How much did warfare change between Classical Athens and Sixth Century East Rome? And if it did was it an improvement? Was there anything that could be considered a revolution? Some say there have been a number of military revolutions (er - that's revolutions in the ways of war, rather than, say, the replacement of one ruler by another) at various points, other just a few. Had matters improved to such a degree by the sixth century that an east Roman army would annihilate a band of Athenian hoplites had they jumped forward in time some 1000 years?
The most obvious answer is probably yes. After all, the hoplite armies of late classical Greece had been defeated, quite significantly, by those of Philip, Alexander, and Macedonia. In turn, those same Macedonian armies had been defeated, in time, by the Roman armies, and again quite significantly. So, if the sixth century east Roman army was an offshoot of the earlier one that had been so successful, then it would stand to reason that yes, they would be successful, and so things had improved.
But was there anything that could be called revolutionary in the changes that had taken place? There was no gunpowder, or air power. Even the stirrup wasn't quite there yet. What about changes in artillery: do they count? Perhaps, but did victories in sieges ultimately lead to success in war? The Romans had a lot of success, but so did the Persians - and they eventually lost out. Perhaps if there was a revolution it was less in the area of the methods of fighting than in the organizations that emerged instead. The Roman armies were famously professional - eventually - and the greater flexibility of their units allowed them to run circles around their foes. Polybius describes something to this effect in his Histories when he's describing the Macedonian phalanx and the Roman legion (which in his day was filled with cohorts rather than centuries, which came a bit later). Sarantis (2013) has argued that Roman success in late antiquity rested in another aspect of organization - their infrastructure, from the series of well-fortified sites across the frontiers to the well-planned logistical networks and systems. So maybe the revolution, or revolutions, was less in the way of war than in the means of enabling it.
Much of our evidence for combat, of course, comes from literary sources, and their take on things can muddy the waters to no insignificant degree. To my mind one of the most stark examples of this is Procopius' descriptions of combat in his Wars. For Procopius is effectively describing war in the language, manner, and style of Thucydides, even though Thuydides is dealing with hoplites and Procopius late Roman soldiers. Even more surprising - and problematic - than this is his "famous" comparison in the preface between Homeric archers and the horse archers of his day. Scholars have wrangled over what Procopius is saying: legitimate discussion, playful and subtle criticism of contemporary practice, or the presentation of some sort of ideal. Whatever he had in mind, it's worth considering that he did see fit to make this comparison in the first place, and his relative success as a writer suggests it had some currency. Is this just a case of the baffling ineptness of Procopius and some members of his audience? In some real sense did they really think that you could compare the warfare waged 1000 years (and more - even 1500) earlier with that of his own day? Had some actually criticized the present-day soldiers in light of those earlier ones?
But maybe we are missing something - maybe war really hadn't changed all that much. Yes, Roman legions had crushed Macedonian phalanges/phalanxes, but if Alexander had lived a little later, and/or the two met a bit earlier, would the phalanx still have been bested by Roman might? I think that question is harder to answer.
Ultimately, a satisfactory answer would take a lot more time and space than the length of this blog and the amount of time it took me to write this. But, if warfare didn't change all that much, at least during the classical age (and you might say Homer and Procopius fall outside it, to some degree, at least when we're concerned with warfare, and so the notes about them are misleading), that Procopius, for instance, did see fit to describe war in the manner that he did might not have been as foolhardy as it might seem on the surface.
Friday, 18 July 2014
Wednesday, 16 July 2014
What Makes a Good Ancient(etc.) Military History Part 3: Procopius' Art of War
As I was saying about more time...
There were a number of ways to describe war in the sixth century and Procopius simply opted with the most tried and true of approaches. Indeed, one of the greatest aspects of the sixth century is the many ways available to describe both the more recent and the more distant past - and the number of different aspects of those pasts that were described. It was no longer simply war and politics. Nevertheless, that's what I'm interested here.
So, however we might characterize Procopius' way of war, it's also worth asking whose it is? Is it his alone? Those of the wider sixth century in general? This is important, for it has some bearing on the evaluation of his worth as a military historian (or war reporter). There are other historians who described some of the same events that he did, such as Malalas, John Lydus, and Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite. Many consider Malalas to represent the official view, though he's not terribly interested in the minutiae of sixth century warfare, with few exceptions - and many (though not me) would argue that what we have is little more than mishmash of other sources. John Lydus' history is lost, though that he was apparently commissioned to write a history of sorts of Justinian's war/wars is worth noting. Pseudo-Joshua was writing a bit earlier, and his worldview is not quite that of the classicizing Procopius: it makes for a refreshing comparative. With that said, a cursory glances suggests that his worldview is more likely that of the Romano-Persian borderlands than that of the core of the empire in Constantinople and environs.
Still, that doesn't help us with Procopius. If his views are idiosyncratic - those of him alone - then it would be more than a little misleading to characterize his approach to warfare as the "Byzantine Way of War", the "Late Roman Way of War", "the East Roman Way of War", or what have you.
