11-03-2009, 10:44 PM
Polinik,
I think that you raise an important an excellent question--I'll leave aside your views on crest boxes for the more general problem that Osprey and their ilk often replace solid research with a catering to perceived wisdom and media driven views of history--and sometimes to mere "war porn."
Reenactors should never take themselves so seriously that they lose track of what HISTORY is. Yet--historians should never lose track of what reconstruction can teach--even if only negatively.
To be honest, as a recreator of the 1770's first and Classical Greece second, I can say (and I hope I cause no offense) that we really don't KNOW ANYTHING about the 5th C. BCE. Compared to the detail of our knowledge about the British Army in America in 1777 (and there's lots of room there for arguments) it's almost absurd to even TRY...
Yet--it is also important to try. If we don't, many questions won't even be asked.
I think that you raise an important an excellent question--I'll leave aside your views on crest boxes for the more general problem that Osprey and their ilk often replace solid research with a catering to perceived wisdom and media driven views of history--and sometimes to mere "war porn."
Reenactors should never take themselves so seriously that they lose track of what HISTORY is. Yet--historians should never lose track of what reconstruction can teach--even if only negatively.
To be honest, as a recreator of the 1770's first and Classical Greece second, I can say (and I hope I cause no offense) that we really don't KNOW ANYTHING about the 5th C. BCE. Compared to the detail of our knowledge about the British Army in America in 1777 (and there's lots of room there for arguments) it's almost absurd to even TRY...
Yet--it is also important to try. If we don't, many questions won't even be asked.
Qui plus fait, miex vault.
