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greycat

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  2. Selected Greek and Roman literature

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    "De Bello Gallico" and Other Commentaries by Julius Caesar

    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10657

    The Reign of Tiberius, Out of the First Six Annals of Tacitus by Tacitus
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7959

    Tacitus: The Histories, Volumes I and II by Tacitus
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16927

    The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7142

    Anabasis by Xenophon
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1170

    Hellenica by Xenophon
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1174

    The Cavalry General by Xenophon
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1172

    The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians by Xenophon
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1178

    The Geography of Strabo, Volumes I to 3 by Strabo
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44884
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44885
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44885

    The Histories of Polybius, Volumes 1 to 2 by Polybius
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44125
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44126

    Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans by Plutarch
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/674

    The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy

    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19725

    The History of Rome, Books 09 to 26 by Livy

    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10907

    Contemporary writer

    Abbott, Jacob

    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2136

    • Like 2

  3. Celts or Gauls?

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    A modern scholars interpretation.

    "Contemporaries saw the great incursion into the west by Cimbri and Teutones at the end of the second century bc as a ‘Celtic’, not a Germanic, phenomenon. Rome’s dealings with ‘the Germani’ start, as with so many things, with Julius Caesar. He is usually credited with the very invention of the term: having come across the word Germani in a way which remains unknown to us, he used it to identify a distinct, non-Celtic, population, made up of various tribes (gentes) living for the most part east of the Rhine."

    The Alamanni and Rome 213–496 (Caracalla to Clovis)
    JOHN F. DRINKWATER

    • Like 1

  4. Celts or Gauls?

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    That's all fine and dandy what Strabo and Caesar and the ancients said. But what does modern scholarship say?

    It seems modern archoligists tend to stay away from exactly equating Celtic culture with La Tène culture because the evidence found does not always coorelate with what ancient writers have concluded.

  6. Faction: Norse

    in 1,000 A.D.

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    I like this theorey best...

    "The Úlfhéðnar (singular Úlfheðinn), another term associated with berserkers, mentioned in the Vatnsdœla saga, Haraldskvæði and the Völsunga saga, were said to wear the pelt of a wolf when they entered battle. Úlfhéðnar are sometimes described as Odin's special warriors: "[Odin’s] men went without their mailcoats and were mad as hounds or wolves, bit their shields...they slew men, but neither fire nor iron had effect upon them. This is called 'going berserk.[2]'" In addition, the helm-plate press from Torslunda depicts (below) a scene of Odin with a berserker—"a wolf skinned warrior with the dancer in the bird-horned helm, which is generally interpreted as showing a scene indicative of a relationship between berserkgang... and the god Odin[3]"—with a wolf pelt and a spear as distinguishing features."

    278px-Bronspl%C3%A5t_pressbleck_%C3%B6la

    "Most historians believe that berserkers worked themselves into a rage before battle, but some think that they might have consumed drugged foods."

    I think the later one is more likely since they made it ilegal to berzerk...In 1015, Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson of Norway outlawed berserkers. How would they outlaw those who work themselves into a rage before battle?

  9. Celts or Gauls?

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    The La Tene core is located roughly where the Germanic culture crosses with the Celtic cultures. The Treveri who claim Germanic origins (according to Tacitus) and are located in the center La Tene core circle that extends across the Rhine.

    611px-Hallstatt.png

    Indo_European_Groups.gif

    The core territory of the La Tène culture (450 BC) is shown in solid green, the eventual area of La Tène influence by 50 BC in light green.

    Hallstatt_LaTene.png

  10. Roman Goblets VS Greek Goblets VS Medieval Goblets VS Viking Goblets

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    W

    You can deffinately judge a culture by the everyday things.

    From an artisitic point of view and interest, we in modern times drink out of cheap cups and eat out of cheap easy to break plates.

    Have we lost our pride and culture?

    We live in an era of comercialism, where companies always need to increase profit.The same companies that used to make towels now make paper towels. Bottled water can cost up to 1000 times the price of tap water.

    The Romans were masters of taking known ideas and improving upon them. They could not have acomplished what they did without building upon the ideas of other cultures though...

  11. ===[COMMITTED]=== Gaul Farmstead

    in Completed Art Tasks

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    According to this I should scale it down a little. Thank you.

    Glad I could help. :)

    I had a few suggestions to make it more accurate.

    Make the peak longer than base of house. So if the door is say 250 the peak would be about 500 (I used ruler in photoshop to get a rough ratio) Also the roof should extend down slightly past middle of door. (I think this steep angle is to keep snow off) Also there would be no chimney at this time.

    This is front angle of same house.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Celtic_settlement-Open-Air_Archaeological_Museum_Liptovska_Mara_-_Havranok%2CSlovakia.jpg

  12. Suggestions for 0 A.D.

    in Gameplay Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    that's the difference between a simulation and a game. A game should (my opinion) always favoring the gameplay over realism.

    A 'war game' traditionaly prefers realism though...