Whosever views we think Procopius presents, it's also true that he makes for a complex case because of the quantity of his surviving work, and the sheer variety of what he does include. On the one hand, he presents a host of rulers, from Persian shahs to Roman emperors. The central emperor, Justinian, features occasionally, at least explicitly, in the Wars, though has a much more central role in the Buildings and Secret History. Plus, from a military perspective (though from other perspectives too), the image of Justinian that he presents is obtuse, at least if we use all three texts - and I think we should. In the SH we have an emperor whose foreign policy decisions undermined the security of the state, thanks in part to his willingness to use what seem to be less than desirable means of achieving his desired ends - i.e., he pays of barbarians and under-funds the very soldiery on whose safety the empire depends. In the Buildings, the emperor's construction work led, amongst other things, to what could be called an unprecedented level of security of the empire and its citizenry. Indeed, the emperor of that panegyrical text is - or at this point in my research seems to be - very much a defensively-minded one, which would seem to mesh with how some characterize the general Byzantine strategic mentality. In the Wars, in sharp contrast to his adversaries, Justinian doesn't campaign in person, and the warfare that's described is a mixture of the defensive against Persia, though the Romans do attack on occasion;, the offensive (how else ought we characterize the wars in Africa and Italy than as wars of aggression?; and asymmetric, if we go back to Africa and the unrest that arose after the initial lightning-quick conquest. We also get some insight, particularly in the build-up to the African invasion, of the foreign policy decision making at the court of Justinian.
Even the combat described is varied - Persian combat is in many ways unlike Vandal combat, which is also in many ways unlike Gothic combat. And, all this is to say nothing about the little-mentioned Balkan combat that he all but excludes. Sure, cavalry is described, and there are some well-known discussions of horse archers, but infantry features too, there is plenty of siege warfare, and let's not forget the asymmetric combat. Some Romans (or East Romans or Byzantines if you prefer) demonstrate predilections for what some call the western way of war - direct assaults on the enemy. Other Romans prefer what some call the eastern approach - fight at last resort. Indeed, in some ways this is the problem of Byzantine history in general - in the minds of many it lands somewhere between east and west: more eastern than western to medievalists, and perhaps more western than eastern to orientalists.
Anyway, if there's any point yet it's simply that there's much to consider.
There were a number of ways to describe war in the sixth century and Procopius simply opted with the most tried and true of approaches. Indeed, one of the greatest aspects of the sixth century is the many ways available to describe both the more recent and the more distant past - and the number of different aspects of those pasts that were described. It was no longer simply war and politics. Nevertheless, that's what I'm interested here.
So, however we might characterize Procopius' way of war, it's also worth asking whose it is? Is it his alone? Those of the wider sixth century in general? This is important, for it has some bearing on the evaluation of his worth as a military historian (or war reporter). There are other historians who described some of the same events that he did, such as Malalas, John Lydus, and Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite. Many consider Malalas to represent the official view, though he's not terribly interested in the minutiae of sixth century warfare, with few exceptions - and many (though not me) would argue that what we have is little more than mishmash of other sources. John Lydus' history is lost, though that he was apparently commissioned to write a history of sorts of Justinian's war/wars is worth noting. Pseudo-Joshua was writing a bit earlier, and his worldview is not quite that of the classicizing Procopius: it makes for a refreshing comparative. With that said, a cursory glances suggests that his worldview is more likely that of the Romano-Persian borderlands than that of the core of the empire in Constantinople and environs.
Still, that doesn't help us with Procopius. If his views are idiosyncratic - those of him alone - then it would be more than a little misleading to characterize his approach to warfare as the "Byzantine Way of War", the "Late Roman Way of War", "the East Roman Way of War", or what have you.
Whosever views we think Procopius presents, it's also true that he makes for a complex case because of the quantity of his surviving work, and the sheer variety of what he does include. On the one hand, he presents a host of rulers, from Persian shahs to Roman emperors. The central emperor, Justinian, features occasionally, at least explicitly, in the Wars, though has a much more central role in the Buildings and Secret History. Plus, from a military perspective (though from other perspectives too), the image of Justinian that he presents is obtuse, at least if we use all three texts - and I think we should. In the SH we have an emperor whose foreign policy decisions undermined the security of the state, thanks in part to his willingness to use what seem to be less than desirable means of achieving his desired ends - i.e., he pays of barbarians and under-funds the very soldiery on whose safety the empire depends. In the Buildings, the emperor's construction work led, amongst other things, to what could be called an unprecedented level of security of the empire and its citizenry. Indeed, the emperor of that panegyrical text is - or at this point in my research seems to be - very much a defensively-minded one, which would seem to mesh with how some characterize the general Byzantine strategic mentality. In the Wars, in sharp contrast to his adversaries, Justinian doesn't campaign in person, and the warfare that's described is a mixture of the defensive against Persia, though the Romans do attack on occasion;, the offensive (how else ought we characterize the wars in Africa and Italy than as wars of aggression?; and asymmetric, if we go back to Africa and the unrest that arose after the initial lightning-quick conquest. We also get some insight, particularly in the build-up to the African invasion, of the foreign policy decision making at the court of Justinian.
Even the combat described is varied - Persian combat is in many ways unlike Vandal combat, which is also in many ways unlike Gothic combat. And, all this is to say nothing about the little-mentioned Balkan combat that he all but excludes. Sure, cavalry is described, and there are some well-known discussions of horse archers, but infantry features too, there is plenty of siege warfare, and let's not forget the asymmetric combat. Some Romans (or East Romans or Byzantines if you prefer) demonstrate predilections for what some call the western way of war - direct assaults on the enemy. Other Romans prefer what some call the eastern approach - fight at last resort. Indeed, in some ways this is the problem of Byzantine history in general - in the minds of many it lands somewhere between east and west: more eastern than western to medievalists, and perhaps more western than eastern to orientalists.
Anyway, if there's any point yet it's simply that there's much to consider.
What Makes a Good Ancient/Late Antique/Medieval Historian Part 2
More time means more thinking.
So, one of the issues, or at least a matter that has been raised about Procopius - and you could argue widely accepted - is his status as a topnotch reporter, but less so a top historian (Cameron 1985, essentially). As noted, my focus is on military history in particular, and so for me I've framed this particular dichotomy, one which the book will address, is whether Procopius is a topnotch war reported or a top notch military historian - or various shades of grey.
The thinking, so far as I understand it, is that if he's simply a top reporter, then his account is more valuable for what it describes than how he explains what he describes. Thucydides, famously, not only provides one of the most vivid accounts of war from any age, but one of the most penetrating historical analyses as well - and, it is probably fair to say that Procopius doesn't quite hit that mark. But does he only describe? I'm convinced that, at least with respect to combat, he doesn't. In fact, there are all sorts of explanations that he includes in the bulk of his descriptions, and even in those brief notices. But, to my mind it stands to reason that if he explains combat, both implicitly and explicitly, then he probably explains a lot more, even if the analysis itself isn't as penetrating as we might like it to be. That might mean that he has recourse to the divine and morality, which might not be what we'd like (though that in itself is interesting from a cultural perspective), but I do believe it's there - though if it's not, I'll note that too.
Procopius certainly presents a wide variety of the experiences of war, and even some of those of the lower echelons of society, even if they are sometimes little more than vague references and compilations of cliches, dare I say. Indeed, there's no doubt in my mind that his coverage is extensive. Procopius provides information on the planning for war, at both the highest levels and in the field. He discusses some of the logistics of war, both directly and indirectly, from his manifold descriptions of fortifications in the buildings and the food problems experienced on the voyage to Africa, to the attempts of Belisarius himself to recruit men before heading back to Italy for the second time. There are also all those anecdotes - like his own (Procopius') foray into Sicily and the coast of Italy during the Gothic War.
One issue that could pose some problems is the lack of closure. Though parts of the Wars end in what are to my mind more reasonable places than most have assumed, in all cases, save maybe Africa to some degree or other, the wars hadn't finished by the time he'd finished. Indeed, even after he'd penned book 8 it wasn't all over. Yet, the same was true for Thucydides, or Polybius for that matter, and yet that hasn't stopped scholars from praising them.
So, more to come...
What Makes a Good Ancient/LateAntique/Medieval Military Historian?
How do you determine whether an ancient/late antique/medieval historian was a good one? What criteria should one use? Is there even such a thing as a good one? Heck, is it anachronistic to even consider ancient (etc.) historians if this was only part of what many of them did?
The reason I ask is that this has something to do with a project of mine looming on the horizon, and one I should be able to really get into within the next month or two. In this "year of Procopius", as I'm calling the next 12-14 months or so, one of the most significant things is an evaluation of Procopius as a military historian, something which hasn't attracted too much attention, or at least too much sustained, detailed attention. Sure, many have used him for late antique military matters, and so included some comments about his worth and the like, and there's even been a few essays, but nothing book length. Given that this is what I've set out to do (and plans and a possible/probable publisher are in place) I should really determine what that is.
I have already given the issue some thought. Another project, on Procopius and battle, is, I hope, nearing completion. That study is much more of a cultural reading of his approach to combat - I'm less interested there, at least explicitly, with whether or how we can use him for the realien of late antique military history - which is what this other project tackles. So, I do have a plan, or a tentative one, for how this ought to go. I'll include all three works, Wars, Secret History, and Buildings - they each have valuable evidence to offer, and to provide a full evaluation it would only make sense to cover all three. I've also been leaning towards dividing the project into at least three principal sections. One of the problems I'm having is I'm wondering this working plan is anachronistic - am I being guilty of the sorts of things that I'm saying we shouldn't do in this other project on combat?
The three sections I have in mind are: first, on strategy, which some would say is anachronistic for the pre-modern world, others wouldn't; the second, on operations, certainly mentioned and important - and some could argue even stressed, but a modern classification no less; and the third on tactics, the stuff at the battle level, where there would be some overlap with the previous project. I plan on rectifying the overlap problem by focusing in this new one more squarely on: "how can and should we use Procopius for military matters". Anyway, is this how I should be evaluating him, using our own terms? To some degree this is unavoidable - I am writing in English, after all . But if I shouldn't, then how should I do this? I guess you could look at the various ways that the ancients thought that war was won and lost, and we do, fortunately, have a good amount of evidence for this. I could then compare this with what Procopius has to say. Does he cover the same things? Would ancient readers approve of how he describes and explains war - and matters such as the role of God, Justinian, generalship, and whatever else?
Of course, maybe it need not be one or the other. There could be a first half that sets out Procopius' art of war (tentative title, I should add, is Procopius' Art of War), and which could cover all those issues that he does, from fortifications, siege engines, and technology, to disadvantaged frontier soldiers, multiethnic Roman armies, and questionable paying off of barbarian peoples. All those issues could fit under the broader category of war. Then, the second half could discuss how we use this. First, from a late antique operations standpoint, second, from a strategic standpoint, and third, from a tactical standpoint. If you do that, though, it would probably make sense to work in the former into the latter. Perhaps, then, it's not as problematic as I sometimes think it is.
