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A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry Blog - History
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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.…
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…
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: 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…
Referenda ad Senatum: November 1, 2024: Ancient Weapons, Lost Works and Roman Spooky-Stuff! – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Welcome back! At last, the hiatus has ended and we are back to regular weekly posts. As we've done a few times before, this week I am breaking the hiatus by taking a chance to answer a few shorter questions posed by my patrons over at Patreon who are the Patres et Matres Conscripti of…
New Acquisitions: 1933 and the Definition of Fascism – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Today we're going to look at definitions of fascism and ask the question - you may have guessed - if Donald Trump is running for President as a fascist. Worry not, this isn't me shifting to full-time political pundit, nor is this the formal end of the hiatus (which will happen on Nov 1, when…
Continues the Hiatus, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Friends, Readers, Countrymen, lend me your eyes! As sadly expected, the hiatus is going to continue through October. I am making good progress on my writing, but still need to keep focusing. I am currently, I believe, on track for us to go back to normally scheduled posts in November, but I don't want to…
Comes the Hiatus, 2024! – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Dear Readers! As I've noted during the summer, I was planning on a one to two month hiatus towards the end of this year in order to allow me to focus on finalizing the manuscript of my book project, a study of the cost of fielding armies in the third and second centuries BC. That…
Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIIb: – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second half of the third and final part of our three-part (I, IIa, IIb, IIIa) 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 examined…
Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIIa: De Re Publica – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first half of the third part of our three-part (I, IIa, IIb) 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 the Roman…
Fireside Friday, August 16, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! I find I have my thoughts more or less together for the last part of the Imperator series, but I have not yet gotten them into a satisfying order - a common hazard of writing - so they will have to wait for next week. It's not yet clear to me if…
Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIb: Built in a Day – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second half of the second part of our three part (I, IIa) 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 imperial rise and…
Gap Week: August 2, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks. We're talking a mulligan this week, as the pedant household has gotten (one by one) whatever fresh COVID-19 variant is going around. Everyone is fine, but being sick left me pretty exhausted over the past few days with fewer productive writing hours available. Since I can't afford to let the book project slip…
Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIa: Pops and Chains – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first half of the second part of our three part 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 time we looked at how…
Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part I: Divisa in Partes Tres – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of a three-part (if I can keep it) series, examining the historical assumptions of Imperator: Rome, a historical grand strategy game by Paradox Interactive, set during the rise and collapse of the Roman Republic from 304-27 BC and covering the broader Mediterranean world and South Asia. This is also the…
Fireside Friday, July 12, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! I had hoped to have the start of the Imperator Teaching Paradox series ready for this week, but it has been a bit stubborn and I do not want to derail my book writing/revising schedule in order to push it out before it is ready. So that will almost certainly come next…
Collections: The Philosophy of Liberty – On Liberalism – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
It is once again the week of July 4th and so, as is customary here, I am going to use this week's post to talk about the United States or more correctly this week about the political philosophy the United States was founded on: liberalism. Now an immediate clarification is necessary, because in the United…
Fireside Friday, June 28, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! My hope in terms of the upcoming schedule is to have my usual July 4th post next week (we're discussing political philosophy in an election year, so I am sure everyone will be very chill; regardless let me repeat you will be civil) and then after that to dive into the Teaching…
Collections: How to Raise a Tribal Army in Pre-Roman Europe, Part III: Going To War With the Army You Have – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the third and final part of our three-part (I, II, III) look at how some 'tribal' or more correctly, non-state agrarian peoples - particularly the Celtiberians, Gauls and also many Germanic-language speaking peoples on the Rhine and Danube- raised armies to fight the Romans (and anyone else who came knocking) in the third,…
Collections: How to Raise a Tribal Army in Pre-Roman Europe, Part II: Government Without States – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of our (planned) three part (I) look at how some 'tribal' or more correctly, non-state agrarian peoples raised armies to fight the Romans (and others) in the third through first centuries BC. Last time, we looked at the subsistence basis of these societies - they're agricultural - and the social…
Collections: How to Raise a Tribal Army in Pre-Roman Europe, Part I: Aristocrats, Retainers and Clients – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
For the next few posts, I want to take a look at how some 'tribal' peoples raised armies, in contrast to the way that ancient (or later) states raised armies. As moderns, we are so familiar with the way that states function that the far older systems of non-state organization and mobilization end up feeling…
Fireside Friday, May 31, 2024 (Academic Departments) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! I am spinning up to write a Teaching Paradox series on Imperator later this week, but not quite ready to get started yet. I'm also thinking, perhaps before that, of doing a short post or set of posts on the organization of non-state 'tribal' societies in pre-Roman western Europe, looking at one…
Collections: On the Reign of Alexander III of Macedon, the Great? Part II – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second and final part of our look at Alexander III of Macedon (Part I), who you almost certainly know as Alexander the Great. Last week, we looked at the sources for Alexander's life, the historiography (that is, the history-of-the-history) of his modern reception and then he abilities as a military commander, both…
Collections: On the Reign of Alexander III of Macedon, the Great? – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, in part as a follow-on to our series on the contest between Hellenistic armies and Roman legions, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about Alexander III, who you almost certainly know as Alexander the Great. But I want to discuss his reign with that title, 'the Great' (magnus in Latin or…
Fireside Friday, May 10, 2024 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! Next week, with luck, I'll have my 'On the Reign of Alexander III of Macedon' up as an addendum to our discussion of Hellenistic armies. But in the meantime, it is a fireside, and I thought, since it was just recently May the Fourth, we might talk some Star Wars (and history).…
Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part V: Epilogue – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the fifth part of our four(ish) five part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc) look at how the Roman legions were able to overcome the Macedonian sarisa phalanx in the third and second centuries BC. We have covered the decisive battles in the story, although after 168 it is not…