01-04-2012, 11:22 PM
Quote:But as this discussion is moving firmly away from the original question (Late Roman army) I have split it off to form a new topic.I think it was sensible to split the thread, Robert. It had certainly become unwieldy.
But I'm not sure that we had moved away from Antiochus/Steven's original thinking. The zodiac made a pretty early entrance in his original thread:
Quote:Actually there is evidence of the existence of a grand mathematical plan and it is discussed in snippets by the Romans in various primary sources. Some say things like the changing of the intervals, or if the republic doesn’t change. There is also one reference explaining why the Romans do not talk about the system. They are embarrassed it does not belong to them and it should. To understand the grand mathematical plan as you call it requires the reader to investigate more disciplines than just the military. The size of a cohort can tell a lot if you know how to use the information. Many ancient authorities tell us a zodiac amounts to 30 degrees and Strabo remarks that one degree equals 700 stadia. Therefore, one zodiac equals 21,000 stadia. By taking the 480 man cohort as our example, when divided by 30 degrees the result is 16 zodiacs. In this manner one man in a cohort equals one degree, so a 480 man cohort when multiplied by 700 stadia per degree equals 336,000 stadia. This number means nothing to most readers at this point, but it is the number of men in the 35 tribes. So 336,000 men divided by 35 tribes equals 9600 men per tribe. Now by following Livy claiming the number of iuniores to seniores is 50/50, the 9600 men divides into 4800 iuniores and 4800 seniores. In short, the tribe dictates the size of the legion! Next rule is the number of cavalry squadrons must represent the number of zodiacs for that time period, so an alae of 512 men divided by 16 zodiacs equals 32 men. Therefore, a 512 alae contains 16 squadrons. The number 16 represents the Etruscan system of dividing the heavens into 16 parts.Hopefully, all will be revealed, in the fullness of time. :wink:
