Ancient Warfare Podcast

Murray talks with regular AW contributor Jo Ball about her new book from Pen & Sword on the career of Publius Quinctilius Varus and the Teutoburg Disaster of AD 9.

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We got a Postcard! From Euchale in Heidelberg.

Euchale asks two questions: "1. Have you ever played Age of Mythology. If so, how doyou like the depiction and speech of the various armies of the game? 2. How much of your research happens online, and how much from physical books? Any recommendations on how to find good books related to a topic? Any sources other than books and the internet?"

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"Why does Marcus Aurelius never take the blame for appointing his son his heir rather than the most qualified, like 3 of the 4 emperors before him? Maybe he should have spent less time philosophising and more time being a father."

Murray gives us his thoughts.

JSoth asks "Out of curiosity, if Crassus knew Caeser, then during Carrhae, why not build a heavily fortified camp the night after the first day as Caeser may have done? If the Parthians didn't fight at night, and the army was comprised of 10,000 all-mounted troops, that seems like it would have made at least some sense. In particular, if he would have been able to make palisades tall enough and simply encamped another day, thereby giving more time to come up with a proper answer to the situation."

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Augustus' reign started with a thorny problem. He was now the proud 'owner' of 50-odd legions, and no rivals to his power. For now. His solution was a system that lasted.

The team discusses the latest edition of the magazine issue XVI.5 The Roman Imperial Legions: The army of the Julio Claudians.

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Manos sent this in for Murray to chew over.

'Having heard and read so much about Phillip & Alexander's training of the Macedonian phalanx as to becoming flexible in manoeuvring difficult battle landscapes as well as proficient when encountering lateral attacks, I remain sceptical about the devastating results in both the battles of Cynoscephalae and Pydna. Was it hubris on the part of Phillip and later his son Perseus or lax training which resulted in both battles' outcome?'

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Patron of the podcast, Mathew, sent this question in.

Are there accounts of artillery specifically targeting leaders, for example, a Legatus or centurion? Or dedicated expert archers, etc., to do the same? Imagine a sniper-type scenario. This seems like a tactic that could have been used to demoralise a force and eliminate command and control quickly.

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Chris poses this question for Murray.

'More Roman soldiers were killed in the civil wars against other Roman soldiers than any other adversary. Why was it so easy for usurpers to convince their soldiers to fight against their brethren? And why didn't emperors try to change whatever facilitated this kind of behaviour?'

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In this episode of the podcast, Murray answers two questions, both on the battle of the Hydaspes.

The first was sent in by @gregoriogariglio7750. How many Macedonian and Indian casualties were at the Battle of the Hydaspes?

The second question is from @jsoth2675. Is it possible, or likely even, that the battle of Hydaspes against King Porus was fabricated? Are there any Indian sources that agree a battle took place?

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We are between issues of the magazine for this episode of the podcast. After casting around for ideas, Mark suggested the topic for Friday night's chat: the impact of weather on conflict.

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