Recent content by Shockley

I am going to respond to a few of Nagash’s points in the hopes this further clarifies some aspects of anarchist philosophy. Most left-anarchists would probably respond by pointing out that, for the first 197,000 years of ‘human existence’ there weren’t very many states. Even those that did...

I am glad this discussion is coming up, as I am (A) an anarchist of the platformist variety and (B) the co-editor of a reader on American anarchist philosophy that will come out next year. So, here are some important points: 1. There are many, many kinds of anarchists and many of them do not...

That would work if all of Rome's major defeats were in the late empire, but some of them were quite early and even predated the empire: - Battle of the Allia, 387 BCE against the Celts - Battle of Arausio, 105 BCE against the Cimbri and Teutones - Teutoburg Forest, 9 CE, against the Cherusci...

Nihal: I think a more immediate problem with that character is that not using contractions is a pretty good sign someone is lying/fabricating their account

As much as I admire Dan Carlin (Common Sense is my go-to news-based rant), I disagree with him on that. While the decline of the empire was as much an economic and social event as a military one, the legion stopped winning wars handily fairly quickly, sometimes against fairly weak opponents...

Based on your last post, I would strongly suggest checking out St. Guinefort.

Dragev: One of the major reasons that the shield wall continued to be used by the northern Europeans was that northern European horses were not quality. They had them for sure, but they were never implemented en masse because they just weren't that good. There's a reason why during the first...

Depends on what kind of Phalanx you are talking about, as it would through a number of different incarnations and tactical styles. Epaminondas didn't re-arm them or anything, but he positioned his phalanxes in such a way that, whenever they faced off with a traditional phalanx, they would...

Well Yellow, I think plenty of the great minds would have functioned fine today. I think Aristotle would have no trouble setting up a TiVo, as it were. That said, just since 1920 they have had to reset the IQ test three times because of how rapidly the average IQ has increased (a 100 in 1920...

Well yeah, they looked up at the sky and built accordingly. The idea that lining something up with a heavenly body required advanced understanding is kind of silly.

I want to object to the 'false leader' idea, especially since it seems so common in fantasy. Yes, there are some rulers that came to the throne by what their system considers legitimate methods and what that same system would consider illegitimate methods. That said, it was a rare occurrence for...

I don't understand why you wouldn't just go with 'mage.' Personally, I prefer the term 'wizard' because I think it has a bit more flair. I will sometimes use sorcerer if the person seems a bit more malevolent, seer or shaman if they are from a primitive culture and necromancer if their magic...

I don't recall it from the novel and I never bothered with the film, but it should be worth noting that the Orient Express was a very real train that ran from Paris to Istanbul and vice-versa from 1883 to 2009. It seems to me that the menu would reflect whatever time period it was when the...

Just as a historian, I never got the fascination with the Antikythera Mechanism. It's not, as they say, 'ahead of its time' - it was in the exact time it was created. It's not a technological marvel - just something the ancient writers never really mentioned (and why, pray tell, would they?). It...

I would certainly never claim any kind of expertise in military matters, and my historical studies have never extended to the military. That said, in military formation, it's very difficult for me to imagine a unit armed with poleaxes (which could be up to eight feet long), bills and halberds...