    "These games are based upon real events and attempt to represent a reasonable approximation of the actual forces, terrain, and other material factors faced by the actual participants"

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wargaming

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/HG_Wells_playing_to_Little_Wars.jpg

  14. Phalanx Bonus

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    Good topic. I just had to clarify Macedonian spear are not really pike. Pike refers to a medieval weapon that is similar to the Macedonian spear. I told Rome Total war people but they said unfortunately there is nothing they can do because it was a design choice and not a bug. :)

  15. Origin of the trophy

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    Illustration: SPARTANS AFTER THE BATTLE OF MANTINEIA, 418 BC

    Untitled-1.jpg

    After a Greek battle the winning side would usually set up a trophy. This would include a altar, where it would be set up, allowing victims to be sacrificed to thank the gods. The trophy would usually be positioned at the point the defeated enemy turned and ran, dropping their shields in the process to allow them to run faster. Now the Greek word for 'turn' is 'στροφη' (in English the letters translate to 'STROFI'). So when the altar was set up it became to be know as the STROFI, the place where the enemy turned and fled. This word has now filtered through to be in the English language as well where the word is now called TROPHY (All English words with a PH for a F have their origins from Greek words). This is why trophies are given to the victors, because they are allowed bragging rights after the victory.

    At the Battle of Champions, two opposing sides of exactly 300 each, fought it out. After both sides had exhausted themselves in the killing, the only ones left were 2 men on one side and only 1 injured opponent on the other. The 2 left the injured man on the field of battle in pity and returned home. The last man left set up a trophy as last man standing and claimed victory, even though his side lost more men.This is why the setting up of the trophy by the winner was important.

    source:http://www.ancientgreekbattles.net/Pages/90087_PhalanxHistory.htm

  17. Celts or Gauls?

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    That's all fine and dandy what Strabo and Caesar and the ancients said. But what does modern scholarship say?

    Archeology is the only place where there are really any new ideas. They use the name La Tène culture.

    "Some of the societies that are archaeologically identified with La Tène material culture were identified by Greek and Roman authors from the 5th century onwards as Keltoi ("Celts") and Galli ("Gauls")."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_T%C3%A8ne_culture

  18. Celts or Gauls?

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    As time pass, there comes necessarily a time when you have to reckon that two groups of Indo-european people are not the same people anymore, should have they been "cousin" thousand years ago.

    According to both Strabo and Ceasar the word Celt was borrowed from a local tribal name. So by these standards only this tribe would have been Celtic. This same thing was done with the Teutons a tribe that is believed to be of Celtic or Germanic origin and now refers to a German. It was Romans who created the term Germani and nobody else. I tend to follow the Greek writers as well as Roman writers. I do not understand the people that think everything Ceasar says is truth while disregarding other scholars of the time.

  21. some idea about formations

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    I've been busy with formations lately, there should be less running now, and formations should turn around smoother. But I didn't do any real behaviour changes yet.

    Currently, a formation ceases to exist when the units stop (you don't see this, but the units are all individual at that time). That's because units in formation have a special status that makes them follow the formation without any other possibilities (they don't react when attacked, they don't check for enemies ...). So they're a bit zombiefied. The formation itself also is an entity, but an entity without health, armour or attack value. You can't even select the entity.

    IMO, we should aim to make a formation a complete entity, where the stats are a sum of the member stats. It should be selectable, you should be able to attack a complete formation, and a complete formation should be able to attack back. But this requires a lot of code to get formations to behave in a right way. The formation should know which commands they should pass on to which members. Like in Phalanx, the first members should do the attack animation, but the entire formation should deal damage (as the other rows also help pushing). You can see that UnitAI currently is over 5000 lines of code. Making every unit command also work for formations could easily double that code, as formations need different behaviour in almost all cases.

    So, we're working on it, bit it will take time, a LOT of time.

    When I have a group in formation and choose a new direction, they ball up in one mass and then move to the new destination. Can we make one member the group leader and have the rest follow him?

  22. Composition/Tactics of the Spartan 300

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted · Edited by greycat

    I outlined some key points from book from previous post.

    "The unique Spartan military organization, with its large numbers of different ranks of officers, permitted far more control over the progress of the phalanx than was possible in most armies."

    "There is no evidence that the hoplites of other Greek states were drilled to march in step."

    "There is no good evidence to suggest that in most states outside Sparta each hoplite was assigned a fixed place in a certain rank and file within the phalanx, or occupied a set distance of frontage. We have no idea how the phalanx was arranged at the lowest level, but can only assume that family, friends and neighbors took position alongside each other."

    "The slow, steady Spartan advance was all the more intimidating because most of their opponents were incapable of copying it."

    "The 'shoving of shields' was a part of hand-to-hand combat, not an alternative to it. It was a method requiring great aggression, a way of barging into an enemy phalanx in an effort to begin its collapse. It was also a dangerous method, as the attacking hoplite risked losing his own balance. The ranks behind the first were not involved in this. There were no separatephases of fighting and shoving. The only way to break a phalanx was for hoplites to fight their way into it."

    "It is very difficult, even for well-drilled soldiers marching across a flat parade ground, to move in a perfectly straight line for a distance of several hundred yards. Since each man takes his dressing from those on either side, the entire unit will tend to conform to a shift in direction by one individual. The spacings between each man may also fluctuate. In most military parades you will see the soldiers halt to dress ranks at some point."

  24. Greek paintings depicting warriors

    in General Discussion

  25. Greek paintings depicting warriors

    in General Discussion

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