Tag: Rome

Ancient Warfare – “Ancient Rome: Facts and Fictions” (ABC-CLIO, 2020) – Monica Bontty interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2B0MNTC

Dr. Monica Bontty is a professor of archaeological studies and ancient history. She teaches at the University of Louisiana-Monroe and she wrote a book on misconceptions about Ancient Rome. We spoke about the ancient Roman military from the Republic to the Empire and the research she did for the book. (The audio player is at the bottom of the post.)

1:11 – Monica talks about why she wrote a book on misconceptions about Ancient Rome.

2:26 – Monica talks about how the Roman Army changed over time.

5:15 – Monica talks about phalanx style fighting.

6:26 – Monica talks about the maniple system.

7:45 – Monica talks about the reforms of Marius.

10:45 – Monica talks about Julius Caesar and the establishment of the empire.

12:04 – Monica talks about Octavian, Anthony, and Lepidus.

17:00 – Monica talks about military life and benefits.

28:00 – Monica talks about military pride but also the trouble that soldiers got into and abuse of power.

30:22 – Monica talks about military courts.

32:34 – Monica talks about soldier complaints about centurions.

33:10 – Monica talks about where the money came from Rome to hire so many more soldiers during the time of Marius.

34:34 – Monica talks about the abruptness of the reforms of Marius.

35:10 – Monica talks about Hannibal and the Punic Wars.

38:43 – Monica talks about the Praetorian Guard auctioning off the imperial office.

40:56 – Monica talks about where the term barbarian came from.

41:52 – Monica talks about how she researched the book. Livius.org and Penelope are useful resources.

45:21 – Monica talks about the myth of the vomitoria.

48:38 – Monica talks about learning surprising things about Augustus.

50:09 – Monica talks about Nero’s popularity.

51:02 – Monica talks about Roman hygiene.

54:06 – Monica talks about the hygiene standards of the Roman Army and “bad air”.

57:25 – Monica can be found on ulm.edu.

 

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2B0MNTC

https://products.abc-clio.com/abc-cliocorporate/product.aspx?pc=A5404C

https://webservices.ulm.edu/facultyactivities/profile/bontty

https://www.livius.org/

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/home.html

 

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Guests: Monica Bontty

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Nero, Caligula, Rome, Italy, Roman Army, legio, cavalry, phalanx, maniple, Marius, Julius Caesar, Augustus, military camp, barbarian, Hannibal, Pax Romana, Gauls, Egypt, auxiliary troops, Arminius, proscription, Golden Ass, centurions, Punic Wars, Praetorian Guard, Vomitoria, Nero, Hollywood

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2B0MNTC

Renaissance warfare history book – “Renaissance Mass Murder” (Oxford University Press, 2019) – Stephen Bowd interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Dr. Stephen Bowd studied and Medieval and Renaissance studies now teaches at the University of Edinburgh.  We talked about his latest book on military mass murders committed during the Italian Wars of the early 16th century.

0:46 – Stephen talks about how he got into writing on massacres during the italian Wars.

2:25 – The book covers the years 1494 to about 1530.

3:18 – The book is broken into sections on mass murder events, what the soldiers thought of murders, what the civilian thought, theories behind mass murder in war, and comparisons to other mass murders.

6:37 – Stephen talks about massacres associated with military activity and those that were between military activities.

9:05 – Stephen talks about the attitudes of soldiers towards civilians.

11:15 – Stephen talks about the nationalities of the various armies involved in these massacres.

13:45 – Stephen talks about the plunder taken in towns during these wars.

15:00 – Stephen talks about the sack of Rome.

16:19 – Stephen talks about the levels of lawlessness in these massacres and seiges.  But there also sometimes plans drawn up for these massacres.

19:30 – Some soldiers feared that peace talks would lead to less plunder for them after the siege or battle ends.

21:47 – Stephen talks about what weapons were used for these massacres.

23:38 – Stephen talks about the numbers of people massacred.

26:30 – Stephen talks about women who trained in arms to defend their towns.

41:00 – Stephen talks about Machiavelli’s views on the murder of civilians.

45:52 – Stephen talks about Protestant-Catholic divisions and these massacres.

48:27 – Stephen discusses how these massacres shape art and the Renaissance.

55:55 – Stephen’s work can be found by googling “Shadow Agents of War.”

 Links of interest

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/renaissance-mass-murder-9780198832614?cc=us&lang=en&
https://www.ed.ac.uk/history-classics-archaeology/about-us/staff-profiles/profile_tab1_academic.php?uun=sbowd

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Stephen Bowd

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, German landsknechts, italian wars, massacres, soldiers, French, Barbarians, Spanish,

Institute of Historical research, Hugo Grotius, Machiavelli, Rome, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci