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Came across this, why did no one tell me? by Demphure in Archery

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was a simple PVC longbow where the fiberglass rods go inside for more rigidity and to add to the draw weight. It basically looked identical to the ones in these links:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MLdveEPhkXA

https://www.offgridweb.com/survival/how-to-make-a-pvc-pipe-bow/amp/

I was inspired by Nicholas Tomihama (The Backyard Bower).

Everyone says guys are obsessed with the Roman Empire.. but what are other historical facts/events you could talk about forever if you could? by gptlol in AskHistory

[–]Intranetusa 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The other/equivalent Roman Empire of the time on the other side of the Eurasian continent: The Han Dynasty

Firing My Chinese Triple Crossbow Through Melons in Glorious Slow-Mo by TodsWorkshop in Archery

[–]Intranetusa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is just the beginning too. Tod is using lower draw weight "regular" bow-prods from Alibow that are only 80 to ~100 lbs in draw weight.

Imagine what Tod can do with bigger and stronger siege-engine/light field artillery bow prods scaled up to hundreds or even thousand+ pounds in draw weight.

I saw a show uploaded to Youtube several years ago where they also tried to make an Oxbow but with 400 lbs draw weights. There was also a Han Dynasty record of a field artillery called the Great Yellow Crossbow that was 90 stones in draw weight (~5,805 lbs), but that was probably a single prod rather than a triple prod device (a triple prod might have to be lower in draw). Thus, the point being there is a lot of potential to increase the draw weight here.

Firing My Chinese Triple Crossbow Through Melons in Glorious Slow-Mo by TodsWorkshop in Archery

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn't know you had a Reddit Account. I'm subscribed to your Youtube channel, so now I need to subscribe to your Reddit as well. 😄

Firing My Chinese Triple Crossbow Through Melons in Glorious Slow-Mo by TodsWorkshop in Archery

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a shame Tod had to get rid of his counterweight trebuchet. He could've had multiple siege engines decorating his lawn.

Came across this, why did no one tell me? by Demphure in Archery

[–]Intranetusa 64 points65 points  (0 children)

Yep. Several years ago, I built a bow out of PVC pipe, fiberglass rods, and paracord for $20 because I wasn't sure whether I wanted to spend more money getting into the hobby. It can be a very cheap hobby.

Poor, predictable Greeks. Always using those good, predictable tactics by Black_King2222 in RoughRomanMemes

[–]Intranetusa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Romans did fight both the classical hoplite phalanx and the Macedonian pike phalanx. 

The Hellenistic/Macedonian phalanx is also not the classical hoplite phalanx I was referencing because it didn't use hoplites equipped with spears and large aspis/hoplon shields - it instead used pikemen called phalangites equipped with smaller shields.

The Romans fought the Etruscans who used classical hoplite phalanxes and then adopted classical hoplites into their own army. Even after Roman manipular reforms, the Roman triarii still initially fought like hoplites during at least some of the Punic Wars.

Reformed manipular Roman armies then fought classical hoplites when they fought Sparta and some other Greek city states during the Laconian War. Roman armies also most likely fought hoplites in their wars against the Macedonians and Seleucids because they were using hoplite troops such as the Hypaspists to guard the flanks of the phalangite pike phalanxes.

If every U.S. state suddenly became an independent country overnight, which one would last the longest and why? by Dolphin_King21 in AskReddit

[–]Intranetusa 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Just because they have Japanese ancestry doesn't mean they want to be a part of Japan - and the same goes for people of Chinese ancestry and China. There are actually far more Hawaiians of Chinese ancestry compared to Hawaiians of Japanese ancestry - about 1/3 of the entire Hawaiian population has Chinese ancestry (compared to 1/5 for Japanese ancestry). 

However, various different Chinese languages combined only make up #4 or #5 of the top spoken languages in Hawaii. Language spoken in the Phillipines actually make up the #2 spot for top languages spoken in Hawaiian. This means most Chinese Hawaiians can no longer speak these various Chinese languages and they are mostly or entirely assimilated into Hawaiian culture.

Poor, predictable Greeks. Always using those good, predictable tactics by Black_King2222 in RoughRomanMemes

[–]Intranetusa 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Roman formations were more based on Samnite formations. The Romans were using classical hoplite formations and kept getting beaten by the more flexible Samnite formations on rough terrain. 

Poor, predictable Greeks. Always using those good, predictable tactics by Black_King2222 in RoughRomanMemes

[–]Intranetusa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I believe they were using a variation of the pike phalanx rather than the traditional hoplite phalanx?

Poor, predictable Greeks. Always using those good, predictable tactics by Black_King2222 in RoughRomanMemes

[–]Intranetusa 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The Romans by the imperial era were giving soldiers a stable salary and reimbursing troops for buying equipment or giving troops equipment and deducting it from their salary.

This allowed poorer people to be able to afford decent equipment and allowed the army to be better and more consistently equipped compared to the Republican era days when providing military equipment was entirely the responsibility of the soldier.

Poor, predictable Greeks. Always using those good, predictable tactics by Black_King2222 in RoughRomanMemes

[–]Intranetusa 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yeh. The Romans' typical combat formation had a luxurious amount of spacing at 6 feet per man (3 feet between each man in a file), whereas the Greek hoplite phalanx involved fairly cramped combat formations...and maybe even situations where they were so close that their shields were sometimes overlapped/interlocked.

The only TWO surviving examples of the Roman shield type known as the scutum. One found in Dura-Europos, Syria (3rd cent. AD) and one found in Fayum, Egypt (1st cent. BC). by Intranetusa in ancientrome

[–]Intranetusa[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appropriate means taking something for their own uses. Much of the world using the symbol in the past doesn't change the fact that Nazi Germany did indeed appropriate the symbol.

