Murray chats with Robert L. O'Connell about his new book 'Band on the Run' from Simon & Schuster (2026), which explores the March of the 10,000 and Xenophon's Anabasis.

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A second letter from James (in response to Murray answering his first!) James asks about ancient sieges - in particular, how Tyre fell to Alexander in 322 BC, and he also asks what Murray's favourite sieges are. Murray obliges with an overtime rant!

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Demetrios asks, "Hello Mr. Dahm, Regarding ancient artillery, in certain cases such as Josephus' account of the siege of Jotapata during the Jewish Revolt, artillery seems to be very effective in suppressing the defenders and in a sort of anti-personnel role. Due to the slow firing torsion engines of the time, how was this possible? Wouldn't a much higher rate of fire be necessary for such a role? Additionally, were artillery crewmen seen as civilian or military personnel by commanders and how were artillerymen recruited and trained? Thank you again for running AWA, it is wonderful to listen to."

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Tom asks: "Sorry for this stupid question. I have read a lot of the red Loeb, but never understood how the Auxiliary forces were managed. By Roman officers, or were they independent?"

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'After capturing the Mediterranean ports, and having been welcomed as a god in Egypt, Alexander turned east again, aiming to defeat Darius once and for all.'

In this episode of the podcast, the Ancient Warfare Magazine team discuss issue 108, 'Alexander Ascendant: The Battle of Gaugamela'.

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The second part of Carlos' question from a few episodes ago: "Second, somewhere in an old issue of AWM I have read (but I cannot find it again) that, to become a legionary, recruits needed to buy their way, and that the required payment (bribe?) was lower if you joined the auxiliaries instead. This was surprising, because I also read about a signing bonus (viaticum) by the second century. The article I remember discussed a poor Roman citizen who joined the auxilia rather than the legions because it was cheaper. What do we know about these payments? If they existed, they would take away some of the arguments that the auxilia were not anymore attractive after the Constitutio Antoniniana because everybody was a citizen: poor citizens might simply not have been able to afford the legions."

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Russ asks, "I don't know what it is called, but at a certain point ( or a certain number of points) in time, Rome decided to build walls to defend their empire. Most famous, of course, is Hadrian's Wall. But of course they are many more, such as the Antonine Wall, Walls of Lugo, Aurelian's Wall and Londinium Walls, to name a few. These walls were constructed differently and had different purposes. Anyway, were the Walls revolutionary? Or something else?"

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Jay asks "Murray, I really enjoyed your podcast about Demosthenes being one of the first generals to have a dedicated flank attack. I have always thought Demosthenes was criminally underrated among historians, because Thucydides writes about quite a few clever tactics of his. Likewise, I think Thrasybulus is another underrated commander as Athens' "last gasp" to preserve their democracy. Yet most casual history enthusiasts have probably never heard of either, while mainly focusing on Alcibiades and Pericles. If you could only pick one, which of the two do you think deserves more praise and recognition among historians?"

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Dan asks "May I submit an awa for uncle Murray here? What did legionaries drink on campaign? Aside from the obvious water and wine. Did they have flavoured cordials or plain water? Did they start their day with a hot drink and end with something cold, like we drink coffee and beer? Do we know of water rations, and can we infer if the legions were particularly hydrated or not?"

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How did tactics evolve in the ancient world? In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Podcast, the team explores how battlefield tactics developed over time, from the rigid formations of early armies to the increasingly sophisticated methods employed by some of history's greatest commanders.

They discuss the factors that drove tactical innovation, the influence of new weapons and troop types, and whether ancient generals were truly revolutionary or simply adapted to changing circumstances.