Classic Quotes

 Emperor Honorius - the chicken of Rome

"And yet it has just eaten from my hands!" he said, in response to being told Rome had fallen. He had a chicken named Rome, and was greatly relieved to hear it was the city rather than the fowl that had fallen.

Leonidas

"Molon Labe" (Come and take them) said in response to the Persian demand that he lay down his arms at Thermopylae.

Alexander 

"So would I, if I were Parmenio" said when his general Parmenio said, if he were Alexander, he would accept Darius' offer of an alliance and half his empire.

Julius Caesar

"Veni, vidi, vici." (I came, I saw, I conquered). This was not said in Britain, but in reference to his rapid defeat of Pharnaces in Asia Minor.

Lycurgus on democracy

"Begin with your own family" in response to a proposal to make Sparta a democracy.

Sparta's ephors

"If" was their concise response to Philip II's threat to destroy their farms, slay their people and raze Sparta if it did not submit and he defeated them. Subsequently Philip II and Alexander avoided Sparta.

Cicero

"O tempora, o mores!" (O, the times, O, the customs!) Cicero bewails the decline in morality of the youth of today (in 63BC).

Tacitus

"To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace" is a bleak yet telling description of Rome's endless appetite for conquest, attributed to a chieftain.

Livy

"He will have true glory who despises it" from Book XXII. A shame modern politicians seem unfamiliar with it.

 

Thaddeus

Top Generals of the Ancient World 1-5

Number Five: Philip II

Philip was King of Macedon but has been understandably overshadowed by his son (more on him later). However, Philip himself was tremendously skilful, swift-witted and intelligent. When he came to the throne Macedon was in a weak position, and when he left it the kingdom had the strongest soldiers and most brilliant cavalry in the world.

He subdued the neighbours of Macedon and obtained hegemony over the Greeks. Had he not died it is entirely possible he would have had success as great as or at least comparable to his son.

Number Four: Scipio Africanus

Scipio became a general for Rome at a perilous time. A certain Carthaginian had slaughtered a significant percentage of Rome's citizens in battle, and in Iberia his father and uncle had been killed by other Carthaginian forces. Rome's best result so far in the Second Punic War was basically a draw against Hannibal.

Scipio was sent to retrieve the situation in Iberia, and did so masterfully. Through sound military strategy and diplomatic good sense he managed to destroy the Carthaginians in Iberia (admittedly Hasdrubal Barca was able to copy his brother's Alpine route from the peninsula). After this he went to Sicily and trained his army for a prolonged period, before being sent to fight Hannibal at Zama. Scipio had the advantage of more experienced soldiers but Hannibal remained a daunting foe for any Roman, having never before been defeated, and had more troops (although not very experienced ones).

Scipio won the battle, and with it ended the Second Punic War in Rome's favour.

Number Three: Aurelian

Not the best-known emperor, but he should be. Aurelian succeeded (after a brief contest) the Gothic Claudius as emperor in the 3rd century. This was a dark time for Rome. Her troops, once notable for their pathological patriotism, were now addicted to regicide and donatives (essentially a bonus given to soldiers when a new emperor arose, prompting many armies to force unwilling generals to declare themselves emperor) and the empire was in crisis. The Palmyrene Empire in the east had broken away, and the Gallic Empire in the west had done likewise. Furthermore, barbarians were invading what remained of the empire on a regular basis.

Fortunately for Rome it was led by probably the most militarily talented emperor in its history. Aurelian slaughtered not just one barbarian army, but many of them. He conquered the Palmyrene and Gallic Empires and returned Syria, Gaul and Iberia to the imperial fold. Without him the Roman Empire could easily have collapsed centuries earlier than it did. The Dark Ages would've lasted centuries longer and without the Byzantine Empire (founded by Constantine a century or so later) the Turks could well have overrun much or all of Europe.

Sadly he reigned for only five years, having been (rather predictably) assassinated. Had he been on the throne for longer he could have strengthened Rome even more.

Number Two: Hannibal

Hannibal Barca was blessed with tremendous skill and cursed with terrible luck. He set out to defeat Rome and enjoyed numerous successes, but ultimately failed. The Romans were staggered to learn he had crossed the Alps, in winter, in the teeth of barbarian opposition and were rather caught on the hop.

Shortly thereafter he defeated Scipio Africanus' father (whose life was allegedly saved by his son) at the Battle of Ticinus and defeated a second Roman force at the Battle of Trebia.

He also succeeded in arguably the most devastating ambush in Roman history (the Teutoberg Forest is the other contender) when he angered Flaminius into pursuing him and then launched a perfectly timed assault at Lake Trasimene. He followed this up by managing to slaughter a Roman army twice the size of his with the perfect tactics at the Battle of Cannae, showing tactical brilliance that is still revered today.

However, he was hamstrung by the stalwart loyalty of much of Italy (some, but not enough, deserted Rome), the political weakness of Carthage and the almost unbelievable patriotism and confidence that Rome possessed at this period of history. He could not maintain the string of stellar successes as the Cunctator held him off and a new crop of more skilled generals such as Marcellus, Nero and Africanus took command.

Number One: Alexander

Alexander the Great is one of the few men who really deserve the title. He did benefit from a wonderful inheritance, namely the finest army in the world, as well as a fine practical education in the military (he destroyed the elite Theban Sacred Band when he was 17) but he did even more with it than anyone could have predicted.

