ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
It was at this period that the Romans first crossed with an army to Illyria and that part of Europe. This is a matter not to be lightly passed over, but deserving the serious attention of those who wish to gain a true view of the purpose of this work and of the formation and growth of the Roman dominion. Continue reading “The Romans’ first crossing with an army to Illyria”
Trepanation, a neurosurgical procedure in which a hole is drilled through the skull up to the dura mater, is one of the world’s earliest practiced surgical procedures. Continue reading “Medicine in Ancient India; the very interesting case of Susruta”
The general result of inquiries into the size of the army after its radical re-organization by Diocletian and Constantine is that its total strength was between 600,000 and 650,000. Continue reading “Comparative size of the Roman and German armies before and during the Invasions – The Germanic penetration of the Empire”
During a systematic search of the literature for ancient descriptions of fear of heights and seasickness in the Chinese Medical Classics and Greek antiquity, two reports of vertigo syndromes that strikingly resemble today’s definitions of vestibular migraine (VM) and Menière’s disease (MD) were discovered. Continue reading “Vestibular migraine (VM) and Menière’s disease (MD) in the writings of Aretaeus of Cappadocia and in the Chinese book Huangdi Neijing”
Foreign mercenaries made up a substantial part of the Byzantine armies long before the late thirteenth century. Despite the high cost of their maintenance, their constant readiness and mobility made the employment of mercenaries an attractive option. As long as they proved themselves a competent force on the battlefield and were well handled by the government, the sources do not doubt the expediency of employing them. Continue reading “Mercenaries in the Late Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Empire, as viewed by the Sources”
The configuration of an elite force directly attached to the imperial office had many implications. Given that this was initially an arithmetically rather small corps and, therefore, could not campaign individually against the enemies of the empire, its primary purpose was to circumscribe the loyalty of the provincial armies. Continue reading ““The army is the glory of the Emperor”; evolution of military power in the Roman East (Part 2)”
Novo Scriptorium 