Ultimately, the more I think about something, the more I doubt what had originally seemed so sensible. It's entirely plausible that I'll eventually go full circle and return right back to the original plan. But, plenty of time to work this out yet.
The reason I ask is that this has something to do with a project of mine looming on the horizon, and one I should be able to really get into within the next month or two. In this "year of Procopius", as I'm calling the next 12-14 months or so, one of the most significant things is an evaluation of Procopius as a military historian, something which hasn't attracted too much attention, or at least too much sustained, detailed attention. Sure, many have used him for late antique military matters, and so included some comments about his worth and the like, and there's even been a few essays, but nothing book length. Given that this is what I've set out to do (and plans and a possible/probable publisher are in place) I should really determine what that is.
I have already given the issue some thought. Another project, on Procopius and battle, is, I hope, nearing completion. That study is much more of a cultural reading of his approach to combat - I'm less interested there, at least explicitly, with whether or how we can use him for the realien of late antique military history - which is what this other project tackles. So, I do have a plan, or a tentative one, for how this ought to go. I'll include all three works, Wars, Secret History, and Buildings - they each have valuable evidence to offer, and to provide a full evaluation it would only make sense to cover all three. I've also been leaning towards dividing the project into at least three principal sections. One of the problems I'm having is I'm wondering this working plan is anachronistic - am I being guilty of the sorts of things that I'm saying we shouldn't do in this other project on combat?
The three sections I have in mind are: first, on strategy, which some would say is anachronistic for the pre-modern world, others wouldn't; the second, on operations, certainly mentioned and important - and some could argue even stressed, but a modern classification no less; and the third on tactics, the stuff at the battle level, where there would be some overlap with the previous project. I plan on rectifying the overlap problem by focusing in this new one more squarely on: "how can and should we use Procopius for military matters". Anyway, is this how I should be evaluating him, using our own terms? To some degree this is unavoidable - I am writing in English, after all . But if I shouldn't, then how should I do this? I guess you could look at the various ways that the ancients thought that war was won and lost, and we do, fortunately, have a good amount of evidence for this. I could then compare this with what Procopius has to say. Does he cover the same things? Would ancient readers approve of how he describes and explains war - and matters such as the role of God, Justinian, generalship, and whatever else?
Of course, maybe it need not be one or the other. There could be a first half that sets out Procopius' art of war (tentative title, I should add, is Procopius' Art of War), and which could cover all those issues that he does, from fortifications, siege engines, and technology, to disadvantaged frontier soldiers, multiethnic Roman armies, and questionable paying off of barbarian peoples. All those issues could fit under the broader category of war. Then, the second half could discuss how we use this. First, from a late antique operations standpoint, second, from a strategic standpoint, and third, from a tactical standpoint. If you do that, though, it would probably make sense to work in the former into the latter. Perhaps, then, it's not as problematic as I sometimes think it is.
Ultimately, the more I think about something, the more I doubt what had originally seemed so sensible. It's entirely plausible that I'll eventually go full circle and return right back to the original plan. But, plenty of time to work this out yet.
Saturday, 15 February 2014
If the Late Roman Military Was a Sports Team: should the emperor/coach get fired?
Some time ago, while suffering through, and thinking about, the inconsistent performances of my favourite NHL team (the Ottawa Senators) and the local one (Winnipeg Jets), two things crossed my mind: first, what constitutes "a good record"; second, do - or even could or should - the criteria for sports team excellence apply to other phenomena? The other that I had in mind was the late Roman military, often either good or bad in modern estimations, with very few verdicts falling in between. If I took the general criteria for evaluating the success of a given team over the course of a season and applied it to the late Roman military how would it stack up? With this ridiculous idea and parallel in mind, I present this comparative approach to an evaluation of the late Roman military.
The criteria that I'm going to use are quite basic: how many wins are there and how many losses. This is the easiest way to compare sports to militaries: both win and lose. To make the analogy between then (late Rome) and now (modern North American sports), I've also decided to see how the military performs in different centuries, with the aim being to present a wider picture. I should note too that I've limited this discussion to wars agains external foes, for in civil war surely everyone's a loser from the Roman perspective. Any significant military activity (and I have been rather loose with respect to what counts) has been included, whether it's what could be considered a full-scale war or some sort of military campaign. Also, it's hardly an extensive list: I've only considered those wars listed in the back of volume 2 of the Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare. So, without further ado, here's late Rome's "performance": a preliminary investigation.
