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A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry Blog - History
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Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IVc: Perseus – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the third part of the fourth part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb) look at the how the Roman military system and its manipular legion were able to defeat the Hellenistic military system and its Macedonian sarisa phalanx in the third and second centuries BC. Last time,…
Gap Week: April 19, 2024 (Manor Lords First Impression) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks, this week is a bit of a gap week as I am heading out to the annual meeting of the Society for Military History (and, indeed, by the time you read this, I will be there). Normally, I post the abstract of my conference talk for these sorts of things, but since I…
Fireside Friday, April 12, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! Apologies for having so many of these so close together, but the recent car troubles I've had have eaten into my time quite a lot. At the same time I am getting ready for the annual Society for Military History conference coming at the end of next week. In an effort to…
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IVb: Antiochus III – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of the fourth part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa) look at the context between the Roman military system based on the manipular legion and the Hellenistic military system structured around the Macedonian sarisa phalanx in the third and second century BC. Last time we…
Fireside Friday, March 29, 2024 (On Roman Values) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! Apologies for having two of these in a row, but as I noted last week, I've had some unexpected (but good) travel, which has made a bit of havoc in my schedule and I am still trying to catch back up. Nevertheless, I wanted to use this week's fireside to muse a…
Fireside Friday, March 22, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! The ACOUP schedule might end up being a little unstable for the next few weeks as the coincidence of illness, the dense part of the teaching semester and unexpected travel are playing havoc on my schedule. I can only promise that we will finish the series on the failure of Hellenistic armies,…
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IVa: Philip V – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of the fourth part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb) look at why the thing to use to beat a Macedonian sarisa phalanx is, in fact, a Roman legion in the third and second century BC. Last time, we finished our look at the third-century successes…
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIIb: Pyrrhus – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of the third part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa) look at the performance of the Roman army and its legions in the third and second century BC against the Hellenistic armies of the heirs of Alexander. Last time, we sought to assess some of the assumed…
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIIa: Peak Pike-Phalanx – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of the third part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa) look at the triumph of the Roman legions in the third and second century over the Hellenistic armies of the heirs of Alexander. Last time, we looked at some of the operational and strategic advantages that the…
Fireside Friday, February 23, 2024 (On the Military Failures of Fascism) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! We'll pick up looking at some of the successes of Hellenistic armies next week. Percy, having found a use for some of my books. And of course, less I miss a chance to note, at the top of the pile there is the Brill's Companion to Diet and Logistics in Greek and…
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIb: Handfuls of Maniples – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of the second part of the second part of our four part look at the great third and second century BC contest between the Romans and the heirs of Alexander, asking the question, "What can defeat a Macedonian sarisa-phalanx?" Last time, we started looking at the Romans with an in-depth…
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIa: How a Legion Fights – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of the second part of our four? four part look 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 a complete system, incorporating not just the famed Macedonian sarisa-phalanx,…
Fireside Friday, February 2, 2024 (On City Building Games) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! I have just finished up a draft of a chapter (to be in one of those multi-multi-author companion volumes) on how video games (particularly more abstract simulation games) depict the ancient world. Writing that chapter led me to reengage with ancient city builders, particularly Caesar IV, Children of the Nile, Pharaoh: A New Era…
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part Ib: Subjects of the Successors – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of the first part of our four part look at the context between the Hellenistic army and its Macedonian phalanx and the Romans with their legions. Last week, we looked at the weapons, organization and fighting style of the Macedonian phalanx, the infantry core of the armies of the Hellenistic world,…
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part Ia: Heirs of Alexander – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week on the blog we are starting what is a planned four-part series looking at the twilight of Hellenistic warfare and the triumph of the Roman legion. Our core question is a really common one: why was the Roman legion able to decisively defeat the Hellenistic sarisa-phalanx? It's a question that crops up on social…
Fireside Friday, January 12, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! The semester has started up in earnest and I am pushing hard to try to finish a draft of something I have promised by the end of the month (so this may not be the only Fireside this month). That said, it seemed like a good time to discuss trade, the sea and great…
Collections: The Journey of the Roman Gladius and Other Swords – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
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…
Gap Week: December 29, 2023 (Year In Review) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks! I had planned to do a Fireside for this week with a sort of 'year-in-review' musing, but between the holidays and the whole pedant household coming down with a nasty cold, I'm a bit short of the time and energy to put together a full fireside with recommendations. Instead, I'll offer this brief end-of-year reflection…
Collections: How Many People? Ancient Demography – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
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…
