic Caliphates.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 20, 2018 03:16
|
|
|
Also his whole persona was all mysterious and Sphinx like.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 28, 2018 17:35
|
|
|
To what extent did the Parthians, and then the Sassanids, see themselves as the heirs to the Achaemenid Empire?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2018 03:58
|
|
|
I know the Parthians weren't ethnically Persian but were they culturally?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2018 04:34
|
|
|
Did the Sassanids have any Hellenistic cultural traits or had that mostly worn off by that point?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2018 04:54
|
|
|
How is it that we know so little about about the Parthians and the Sassanids? Were most of the records destroyed/lost during the Arab conquests?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2018 05:18
|
|
|
Does the Roman world gradually shifting to Greek count?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2018 20:16
|
|
|
This question might sound ridiculously ignorant so I apologize in advance. I know I am coming from an extremely Euro-centric point of view. How does Chinese historiography of their ancient/medieval history compare to that for Europe and the Middle East? Because from my very limited understanding it seems to be well behind that of the west. Now I'm sure that there are tons of Chinese sources that have never been translated into English but hasn't the ultra strict rule of the PRC inhibited our ability to study it both inside and outside the country? Our understanding of the ancient Western world has evolved so much that its been basically transformed since the 19th century but has the same thing happened in China?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2018 23:43
|
|
|
fantastic in plastic posted:I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you mean "how does modern Chinese historiography of ancient/medieval China compare to modern Western historiography of ancient/medieval China?" or "how does modern Chinese historiography of ancient/medieval China compare to modern Western historiography of the ancient West?" or something else entirely? The latter.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 13, 2018 00:41
|
|
|
History of Byzantium has nearly 200 episodes and is only up to 1025.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2018 02:03
|
|
|
ThatBasqueGuy posted:I imagine it'll start going much faster around 1060 or so He's not going to reach the Crusades until sometime in 2019. Maybe.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2018 03:54
|
|
|
OctaviusBeaver posted:I started listening to the History of Byzantium and I have to say I'm disappointed in them so far. They keep bending over and paying tribute to literally anyone who sends a few raiders over the border: the Goths, the Bulgarians, the Huns, the Sasanids. Justinian actually wins a battle against the Persians then manages to screw it up and still gives them thousands of pounds of gold. If you do that you're just telling them you're a giant punching bag full of free money. I want them to grow a spine and go kick some rear end, maybe the upcoming invasion of Italy will give me something. The ERE had to deal with basically the entire tide of history wanting them destroyed. It’s an absolute miracle that the ERE didn’t fall in the 600s and they deserve a ton of credit for not only surviving by the skin of their teeth but within few hundred years recovering to become the dominate power in the Mediterranean.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2018 18:04
|
|
|
So Sulla, what a huge dickhead.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 6, 2018 01:16
|
|
|
Did Pompey have a single military victory that wasn't just mopping up the remnants of an already defeated enemy/decrepit state?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 8, 2018 02:38
|
|
|
Was it Crassus who got out of a charge that he slept with a vestal virgin by saying he was just affiliating with her so that he could buy her house?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 8, 2018 19:57
|
|
|
Were the ancient Minoans descended from Indo European migration?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 12, 2018 21:54
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 13:22 |
|
|
Interesting. And am I right that the old theory of the Indo European movement into Europe being a violent military invasion placing the natives into a subservient position to the newly arrived conquerors has been discredited in favor of a more gradual migration and intermingling of peoples?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 12, 2018 22:35
|
|