Do you know the way to Ariminum?

[Tellos Athenaios]

Correct (as usual ) I was referring to Herodotos who informs us of the time it takes to get from Sardis to Sousa on foot, if one uses the Royal Road and travels light.

[pezhetairoi]

I would suppose forty days from Lilybaeum to Ariminum was about right considering they would have had to cross the Apennines at some point. They probably were taking their time, too, comparatively.

Am I right to say that the Polybian quote comes from Tiberius Sempronius Longus' march to join Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio near Clastidium prior to the battle of the Trebia?

[Tarkus]

Am I right to say that the Polybian quote comes from Tiberius Sempronius Longus' march to join Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio near Clastidium prior to the battle of the Trebia?

Precisely!

Thanks much for the "reality check", fellas. I'm amazed at the distances that armies could travel -- and equally amazed at the attrition they would endure through such exertion...

Now, in the EB world: Am I making a big mistake by ignoring the construction of highways, from both military and economic points of view? I'm just leaving everything at paved roads...

[Snite]

Of course, if they were real men, they could be like the Texans at Antietam and march for two days and two nights without stopping to sleep or eat, form the battle lines, and then send the Union in a feverish flight after a fierce attack.

But not everyone's a Texan.


Snite(<--- Texan)

[pezhetairoi]

Ah, but Hood's Texans weren't men. They were demigods. Crazy marchers, seriously.

@Tarkus: Well, they really DO improve transportation by a considerable margin. Build'em if you can. Definitely. With highways across Italia, at least, 3 turns from Rhegion to Mediolanum becomes 2.

[Maeran]

And they give trade bonuses too. Build them and you will soon appreciate them.

[Dhampir]

Of course, if they were real men, they could be like the Texans at Antietam and march for two days and two nights without stopping to sleep or eat, form the battle lines, and then send the Union in a feverish flight after a fierce attack.

But not everyone's a Texan.


Snite(<--- Texan)

You mean "Like the Texans at Antietam and march for two days and two nights without stopping to sleep or eat, form the battle lines, and then died gloriously by the musketry of the Iron Brigade; who then looked around and decided that the corn wasn't ripe yet and strolled away, leaving the crop for the triple-digit regiments of XII Corps".

[Snite]

As I recall, the Texans initially saved the day against the superior numbers(and superiorly rested/fed) Yankees, or so it seemed because the Union then brought up reinforcements(most likely your Iron Brigade) that sent the much beleagered Texans reeling.

I could be fuzzy since it's been awhile since I read up on The War for Southern Independence.


Snite

[Dhampir]

As I recall, the Texans initially saved the day against the superior numbers(and superiorly rested/fed) Yankees, or so it seemed because the Union then brought up reinforcements(most likely your Iron Brigade) that sent the much beleagered Texans reeling.

I could be fuzzy since it's been awhile since I read up on The War for Southern Independence.


Snite

The Iron Brigade were the first in. Texan troops wrote about seeing the tips of bayonets above the cornstalks in the early morning light and then seeing the black hats and knowing they were in for a fight.

By the time the Iron Brigade withdrew, both brigades were more or less spent for the day.