Collections: Shield Walls and Spacing: Hollywood Mobs and Ancient Tactics – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we're going to take a look at a different aspect of ancient infantry tactics: how heavy infantry shield formations work. While I've framed this around 'shield walls,' not every kind of shielded heavy infantry fought that way and in practice the line between what is a 'shield wall' and what isn't comes down to…
Fireside Friday, December 8, 2023 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Apologies for running a fireside so quickly after the gap week, but with the end of the semester coming as the job market gets busier, I haven't had time to finish the next post on shield walls just yet. That will come out next week for sure though, as it is close to done. I…
Gap Week: December 1, 2023 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
No blog post this week, folks, as I am both fiercely busy and - by the time this goes up - out of town. We'll be back to our regular schedule next week, with the next big topic I want to tackle being what a shield wall is and how it actually functions on a…
Collections: Roman Infantry Tactics: Why the Pilum and not a Spear? – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
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…
Fireside Friday, November 17, 2023 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks! Fireside this week! I was hoping to have a post on Roman infantry tactics this week, in particular the oddity of the Romans not using spear-and-shield infantry (much), but it isn't ready yet and other things have me quite busy, so fireside it is. Fortunately, we have Ridley Scott to complain about. I…
Collections: The Mediterranean Iron Omni-Spear – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
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…
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Addenda: The Provinces – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second and (in theory) last addendum to our series on Roman civic governance (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1). 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 overseas…
Fireside Friday, October 27, 2023 (On Politics in Strategy) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! Next week we'll finally close out the addenda to the How to Roman Republic 101 series with a look at provincial governance, but I don't think that will be done in time for this week, so I'm throwing a fireside in here in the meantime. That said, I thought it might provide…
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Addenda: The Socii – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, as an addendum to our series on Roman civic governance (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V), 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 the Romans…
Collections: Ancient Greek and Phoenician Colonization – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Davis senatum consuluit a.d. III Idus Octobris apud aedem Patreontis; de colonis Graecis et Punicis verba fecit... This week we're taking a brief look, by ACOUP Senate request, at Greek and Phoenician colonization in the ancient Mediterranean. In particular, the focus requested was on the relationship of these colonies with both the locals and their…
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IV: The Senate – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the fourth part of our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc) 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 executive functions for the…
Fireside Friday, September 29, 2023 (On Academic Hiring) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! I know we're all anxious to get to the last part of our look at the Roman Republic - a discussion of Roman courts and the legal system - but academic job season is upon us and I needed to take a week to focus on getting some of those applications out.…
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part V: The Courts – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the fifth part of our five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV) 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 coordinating organ of…
Collections: The Gap in the Armor of Baldur’s Gate and 5e – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we're taking a bit of a detour to critique some video-game armor, in this case the armor of Baldur's Gate III. I have been meaning to do a general critique of the Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition armor system from a historical perspective for a while, and the massive outsized success of BG3…
Michael Taylor on The Development of the M1 Garand and its Implications – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, Michael Taylor, Associate Professor of History at SUNY Albany, returns to offer an interesting argument about the longterm impact of the M1 Garand, the US army's extremely successful World War II and Korean era battle rifle, introduced in 1936. A fantastically successful design, Taylor argues here that it cast a baleful shadow over…
Fireside Friday, September 1, 2023 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! Depending on the order that things get written, we may have a few weeks of 'break' from our How to Roman Republic series, but do not fret: we will finish it. The one thing I am looking to 'slot in' as it were is a look at the armor of Baldur's Gate…
Collections: How to Roman Republic, Part IIIc: Ten Tribunes, Two Censors and Twenty-Six Guys – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the third section of the third part of our our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb) 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 republic, the offices that carried…
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIb: Imperium – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second section of the third part of our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa) 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 and the first few offices along…
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIa: Starting Down the Path of Honors – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the third of our planned five part series (I, II) 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 assemblies had, we noted, was the election…
Fireside Friday, August 4, 2023 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey all, Fireside this week, as I look to take a bit of time to focus on getting some writing done and some syllabi written before the semester begins in earnest later this week. Also before we dive in I want to note that it appears that Patreon has been having some trouble processing some…
Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part II: Romans, Assemble! – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second of our planned five-part look (I) at the nature and structure of the Roman Republic, particularly the governing institutions of the Middle Republic, the period of the republic's height from c. 287-100 BC. Last time we discussed the component parts and nature of the res publica as a whole. This week,…