Afleveringen
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Seth tracked Murray down via Facebook Messenger and asked: "Hi Murray, really appreciate your AWA podcast, great short bursts of knowledge.
One question that bugs me about legionaries. Why did the Romans completely abandon the spear in favour of the pilum? Does it function effectively as a thrusting weapon as well as a thrown weapon?
If you have a space for a two-for, do you have time to talk about the comparative effectiveness of slings vs bows in the classical world? When did slings drop out of use in organised warfare? That's probably three, but you've made the mistake of being highly accessible and willing to take a crack at all sorts of topics."
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Carlos writes: "Hi Murray, Even though I've been an AWM subscriber for long, I only recently started listening to the podcast. I love the AWA episodes, and the regular group podcasts too.
I have a two-part question for AWA. First, I have read in various places that there were certain requirements to be admitted as a legionary in the Army of the Principate. For example, I've read in a popular magazine (not AWM!) that legionaries needed to be at least 1.80 m tall. This sounds difficult to believe. I have also often read that all legionaries needed to be able to read and write. This sounds more believable as a declaration of intentions, but it seems unlikely that it could actually be enforced.
What were the actual requirements, other than being a Roman citizen, in the Principate?"
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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'When Germanic warbands crossed the Rhine in 17 BC, they set in motion a turbulent series of Roman campaigns into Germania that spanned three decades.'
In this episode of the podcast, the team discusses AW107, Rome Crosses the Rhine: Early Campaigns in Germania.
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Following on from Murray discussion of Athenian Archers in AWA 397, Tim asks "It would be interesting to hear of the effectiveness of the archers. In wargaming, Cretan archers are usually considered as better than other archers, similar to Belearic slingers. Was this actually true or just a wargaming tradition?" Murray investigates
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Jack asks: "Hi Murray Do we have enough information to actually describe how the Huns were dressed for war? Did they look much the same as the Goths or other migration era peoples? Is it a misconception to think they looked anything like the later Mongols? Did they go in for bright or rich fabrics in their panoply, like other Warrior cultures? I've heard that they were keen to get their hands on silk fabric, did they then wear this into battle?
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Here is an AWA from Brie: "Besides communicating orders and psychological warfare, what role and status did trumpeters have in warfare? Did they have sidearms like musicians of early modern warfare? The Gallic carnyx is of particular interest to me in this regard." This is probably in regard to the exciting carnyx found in Thetford, Norfolk in early 2026, only the third found in Britain. With it were a boar standard and several shield bosses. Murray discusses them all.
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Carlos, an economics professor (!), asks: Hi Murray,
I am a long-time AWM subscriber, born in Hispania, working in Britannia, and mostly living in Raetia. Love the podcast.
My question is this. With the Constitutio Antoniniana, all young men within the Imperium became citizens and could enlist in the legions instead of the auxilia. Hence, the auxilia presumably attracted less recruits. With Diocletian's reforms, whatever remained of the auxilia was absorbed into a fully new structure with limitanei, comitatenses, and auxilia palatina, the latter being elite. This suggests that the distinction between legions and auxilia might had become fuzzy at that point, else one could just have assigned the auxilia to the borders.
What do we know about the evolution of the auxilia from the Constitutio Antoniniana to Diocletian's reforms? Were they still around, with named units slowly vanishing for lack of recruits, or did they become something else by enlisting non-citizens? Did they become part of a wild mixture of units with all-barbarian numeri in the chaos of the third century and its many revolts? Surely, at the very least, Tacitus' old statement that auxiliaries and legionaries were roughly equal in number is no longer valid for the third century?
Murray Investigates.Join us on Patreon
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AW issue 107 on Augustus' German campaigns is in the last stages of preparation so the panel thought it would be a good idea to lay the ground work in preparation for next month's podcast on issue 107. So, tonight we're discussing 'Why Germany' and the opening up of the Rhine frontier as a place for future campaigns, from the Cimbri and Teutones and Caesar onwards down yo the time of Augustus.
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Following on from an earlier episode on War Pigs, Murray digs deeper into the imagery of pigs and boars in Roman military history.
