09-25-2010, 11:39 PM
Ave!
There was always a certain amount of that, but it didn't necessarily help much. Jon Lendon's book "Soldiers and Ghosts" is an excellent source on the topic. Part of the problem is that men who wanted to be great would read up on really famous examples like Alexander, but there's a difference between analyzing his tactics and just saying, "Oh, I can do that!" Lendon cites a later Roman general who was besieging a city and having trouble getting in. But he remembered that Alexander had led a dozen guys into a blind spot in a gateway, and gotten the gate open to let his army in. So this Roman general, against the frantic advice of his officers, grabs a dozen guys and charges up to the nearest gate--"If Alex could do it, so can I!" The problem was that this particular gate was NOT a blind spot, more like a barrel full of Roman fish... I believe the general got out alive, minus most of his picked men.
So yes, there was at least some study of ancient generalship! In the case of Pharsalus, I'm not sure how much Caesar knew of Cannae (likely quite a bit!), but it certainly wasn't the only cavalry action of the past that he could have learned from. Heck, his own experience was probably uppermost in his mind. And Pharsalus was a very different tactical situation from Cannae, anyway.
There was also a huge amount of literature back then that has not survived to today. Along with histories, there were military manuals and handbooks, written to teach new officers how to do it right. It was probably similar to learning surgery from the Internet... Hopefully when a fresh young tribune arrived at his new posting, his centurions would go through his library and make him chuck the worst of it!
Caveat Lector.
Matthew
There was always a certain amount of that, but it didn't necessarily help much. Jon Lendon's book "Soldiers and Ghosts" is an excellent source on the topic. Part of the problem is that men who wanted to be great would read up on really famous examples like Alexander, but there's a difference between analyzing his tactics and just saying, "Oh, I can do that!" Lendon cites a later Roman general who was besieging a city and having trouble getting in. But he remembered that Alexander had led a dozen guys into a blind spot in a gateway, and gotten the gate open to let his army in. So this Roman general, against the frantic advice of his officers, grabs a dozen guys and charges up to the nearest gate--"If Alex could do it, so can I!" The problem was that this particular gate was NOT a blind spot, more like a barrel full of Roman fish... I believe the general got out alive, minus most of his picked men.
So yes, there was at least some study of ancient generalship! In the case of Pharsalus, I'm not sure how much Caesar knew of Cannae (likely quite a bit!), but it certainly wasn't the only cavalry action of the past that he could have learned from. Heck, his own experience was probably uppermost in his mind. And Pharsalus was a very different tactical situation from Cannae, anyway.
There was also a huge amount of literature back then that has not survived to today. Along with histories, there were military manuals and handbooks, written to teach new officers how to do it right. It was probably similar to learning surgery from the Internet... Hopefully when a fresh young tribune arrived at his new posting, his centurions would go through his library and make him chuck the worst of it!
Caveat Lector.
Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
