04-24-2006, 08:59 PM
Quote:Alexander would see the events of 100 years before him and he could count on the support of the populations of Asia Minor both Greek and non Greek to provide him with re-enforcements.
This seems a little on the speculative side to me... Lol! Seriously, though, I don't see Alexander learning directly from the mistakes of the Persians a hundred years before and I doubt he could 'count on' much in the way of support in Asia Minor; it might have been there, it might not have been; seems like a big risk to take to me, but then I wasn't there...
Quote:Modern historians tend to ommit the sizable allied contignents of the Roman Armies. For example the Aetolians of Flamininus or the Gauls and Germans even Armenians and Pontics of Ceasar. So the Roman force was larger than thought to be.
Agreed, but the lack of evidence is exactly the problem. Casear's 'Roman' force seems to have been around 30,000, but how that force was fielded and how many Auxillaries there might have been is another question. I doubt it exceeded 60,000 (more auxillaries than legionaries sounds like a recipe for disaster), but it's just an opinion.
Quote:Xerxes had seen the Asiatic Greek colonists being devided and defeated by his father. He expected the same in Greece and he raised a large army to cow the adversary in to submission.
True, but 'how large?' is the question, or rather 'what is large?.'
Quote: His allies were forced unreliable and likely to turn tail or "jump" him in the first oppotunity. Dont foget Mardonios and the Vrigae for example.. In Platea Thessalians and Phokians, though bitter enemies, swang right and left the Theban allies of Mardonius to be massacred by the Athenians,
Always a risk when using allies. Sounds like a good reason not to bring many of them! [i.e. only those 'military hostages' required to be assured of peace at home]
Quote:The allies of the Romans were more reliable.
But how much more? Not by much in the First Century BC, I would have thought, but the quality would no doubt have varied over time and space.
It is a joyful thing indeed to hold intimate converse with a man after one\'s own heart, chatting without reserve about things of interest or the fleeting topics of the world; but such, alas, are few and far between.
Yoshida Kenko (1283-1350), Tsurezure-Gusa (1340)
Yoshida Kenko (1283-1350), Tsurezure-Gusa (1340)
