(Archaeological Museum, Orange) / Photo by Mark Cartwright, Creative Commons But the stories around it show that it was no ordinary defeat, even taking Marian propaganda into account.A stone mask in the form of a cylops. generally speaking, the Romans did not lose to pure numbers, and the circumstances of the battle were pretty bizarre. But even with that getting even a basic guess at a casualty figure is difficult, because there are no good analogues. If we don't want to discard Livy's figures entirely, we could perhaps say that there were 80,000 Romans present-that is, Caepio had 40,000 beforehand and Mallius Maximus reinforced him with an equal number. the details is certainly an ironic invention, but the perception behind it is telling. The reputation of the battle was such that Plutarch said the fields in the area produced excellent harvests afterwards due to the fertilization by the dead bodies. It caused the trial of both Roman generals present, and even Varro, the general at Cannae, was not tried after his defeat. It is also possible that it led in some way to the increased internal tensions that later exploded in the Social War. It was so bad that it allowed Marius to be elected consul five times simultaneously, despite him having been consul only three years before. The dubiousness of the number of Romans on the field only compounds the issue of how many were lost. this rather brings up a different issue: to a Roman reader, seeing eighty thousand soldiers slaughtered brings up the specter of Hannibal, and could thus be considered a literary device. Until the Principate I don't think there were ever that many Romans on a single field except at Cannae, but don't quote me on that. Crassus marched into Carrhae with far fewer, and it would be far more men than Caesar had at Alesia, or Marius at Vercellae or Aquae Sextiae. I find it rather unlikely simply because 80,000 men is truly massive for a single Roman army (Caepio and Mallius Maximus were undoubtedly intended to be a single army). Previous AMAs | Previous Roundtables Featuresįeature posts are posted weekly. May 25th | Panel AMA with /r/AskBibleScholars Please Subscribe to our Google Calendar for Upcoming AMAs and Events To nominate someone else as a Quality Contributor, message the mods. Our flaired users have detailed knowledge of their historical specialty and a proven record of excellent contributions to /r/AskHistorians. Please Read and Understand the Rules Before Contributing. Report Comments That Break Reddiquette or the Subreddit Rules. Serious On-Topic Comments Only: No Jokes, Anecdotes, Clutter, or other Digressions. Provide Primary and Secondary Sources If Asked. Write Original, In-Depth and Comprehensive Answers, Using Good Historical Practices. Questions should be clear and specific in what they ask, and should be able to get detailed answers from historians whose expertise is likely to be in particular times and places. Nothing Less Than 20 Years Old, and Don't Soapbox. Be Nice: No Racism, Bigotry, or Offensive Behavior. Downvote and Report comments that are unhelpful or grossly off-topic.Upvote informative, well sourced answers.New to /r/AskHistorians? Please read our subreddit rules and FAQ before posting! Apply for Flair
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |