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Ancient Warfare Podcast

Discussions from Ancient Warfare Magazine. Why did early civilisations fight? Who were their Generals? What was life like for the earliest soldiers? Ancient Warfare Magazine will try and answer these questions. Warfare minus two thousand years.
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Now displaying: Page 3
Apr 7, 2023

Samuel points out that Xenophon makes reference to the Sciritai as part of the Spartan army foray into Boeotia during the mid-370s). And the sources are a bit patchy.

He asks do we know/can we infer anything about the Sciritai? How did they fit into Spartan society as a whole? What roles did they perform within the Spartan army (on and off the battlefield)? How were they armed? 

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Mar 31, 2023

Mark, one of our patrons, wonders if Murray sees a place for AI in helping to translate ancient manuscripts. Could AI step up to help with this and help sort and categorise through keywords, names, etc.

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Mar 24, 2023

Listener Andy Shaw wonders why the sarissa 'seems to fall out of use between the two periods even though protecting infantry from cavalry remains a consistent problem across ancient and medieval warfare'?

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Mar 17, 2023

Murray gives this thought on this question sent in, 'is the supposed decline in the quality of Hellenistic cavalry true or is that exaggeration with Hellenistic cavalry remaining elite well into the conquest of said Hellenistic kingdoms by the Romans?'

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Mar 10, 2023

When did the phalanx become the fully-developed formation we imagine? In this issue of Ancient Warfare, we explore the various changes and developments in the seventh through fifth centuries BC that eventually led to the emergence of the 'Classical' Greek hoplite.

The Ancient Warfare team discuss issue XVI.2 of the magazine, The coming of the Hoplite: Shields, spears and shining bronze.

 

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Mar 3, 2023

Murray ponders why Macedonian casualty figures were low and how enemy casualty figures might have been calculated. Did someone go around counting all the dead Persian bodies, or did Macedonian soldiers get to estimate how many Persians they had killed? 

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Feb 24, 2023

Following his last question from Murray a few weeks ago, Andy asks, 'the question I’ve always wondered is why it seems to fall out of use between the two periods even though protecting infantry from cavalry remains a consistent problem across ancient and medieval warfare'?

 

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Feb 17, 2023

"Alexander's Companion cavalry seemed to be the premier cavalry of its age, and was instrumental in the battles against the Persian empire. Why is it then, under the Successor Kingdoms' Generals, that they faired so poorly when confronting the inferior Roman cavalry? Was it due to the lack of Alexander himself, poor training, or just the professionalism of the Roman Legion?"

Murray gives us his thoughts...

 

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Feb 10, 2023

Imperium Romanum is a YouTube channel dedicated to bringing history to life, with documentaries looking at everything Ancient Rome; from the army and military equipment to politics, religion, culture, lifestyle and much more. 

In this episode, Jasper, Murray and Marc are joined by Marc Beermann from Imperium Romanum to talk about what they do.

If you want to enter the competition for a copy of Myke Cole's The Bronze Lie, you need to email awa@ancient-warfare.com with you 25 words on what you enjoy about the magazine. 

The competition closes on 28 February 2023.

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Feb 3, 2023

An interesting 'what if' quest from Jeff, who asks Murray for his thoughts on 'what if the Roman Empire had never fallen and was still around today, what would the world look like? And what do you think a modern Roman Empire would be like?"

 

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Jan 27, 2023

Brendon asks why the Macedonian phalanx at the Battles of Issues and Gaugamela suffered such a low casualty rate from arrows fired by archers?

Murray gives us his opinion.

 

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Jan 27, 2023

Tony sent this in for Murray to think about, 'can you tell us anything about the difference in style of combat when comparing late medieval pike vs ancient Sarissa?' 

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Jan 20, 2023

One man's pirate is another's daring raider, and the boundary between warrior and pirate can be equally nebulous. Piracy is an age-old problem without a simple solution.

The team discuss issue XVI.1 of the Ancient Warfare magazine Piracy and Raids: Robbers on the Mediterranean.

