Patron of the podcast James poses this question for Murray, 'The number of Spartan soldiers declined from its high of 10,000 to less than 2,000 around its defeat by Thebes due, in part, to increasing economic concentration and the resulting decline in the number of soldiers able to pay their mess contributions. Did Spartan society recognise this decline as a problem, and were there efforts to reverse this trend? If there were, why did they fail?'

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Murray is on his own this week. He answers this question sent in from patron of the podcast, Greg; 'How widespread was the use of Hamippoi in 5th BC Greece?'

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Murray answers this question sent in from Christoper, 'do the sources tell us anything about the Spartan warrior Arimnestus who threw the rock that killed Mardonius? I am curious if we know if he survived the battle and if he would have been honoured for his efforts in the victory?'

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The legion that wrested control of the Mediterranean region from Carthage and the Successor states is very familiar. But some notions have recently been challenged.

Following the discussion of the Roman legion in episode 119, the Ancient Warfare team returns to the topic with this episode looking at issue XV.4 of the magazine.

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Patron of the podcast Lubos asks, 'Why was the greek phalanx so ineffective against the Romans? Were they just obsolete or just that the Greek generals didn't evolve their tactics and formations to counter roman maniples?'

Murray gives us his opinion.

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Sparked by current events in the work patron of the podcast Carlos asks 'what steps did ancient commanders do to ensure that their army's logistics were in order?'

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Murray is still in New Zealand but has found the time to answer this question from patron of the podcast Chris.

'How much do we trust Homer? Are there good examples of corroborating accounts that give us the means to verify or put his missives in context?'

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Murray is on holiday in New Zealand, but while on his travels he has found the time to answer this question from Christopher.

'Do we have any indication as to what Epaminondas of Thebes looked like? He was a fantastic general and I find it strange that we have not found any statues or busts that portray him. Is it because Alexander razed Thebes to the ground?"

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We were due to look at the latest issue of the magazine Rise of the Legion pt.II. As the issue has only just been released, we thought we would save the discussion on that topic for the next full episode of the podcast in May.

In the meantime, Myke suggested the team discuss commanders as tactical units and whether they participated in the fighting, or command from behind the lines?

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Murray tackles this question from Jorn Schneider, 'How did generals plan campaigns and how did armies find out where to go without maps?'