Ancient Warfare Podcast

Wyton asks, 'During the republic, what were the Romans Italian allies armed with, and how did they fight? As legionaries or some other method?'   Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

' E v e n b e f o r e t h e e m p i r e s p l i t i n t o t w o s e p a r a t e h a l v e s , t h e A u g u s t i i n t h e E a s t h a d t o c o n t e n d w i t h d e v a s t a t i n g G o t h i c r a i d s a n d n e a r - c o n s t a n t w a r s w i t h t h e S a s a n i a n E m p i r e . '   The team discuss issue XVI.3 of the magazine G o t h s , S a s a n i d s a n d R o m a n s : T h e R o m...

Robert asks, 'Why javelins? It seems that a bow would be a much better weapon for a skirmish in the ancient world, but it seems that javeLin armed light troops may have been the most common type in Europe. Additionally, if using javelins, why not an atlatl to throw them with? This would make a difference in hitting a target, but one has to believe that range would be an important factor while skir...

'Is there today or has there been anyone trying to conduct larger-scale experimental archaeology to try and answer some of the common questions about certain infantry tactics/tropes such as the othismos and open vs closed order legions?'  Murray tells us about experimental archaeology. Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

Alex asks, 'When is the last documented evidence of one of the original Roman Legions being in existence? I remember reading about Legio V Macedonica being based in Egypt just before the Arab Conquests in the 640s, but I am unsure if this is factually correct'. Murray lists us the last documented evidence for the Legions.   Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

Murray talks with Roel Konijnendijk about his recent work on 19th-century German language scholars and how they laid the foundations of much of the 20th century's understanding of Classical Greek warfare.  Giants like Moltke, Delbrück, Kochly and Rustow's foundations were, however, based on 19th-century understandings of how war worked, and their views (rightfully) have been challenged. This only...

Curt wonders why did Alexander the Great not look westwards, starting with Rome during his conquests? There are a lot of 'what if's' here for Murray to deal with. Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

Samuel points out that Xenophon makes reference to the Sciritai as part of the Spartan army foray into Boeotia during the mid-370s). And the sources are a bit patchy. He asks do we know/can we infer anything about the Sciritai? How did they fit into Spartan society as a whole? What roles did they perform within the Spartan army (on and off the battlefield)? How were they armed?  Join us on Patron...

Mark, one of our patrons, wonders if Murray sees a place for AI in helping to translate ancient manuscripts. Could AI step up to help with this and help sort and categorise through keywords, names, etc. Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

Listener Andy Shaw wonders why the sarissa 'seems to fall out of use between the two periods even though protecting infantry from cavalry remains a consistent problem across ancient and medieval warfare'? Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

Murray gives this thought on this question sent in, 'is the supposed decline in the quality of Hellenistic cavalry true or is that exaggeration with Hellenistic cavalry remaining elite well into the conquest of said Hellenistic kingdoms by the Romans?' Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

When did the phalanx become the fully-developed formation we imagine? In this issue of Ancient Warfare, we explore the various changes and developments in the seventh through fifth centuries BC that eventually led to the emergence of the 'Classical' Greek hoplite. The Ancient Warfare team discuss issue XVI.2 of the magazine, The coming of the Hoplite: Shields, spears and shining bronze .   Join us...

Murray ponders why Macedonian casualty figures were low and how enemy casualty figures might have been calculated. Did someone go around counting all the dead Persian bodies, or did Macedonian soldiers get to estimate how many Persians they had killed?  Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

Following his last question from Murray a few weeks ago, Andy asks, 'the question I've always wondered is why it seems to fall out of use between the two periods even though protecting infantry from cavalry remains a consistent problem across ancient and medieval warfare'?   Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast

"Alexander's Companion cavalry seemed to be the premier cavalry of its age, and was instrumental in the battles against the Persian empire. Why is it then, under the Successor Kingdoms' Generals, that they faired so poorly when confronting the inferior Roman cavalry? Was it due to the lack of Alexander himself, poor training, or just the professionalism of the Roman Legion?" Murray gives us his th...

Imperium Romanum is a YouTube channel dedicated to bringing history to life, with documentaries looking at everything Ancient Rome; from the army and military equipment to politics, religion, culture, lifestyle and much more.  In this episode, Jasper, Murray and Marc are joined by Marc from Imperium Romanum to talk about what they do. If you want to enter the competition for a copy of Myke Cole's...

An interesting 'what if' quest from Jeff, who asks Murray for his thoughts on 'what if the Roman Empire had never fallen and was still around today, what would the world look like? And what do you think a modern Roman Empire would be like?"   Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast

Brendon asks why the Macedonian phalanx at the Battles of Issues and Gaugamela suffered such a low casualty rate from arrows fired by archers? Murray gives us his opinion.   Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast

Tony sent this in for Murray to think about, 'can you tell us anything about the difference in style of combat when comparing late medieval pike vs ancient Sarissa?'  Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast

One man's pirate is another's daring raider, and the boundary between warrior and pirate can be equally nebulous. Piracy is an age-old problem without a simple solution. The team discuss issue XVI.1 of the Ancient Warfare magazine Piracy and Raids: Robbers on the Mediterranean . Find us on Patreon: patrion.com/ancientwarfarepodcast Subscribe to Ancient Warfare Magazine: ancient-warfare.com

Mason sent in a question a few weeks ago, and here he is again with another for Murray.'If Romans were fighting and happened to get surrounded, did they have a formation for that? Did the back line and sides turn around and form a square?' Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast

'How did the Romans keep track of who actually completed their years of service? What's to stop you from deserting and showing up to claim your pension unfairly? Presumably, this could be tricky in an empire of mostly illiterate people from all over the known world without government driver's licenses or passports'. Murray gives us his thoughts... Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcas...

Murray answers a question from a 12-year-old fan from Italy, Greg - How many casualties were there really at Magnesia? The Roman sources say 53,000 for the Seleucids and only 350 Romans died. Is This true? Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast  

Mason sent this question in for Murray to muse over, 'how did the language differences of auxiliary units affect armies on campaign or during battle? Were there any particular Roman generals who were multilingual'. Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast

In response to an email from David in New York, Murray explains siege mining in the ancient world. Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast