Happy Cannae Day

[Tarkus]

Palasta,

There's more than enough information at your fingertips to help you learn about the battle of Cannae...Wikipedia's entry is a good place to start. For books on the subject, Daly's "Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War" and Goldworthy's "Cannae" are recommended...go for it!

[Intranetusa]

I prefer Carrahe (SP?) when 11,0000 outnumbered Persian cataphracts and composite horse archers slaugtered 35,000 Post-Marian legionaries and their auxillaries.

[Spoofa]

I like Cannae better

[Hooahguy]

I prefer Carrahe (SP?) when 11,0000 outnumbered Persian cataphracts and composite horse archers slaugtered 35,000 Post-Marian legionaries and their auxillaries.

yes, but while they were outnumbered, IIRC, the romans had little or no cavalry to chase the HA (they were killed off earlier on in the battle by the parthian cataphracts) and the HA just did hit and run attacks until the romans were defeated.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

In October we can all look forward to Teutoburg Day. (No, not Thanksgiving, Teutoburg).

[Hooahguy]

In October we can all look forward to Teutoburg Day. (No, not Thanksgiving, Teutoburg).

ur a bad, bad roman, arent you!

[Treverer]

In October we can all look forward to Teutoburg Day. (No, not Thanksgiving, Teutoburg).

<evil grin>

"Roma victor!"

by a fictional (or not ?) Roman general of / from Iberia.

"What a fool!"

by a friend of mine.

[abou]

Treverer, you've forced my hand.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...7&postcount=14

[Treverer]

Treverer, you've forced my hand.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...7&postcount=14

Ehmm, myself being a "fool" concerning latin (never went past 2 sessions of that language at university and happy to study MODERN history, where you did not need latin ), I agree to whatever someone says how is fluent in it ...

Treverer

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

by a fictional (or not ?) Roman general of / from Iberia.

Fictional, "Maximus" was "Emperor of Britain" a few hundred years later. Maximus Decimus Meridius, or Decimus Meridius Maximus to untangle his name, is a composite of several Roman generals and Emperors, including Marcus Auralius himself.

Ironic eh?

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Maximus Decimus Meridius, or Decimus Meridius Maximus

Hollywood is really bad.

Maximus = audience has to realize he is a great man, as great men always have great names, everyone knows this

Decimus = audience has to realize he is a Roman, some people might have misunderstood the timeframe the movie takes place

Meridius = audience (the ones with IQ 90+) can recognize that he is seemingly of Mérida, as he is called "Spaniard" in the movie - too bad the city's name was Emerita Augusta at the time

Or does "Meridius" mean something different?

[Krusader]

yes, but while they were outnumbered, IIRC, the romans had little or no cavalry to chase the HA (they were killed off earlier on in the battle by the parthian cataphracts) and the HA just did hit and run attacks until the romans were defeated.

Yes. Textbook example of all-cavalry warfare

[Lovejoy]

Yes. Textbook example of all-cavalry warfare

Textbook example of cowardness!!!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Intranetusa]

yes, but while they were outnumbered, IIRC, the romans had little or no cavalry to chase the HA (they were killed off earlier on in the battle by the parthian cataphracts) and the HA just did hit and run attacks until the romans were defeated.

the Romans never had good heavy cavalry (RTW's uber praetroian cavalry is mythical bullsh**)...so that's their own damn fault. :)

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

the Romans never had good heavy cavalry (RTW's uber praetroian cavalry is mythical bullsh**)...so that's their own damn fault. :)

Not quite true, the later Cataphracts etc were excellant heavy cavalry which blended the best of Greek and Eastern cavalry traditions. Even the Germano-Celtic Auxillia Alae were excellant medium cavalry. Crassus sepperated his force and allowed his cavalry to move too far ahead.

It was his own fault.

[abou]

Don't forget the Extraordinarii.

Although, they would only form a fraction of the entire cavalry force.

[Intranetusa]

Not quite true, the later Cataphracts etc were excellant heavy cavalry which blended the best of Greek and Eastern cavalry traditions. Even the Germano-Celtic Auxillia Alae were excellant medium cavalry. Crassus sepperated his force and allowed his cavalry to move too far ahead.

