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Which Ancient Roman God or Goddess had the highest Q-Score?
Q-Score is a modern scale, measuring familiarity by survey questions ranging from ‘Never-Heard-Of’ to ‘One-Of-My-Favorites’. It judges the appeal of brands, celebrities, and companies. Using logic and the opinions of several close friends, I theorized which ancient Roman god or goddess had the highest Q-Score. As a pagan society, Rome readily adopted the gods of…
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How did the Legionaries in a battle line receive their commands?
Once the Legions abandoned the phalanx, they spread heavy infantrymen along lines in maniples. If you’ve ever been in a firefight, you know hearing gets suppressed as you duck, cover, and return fire. While the Marine Corps provided radios, the Roman Legions did not have electronic equipment. Yet, they were famous for executing field maneuvers…
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Where Was The Repository Of The Roman Republic’s Military Culture?
Phillip of Macedonia maintained a professional army and the Spartans were famous for passing down the lessons learned on the battlefield to their young. Despite these examples, few ancient civilizations could afford a standing army. For thousands of years, military organizations drew on farmers and mercenaries to fill their ranks. Some of these armies reached…
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Issues Writing Fiction Set in Antiquity
The civilization of Rome lasted from 753 B.C. until 476 A.D. when Emperor Romulus Augustulus was defeated by eastern barbarians. That encompasses 1,229 years of history. Most writers working in Roman eras write in a narrow band of that timeline. When I started writing the Clay Warrior Stories, a ‘knowledgeable’ reader accused me of placing…