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Jan 13, 2023

Mason sent in a question a few weeks ago, and here he is again with another for Murray.'If Romans were fighting and happened to get surrounded, did they have a formation for that? Did the back line and sides turn around and form a square?'

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Jan 6, 2023

'How did the Romans keep track of who actually completed their years of service? What's to stop you from deserting and showing up to claim your pension unfairly? Presumably, this could be tricky in an empire of mostly illiterate people from all over the known world without government driver's licenses or passports'. Murray gives us his thoughts...

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Jan 5, 2023

Murray answers a question from a 12-year-old fan from Italy, Greg - How many casualties were there really at Magnesia? The Roman sources say 53,000 for the Seleucids and only 350 Romans died. Is This true?

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Dec 31, 2022

Mason sent this question in for Murray to muse over, 'how did the language differences of auxiliary units affect armies on campaign or during battle? Were there any particular Roman generals who were multilingual'.

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Dec 16, 2022

In response to an email from David in New York, Murray explains siege mining in the ancient world.

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Dec 13, 2022

Murray answers this question from Pascal, 'could you serve as a soldier, officer or even a consul despite some form of physical handicap during the roman republic?'

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Dec 9, 2022
With the holiday season almost upon us, the Ancient Warfare Magazine team discuss new books released in 2022, old and new documentaries that are now available on streaming services and throw in a couple of audiobook suggestions for good measure!
 
Links (not quite a comprehensive list of all the media mentioned in the show)
Books
Adrienne Mayor, Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Unconventional Warfare in the Ancient World (2022)
Conor Whately, A Sensory History of Ancient Warfare: Reconstructing the Physical Experience of War in the Classical World (2022)
Murray Dahm, Hunnic Warrior vs Late Roman Cavalryman: Attila's Wars AD 440–53 (2022)
Josiah Osgood, Uncommon Wrath: How Caesar and Cato's Deadly Rivalry Destroyed the Roman Republic (2022)
MC Bishop, Roman Plate Armour (2022)
Peter Stothard, Crassus: The First Tycoon (2022)
Raffaele D'Amato, Post-Roman Kingdoms: ‘Dark Ages' Gaul & Britain, AD 450–800 (2023)
Raffaele D'Amato, Roman Army Units in the Eastern Provinces (2): 3rd Century AD (2022)
William Horsted, British Celtic Warrior vs Roman Soldier: Britannia AD 43–105 (2022)
 
Audiobooks
Stephen Fry, Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold
Tony Robinson, Odysseus: The Greatest Hero of them All
 
Film & TV
Barbarians (2020 - )
In search of the Trojan War (1985)
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (1998)
On Hannibal's Trail (2010)
Secrets of the Dead (2000 - )
Spartacus (1960)
Scipione l'africano (1937)
 

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Dec 2, 2022

Murray got this question from Jonathan via email 'I read about Caesar bridging of the Rhine, is that how armies bridged rivers after him, following his example, what about before him?'

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Nov 25, 2022

Bill sent Murray this question, 'how long was the Macedonian Sarissa? I've read a lot about 20' and sometimes longer'. 

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Nov 18, 2022

Jonathan sent this question directly to Murray 'What was the standard depth of a hoplite line? I see eight mentioned all the time – were there any others?' 

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Nov 11, 2022

Jasper and Murray are joined by Julien Blurel, the brains behind the Invicta YouTube channel.

In the latest episode, Invicta demonstrates the true size of a Roman legion. This is the first of their new 'true size' series, which aims to bring history to life in 3D using the Unreal Engine.

True Size of the Roman Legion really puts into context the Roman army camp, the Legion on the march and the Roman army order of battle.

You can find it here.

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Nov 4, 2022

Patron of the podcast Seanbob sent in this question for Murray to mull over, 'what is up with foreskin collection? I know Ramses wrote on walls about the stacks of foreskins he collected from the sea peoples, and David bought his wife with foreskins (1 Samuel 18:27). So what is the deal?

Was circumcisions popular in some cultures and not others? Why not the whole penis? What did they do with them after they stacked them? Some sort of trophy? Like a deer rack on your Grandpa's wall? It is one thing to like dicks, it is strange to collect foreskins. What is the deal?'

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