It was his own fault.

Are you refering to the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire? The Byzantines may have been highly influenced by the Romans, but they are a separate civilzation.

and you mean Macedonian-Greeks right? since as EB proves, the Greek-Greeks had the worst cavalry ever...

[Spoofa]

Are you refering to the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire? The Byzantines may have been highly influenced by the Romans, but they are a separate civilzation.

and you mean Macedonian-Greeks right? since as EB proves, the Greek-Greeks had the worst cavalry ever...

I'd take Hippies over German cavalry anyday....

[Urnamma]

Are you refering to the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire? The Byzantines may have been highly influenced by the Romans, but they are a separate civilzation.

and you mean Macedonian-Greeks right? since as EB proves, the Greek-Greeks had the worst cavalry ever...

No, the Byzantines are not a separate civilization, but the continuation of the Roman Empire.

[The Stranger]

Not quite true, the later Cataphracts etc were excellant heavy cavalry which blended the best of Greek and Eastern cavalry traditions. Even the Germano-Celtic Auxillia Alae were excellant medium cavalry. Crassus sepperated his force and allowed his cavalry to move too far ahead.

It was his own fault.

actually the romans didnt have good cavalry, people they conquered had good cavalry though.

btw on the cataphracts, there are also lots who believe that the cataphracts were actually an overrated palace guard. i mean there were no (those things you stick your foot in on a horse, its part of the saddle, dunno its name) pedals? so heavy cavalry wouldve been thrown of their horse by impact. I think the cataphracts main strength was its fearsome appearance. and maybe they had good melee ability but they didnt become fearsome shockcavalry i think till the eleven century with the byzantines.

[Intranetusa]

"Like leaving your burning house to save your life, an"d then someone comes 2 generations down to kill your offspring claiming he is your true descendant, while he 's the one who burned down your former house."

Yes, just like you don't take over someone else's preexisting house and claim it as your own.

"greek was always spoken in the east and all roman noblitiy spoke greek. it was not a big shift to allow greek to become the language of the empire."

From Crassus's period to Pax Romana, many Romans also spoke Latin in the East/Turkey/etc. Under Byzantines...not so much.



anyways, the later Byzantine empire after the fall of the west is quite different
and unique from the original Roman empire. Yes it had many influences, but Middle Eastern and Greek culture became the primary source of influence.

This mishmash of many cultures is what makes the Byzantines a new different civilization from the Romans.

"in fact it was the "heart" and "soul" of the Romani who got transfered to "Romania" as the Byzantines would call their state-No relation to present day Romania"

You can say that about many civilizations. Are the Carthaginians the same as Phoneicians? Even though the heart and soul of Phonecia was transfered by colonists, and Phoneica later being conquered? Are the Japanese the same as Chinese? Even though the majority of Japan culture was mainly based on Tang and earlier dynasties - and with traditional Chinese culture being suppressed and wiped away during Yuan and Qing dynasties?

Are what about the earliest various Middle Eastern civilizations, who were built on the ruins of another? Would you consider Babylonians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Sumerians etc the same civilization, just because they were based on each other?

[abou]

actually the romans didnt have good cavalry, people they conquered had good cavalry though.

btw on the cataphracts, there are also lots who believe that the cataphracts were actually an overrated palace guard. i mean there were no (those things you stick your foot in on a horse, its part of the saddle, dunno its name) pedals? so heavy cavalry wouldve been thrown of their horse by impact. I think the cataphracts main strength was its fearsome appearance. and maybe they had good melee ability but they didnt become fearsome shockcavalry i think till the eleven century with the byzantines.

My friend, you've missed many a conversation. The trick behind cavalry of the era was the four-horned saddle, which snuggly fit the rider into place. This allowed him to charge quite well and effectively.

[Palasta]

Palasta,

There's more than enough information at your fingertips to help you learn about the battle of Cannae...Wikipedia's entry is a good place to start. For books on the subject, Daly's "Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War" and Goldworthy's "Cannae" are recommended...go for it!

i already did that a long time ago, and not only wiki. there was a good website with a fine sketch of the area. unfortunaly the site was closed quite a while ago.