Wins-Losses-Draws 5-8-2
208-210 Septimius Severus in Scotland WIN
213-214 Caracalla against Alamanni WIN
215-216 Caracalla invades Parthia WIN
230-233 Alexander Severus campaigns against Persians DRAW
234-235 Alexander against Alamanni and Marcomanni - buys them off - DRAW
238 Persians attack eastern frontier - LOSS
243/244 Gordian defeated by Shapur I - LOSS
249/250 Goths raid Balkans - LOSS
251 Decius dies in battle against Goths - LOSS
260 Valerian captured by Persians - LOSS
260 Franks invade Gaul - LOSS
260 Alamanni invade Gaul - LOSS
262-267 Goths invade Asia Minor/Greece - LOSS
271 Aurelian defeats Palmyra - WIN
273 Aurelian reconquers Gaul - WIN
Wins-Losses-Draws 1-4-1
337-350 inconclusive war with Persia - DRAW
357 Julian defeats Alamanni - WIN
359 Shapur captures Amida - LOSS
361-363 Julian invades Persia - LOSS
378 Goths defeat & kill Valens - LOSS
396 Alaric & Goths ravage Greece - LOSS
Wins-Losses-Draws 0-6-1
410 sack of Rome - LOSS
429-439 Vandals take Africa - LOSS
440s Attila - DRAW
455 Vandals sack Rome - LOSS
460 Majorian's expedition to get Africa fails - LOSS
468 Basilicus' expedition to get Africa fails - LOSS
480s Goths overrun northern Balkans - LOSS
Wins-Losses-Draws 5-4-1
502-531 Rome wars with Persia - DRAW
533 Belisarius takes Africa - WIN
540 Belisarius takes Italy - WIN
540 Khusro attacks east - LOSS
544-552 Narses defeats Gothic resistance in Italy - WIN
568 Lombards invade Italy - LOSS
572 Justin II invades Persia - WIN
578/579 Avars start invasion of Balkans - LOSS
586/587 Slavs raid Greece - LOSS
590s Romans "win" in Balkans - WIN
Wins-Losses-Draws 1-2-0
614 Persians take much of east - LOSS
627 Heraclius defeats Persians at Nineveh - WIN
642 Arabs capture Alexandria - LOSS
Overall Wins-Losses-Draws 12-22-5
As noted, this is a far from thorough and extensive compilation of wars and wins/losses/draws and the like, and what has constituted for me a win or loss, or draw for that matter, has come down to a vaguely arbitrary decision. Still, a few comments - the evaluation portion - are in order.
Overall, the late Roman military (henceforth lrm) has a dismal record. In most north american sports leagues, or any for that matter, a 31% winning percentage isn't likely to lead to an extension of a coach's or manager's contract. That percentage puts them in the same rank as the Buffalo Sabres of this current NHL season (at 28% at the Olympic break - even worse remarkably). If we break it down by century, things look particularly grim in the third and fifth centuries, which is perhaps what we'd expect. So too, however, does the situation seem to be in the fourth, when most consider the lrm to have been performing at a reasonable level. In fact, it's the sixth century that the lrm does best, though a 56% winning percentage is nothing to write home about. Just ask the Jets; it's not going to get you into the playoffs. The record for the sixth century may not seem so dire either, though I stopped in the middle of that century.
There's at least one other way to look at these figures, however, at least if we look at the century by century breakdown: does the lrm win its last or most important battles/wars? If that's the criteria, then the third and sixth centuries again represent winning seasons: they've finished on top. Still, the records leave much to be desired.
In the end, a poor showing, though a more detailed complete would be far more helpful. So too would some additional comparative material, like Rome during the republican era and the early imperial one. Perhaps in another post...
The criteria that I'm going to use are quite basic: how many wins are there and how many losses. This is the easiest way to compare sports to militaries: both win and lose. To make the analogy between then (late Rome) and now (modern North American sports), I've also decided to see how the military performs in different centuries, with the aim being to present a wider picture. I should note too that I've limited this discussion to wars agains external foes, for in civil war surely everyone's a loser from the Roman perspective. Any significant military activity (and I have been rather loose with respect to what counts) has been included, whether it's what could be considered a full-scale war or some sort of military campaign. Also, it's hardly an extensive list: I've only considered those wars listed in the back of volume 2 of the Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare. So, without further ado, here's late Rome's "performance": a preliminary investigation.
Wins-Losses-Draws 5-8-2
208-210 Septimius Severus in Scotland WIN
213-214 Caracalla against Alamanni WIN
215-216 Caracalla invades Parthia WIN
230-233 Alexander Severus campaigns against Persians DRAW
234-235 Alexander against Alamanni and Marcomanni - buys them off - DRAW
238 Persians attack eastern frontier - LOSS
243/244 Gordian defeated by Shapur I - LOSS
249/250 Goths raid Balkans - LOSS
251 Decius dies in battle against Goths - LOSS
260 Valerian captured by Persians - LOSS
260 Franks invade Gaul - LOSS
260 Alamanni invade Gaul - LOSS
262-267 Goths invade Asia Minor/Greece - LOSS
271 Aurelian defeats Palmyra - WIN
273 Aurelian reconquers Gaul - WIN
Wins-Losses-Draws 1-4-1
337-350 inconclusive war with Persia - DRAW
357 Julian defeats Alamanni - WIN
359 Shapur captures Amida - LOSS
361-363 Julian invades Persia - LOSS
378 Goths defeat & kill Valens - LOSS
396 Alaric & Goths ravage Greece - LOSS
Wins-Losses-Draws 0-6-1
410 sack of Rome - LOSS
429-439 Vandals take Africa - LOSS
440s Attila - DRAW
455 Vandals sack Rome - LOSS
460 Majorian's expedition to get Africa fails - LOSS
468 Basilicus' expedition to get Africa fails - LOSS
480s Goths overrun northern Balkans - LOSS
Wins-Losses-Draws 5-4-1
502-531 Rome wars with Persia - DRAW
533 Belisarius takes Africa - WIN
540 Belisarius takes Italy - WIN
540 Khusro attacks east - LOSS
544-552 Narses defeats Gothic resistance in Italy - WIN
568 Lombards invade Italy - LOSS
572 Justin II invades Persia - WIN
578/579 Avars start invasion of Balkans - LOSS
586/587 Slavs raid Greece - LOSS
590s Romans "win" in Balkans - WIN
Wins-Losses-Draws 1-2-0
614 Persians take much of east - LOSS
627 Heraclius defeats Persians at Nineveh - WIN
642 Arabs capture Alexandria - LOSS
Overall Wins-Losses-Draws 12-22-5
As noted, this is a far from thorough and extensive compilation of wars and wins/losses/draws and the like, and what has constituted for me a win or loss, or draw for that matter, has come down to a vaguely arbitrary decision. Still, a few comments - the evaluation portion - are in order.
Overall, the late Roman military (henceforth lrm) has a dismal record. In most north american sports leagues, or any for that matter, a 31% winning percentage isn't likely to lead to an extension of a coach's or manager's contract. That percentage puts them in the same rank as the Buffalo Sabres of this current NHL season (at 28% at the Olympic break - even worse remarkably). If we break it down by century, things look particularly grim in the third and fifth centuries, which is perhaps what we'd expect. So too, however, does the situation seem to be in the fourth, when most consider the lrm to have been performing at a reasonable level. In fact, it's the sixth century that the lrm does best, though a 56% winning percentage is nothing to write home about. Just ask the Jets; it's not going to get you into the playoffs. The record for the sixth century may not seem so dire either, though I stopped in the middle of that century.
There's at least one other way to look at these figures, however, at least if we look at the century by century breakdown: does the lrm win its last or most important battles/wars? If that's the criteria, then the third and sixth centuries again represent winning seasons: they've finished on top. Still, the records leave much to be desired.
In the end, a poor showing, though a more detailed complete would be far more helpful. So too would some additional comparative material, like Rome during the republican era and the early imperial one. Perhaps in another post...
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Need for Speed: in Defence of the Winter Olympics
A few days ago I read this http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2014/02/07/10-objections-to-the-winter-olympics/, and it got me thinking about how the winter Olympics stack up to the summer ones. Obviously, being a Canadian and given that I'm sitting here looking out my window at the early stages of a 10-15cm snowfall, I'm a bit biased. Still, being human we all are, so on with the show. And, rather than write a rambling post filled with all the weird and wonderful things about winter sports, I'll respond to those 10 items point-by-point.
10) Founders’ intent.
The point here is that the founders of the Olympics never intended for winter sports to be included. My counter is, with respect to the modern games, that they also intended for them to be for men, who were white and rich, alone. With respect to the original Olympics, they too were male dominated, and not open to all. And, how much snow would you actually get in the settled bits of ancient Greece? Not much. Heck, the original founder, Heracles - not whom she had in mind - is hardly someone to look up to. In sum, argument fail.
9) The Winter Games just doesn’t draw the same crowd.
Fair enough: fewer people watch it than the summer ones, and yes there are far more countries who participate in the summer ones than the winter ones. Point conceded. Still, seeing the thronging masses in downtown Vancouver for the gold medal mens' hockey game 4 years ago or the 40,000 or so in the cold at the base of the ski jump hill in Lillihammer 20 years ago it's hard to get a bit of a chill watching the Winter Olympics...
8) Almost every Winter Olympic event can be summarized as follows: Someone is on a plane of snow or ice (it can be flat, or inclined) and that person falls down or does not fall down.
I think this argument fails itself. And, a ridiculous amount of skill goes into each and every one of those events. How much skill is involved in running straight for 10 seconds? Or doing a pirouette and then chucking a little metal ball? Have you ever tried skiing downhill at speed on skis and then jumped dozens of feet in the air, done a host of flips, and landed perfectly? Now how about going downhill backwards? And jumping facing backwards? And landing facing backwards? In sum, argument fail.
7) The Olympics is supposed to be a world Games, not a Snow-World Games.
See 9) - she's repeating herself. Still, point conceded. Cost is an issue and Canada is a rich country.
6) Even the weakest summer sports are more interesting than some of the strongest winter sports.
Seriously? Most winter sports are faster and involve a great deal more skill than a great deal of the summer sports. Yes, curling doesn't appeal to all. But archery? Or shooting? Or any running event? How are those better than their winter equivalents? In the winter games you not only shoot, but you shoot after cross country skiing. If you fall while speed skating, well, that's just part of the sport. If you fall while running in any sprint you're an idiot. To reply using her own language, if I wanted to watch someone run and be entertained, I could watch someone run down the sidewalk, bags and hair flying, towards his or her bus as it speeds off. In sum, argument fail.
5) The barrier to entry is lower.
Again, see 9) and 7). 3 of her 10 points essentially say the same thing. Point conceded but overall argument fail.
4) You can’t tell if the participants are attractive or not because everyone is wearing layers that make them look like either those dancing windsocks outside used car dealerships or Power Rangers.
Really? Last time I checked Olympic sport was about athletic achievement rather than the sexuality of the participants. In sum, argument fail.
3) In recent memory, the Opening Ceremonies at the Summer Games have been infinitely weirder.
