this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2025
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Rough Roman Memes
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I did like the Roman strategy of “well I guess he’s good at fighting, so let’s just not fight him”
Then Hannibal pulled the reverse Uno card and escaped their trap without fighting the Romans by tying torches to cattle so he could sneak his entire passed their lines.
The whole saga is epic
A bit more than that! Fabius and General Marcellus both offered battle to Hannibal on multiple occasions - but always on their terms. Hannibal, equally wisely, never accepted. Later Roman generals would also use this technique to great success - maneuver is the name of the game. Location, location, location. As said in an exchange between the Roman general Marius and an Italian rebel commander during the later Social War:
"If you are such a great general, Marius, why don't you come down and fight me?"
"If you are such a great general, why don't you come up here and make me?"
One of the strangest stratagems of all time, one of my favorites.
I haven't really reviewed roman history since listening to a podcast about it years ago, that anecdote is amazing
I don't know why we don't have more movies or mini series about this stuff, that whole war is filled with really clever moves and bonkers strategies.
Maybe I should just read more books on this (same with Napoleon, and Julius Caesar)
If you want some accessible academic books, try Blackwells Companion to the Punic Wars, Dexter Hoyos Carthage, or Adrian Goldsworthy's The Fall of Carthage. They are all good and popular. If you want some video content to get in the spirit, try out Historia Civilis on YouTube. Just be sure to take history focused media with a grain of salt.
Than you for those suggestions, I’ll look into them
Scipio: "Bro, just trust me, the gods are on my side, watch, Neptune told me to do this:"
[uses information from locals to predict when the water on part of the moat will go subside to a fordable level]
His troops: "holy fuck the gods are on our side"
If you like Manga at all, Ad Astra is a fantastic series on the Second Punic War.
I’ve never really read much of it, but I’ll check it out
If you're looking for historical fiction, check out Robert Harris' "Imperium" trilogy focusing on Cicero.
How fictional is it?
I always struggle with historical fiction because it can be hard for me to determine what was actual vs editorialized. If it mostly follows known timelines and events I would read it though
It follows several known historical people and doesn't seem to invent any major events as far as I can see, but I'm not an expert. It's certainly less fictional than any movies or series I've seen about that period.
Cool, that sounds like something I would like then
Yeah Ager Falernus is a fucking trip. I love to describe Ager Falernus, Ilerda, Alesia and Cannae when I'm explaining the age of Republican warfare. Always gets the crowd going.