Who wants to know about ancient Greece or Rome?

[cambraceres]

I agree about Commodus, you just get the idea from meditations that Marcus is a man of stronger principle than that. I have to disagree about Cannae being the most important battle. It seems that Rome was in graver danger when Hasdrubal marched his force over the alps. As for Hannibal being a better general, I believe this may be false as well. Hamilcar, the father of the two brothers, trained them alike in military affairs. Hasdrubal's force got bigger as he crossed the alps, Hannibal's became smaller. The reason for Hasdrubal's loss at Metaurus was more because he was betrayed by two guides who walked him into a bad situation, he realized it was a trap immediately upon arrival, but it was too late by then. Attacking Hannibal instead of his brother may have been a bad idea beacause he was in southern Italy, where he could conceivably resupply with less effort by way of Sicily.

Cambraceres

[Victor]

caligula was way worse than nero. named his horse consul. led the army to the banks of france to invade britain, changed his mind and had the collect all the shells on the shore. boned everyones wife usually during dinner. boned his sister. constructed a a long bridge for no reason.

tiberius was up there too. midget and cripple orgies followed by tossing everyone off the cliff.

[PoBoy321]

Interesting. I'll be honest, the Punic Wars really aren't my forte, so I'm definitely gonna have to go back through some of the stuff I've read to brush up.

[Victor]

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His uncle was the emperor Caligula who was having incestual sex with his 3 sisters, including Nero's mom, Agrippina. Agrippina poisoned her brother and Nero took the throne at 17,

[/ QUOTE ]

this is a bit misleading. agrippina did not poison caligula. caligula was killed by his own praetorian guard who then slaughtered the rest of the family except claudius who was believed to be a moron. stultus meaning stupid was his nickname.

anyway, claudius became emperor and after killing his wife for plotting against him married agrippina and adopted her son nero. this put nero in line for the throne and claudius was promptly poisoned.

[cambraceres]

Tiberius was a good Emperor until very late in his reign. Remeber, a good Emperor keeps his people safe, money in the treasury, and the horrors of war and civil strife at bay. It is totally irrelevant what nymph and pan parties he did or didn't have. But to say that he is even comparable to Caracalla is not reasonably. I believe Caracalla to have been the worst, him and Caligula. Nero was bad, but not in their league. Caracalla was a dedicated and talented psycopath, with a criminal past that defies belief. I know it wasn't technically illegal, but you know.

Cambraceres

[g3rkshz]

Are the Spartan Hoplites the BEST army in that era?

[codewarrior]

[ QUOTE ]
Rome is probably your best choice since they had an effective democracy up until the civil war

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Which civil war? Rome was never a democracy. They came close pre- Tiberius Graccus, but deft policy making in the senate insured the nobiles & equites hold on power.

[cambraceres]

It's true that Rome was not a true democracy, but it was a republic, up until the civil war, and was run by a crude system which reestablished nobility in a perpetual circus.

The Spartan Hoplites were easily the best martial tool of their age, and this is beyond all debate. Thermopylae alone establishes them as the ideal toward which all others aspire. The Spartans used to give sacrifices and perform a certain ritual before every battle. This ritual involved taking the liver or spleen out of a calf or sheep, then examining it for color. If the color was wrong, the Spartans would not fight. The interesting thing was, the color of the aforementioned spleen or what have you, would determine whether or not there was any battle at all. This is because a Spartan battle would only begin if the Spartans wanted it to, because no one would willingly attack them without it being absolutely neccessary.

Cambraceres

[adsman]

I'm struggling to understand what an equites is.

[cambraceres]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm struggling to understand what an equites is.

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Roman cavalry, any soldier who could afford to properly maintain a horse.

Cambraceres