I don't know. The closing ceremonies to the Vancouver games were very entertaining. With that said, I tend not to watch these. So...undecided.
2) Star caliber.
This is all relative. Yes, Usain Bolt is undoubtedly more famous than any athlete from the winter games the world over, to give one example. But in Canada the members of the men's hockey team are more famous than just about any athlete from the summer games from any country, to give another example. I'm going to go with a draw with this one.
1) Curling.
Nearly every track and field event. In sum, argument fail.
In conclusion, the Winter Olympics come out on top 5-1. There were 2 draws, and 3 possible arguments for summer games were actually just variations of 1 argument. Even if we count all of those, winter still comes out on top 5-4. I'll count that as another gold medal for Canada.
10) Founders’ intent.
The point here is that the founders of the Olympics never intended for winter sports to be included. My counter is, with respect to the modern games, that they also intended for them to be for men, who were white and rich, alone. With respect to the original Olympics, they too were male dominated, and not open to all. And, how much snow would you actually get in the settled bits of ancient Greece? Not much. Heck, the original founder, Heracles - not whom she had in mind - is hardly someone to look up to. In sum, argument fail.
9) The Winter Games just doesn’t draw the same crowd.
Fair enough: fewer people watch it than the summer ones, and yes there are far more countries who participate in the summer ones than the winter ones. Point conceded. Still, seeing the thronging masses in downtown Vancouver for the gold medal mens' hockey game 4 years ago or the 40,000 or so in the cold at the base of the ski jump hill in Lillihammer 20 years ago it's hard to get a bit of a chill watching the Winter Olympics...
8) Almost every Winter Olympic event can be summarized as follows: Someone is on a plane of snow or ice (it can be flat, or inclined) and that person falls down or does not fall down.
I think this argument fails itself. And, a ridiculous amount of skill goes into each and every one of those events. How much skill is involved in running straight for 10 seconds? Or doing a pirouette and then chucking a little metal ball? Have you ever tried skiing downhill at speed on skis and then jumped dozens of feet in the air, done a host of flips, and landed perfectly? Now how about going downhill backwards? And jumping facing backwards? And landing facing backwards? In sum, argument fail.
7) The Olympics is supposed to be a world Games, not a Snow-World Games.
See 9) - she's repeating herself. Still, point conceded. Cost is an issue and Canada is a rich country.
6) Even the weakest summer sports are more interesting than some of the strongest winter sports.
Seriously? Most winter sports are faster and involve a great deal more skill than a great deal of the summer sports. Yes, curling doesn't appeal to all. But archery? Or shooting? Or any running event? How are those better than their winter equivalents? In the winter games you not only shoot, but you shoot after cross country skiing. If you fall while speed skating, well, that's just part of the sport. If you fall while running in any sprint you're an idiot. To reply using her own language, if I wanted to watch someone run and be entertained, I could watch someone run down the sidewalk, bags and hair flying, towards his or her bus as it speeds off. In sum, argument fail.
5) The barrier to entry is lower.
Again, see 9) and 7). 3 of her 10 points essentially say the same thing. Point conceded but overall argument fail.
4) You can’t tell if the participants are attractive or not because everyone is wearing layers that make them look like either those dancing windsocks outside used car dealerships or Power Rangers.
Really? Last time I checked Olympic sport was about athletic achievement rather than the sexuality of the participants. In sum, argument fail.
3) In recent memory, the Opening Ceremonies at the Summer Games have been infinitely weirder.
I don't know. The closing ceremonies to the Vancouver games were very entertaining. With that said, I tend not to watch these. So...undecided.
2) Star caliber.
This is all relative. Yes, Usain Bolt is undoubtedly more famous than any athlete from the winter games the world over, to give one example. But in Canada the members of the men's hockey team are more famous than just about any athlete from the summer games from any country, to give another example. I'm going to go with a draw with this one.
1) Curling.
Nearly every track and field event. In sum, argument fail.
In conclusion, the Winter Olympics come out on top 5-1. There were 2 draws, and 3 possible arguments for summer games were actually just variations of 1 argument. Even if we count all of those, winter still comes out on top 5-4. I'll count that as another gold medal for Canada.
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Historical Accuracy, Television Drama, and Storytelling
It's been a while since I've posted anything, and so to get myself back into the groove I thought I'd start with something light: the "problem" of historical inaccuracies in TV shows and movies set in historical periods. The impetus for this is the teaching of classical myth (round 5) and the BBC drama "the White Queen".
If you haven't seen it, BBC's "the White Queen" is set in late medieval England in the years leading up to Henry VII's (Tudor - father of the more famous Henry VIII) seizure of the English crown - I've seen three episodes and so far he's just a boy. One of the most familiar figures in the show to the masses today is likely Richard III, the king in the car park. I confess I know little about the English monarchy, but I've enjoyed the show so far. It's something of a slower and vaguely historical version of "Game of Thrones". While watching, my curiosity has gotten the better of me and I've resorted to - gasp! - wikipedia for some background on Edward IV, the (XVIth) Earl of Warwick, et al.
No second season is planned, at least one produced by the BBC (though Starz has other ideas). While perusing the websites that set out the critical reception of the show I discovered that one of the issues that has attracted some criticism is the ever-present issue of historical accuracy. Some have bemoaned the lack of this in the show. For example, some have found fault with the dashingly white teeth, others with the location of the Battle of Bosworth (an episode I haven't reached yet - summary of these comments here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Queen_(TV_series)#Historical_accuracy). This leads to the main subject of this blog: does historical accuracy really matter to an appreciation of an historical drama (TV or movie)?
