Murray is on his own this week and tackles this question sent in by Patron of the podcast Paul, 'Name one event in Ancient Warfare where the majority of the sources are in agreement with an event happening, be it a battle or an event during a battle, etc. but you call foul - never happened - and vice versa.'
Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
While we wait for the latest episode of the magazine to be released, Murray suggested the Ancient Warfare team address one of the questions sent from a listener.
What do you think was the most important factor in ancient warfare?
Anne asks 'how did ancient armies and generals inspire (coerce?) loyalty among the troops?'
Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Patron of the podcast Carlos sent us this question, 'what were the methods used by groups like the Romans or any of the Near East powers to counter the firepower discipline and mobility of the horse archer nomad armies?'
Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Murray gives his thoughts on this question sent in by Greg 'There are quite a few examples of the use of recon and scouting from ancient warfare (perhaps more where it didn't happen!). Also, we see examples of espionage and intel via xenoi relationships in the Greek world. But how much did we see what we might recognise as military intelligence, and how dependant was it on the personality of a commander?'
Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Adam asks 'Slings are an iconic weapon of the ancient period, but don't seem to have been used much in later periods. What made them so suited to ancient warfare?' Murray is on his own and tackles this one.
Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Do you think the “Grass Crown” was really a rare award or that it just wasn’t written about very often for whatever reason?
Patreon:
patreon.com/anceintwarfarepodcast
Murray tackles this question on the Silver Shields.
Do we have any evidence that the Silver Sheilds' actual combat effectiveness began to diminish as they grew old? How much of it was true strength and how much of it was fearsome reputation? How unique were these 'old' veterans in ancient warfare?
Patreon:
patreon.com/anceintwarfarepodcast
In our last episode before a short hiatus for Christmas, Jasper tackles this question on Hannibal’s logistics that was sent in by Anne one of the Patrons of the podcast.
Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
In AD 132 began the bloody struggle between two strong-willed leaders over who would rule a nation.
Ancient Warfare Magazine regular Lindsay Powell has a new book out Bar Kokhba: The Jew Who Defied Hadrian and Challenged the Might of Rome. Lindsay is joined by Jasper and Marc to discuss his new book.
Patreon:
Patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
What were the different types of ships used by the Romans navy? Did they only use triremes? Jasper tackles this question from from Douglas Gatto.
Why not support the podcast:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Josh sent this question in for Murray to ponder over. During the Roman period, we have evidence of reasonably specific units based on (original) area of recruitment, e.g. *Legio IX Hispana*, *Cohors Germanorum*, and so on. I was wondering if we have anything similar for the Hellenistic/Successor period. Outside of names that were originally geographic but likely became generic terms for a certain type of unit (Cretan archers and Tarantine cavalry), do we know of any specific recruiting grounds for the innumerable phalangites, thureophoroi, etc. who fought for the Diadochoi?
Find us on patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Untaxed, but burdened by Rome's demands for ever more infantry and cavalry from their small tribe, the Batavians use the chaos of AD 69 to revolt. It would take the combined effort of nine legions to quell.
The Ancient Warfare Magazine team fields listeners questions.
Join us on Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Daniel asks, 'I was curious about Roman marines. I see them depicted in video games the same as a classic 1st century legionary, but with their red clothing and shield swapped out with blue. Did Marines fight, and were they equipped the same as a regular legionary soldier? Did they participate in land battles and were they seen as inferior or superior to the regular army? Did they have the same terms of service as their land bases counterparts?
Find us on patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Murray answers this question, sent in from Manvir. Could Alexander have convinced his men to head further into India? Was one reason for turning back the fear of facing elephants? Was this reflective of poor morale?'
Find us on patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Jasper tackles this question from one of our patrons.
‘Did Ancient Armies wargame in any fashion we would recognize? Either in the armchair sense, or practically in the fields or on the seas? Did the Romans have wargames exercises to counter barbarian armies or Persian fleets? On the armchair side watching ‘I Claudius’ episode 1 there Augustus is playing a board game he calls ‘Empire’ with Agrippa’s two young sons. I expect this is just a story telling invention of the author or TV adaptation, but is there any basis for such a wargame simulator having existed in Rome or other nation?’
Find us on patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Thanks to Paul for sending this in, 'what is one battle where sources agree but you don't?' It is a great question and one we may revisit on a full episode of the podcast.
Patreon:
Patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Murray is flying solo again this week. He tackles the question 'why didn't the Persians react faster to the invasion of 336 BC?'.
Patreon:
Patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
We got this question from Nathan, 'who were the Thureophoroi, where were they from and how did they fight?'
Support us on Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Find the magazine at:
karwansaraypublishers.com/ancient-warfare-magazine
Patron of the podcast Anne asks, what do we know about how Hannibal supplied his troops during his campaigns, particularly through the Alps? With elephants!' Murray gives us his thoughts.
Support us on Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Find the magazine at:
https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/ancient-warfare-magazine
Murray answers this question sent in by Brian 'The romans took a lot of slaves when they won a battle but how did they turn an angry defeated warrior into a pliant slave?'
Support us on Patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
'If ancient soldiers were trained at all, it was generally for fighting in a formation in the battle line. But on rare occasions, generals would train and use troops for special operations.'
The Ancient Warfare team consider Ancient Warfare Magazine XV.1 which focuses on Special Operations in antiquity.
Find us a patreon:
patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast