Search found 2874 matches

by Paralus
Sun Jul 05, 2020 10:12 am
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Xenophon
Replies: 11
Views: 9623

Re: Xenophon

A man of the sources Jeanne, though I disagreed with his reading of those sources often enough. That is par for any historical course as we know. I'm engaged elsewhere on the detail of Gaugamela and it is here that I miss Paul's real world or practical view of an army's physical constraints in battl...
by Paralus
Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:44 am
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Did Alexander command the PHALANX at Chaeronea?
Replies: 122
Views: 95006

Re: Did Alexander command the PHALANX at Chaeronea?

None of this is new. John Ma (Chaironeia 338: Topographies of Commemoration, JHS Vol. 128 [2008], pp. 72-91) covered the battlefield archaeology in detail. He notes not only head wounds may come from kopides (and cavalry) but also many cut marks to shin bones. One skull, in particular, shows the fel...
by Paralus
Fri Apr 17, 2020 12:08 am
Forum: The Diadochi
Topic: Battle of Magnesia
Replies: 55
Views: 100067

Re: Battle of Magnesia

Papyrus Stories has a case study of the troubles keeping papyri organized and legible and repairing or recopying them when they fell apart in Roman Egypt https://papyrus-stories.com/2020/03/06/law-and-the-art-of-bookroll-maintenance/ I'm not so sure I want to read it: just another reason, among man...
by Paralus
Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:01 am
Forum: The Diadochi
Topic: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity
Replies: 7
Views: 13056

Re: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity

7 Afterword and Bibliographical Essay While space doesn’t permit a full discussion, several points need to be made about our only complete source, Plutarch (less fulsome ancient sources – Diodorus, Dionysius, Zonaras, Appian, etc – are noted throughout the text). The portrait in the preceding pages...
by Paralus
Tue Mar 31, 2020 9:18 am
Forum: The Diadochi
Topic: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity
Replies: 7
Views: 13056

Re: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity

6 Oh where are we now? Macedonia, Sparta and Argos. In spring 274, having rested what remained of his army in Epirus, Pyrrhus enrolled Gallic mercenaries with what funds he had and promptly invaded Macedonia. The raid was little more than a financing operation ( Pyrrh 26.3). Antigonos Gonatas took ...
by Paralus
Tue Mar 31, 2020 2:16 am
Forum: The Diadochi
Topic: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity
Replies: 7
Views: 13056

Re: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity

4 From Dorking it’s back to Rochdale… Sicilian Interlude In the summer of 278 Pyrrhus reached a divided Syracuse. The Carthaginians, who held the west of Sicily, abandoned the city rather than defend against both land and sea invasion. Pyrrhus entered the city as a saviour and Sosistratus, “master ...
by Paralus
Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:29 am
Forum: The Diadochi
Topic: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity
Replies: 7
Views: 13056

Re: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity

3 From Ocho Rios to Dorking… Bloody Tourists I : Empire in the West In 281, the last of Alexander’s Diadochoi, Seleucus and Lysimachus, met in battle at Corupedion. Lysimachus lost the battle, his kingdom and his life while Seleucus was poised to unite Alexander’s empire (the Ptolemaic kingdom asid...
by Paralus
Mon Mar 30, 2020 11:18 pm
Forum: The Diadochi
Topic: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity
Replies: 7
Views: 13056

Re: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity

The numbers are, for the most part, believable. What I'd question are the numbers given for Demetrios in 302. While these include a core of Macedonians, the rest are Balkan (Greek, Illyrian, etc). I'd suggest they're exaggerated, but more after I complete the formatting and upload.
by Paralus
Mon Mar 30, 2020 4:21 am
Forum: The Diadochi
Topic: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity
Replies: 7
Views: 13056

Re: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity

1 From Rochdale to Ocho Rios From Ocho Rios to Dorking From Dorking it's back to Rochdale Oh where are we now? Introduction When, in the 1970s, Graham Gouldman penned those lyrics about 10CC’s life ‘on the road’, it is unlikely he had Pyrrhus, king of the Epirotes, in mind. Nevertheless, one can’t ...
by Paralus
Mon Mar 30, 2020 3:57 am
Forum: The Diadochi
Topic: "Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity
Replies: 7
Views: 13056

"Bloody Tourists": Pyrrhus and Mediterranean Tours of Martial Opportunity

The following is a book chapter on Pyrrhos, "The Eagle", of Epeiros. This was penned for a book on ancient generals which, as sometimes happens with books, went astray never to see the light of day. The original remit was a picture of Pyrrhos painted on the canvas of glory hunting. Meant f...
by Paralus
Sat Mar 28, 2020 3:16 pm
Forum: The Diadochi
Topic: Battle of Magnesia
Replies: 55
Views: 100067

Re: Battle of Magnesia

It is also frustrating because this seems to be the time when trade between China and the west around the Taklamakan Desert was just opening up. There is no trace in the Achaemenid period, although the graves at Pazyryk have goods from China and goods from the King's lands, and then by the second c...
by Paralus
Sat Mar 28, 2020 1:35 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Xenophon
Replies: 11
Views: 9623

Re: Xenophon

Hi Michael, Thanks for letting us know. That is very sad and he will be missed. I was aware he wasn't well last year but I'm very sorry to hear things didn't improve. All we can say is that in Alexander terms, he will leave a large reputation behind him. May he rest in peace. I've moved this to the...
by Paralus
Fri Mar 27, 2020 1:22 am
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Xenophon
Replies: 11
Views: 9623

Re: Xenophon

Hi Sean,

Not that I'm aware of. Jasper has written a quite nice notice on the Ancient Warfare Blog though.

That's Karl and Paul in relatively short order. The Rolls Royce Merlin engine of Pothos is beginning to loose too many cylinders...

Michael.
by Paralus
Wed Mar 25, 2020 11:36 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Xenophon
Replies: 11
Views: 9623

Xenophon

Hi all, Just a note to say that regular contributor and poster Paul McDonnell-Staff - "Xenophon" as members would know him - died on March 12th. Paul suffered from an illness, which I won't go into here, for the last five years of his life. Though it did not always look like it here, Paul ...
by Paralus
Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:21 am
Forum: 'Off-topic' forum
Topic: The Pharos
Replies: 1
Views: 6958

The Pharos

Pauline has asked me to post this blog video on the Pharos. If I understood our late night (my time) messenger exchange, the unit of measurement used in the Kasta monument is eastern, not Greek. Thus it has come from Egypt or elsewhere in the "east". Professor Vitti is an expert on the Pha...