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A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry Blog - History
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Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIb: Children and Childrearing – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the back half of the third part of our series (I, II, IIIa) discussing the patterns of life for the pre-modern peasants who made up the great majority of humans who lived in the past. Last week, we started looking at family formation through the lens of marriage, this week we'll consider it…
Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIa: Family Formation – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of the third part of our series (I, II) discussing the patterns of life of the pre-modern peasants who made up the great majority of all humans who lived in our agrarian past and indeed a majority of all humans who have ever lived. Last week, we looked at death,…
Gap Week, July 25, 2025 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks! I am on vacation this week, so you'll have to wait till next week to get the next installment of "Life, Work, Death and the Peasant." However, if you are looking for some ACOUP content to fill your Friday, I have a few suggestions! First, if you want some of my writing in…
Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part II: Starting at the End – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of our series (I) discussing the basic contours of life - birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death - of pre-modern peasants and their families. As we've discussed, pre-modern peasant farmers make up the vast majority of human beings in in the past. Last week we started by looking at the basic…
Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part I: Households – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first post in a series discussing the basic contours of life - birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death - of pre-modern peasants and their families. Prior to the industrial revolution, peasant farmers of varying types made up the overwhelming majority of people in settled societies (the sort with cities and writing). And when…
Collections: The American Civil-Military Relationship – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
As is traditional here, I am taking advantage of the Fourth of July this week to write something about the United States, this time a brief discussion of the nature of civil-military relations in the United States. Civil-military relations (typically shortened to 'civ-mil' or sometimes CMR) is, simply put, the relationship between the broader civil…
Fireside Friday, June 27, 2025 (On the Limits of Realism) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! Originally, I was thinking I'd talk about the 'future of classics' question in this space, but I think that deserves a full post (in connection with this week's book recommendation and the next fireside's book recommendation), so instead this week I want to talk a little about foreign policy realism, what it…
Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator’s Iconic Opening Battle, Part III – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week at long last we come to the clash of men and horses as we finish our three-part (I, II, III) look at the iconic opening battle scene from the film Gladiator (2000). Last time, we brought the sequence up through the infantry advance, observing that the tactics of the Roman arrow barrage and…
Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator’s Iconic Opening Battle, Part II – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we're continuing our three-part (I) look at one of film's most famous Roman battle sequences, the iconic opening battle from Gladiator (2000). I had planned this to be in two parts, but even though this sequence is relatively short, it provides an awful lot to talk about. As noted last week, this iconic…
Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator’s Iconic Opening Battle, Part I – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we're going to take a close look at arguably the most famous and recognizable Roman battle sequence in film: the iconic opening battle from Gladiator (2000). Despite being a relatively short sequence (about ten minutes), there's actually enough to talk about here that we're going to split it over two weeks, talking about…
Fireside Friday, May 30, 2025 (On Professional Military Education) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey all, we're doing a Fireside this week! Both cats, soundly napping after a hard morning of making sure I was awake before my alarm went off. For this week's musing, I thought it might be worthwhile - this being a frequent space for military history - to offer a brief outline of professional military…
Collections: The Logistics of Road War in the Wasteland – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we're doing another 'silly' topic, but this being me, it is a silly logistics topic, because - as the saying goes - amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics. So we're going to be professionally silly this week and talk about the logistics of vehicle warfare in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting, in part because…
Collections: Alexander Goes West (A Silly Counterfactual) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
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…
Fireside Friday, May 9, 2025 (On Lighter Bows) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! First off, it seems like last week's post on the Hollywood myth of archery volley fire really got out there, so if you are a new reader just joining us, welcome! If you are in to discussions of historical tactics with an eye towards correcting common myths in games and film, you…
Collections: Why Archers Didn’t Volley Fire – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we're looking at a specific visual motif common in TV and film: the arrow volley. You know the scene: the general readies his archers, he orders them to 'draw!' and then holds up his hand with that 'wait for it' gesture and then shouts 'loose!' (or worse yet, 'fire!') and all of the…
Collections: How Gandalf Proved Mightiest: Spiritual Power in Tolkien – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, I want to keep unloading my Tolkien-related thoughts, turning from last week's character study to a look at the way 'magic' and spiritual power work in Tolkien's legendarium and in particular to how contests between fundamentally magical beings in Middle-earth are decided. This is a topic that I think even the best adaptations…
Collections: Why Celebrimbor Fell but Boromir Conquered: the Moral Universe of Tolkien – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week (and probably next) I want to talk a bit more Tolkien, but in a somewhat different vein from normal. Rather than discussing the historicity of Tolkien's world or adaptations of it, I want to take a moment to discuss some of the themes of Tolkien's work, which express themselves in the metaphysical architecture…
Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part V: What Tactics? – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the final part of our five part (I, II, III, IV) series on the Siege of Eregion in Amazon's Rings of Power. Last time, we looked at the orc siege and marveled at both their lack of works and also their nonsensical siege engines, concluding that Adar had launched a siege assault which…
Fireside Friday, April 4, 2025 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! I am still a bit behind after attending the annual meeting of the Society for Military History - conferences always leave me a bit tired and slow to get back to writing, even as they also stimulate my thinking - so the conclusion of our look at Rings of Power must wait…
Gap Week: March 28, 2025 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks! The conclusion of our look at the Siege of Eregion in Rings of Power will have to wait a week because I am off to a conference this week, the annual meeting of the Society for Military History, this year in Mobile, Alabama! I'm set to talk about how Roman military commanders were…
Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part IV: What Siege Equipment? – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the fourth part of our [five? -ish? I, II, III] part series on the Siege of Eregion in Amazon's Rings of Power. Last week, we took the opportunity presented by Adar's absurd plan to dam a river using catapults to collapse a mountain to discuss the capabilities and functioning principles of historical counterweight…
Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part III: What Catapults? – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the third part of our [I, II, I don't know, a few more?] part series looking at Rings of Power's Siege of Eregion from a military history perspective. Last week, we discussed the remarkably bad siege preparation of both sides: Adar's complete lack of a fortified siege camp and Eregion's complete lack of…
Collections: What Do Historians Do? – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
For this week, I want to take a step back (we'll be back to our series on Rings of Power next week!) and talk about the craft of history: we've talked about "How Your History Gets Made" from the perspective of the different people who do it - research historians, public historians, educators and so…
Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part II: What Siege Camp? – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of our [your guess is as good as mine] part series looking at the Siege of Eregion from the second season of Amazon's Rings of Power. Last week, we saw how the logistics of this sequence absolutely do not work: Adar's army has to cover an absurd amount of territory…
Collections: The Siege of Eregion, Part I: What Logistics? – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of our [I don't know; a few?] part series looking at the Siege of Eregion sequence from the second season of Amazon's Rings of Power and what we can learn by pointing out its missteps. And I'm not going to bury the lede here: this entire sequence is a mess.…
Fireside Friday, February 14, 2025 (On Grant Funding) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks! Happy Valentine's Day. Fireside this week and then hopefully next week we'll start into our look at the Siege of Eregion in Season 2 of Rings of Power and also the larger Tolkien legendarium. I confess, watching the show, my suspension of disbelief fell much faster than the city did. But in the…
Collections: The Strange Armor of Dragon Age: The Veilguard – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we're going to have a bit of fun looking at some of the interesting armor choices for the recent Dragon Age: The Veilguard. In a way, this is an extension of the post on "The Problem with Sci-Fi Body Armor," because I think Veilguard provides a pretty exceptional example of visual character-design armor…
Collections: On the Gracchi, Part II: Gaius Gracchus – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Last time, we started our retrospective on the Gracchi looking at the elder brother Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and his term as tribune of the plebs in 133 BCE; this week, we'll wrap up this look by discussing Tiberius' younger brother Gaius Sempronius Gracchus and his terms as tribune of the plebs in 123 and 122…
Gap Week (January 24, 2025) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey, folks. As much as I hate doing it, I have to pull a 'gap week' this week, as the second part of the Gracchi series (on the younger brother, Gaius Gracchus) isn't done yet and I have some academic travel that I need to prepare for which is going to demand most of my…
Collections: On the Gracchi, Part I: Tiberius Gracchus – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we're going to talk a bit about the brothers Tiberius (trib. 133) and Gaius (trib. 123-2) Gracchus, the famous Roman reformers of the late second century. There's actually a fair bit to say about both of them, so we're going to split this treatment over two weeks, talking about Tiberius this week and…
Fireside Friday, January 10, 2025 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks, Fireside this week! I'm currently working on a post "On the Gracchi" taking a somewhat darker look at everyone's favorite Roman reformers (though hardly the same black takedowns Alexander and Cleopatra got) , which will hopefully be ready for next week. Trustworthy Librarian Ollie helping me work on my book sorting solution, also…
Collections: Coinage and the Tyranny of Fantasy ‘Gold’ – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week on the blog I want to take a brief detour into discussing historical coinage, particularly in the context of modern fantasy and roleplaying settings. In particular, the notions I want to tackle are first how did ancient currency systems work in terms of value (what could you buy with how much) and then…
Gap Week: December 27, 2024 (Year in Review) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks! Year is coming to a close, so once again I'm going to offer a bit of an end-of-year reflection on the state of the project, along with a brief 'what's on the stove' coverage of what may be coming up. Also, here's a cat picture: Ollie would like you to know these are…
Collections: On Bread and Circuses – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
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…
Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator II, Part II – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
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…
Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator II, Part I – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, I want to talk a bit about the recent release of Gladiator II. Now I've written a review of the film for Foreign Policy, which you can find here (behind the paywall). I also discussed it with Jason Herbert and Sarah Bond over at Historians at the Movies, which is a blast of…
Collections: The Problem with Sci-Fi Body Armor – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we're covering the winning topic from the latest ACOUP Senate poll, which is a look at some of the odd designs and mechanics for futuristic science fiction body armor, particularly rigid 'hardsuits.' Naturally, this post isn't going to cover every variety of armor that appears in science fiction, so I want to be…
Fireside Friday, November 22, 2024 (Roman Naming Conventions) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey, folks. Another Fireside this week! I had hoped to have the science fiction body armor post ready to go this week, but in addition to the continued work on the book project, I was asked to write a review of the now-out-in-the-USA Gladiator II and that consumed a fair bit of my time, pushing…
Fireside Friday, November 15, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks, Fireside this week! For the musing this week, I want to talk about, at least for a humanities field, what 'research support' from a university means and why it is valuable, but before we get to that, I just want to make a note going forward. In particular, there have been a few…
Collections: The Afterlife of the Roman Republic – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we are taking a look at what ended up being the 'runner-up' in the latest ACOUP Senate poll (we'll also do the winner, "The Problem with Sci-Fi Body armor" before year's end, worry not), the "Afterlife of the Roman Republic," which is to say a look at the continued existence of the various…