Ancient Warfare Podcast

"The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC ) was the longest uninterrupted war in antiquity and the beginning of a series of military conflicts between Carthage and Rome. During the struggle, these ancient powers fought for the control of Sicily, a strategic point in the central Mediterranean. In the end, Rome was victorious and Carthage lost Sicily." In this episode we look at Volume 9, issue 4 “The First Punic War”. To discuss the topic Angus is joined by Josho Browuers, Murray Dahm, Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffery and Marc De Santis.

We are once more between issues of the magazine, so running with a random ancient warfare topic, the one that has been pulled out of the hat for this episode is ‘spartan invincibility’. We have a full house for this episode with Jasper Oorthuys, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Marc DeSantis, Lindsay Powell and Myke Cole.

The team are back to discuss Ancient Warfare Magazine XIII.3 The Rise of Septimius Severus. 'Septimius Severus, also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors.'

Jasper is joined by Vicky Kalambakal and regular Murray Dahm to discuss the Campaigns of Caesar. Dur: 36min File: .mp3

Jasper is joined by Murray Dahm and Paul McDonnell-Staff to discuss the Age of the Trireme. Dur: 40min File: mp3

Control and use of the legions played a critical role in Octavian's carefully orchestrated rise to power. Angus, Jasper, Murray, Lindsay, Mark and Marc discuss Ancient Warfare magazine XII.1.

With Jasper back in the editors chair at Ancient Warfare Magazine he joins regulars Marc DeSantis and Mark McCaffery to discuss Archers in the Ancient World (issue XI.1). Throughout antiquity, the bow played an important role in warfare, from Assyria and Egypt to Greece and Rome. Heavy infantry and cavalry often got the glory, but archers on foot and horseback often played an important role on the battlefield. We fielded a lot of listeners questions, many from patrons of the show who support us via patreon. For more information on how you can help us produce the show go to patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast.

In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Magazine podcast Angus, Josho, Lindsay and Mark discuss volume 9, issue 1 "The end of empire: the fall of Rome" "On 4 September AD 476, the Western Roman Empire came to an end. No great battle was fought, no great foreign invasion force marched upon the capital, nor was there an iconic enemy in the shape of a second Hannibal who annihilated Rome’s armies and broke down the emperor’s gates. Odoacer of the Germanic Sciri tribe and military commander in Rome’s employ, simply marched into the city of Ravenna after being proclaimed king by his troops, and dethroned the last Roman Emperor in the West."

In this episode we look at the Assyrians, 930BC to 630BC, their empire stretched from Egypt to Babylon, it was the first great iron age empire with resources to fund a standing army equipped with iron weapons. They excelled at siege warfare, something very difficult to successfully achieve in the ancient world. We delve into all these aspects plus look at the putting down of internal descent, propaganda, chariots and the use of specialised infantry. Jasper, Lindsay and Michael are joined by Mark Schwartz. Dur: 43min

In this episode, we’re looking at volume 11 issue 3 "Rome against Rome: Caesar and Pompey in the Balkans". We’ve got the dream team tonight… Jasper Oorthuys, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Marc De Santis and joining us after a brief hiatus is Lindsay Powell.

Jasper and the gang with special guest Mark Schwartz discuss the end of the bronze age and the coming of the Sea people raiding in the Mediterranean.

In this episode the team investigate Ridley Scott's movie Gladiator.

We thought we'd missed discussing a few episodes of the magazine so we decided to look at I.4 the Roman Conquest of Spain. As it turns out, we've apparently looked at this before and we'd forgotten (you can listen here). After a long hiatus Jasper has returned as MC and joining him are Murray Dahm, Marc DeSantis, Mark McCaffery and Lindsay Powell.

In the final podcast of the year we find ourselves between issues of the magazine so Mark suggested the title ‘300 vs the real Hoplite’. The gang are joined by Paul Bardunias author of ‘Hoplites at War: A Comprehensive Analysis of Heavy Infantry Combat in the Greek World, 750-100 bc’.

Jasper is joined by Mark Schwartz and regular Murray Dahm to discuss the Campaigns of Caesar. Dur: 35min File: .mp3

Jasper and the team discuss issues brought up in the Ancient Warfare special for 2010, The Core of the Legions: The Roman Imperial Centuria. Dur: 1hr 04min

Jasper, Josho, Michael and Lindsay discuss the meaty topic of the Celts in the classical world (issue VI 6). "In 106 BC, a Roman army captured the Gallic stronghold of Tolosa and appropriated a vast treasure hoard. It was soon claimed that they had recaptured the spoils that a band of marauding Gauls had originally looted from the Greek sanctuary at Delphi in 279 BC. The claim, while dubious at best, nonetheless illustrates the ancient tendency to lump Celtic peoples together, treating separate raids by distinct peoples as part of a single menace. In the ancient retelling, both Rome and Greece were sacked by a chieftain named Brennus (albeit in different centuries), a neat onomastic coincidence that is likely too good to be true." More

Jasper and the team discuss Ancient Warfare I.4, The Roman Conquest of Spain. It took over 200 years for Rome to pacify Spain, why did it take them so long? Did local fragmentation politically make it difficult for an all out victory that was so often achieved in the East? We look at issues of leadership in the Roman army, and recruitment. Was Spain Rome's Vietnam? Dur: 41min

'Natural and man-made geography exerts its influence on warfare, determining the passage of whole armies and fleets, sometimes allowing a single soldier to hold up an entire host.' The team discuss Ancient Warfare Magazine XIII.2 'Hunting for good ground: The role of geography in warfare'. You can pick up you copy of the magazine here.

The team discuss Ancient Warfare Magazine XI-6. "With financial aid from Persia, Sparta slowly brought Athens down in Attica, throughout its empire, and at sea."