Ancient Warfare in Volume XIII
I sometimes get asked if we're ever going to run out of topics to discuss. I've never doubted that there'll always be subjects to talk about, and new angles to explore. Certainly at least until I reach retirement age. 😉 But it is useful to look both forward and back sometimes and consider what we've done and what's still there to explore. In the first few years of Ancient Warfare, it was easy enough to know off the top of my head whether we'd discussed something before. Keeping a running index in your head for years does get difficult.
Theme ideas
Clearly there's no better time to check back than when I'm planning for the next Volume. Fans on the Ancient Warfare Facebook page gave me a host of ideas (feel free to add your own below). A lot to chew on, in fact, but also a good time to tick off some things we've touched upon before. In completely random order, here are some ideas and, behind them, the issues in which we've already touched upon that theme. Don't hesitate to let me know if you think the theme needs some more attention! (in many cases, I'm just going to be looking for a good excuse!)
- Roman Civil Wars - AW II.6, AW X.6, AW XI.3
- Early Italy and early Rome - AW IV.1, AW VII.3, AW XI.2
- Pyrrhus - AW VI.4
- Stilicho - AW IX.1
- Logistics, camp followers - AW VII.4
- Slingers, irregular warfare - AW II.1
- Mercenaries - AW III.1
- Cannae - AW III.4
- Heroes and individual combat - AW III.3
- Conquest of Spain - AW I.4
Now undoubtedly this leaves a lot of topics, mentioned in that thread on Facebook, we could tackle. A few others, I'd love to devote an article (or two, or three) to, but they have me worried about illustrating them with original artefacts, iconography, etc. As you have surely noticed, we've lately made a very serious effort to add many more images to our articles. Hellenistic warfare, a perennial favourite (with me as well!), is difficult and the idea of the Social War, Sertorius or Lucullus makes my remaining hair disappear. That said, they're all important and interesting topics, so solutions will have to be found! To be continued!
