A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
This week I want to do something a little different and discuss the evolution and development of a specific weapon, in this case the famed Roman gladius, the sword of the legions. As we're going to see, this is going to entail a journey covering quite a bit of both time and space as the gladius … Continue reading Collections: The Journey of the Roman Gladius and Other Swords
One of the first questions anyone asks about past societies is, 'how many people were there?' It is one of those basic bits of information and generally speaking those of us who teach these societies are usually prepared with an estimate to answer the question. But what we often don't talk about is how we come to … Continue reading Collections: How Many People? Ancient Demography
This week's post is intended to answer a question which came up in response to the last post looking at the most common type of Mediterranean spear, which to put it simply is: what is up with the odd Roman heavy infantry kit built around a sword and two javelins (albeit two javelins of an … Continue reading Collections: Roman Infantry Tactics: Why the Pilum and not a Spear?
This week, on a bit of a lark, we're going to discuss the most common weapon, by far, in the Iron Age Mediterranean (focusing on the period from the 8th to the 1st centuries BC): the humble, effective and ubiquitous thrusting spear. In particular, I want to discuss the striking fact that despite the wide … Continue reading Collections: The Mediterranean Iron Omni-Spear
This is the second and (in theory) last addendum to our series on Roman civic governance (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1, A2). Having discussed how Rome handles those parts of Italy it controls but which were not part of the Roman Republic itself, we now look at how the Romans govern their … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Addenda: The Provinces
This week, as an addendum to our series on Roman civic governance (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1, A2), we're going to take a look at how Rome handles those parts of Italy it controls but which it does not inhabit. These are Rome's 'allies' (socii), a euphemistic label for the Italian communities … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Addenda: The Socii
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 third section of the third part of our 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 time we looked at the top of the Roman political career in the … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIc: Ten Tribunes, Two Censors and Twenty-Six Guys
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