A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
Coming off of some of the discussion of Gladiator II (I, II), this week I want to discuss the place of 'bread and circuses' in the narrative of Roman decadence and decline. This is one of those phrases which long ago entered the standard lexicon, but which gets used and interpreted in a range of … Continue reading Collections: On Bread and Circuses
Last week, we started our nitpicking of Gladiator II (2024) by looking at the problems with the films chronology and its portrayal of the Roman army of the early third century, both in its equipment and in its battle tactics. This week, we're going to move forward to the main action of the film, set … Continue reading Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator II, Part II
This is the second half of the second part of our three part (I, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb) look at Paradox Interactive's ancient grand strategy game Imperator: Rome which covers the broader Mediterranean and South Asia from the very late fourth century through to the end of the first century BC, the period of the … Continue reading Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIb: Built in a Day