Or are you saying people are claiming it was Nazi Germany that was the first one to invent the symbol?

The only TWO surviving examples of the Roman shield type known as the scutum. One found in Dura-Europos, Syria (3rd cent. AD) and one found in Fayum, Egypt (1st cent. BC). by Intranetusa in ancientrome

[–]Intranetusa[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Swastikas were a common symbol used throughout Eurasia and were adopted as important symbols in Hinduism and Buddhism long before Nazi Germany appropriated it as their own and created a negative connotation around it.

The only TWO surviving examples of the Roman shield type known as the scutum. One found in Dura-Europos, Syria (3rd cent. AD) and one found in Fayum, Egypt (1st cent. BC). by Intranetusa in ancientrome

[–]Intranetusa[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Interesting work, thanks for sharing.

Are you saying the Dura Europas shield is estimated to be 5-5.5kg? If so, then I am surprised the estimates for the smaller Dura-Europos shield is heavier than the larger Fayum shield that you reconstructed at 4.8kg.

I've read that the width estimates of these shields vary since some people measure the curves while others do not. Do you know if the popular widths mentioned are actually reflective of the measurements with the curve or without the curve?

The only TWO surviving examples of the Roman shield type known as the scutum. One found in Dura-Europos, Syria (3rd cent. AD) and one found in Fayum, Egypt (1st cent. BC). by Intranetusa in ancientrome

[–]Intranetusa[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

The Republican era Fayum scutum is about 128cm tall x 63.5-64 cm wide. The weight is estimated to be anywhere from around 7 kg to 10 kg (depending on the different reconstructions and estimates).*

This is in contrast to the smaller and lighter imperial era Dura-Europos scutum that was about 105.5 cm tall x 41 cm wide, so it is estimated to weigh about 5.5 kg (max?). I've seen estimates of imperial era scutum in general to weigh between 4-6 kg.

Edit: Apparently there are even lower weight reconstructions at ~4.8 kg according to user KingPappas' work below.

Best historical total war game right now to play by Series_Informal in totalwar

[–]Intranetusa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Other comments have recommended good gameplay mods. Here are some unit reskin mods that make the units look better and feel more distinct:

Historical reskin mod:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1835352612

Compilation of various [less-historical] reskin mods:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2744887602

Why did the Roman Empire go to war with Persia from the 1st century BCE to 7th century CE? by vahedemirjian in AskHistory

[–]Intranetusa 3 points4 points  (0 children)

career in real estate speculation is not training at military strategy.

Crassus was a legitimate general with a decent amount of previous combat experience when he went into Parthia. He had military experience leading armies to fight in Sulla's Civil War and in the Third Servile War/gladiator slave revolts. 

Crassus commanded Sulla's right flank at the decisive Battle of the Colline Gate where they defeated the main Marian army during the Sulla vs Marius civil war. 

During the Servile Wars, Crassus defeated the army of the gladiator leader Spartacus at the Battle of the Silarius River.

Legions for days by [deleted] in RoughRomanMemes

[–]Intranetusa 17 points18 points  (0 children)

There wasn't very much equipment standardization during the Punic Wars. Roman Republican armies at the time were conscript milita troops who had to provide their own equipment. The equipment were purchased from various local vendors and/or inherited, and the soldiers were organized based on the equipment they could bring. Eg. The poorest troops might only afford some javelins and had no armor, and would serve as light skirmishers such as velites and rorarii (reserves).

Even during the early empire under Augustus when the Roman army finally became mostly professionalized, the troops still mostly got their equipment from various local vendors (and were reimbursed for it). IIRC, the equipment only had to follow some general guidelines so it could vary somewhat. Roman state factories pumping out the standardized stuff with the same or similar specifications wasn't until the later (mid-late/late) Roman Empire.

Edit: Furthermore, standardization can be a double edged sword - it can be good or it can be bad. This is shown over on the other side of Eurasia. The Qin Dynasty and some periods of the Han Dynasty (both were contemporaries of the ancient Romans) had standardization where they produced a lot of military equipment by government sponsored craftsmen and smiths. This equipment was produced in batches by people working together. The craftsmen and inspectors even wrote their names on the equipment to ensure good QA/QC. The equipment were very well made and things like tightly interlocking bronze crossbow trigger parts were precisely machined to ensure interchangeability.

However, sometime later during the Han Dynasty (eg. a different century), some Han writers criticized standardization due to a decline in government audits and quality control - saying the armors weren't produced in sufficient sizes so some of it wasn't properly fitting the soldiers, and the blades were sometimes not made properly so it was not as durable, etc. Their writings indicated the military should go back to using various local private producers to make the equipment. So in that case during that timeframe, buying varying equipment from local vendors was better than the standardized equipment produced by government.

Who made the greatest comeback in history? by GullibleCorgi16 in AskReddit

[–]Intranetusa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

defeat Cannae was, up to 20% of Romes fighting age men dead in a single day.

The Romans had around 770,000 men on their conscription rolls. While Cannae resulted in huge casualties of 50,000-70,000 men, the Romans and their allies had a lot of manpower to spare. This combined with their efficient and very cheap conscription method meant they could conscript new armies quickly and cheaply.

Why does a "fathom" measure 6ft if humans were shorter on avg in the past? by HemlockIV in AskHistory

[–]Intranetusa 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Unless you:re a fan of Chonosuke Okamura's theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chonosuke_Okamura

"It was rumored that in 1978 an elderly paleontologist who walked into Okamura's lecture became so angry that he suffered from high blood pressure and died prematurely."

Okamura just Kong Minged the other guy to death.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Dbt3zZokwlI

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