Radio War Nerd EP #210 — Xenophon & March of the Ten Thousand

The allusions to Sulla's civil war in this episode make me wonder — speaking of historical epochs wildly misconstrued by the contemporary right — when you might have occasion to take a look at Roman history? Particularly the late republican era — the Gracchi, Marius, Sulla, obvs Caesar, &c.The collapse of the republic remains, to my mind, the ur-example of how seemingly stable, rich societies fall into tyranny, and would I think be something worth exploring in depth.

You seem to be confusing slings with slingshots.

I assume this is the Sri Lanka book Mark was referencing, but just in case, or if someone else wants it... https://www.worldcat.org/title/kandy-at-war-indigenous-military-resistance-to-european-expansion-in-sri-lanka-1594-1818/oclc/470319020&referer=brief_results

Sorry for the double post.On a positive note, Nigel Dodds lost his seat to Sinn Fein!! John finucane won carson's old seat. Strange times

On a positive note, Nigel Dodds lost his seat to Sinn Fein!!

very off topic but thank you very much to the war nerd collective. Wishing you and yours a very good new year from Scotland.

On a positive note, Nigel Dodds lost his seat to Sinn Fein!!

Apologies if I am over-posting here, but I figured I should contribute wherever my narrow field of expertise allows. Here are some further books that may be of interest. If you want to learn more about Xenophon and contemporary Greek society, Xenophon And The History Of His Times by John Dillery. For numerous aspects of ancient Greek warfare, the multivolume The Greek State at War by W. K. Pritchett. For an excellent collection of essays on hoplite warfare, Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece edited by D. Kagan and G. F. Viggiano. For a major reevaluation of hoplite warfare (as well as a thorough debunking of Hansen), Greek Warfare: Myth and Realities by H. van Wees. For a history of all the non-soldiers in a Greek army who played vital roles: Slaves, Warfare, and Ideology in the Greek Historians by P. Hunt. For a more academic treatment of Xenophon, The Cambridge Companion to Xenophon edited by M. A. Flower. Happy to help if there any other ancient history questions!

Philip rules! You gotta have him on for some Alexander/Hellenistic Era episodes!!

Incredible episode, as usual, love Philip as a guest! You guys keep me sane in this crazy world

Is there an Anabasis translation that people recommend?

It was mentioned in the discussion that Anatolia at the time was composed of many different peoples and languages. Ther was a trib of Celts there among the mix - the Galatians. I've seen depictions of Celts with wicker shields. Maybe that is where the description in the book comes from? Anatolia was attracting different peoples even into the 19th century. Ther was a regiment of Polish cavalry in the service of the Sultan who got caught up in the proto-Turkish nationalism of the time. Half left for America but the other half adopted Islam and stayed in the Ottoman empire. As an aside, there are people of Polish descent in Haiti who went there to suppress the revolt at the behest of Napoleon but switched sides and stayed. Also, the Ottoman representative at the Congress of Berlin was a Prussian (Karl Detroit) though he had adopted a Turkish name. I had the dubious pleasure of watching the BBC coverage of the election results. One would have to strain mightily to believe the coverage was impartial. Their barely suppressed glee was particularly hard to stomach.

I second the recommendation of Xenophon's Anabasis. It's a quick and captivating read, far easier to get through than most ancient literature. If you don't identify with the narrator like a brain-dead neoliberal hack, there's a ton of fascinating insight on the ancient world on offer. I recommend a version with both the original greek and the english translation page for page. Reading this short book basically taught me how to deal with the greek alphabet.

Who is the Egyptian historian that they mention around 1:40? I can't quite figure out how to spell it. Oxirinkas? Oxyrinkis? I want to read more about this

Everything I know about Xenophon I learned watching The Warriors. Can you dig it? CAN YOU DIG IT!?

The takedown of Hansen is no longer available on Facebook, alas. At least not to me.

On the Corbyn mural matter, the mural (Freedom for Humanity) was anti-capitalist and had several caricatures of bankers, one of whom was a Rothschild, i.e. Jewish, and several who were not, Rockerfeller for example. It clearly shows mega-rich bankers living of the backs of enslaved 3rd world people. It was interpreted as Jews enslaving humanity, which an indictment either of the intellectual capacity or the outright disingenuous maliciousness of the individuals doing so.