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tadejtomic1943 asks, "Hi Murray, what was the army composition. How many men did it have. Was that the first time the Macedonian Phalanx operated and fought in Italy?What was Alexander Molossus' ultimate goal in Italy? Thanks!" Murray goes on a deep dive to discover the answers.
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James from California has taken the time to write a fan letter to Ancient Warfare Answers! This is much appreciated! Murray muses over James' letter (which was into response to the die is cast but, as always, leads down much more widespread paths.
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The Marian reforms are said to have transformed the Roman army from a citizen militia into a more professional fighting force, reshaping how Rome made war.
In this episode, the Ancient Warfare Magazine team discuss the Marian reforms, what they actually were, and how far their impact has been understood or misunderstood.
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John has been watching the trailer for the 2026 film 'The Odyssey', starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, and something does not sit right. The Trojan War is usually dated to the thirteenth or twelfth century BC, a period associated with Mycenaean or Achaean warfare and distinctive equipment, such as boar-tusk and horned helmets. This is the world shown in archaeological reconstructions and classic works such as Peter Connolly's The Ancient Greece of Odysseus.
Yet in film and illustration, the warriors of Homer's epics are almost always dressed in the armour of much later centuries. Corinthian and Chalcidian helmets recur frequently, even though these types do not appear until hundreds of years after the traditional date of the Trojan War. The Odyssey trailer continues this trend, showing both Corinthian and open-faced Chalcidian helmets among Odysseus' men.
So how did this confusion of periods become so entrenched in modern depictions of Homeric warfare? Why do artists and filmmakers consistently reach for the armour of Classical Greece rather than the material culture of the Late Bronze Age? Murray unpacks how this visual tradition developed and why it has proved so hard to shift.
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Peter got in touch with some thoughtful feedback and a set of big questions about the Battle of Arausio in 105 BC. A long-time reader of Ancient Warfare and a regular podcast listener, Peter has been debating Arausio with a wargaming friend and wanted Murray's take on a few key issues. Was Arausio a failure of Roman arms, or a failure of Roman politics that ended in catastrophe? If Caepio and Mallius had cooperated, could the battle have been won, or was defeat inevitable? And how capable were the Cimbrian commanders, and are they underestimated because our sources are Roman? Murray tackles all of this in a substantial episode of Ancient Warfare Answers.
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Responding to a recent episode of the main Ancient Warfare podcast, Eric writes in to ask about the purpose of the crest on helmets worn by ancient Greek and Roman soldiers.
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Bronze helmets, greaves, armour, and bronze-faced shields make for an impressive army, but who fought in all that kit, next to whom, and how?
In the latest episode of the Ancient Warfare Magazine Podcast, the team discusses issue 106 of the magazine, Greece in the late Archaic period.
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Following an earlier episode in which Murray suggested that warfare was often conceived as frontal and honourable, Peter writes in with a response. He reflects on the idea that outflanking an opponent may once have been seen as poor form, even cowardly or lacking heroic virtue, and asks when outflanking became a tactical innovation deliberately employed in battle.
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John asks whether there are historical examples of a formation being outflanked where the troops on the threatened flank turn to engage the attacker, while the main line remains engaged to the front, effectively fighting on two faces at once while maintaining cohesion.
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Samuel asks about Athenian archers at the start of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides lists significant numbers of them in 431 and it raises a series of questions. How were these archers equipped Were they citizens, metics or the famous Scythian archers Did they serve aboard triremes or mainly in garrisons Were they poorer citizens unable to afford hoplite equipment, or were they specialists and mercenaries.
Murray looks at what we know from the sources and archaeology about Athenian archers.
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What counts as a true revolution in warfare? In this episode, the panel tackles the idea of sudden and radical change on the ancient battlefield. Rather than slow evolution, they ask which developments transformed how wars were fought almost overnight.
From the emergence of the phalanx and the impact of the trireme at sea, to the spread of cavalry, chariots, and new ways of organising troops, the discussion ranges across the ancient world. The panel also considers technological shifts, including the move from copper to bronze and later to iron, and whether these really changed warfare in a single moment or over longer periods.
Is there such a thing as an ancient equivalent to modern drone warfare, or are even the most dramatic changes the result of adaptation and learning? As ever, the panel bring different perspectives to a lively debate about what really counts as a revolution in warfare.
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