"The cavalry was on the flanks, which was why cavalry regiments were called alae, 'wings,' in Latin." (p. 258)
Hence also, Alatanism in Poul Anderson's Technic History and "wingers" in football. Appropriately, England has just lost the Football World Cup Semi-Final to Argentina. We have been surrounded by St George's flags for weeks, some sporting, others political.
How do we like the cover illustration of an armed Diomedean in flight?
It is taking a while for SM Stirling's American time travellers to enter into conflict with their Chinese antagonists. First, there is a war with the Parthians which is what brought the alae into the text.
Another end to the day with other activities and maybe some blogging expected tomoz.
Fair winds forever. High is heaven and holy.
14 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
But Artorius and his grad students had to proceed in stages: recover from the shock of time traveling, figure out how to survive, learn the ins out of Roman society, win friends and allies, etc. All of which would take time.
Ad astra! Sean
Also, things just moved more slowly in the ancient world. It took months to cross the Roman Empire;. Roman armies marched 20 miles a day, and that was considered very fast.
China was the other side of the Eurasian supercontinent. All-out war was impossible because of the logistics.
(Europe bullied China in the 19th century, but that was the product of a technological gap and steamships and railways.)
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, the sheer slowness of traveling and communication was also a big hindering factor.
Another factor in China's 19th century misfortunes was the decline of the Ch'ing Dynasty and the chaos caused by the great rebellions of the 1850s/1860s. Really, it's amazing the old dynasty eventually defeated these rebellions.
I think the Ch'ing, at its height, would have put up a tougher fight against those Europeans.
Ad astra! Sean
Well, "Chinese Gordon" helped...
Stirrups and wood-framed saddles make cavalry more effective. OTOH, bullets make them less so...
One of the things stirrups do is make riding easier to learn to do well. You don't have to be raised on horseback to get it right.
That's one thing discoveries do -- they 'build the skill into the tool'.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I think "Chinese" Gordon's role has been overrated. I would have to go back to the books I read long ago, but I do recall reading of how the Ch'ing gov't was rallying by 1860, with new and loyal generals being found commanding troops fighting hard and driving back the various rebels.
OTOH, the war with the Anglo/French was another disaster for China.
Oh, certainly! Stirrups and wood framed saddles made riding much easier, even for people who didn't like it, such as Paula and Mark. Yes, better firearms would make cavalry less useful.
Ad astra! Sean
Note that in an emergency, Roman couriers could shift news fairly rapidly -- relays of galloping horses between one -mansio- and the next.
That would shift a message at about 30mph; about 500-600 miles a day.
Note that early railway travellers marvelled at being able to travel as fast as a galloping horse -for long distances-.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Now I'm wondering why Artorius didn't explain the concept of transmitting messages via semaphore to Marcus Aurelius. At least during daylight that should be faster than the best mounted couriers.
Yes, railroads going 30-35 MPH circa 1840 for long distances were shockingly fast!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: well, he thinks they can rig electric telegraphs fairly soon. That was an 1830's invention, and doesn't require sophisticated electronics.
Electrical telegraphs have the advantage over semaphores of working fine in fog and rain. They have the disadvantage of being easier for hostile forces to cut.
Do you think the lead-acid battery would be the best option for the Americo-Romans to use for powering the telegraph? I don't think a small DC generator for recharging the battery would be hard for them to build if they could build the other parts of a telegraph system.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling and Jim!
Mr. Stirling: Electrical telegraphy so soon? I missed or forgot that. But Jim's comments make me uncertain that would really have been very practical for a long enough time that semaphores would have been better for about ten years.
Jim: I agree, I think electrical telegraphy only 6/7 years after Artorius & Co. were shanghaied to AD 165 would be too soon. The Romans would have needed time learning how to produce wire in quantity and how to power it.
Semaphores seems a better interim stand in. One thing Union armies made a specialty of during the US Civil War was destroying Confederate rail roads and telegraph lines.
Ad astra! Sean
Jim: Probably easier to go with the voltaic pile system they used for early telegraphs.
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