31–40 of 66 posts
The Romans weren't afraid to win wars by attrition. Some of their generals were definitely good but they could just swarm any opposing force with highly disciplined, well armed troops. Hannibal crushed the Romans several times, it didn't matter. Carthage still got wiped off the map.
Spartacus and the Slave Wars
Hannibal and Carthage
Bar Kohkba and the Judaic Wars?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
[Disclaimer: I've only listened to the first chunk of the episode. It's 6 hours long, and I have other things to do with my brain] As far as I can tell, you've hit on exactly the distinction he's trying to make in the episode. There's a running theme of highlighting the difference in attitude towards war/death from the Romans to the modern era, especially with respect to things like civilian extermination. The name m…
I feel that the term "Holocaust" is being used here to sensationalize something that used to be a relatively common occurrence back in those days (infact also used to happen in medieval and post medieval - e.g. Trail of tears - times). You should not compare ancient post-war extermination events with a modern, civilized state exterminating a section of the population in an organized manner. It just dilutes the extrem…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
[Disclaimer: I've only listened to the first chunk of the episode. It's 6 hours long, and I have other things to do with my brain] As far as I can tell, you've hit on exactly the distinction he's trying to make in the episode. There's a running theme of highlighting the difference in attitude towards war/death from the Romans to the modern era, especially with respect to things like civilian extermination. The name m…
I feel that the term "Holocaust" is being used here to sensationalize something that used to be a relatively common occurrence back in those days (infact also used to happen in medieval and post medieval - e.g. Trail of tears - times). You should not compare ancient post-war extermination events with a modern, civilized state exterminating a section of the population in an organized manner. It just dilutes the extrem…
conversely, does the (sometimes aggressive) privileging of ww2 wrongs not "dilute" what others have faced? even in modern or near-modern times?
it also seems such a bizarre point of view that something was "relatively common" (and i'm not sure this phrasing is helpful) therefore it's /less/ of a tragedy for that fact.
It took them nearly a millennium to do only a fraction of what communists accomplished in about a century. If anyone wants to crunch numbers and determine a per capita "death as a result of state action" for various empires over time I think it would be really interesting. How does a bad year in the roman empire compared to a purge year in the USSR? Average year vs average year? What about the great leap forward?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Better_Angels_of_Our_Natur...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
[Disclaimer: I've only listened to the first chunk of the episode. It's 6 hours long, and I have other things to do with my brain] As far as I can tell, you've hit on exactly the distinction he's trying to make in the episode. There's a running theme of highlighting the difference in attitude towards war/death from the Romans to the modern era, especially with respect to things like civilian extermination. The name m…
I have never heard of Dan Carlin and it might be an intentional juxtaposition, but the title feels like clickbait.
Dramatic? Yes, but legitimately so based on the narrative and the presentation.
His style and interests won't match everyone's taste, but he is providing a high quality product.
> It's estimated that 15M died in the Mongols' five-year invasion of central Asia.
Estimated based on what? Myth?
> Rome used to turn the defeated tribes into slaves (though it was not a permanent status) or tax-paying citizens.
And the mongols turned the peoples they conquered into tribute states. The mongol empire was one of the most inclusive and peaceful empires in human history. They accepted all races, all religions and all ideologies - as long as you accepted mongol rule and paid tribute. What do you think yuan china, duchy of muscow, mughal persia and a host of other khanates were?
The mongol army generally consisted of a few thousand to 30K and their campaigns were largely targeted at cities and capitals rather than populations. And keep in mind that during this time, most of the human population was rural rather than urban.
The idea that the mongols killed that many people is absurd. Not only did they generally target cities/capitals, once the ruler submitted or was deposed, the mongols generally went home and left a small contingent.
You shouldn't take anything you read in WaPo at face value. But even more, you shouldn't anything you read about the mongol empire at face value either. There is so much nonsense and myth that is written about the mongol empire.
The Romans weren't afraid to win wars by attrition. Some of their generals were definitely good but they could just swarm any opposing force with highly disciplined, well armed troops. Hannibal crushed the Romans several times, it didn't matter. Carthage still got wiped off the map.
Who dealt Rome the most damage? Spartacus and the Slave Wars Hannibal and Carthage Bar Kohkba and the Judaic Wars?
The bloodiest war in Roman history was the second Punic war, that is the battles lost against Hannibal.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_maritime_disasters
It took them nearly a millennium to do only a fraction of what communists accomplished in about a century. If anyone wants to crunch numbers and determine a per capita "death as a result of state action" for various empires over time I think it would be really interesting. How does a bad year in the roman empire compared to a purge year in the USSR? Average year vs average year? What about the great leap forward?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even when accounting for percentage of population?
Why is that relevant? Isn't the worth of a human life always the same? Looking at deaths as a proportion to the populations will tell us the disruption to society, production and agriculture. It is sometimes used when looking at plagues, just since death counts can be somewhat less useful when we want to see how whole societies are wiped from the world. Wars however already causes societal damage by the very nature,…
Relevant: Dan Carlin just came out with a new episode of Hardcore History called "The Celtic Holocaust," which deals with the subject of the Roman subjugation of Gaul and the Celtic people. http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-60-the-cel...
Though I do enjoy his podcasts, it's more entertainment than history.