A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
This week we're going to do something a bit silly, in part because I have to prepare for and travel to an invited workshop/talk event later this week and so don't have quite the time for a more normal 'full' post and in part because it is fun to be silly sometimes (and we might … Continue reading Collections: Alexander Goes West (A Silly Counterfactual)
This is the second half of the third and final part of our three-part (I, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb) look at Paradox Interactives ancient grand strategy game, Imperator: Rome, which covers (inter alia) the period of the collapse of the Roman Republic, which we generally call the Late Republic (c. 133-31 BC). Last time, we … Continue reading Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIIb: Imperator Interrupted
This is the first half of the third part of our three-part (I, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb) look at Paradox Interactive’s ancient grand strategy game Imperator: Rome, running from the late fourth through the first century BCE, a period that, relevant for today's discussion, covers the Middle and Late Roman Republic, including the collapse of … Continue reading Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIIa: De Re Publica
This is the first half of the second part of our three part (I, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb) look at Paradox Interactive's Hellenistic-era grand strategy game Imperator: Rome. I had hoped to do this part in a single post, but my book writing schedule intervened and so it became necessary to split it up. Last … Continue reading Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIa: Pops and Chains
This is the first part of the second part of our four? four part look (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) at the great third and second century BC contest between the Hellenistic armies of the heirs of Alexander and the Roman legions. Last time, we looked at the Hellenistic army as … Continue reading Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIa: How a Legion Fights
This is the fifth part of our five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1, A2) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries BC, the 'Middle Republic.' Last time we looked at the odd but very important role played by the ROman Senate as the central … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part V: The Courts
This is the fourth part of our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1, A2) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries, the ‘Middle’ Republic.’ Over the last few posts we looked at the role of Roman magistrates who carried out a range of … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IV: The Senate
This is the second section of the third part of our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1, A2) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries, the 'Middle' Republic. Last week we discussed the overall structure of the 'career path' for a Roman politician … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIb: Imperium
This is the third of our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1, A2) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries. Last time we discussed Rome's popular assemblies, which at least notionally expressed the will of the people. One of the key tasks those … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIa: Starting Down the Path of Honors
This is the first of a planned five-part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1, A2) looking at the structure of the Roman Republic as another example of civic governance structures in antiquity, to match our series on the Greek polis. As with that series, we're going to start by defining our community … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part I: SPQR