As a classicist cum-historian cum-Romanist cum-Byzantinist, etc., etc., you're often asked what you think or how you view movies and television shows set in the ancient or early medieval worlds. The usual assumption is that you spend the bulk of your time nitpicking. In truth, however, I don't. In fact, as long as something historical is vaguely plausible, that's all that matters so long as the story and the characters are compelling. Do people really watch historical dramas to learn about the respective historical contexts? Or do they watch them to be entertained, and maybe even challenged on some level or other?
To my mind, it's not really important whether specific details are right or wrong, particularly if they're small like teeth colour (though some issues, like teeth colour or something similar can make for interesting commentary with friends). If an author/screenwriter/etc. changes a few details here and there but it serves to strengthen the story then all the better. Fact is, despite the historical context, they are still, by and large, works of fiction, even if they are 'based on a true story'.
This is where historical dramas are in many respects a lot like classical myths (or the texts that tell them), at least to my mind. What makes a particular version of a myth compelling is when the author takes the bare bones of an earlier or traditional story and makes it his or her own in an interesting way. Electra and the trials and tribulations of her brother (Orestes), mother (Clytemnestra), and father (Agamemnon) provide the bare bones of a good story. Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles each wrote their own version. Intriguingly, they all did slightly different things with the story (here - Orestes' and Electra's revenge against Clytemnestra and Aegisthus), and perhaps one of, if not, THE main characters, Electra. I'm particularly drawn to the Electra of Euripides, who has to spur her brother on to murder their mother. Basically, what I like is not how closely Euripides sticks to an original story (which we can't know anyway), but what he does with what we know. For me it works the same for a good historical drama. Getting back to the "White Queen", what makes it good to me is not how accurate the setting and costumes are, but how good the characters and the actors who play them are; those who play Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Warwick are particularly noteworthy. The story too is enthralling: there's plenty of murder, political wrangling, and courtly intrigue.
So, does historical accuracy really matter? To me, no. Ultimately, it all comes down to the story.
If you haven't seen it, BBC's "the White Queen" is set in late medieval England in the years leading up to Henry VII's (Tudor - father of the more famous Henry VIII) seizure of the English crown - I've seen three episodes and so far he's just a boy. One of the most familiar figures in the show to the masses today is likely Richard III, the king in the car park. I confess I know little about the English monarchy, but I've enjoyed the show so far. It's something of a slower and vaguely historical version of "Game of Thrones". While watching, my curiosity has gotten the better of me and I've resorted to - gasp! - wikipedia for some background on Edward IV, the (XVIth) Earl of Warwick, et al.
No second season is planned, at least one produced by the BBC (though Starz has other ideas). While perusing the websites that set out the critical reception of the show I discovered that one of the issues that has attracted some criticism is the ever-present issue of historical accuracy. Some have bemoaned the lack of this in the show. For example, some have found fault with the dashingly white teeth, others with the location of the Battle of Bosworth (an episode I haven't reached yet - summary of these comments here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Queen_(TV_series)#Historical_accuracy). This leads to the main subject of this blog: does historical accuracy really matter to an appreciation of an historical drama (TV or movie)?
As a classicist cum-historian cum-Romanist cum-Byzantinist, etc., etc., you're often asked what you think or how you view movies and television shows set in the ancient or early medieval worlds. The usual assumption is that you spend the bulk of your time nitpicking. In truth, however, I don't. In fact, as long as something historical is vaguely plausible, that's all that matters so long as the story and the characters are compelling. Do people really watch historical dramas to learn about the respective historical contexts? Or do they watch them to be entertained, and maybe even challenged on some level or other?
To my mind, it's not really important whether specific details are right or wrong, particularly if they're small like teeth colour (though some issues, like teeth colour or something similar can make for interesting commentary with friends). If an author/screenwriter/etc. changes a few details here and there but it serves to strengthen the story then all the better. Fact is, despite the historical context, they are still, by and large, works of fiction, even if they are 'based on a true story'.
This is where historical dramas are in many respects a lot like classical myths (or the texts that tell them), at least to my mind. What makes a particular version of a myth compelling is when the author takes the bare bones of an earlier or traditional story and makes it his or her own in an interesting way. Electra and the trials and tribulations of her brother (Orestes), mother (Clytemnestra), and father (Agamemnon) provide the bare bones of a good story. Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles each wrote their own version. Intriguingly, they all did slightly different things with the story (here - Orestes' and Electra's revenge against Clytemnestra and Aegisthus), and perhaps one of, if not, THE main characters, Electra. I'm particularly drawn to the Electra of Euripides, who has to spur her brother on to murder their mother. Basically, what I like is not how closely Euripides sticks to an original story (which we can't know anyway), but what he does with what we know. For me it works the same for a good historical drama. Getting back to the "White Queen", what makes it good to me is not how accurate the setting and costumes are, but how good the characters and the actors who play them are; those who play Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Warwick are particularly noteworthy. The story too is enthralling: there's plenty of murder, political wrangling, and courtly intrigue.
So, does historical accuracy really matter? To me, no. Ultimately, it all comes down to the story.
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