After slapping Greece about when it tried to throw off Macedonian hegemony he invaded Persia. There was not a city that did not yield to his will, nor was there an army that could withstand his own forces. Fortune smiled upon him too. At the Granicus Black Cleitus saved his life (Alexander would later do quite the reverse when he drunkenly killed Cleitus with a spear) and he survived being shot in the lung a short time before his death.

Persia was like a snake, and Alexander realised that defeating the head (the Great King Darius) at the Battles of Issus and Arbela would force the rest of the colossal Persian armies to flee. In India he faced more competent opponents such as King Porus, but prevailed there as well. The only adversary to best him was his own army which, after more than a decade away from their homes and families, refused to march any further east.

He died very young, in his early 30s, and his unborn son was a pawn that was eventually killed by the Diadochi who tore his fledgling empire apart as they struggled for supremacy.

Thaddeus

Top Generals of the Ancient World 6-10

I'm using a broad(ish) definition of 'Ancient World'. I was going to limit it to BC, but one chap absolutely demanded to be included (in the 1-5 piece which will follow this). In reverse order, here are the lower half of the top 10.

Number Ten: Leonidas

The King of Sparta is tremendously well-known, and his fame was only increased by the recent film 300. He's famous for just one thing, but as one things go this is pretty impressive. When Xerxes, Great King of Persia, was invading Greece with an enormous army the city states decided (for once) to co-operate. However, they needed time. Leonidas led 300 Spartans in the defence of a narrow pass called Thermopylae (Hot Gates). Previously the force had been larger and included some other soldiers, but once it became clear a traitor had shown Xerxes a secret path that would encircle the defensive position Leonidas ordered the non-Spartans to leave. For days he kept at bay a force that outnumbered his by hundreds, perhaps thousands, to one. When defeat became inevitable he met it as resolutely as Constantine Dragases would almost two thousand years later. And, ironically, the king of an oligarchic state saved democracy in Athens.

Number Nine: Brasidas

Not a household name, but perhaps the most able general in the Peloponnesian War. Brasidas showed strategic cunning, a slyness of wit and personal bravery when he (briefly) spearheaded the Spartan war effort. However, his fortune did not match his valour and he was one of a handful of casualties sustained in combat with the Athenian forces.

Number Eight: Julius Caesar

Some say he's better than Hannibal Barca, but he isn't. Caesar was very strong logistically and strategically, and engendered deep personal affection amongst his soldiers. He was responsible for making Gaul submit to the eagles and won the Civil War against his old friend Pompey, reshaping the history of Rome and the world.

Whilst not the first emperor (that was Augustus, his nephew) he did decisively shift the destiny of Rome away from a decrepit republicanism towards an imperial path. He also changed the calendar (lots of chaps tried this but only July and August have stuck) and his surname came to mean 'king' in umpteen languages.

He also invented the comb-over (according to QI).

Number Seven: Hamilcar

The father of Hannibal Barca (his sons were referred to by some as the lion's brood), Hamilcar was actually pretty fantastic in his own right, not unlike Philip II and Alexander. During the latter stages of the First Punic War he was in charge of Sicily and, using the tactical brilliance that would prove hereditary, gave the Romans quite a seeing to. Unfortunately the war was really a naval one and through no fault of his Carthage surrendered.

After this the city state couldn't pay the wages of its mercenaries, which was a dangerous situation. Hamilcar gathered what troops he could and chased the mercenaries away, then dogged their footsteps and annoyed them so much that they began to chase him. He led them into a narrow canyon, blocked the exit and cut them to pieces.

That wasn't the end of his victories though. He went to Iberia and began conquering the land, which included lots of lovely silver mines. He was killed in action there, and replaced first by Hasdrubal the Handsome, his son-in-law, and then Hannibal.

Number Six: Marius

Marius was the uncle of Julius Caesar and a big figure in history for reasons beyond that. Through cunning he managed to wrest control of the Jugurthine War, which he subsequently won, from his former patron Metellus Numidicus. After this he achieved the not inconsiderable feat of defeating the Cimbri, a tribe that had slaughtered Roman armies thrice before (including at the disastrous Battle of Arausio).

Marius also engaged in military reforms, and although the precise nature of some of them is lost in the fog of history their legacy was known by the name of Marius' mules given to soldiers (because he reduced the number of baggage animals so the men had to carry almost everything themselves). His political ambitions meant that he weakened an already creaking political structure, and perhaps provided a template for his nephew to follow.

 

Thaddeus

Music: Taylor Davis

Regular readers will know I'm quite into the sounds of videogames, in terms of both voice-acting and music.

There are quite a lot of good covers of themes to be found on Youtube (the piano cover of Skyrim's theme by Taioo stands out, for example) and one of my favourite such artists is Taylor Davis (aka Violin Tay).

 

She's released an album and a number of singles, which can be purchased from a variety of retailers as well as through her own site:

http://www.taylordavisviolin.com/store/

So, if you're a fan of videogame soundtracks and/or violins why not do some downloading? The video below includes some brief samples of the various tracks (from 1:50 in), which should be enough to decide whether or not a track would be to your liking. [On an unrelated note, I'd forgotten how good the Zanarkand theme was, possibly because my overriding memory of FFX is what an annoying little shit Tidus is].

Thaddeus