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Orosius and the Missing 1500 men
#1
The King Alfred Anglo-Saxon Version of Orosius gives the following for the battle of Pharsalus (Book V, Chapter 12 5) page 170:

https://archive.org/details/kingalfredsangl00boswgoog

“He (Pompey) had eighty-eight cohorts, which we now call Truman, each of which was, in those days, one thousand five hundred men.”

The anglo-saxon is (page 111) He haefde [eahta ond] hund eahtatig [coortana], paet we nu Truman hatao, paet waes, on pam dagum, [fif] hund manna, and an M.”

The same account in a modern translation of Orosius (Book 6 15) states

https://sites.google.com/site/demontortoise2000/

“Pompey stationed eighty-eight cohorts in a triple line.”

There is no mention of the Truman, so does anyone know what the story is behind this?

I've since added the Latin below of which I haven't worked through with a Latin dictionary. Does the translation support a unit of 1500 men?

Pompeius octoginta et octo cohortes triplici ordine locauit: fuerunt autem peditum quadraginta milia, equites in sinistro cornu sescenti, in dextro quingenti, praeterea reges multi, senatores equitesque Romani plurimi, absque leuium armaturarum magna copia.
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#2
Possibly a corruption of the word Turmae?
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#3
Steven, have you checked the Church Fathers translation of Orosius?
Adrian Coombs-Hoar
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#4
Quote:The King Alfred Anglo-Saxon Version of Orosius gives the following for the battle of Pharsalus (Book V, Chapter 12 5) page 170: https://archive.org/details/kingalfredsangl00boswgoog
Why on earth would you consult a Latin text in an Anglo-Saxon translation?! :errr:

For Orosius, you need the Teubner text: https://archive.org/details/pavliorosiihist00orosgoog.

Orosius 6.15.23 (Teubner) reads "Pompey stationed eighty-eight cohorts in a triple line. There were forty thousand infantrymen, six hundred cavalry on the left wing, and five hundred on the right, and in addition many kings, very many Roman senators and knights, and a large force of light-armed troops."
posted by Duncan B Campbell
https://ninth-legion.blogspot.com/
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#5
D Campbell wrote
Why on earth would you consult a Latin text in an Anglo-Saxon translation?!

I haven’t consulted the Latin text in an Anglo-Saxon translation. I used two different sources. One was the King Alfred source in both English and Anglo Saxon, and the other source was a Latin version of Orosius. I obtained the information from two completely different sources.

D Campbell wrote
Orosius 6.15.23 (Teubner) reads "Pompey stationed eighty-eight cohorts in a triple line. There were forty thousand infantrymen, six hundred cavalry on the left wing, and five hundred on the right, and in addition many kings, very many Roman senators and knights, and a large force of light-armed troops."

This is how most translations I found read. What I was curious about is because the Anglo-Saxon version mentions a turman being 1500 men, I was curious to know if some of our modern interpretations had left out the Latin text concerning the turman being 1500 men. If this is not the case, then this leaves me puzzled as to why the King Alfred version contains the information regarding the turman?
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#6
Adrian wrote:
Steven, have you checked the Church Fathers translation of Orosius?

No not yet.
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