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battle

A “Primitive” Battle in Afghanistan

The horrors of these domestic feuds [amongst the Eusofzyes, Kipling’s “Yusufzaies”] are sometimes aggravated by a war with another Oolooss [roughly a “tribe,” p. 211]. Many causes occasion these wars, but the commonest are the seduction of a woman of one Oolooss by a man of another, or a man’s eloping with a girl of... Continue reading: A “Primitive” Battle in Afghanistan

Some thoughts on Sabin’s “Lost Battles”

The cover of "lost battles" by Philip Sabin

Philip Sabin, Lost Battles: Reconstructing the Great Clashes of the Ancient World (London: Continuum Books, 2009) Bookfinder link

Big battles are always a popular topic, but even the best-documented ancient battles are difficult to understand. The few ancient accounts which survive never answer every question which modern readers ask, and often disagree with each other or say things which are difficult to believe. Several plausible interpretations are always possible, and deciding between them is a matter of judgement not proof. One way to resolve these debates is to apply a new methodology. Sabin’s book argues that wargaming is just such a methodology and that it has been unfairly neglected as a tool for understanding ancient battles. To support this, Sabin designs a wargame then presents scenarios for 35 land battles in the ancient Mediterranean world from Marathon (490 BCE) to Pharsalus (48 BCE) with comments on the major uncertainties and how his wargame can help clarify them. Wargamers have studied these battles many times in the past, but few have Dr. Sabin’s training, or explain their reasoning in such detail.