11–20 of 46 posts
It'd be a fascinating way to teach history, and it'll work perfectly on tablets.
How verifiable are these numbers? This seems like an awfully large army, given the context.
To put this in some perspective, that's about the size of the army Hannibal entered Gaul with in the second punic war [1].
> 50,000 Infantry How verifiable are these numbers? This seems like an awfully large army, given the context. To put this in some perspective, that's about the size of the army Hannibal entered Gaul with in the second punic war [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War
Remember, this was india and gathering a large, untrained army was probably not that hard (the number of casualties speak for themselves)
> 50,000 Infantry How verifiable are these numbers? This seems like an awfully large army, given the context. To put this in some perspective, that's about the size of the army Hannibal entered Gaul with in the second punic war [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War
Since we are now in the business of citing wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Hydaspes Remember, this was india and gathering a large, untrained army was probably not that hard (the number of casualties speak for themselves)
The snark is not constructive.
> 50,000 Infantry How verifiable are these numbers? This seems like an awfully large army, given the context. To put this in some perspective, that's about the size of the army Hannibal entered Gaul with in the second punic war [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War
Different economics, populations, fighting styles, time periods. They probably estimate army size by time period sometimes.
It's fiction, but I recommend "The Virtues of War" by Steven Pressfield. It's a novel (based on history, but certainly dramatized) about Alexander's march to the East.
Pressfield's books are great. I'd additionally recommend following up the Virtues of War with The Afghan Campaign -- which is also about Alexander, but focused entirely on the time he spent in Afghanistan. There are some astounding parallels to today. Then, when you're done, Gates of Fire is a classic (Pressfield's novel on the Battle of Thermopylae). Tides of War is on the Peloponnesian War that followed.
These stories make me hope that some code-savvy historians will one day create a visualization of famous battles using d3.js or something similar to what went into Snow Fall . It'd be a fascinating way to teach history, and it'll work perfectly on tablets.
Also these battles were visualized a million times by the Total War series. Although far from realistically with questionable educational potential. But that's largely a limitation of computer speeds. Still, more interesting than looking at charts.
These stories make me hope that some code-savvy historians will one day create a visualization of famous battles using d3.js or something similar to what went into Snow Fall . It'd be a fascinating way to teach history, and it'll work perfectly on tablets.
These stories make me hope that some code-savvy historians will one day create a visualization of famous battles using d3.js or something similar to what went into Snow Fall . It'd be a fascinating way to teach history, and it'll work perfectly on tablets.
I've seen that on some History channel programs recently. Had to look twice to make sure it was computer animated, not a filmed scene. Can't remember the exact program series though.
> 50,000 Infantry How verifiable are these numbers? This seems like an awfully large army, given the context. To put this in some perspective, that's about the size of the army Hannibal entered Gaul with in the second punic war [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War