09-15-2014, 02:54 AM
Richard wrote:
According to Dunbar and others, humans tend to cluster into groups of about 150, and no more…I was struck by the number 150, which is about that of a maniple. Could it have been that Rome figured out that their soldiers were more effective in that size group?
Ok Richard I will enter the fray. :oops: Isidore give the size of a maniple at 200 men, so where does that leave Dunbar’s theory?
Richard wrote:
So while the maniple had ceased to exist as a tactical formation, it remained as a social one.
From the principate onwards there are references to maniples. So why does the maniple have to be a social organisation and not a military organisation? And where is the evidence that the maniple disappeared as a military organisation? This is just a theory that has not been fully explored but people take it as gospel. Why? Because the greater the number of people who believe it means it must be right. Now think of all those Germans who believed Hitler was right. Problem was too many Germans were accepting and not enough were questioning.
According to Dunbar and others, humans tend to cluster into groups of about 150, and no more…I was struck by the number 150, which is about that of a maniple. Could it have been that Rome figured out that their soldiers were more effective in that size group?
Ok Richard I will enter the fray. :oops: Isidore give the size of a maniple at 200 men, so where does that leave Dunbar’s theory?
Richard wrote:
So while the maniple had ceased to exist as a tactical formation, it remained as a social one.
From the principate onwards there are references to maniples. So why does the maniple have to be a social organisation and not a military organisation? And where is the evidence that the maniple disappeared as a military organisation? This is just a theory that has not been fully explored but people take it as gospel. Why? Because the greater the number of people who believe it means it must be right. Now think of all those Germans who believed Hitler was right. Problem was too many Germans were accepting and not enough were questioning.
