cross-post – Book and Sword

Cross-Post: Online Introduction to Sumerian

Megan Lewis of Digital Hammurabi is teaching an online introduction to Sumerian from 16 May to 1 June 5.00-6.30 Pacific time Tuesdays and Thursdays Megan Lewis of Digital Hammurabi is teaching an online introduction to Sumerian from 16 May to 1 June 5.00-6.30 Pacific time Tuesdays and Thursdays https://www.campusce.net/pencol/Course/Course.aspx?c=521

Save Ancient Studies Virtual Conference 2023

The Save Ancient Studies Alliance Virtual Conference is looking for papers on the theme “Discovery, Science, and Technology in the Ancient World” (deadline 31 March). The conference will take place on 23 and 24 July 2023. You can find more about the conference on their website https://www.saveancientstudies.org/virtual-conference

Cross-Post: Bishop and Coulston Third Edition

Mike Bishop and Jon Coulston are working on a third edition of their classic Roman Military Equipment. This will be complimented by a short booklet for a broader audience, a wall poster, and three open-access source books. Compared to the second edition from 2006, it will cover a wider span of time, have some notes... Continue reading: Cross-Post: Bishop and Coulston Third Edition

Cross-Post: Carlo Paggiarino Mailing List

I don’t know how many of my gentle readers are armour scholars. Carlo Paggiarino, maker of fine-art books on the details of medieval and renaissance European arms and armour, has a message:

Just a quick message to let you know that Hans Prunner Editore has launched a new subscription campaign.

If you would like to subscribe to the free Hans Prunner newsletter, receive the latest news, be alerted to forthcoming publications, preview and reserve your copy of all new volumes simply enter your details using the form using one of the links below.

Hans Prunner Website

Hans Prunner Subscription Form

I have several of his books. They are self-published, and good armour books go out of print quickly and then become very expensive.

Cross-Post: Capwell’s “Continental Armour in England, 1435-1500” in Pre-Order

Seven years after the first volume arrived at my doorstep in the Before Times, Olympia Auctions is accepting pre-orders for Armour of the English Knight, Volume 3: Continental Armour in England, 1435-1500. You can order a copy for a 10 GBP discount from the retail price at the Olympia Auctions website. I have to be... Continue reading: Cross-Post: Capwell’s “Continental Armour in England, 1435-1500” in Pre-Order

Cross-Post: International Ancient Warfare Conference 2022

a socketed steel spearhead on a varnished wooden table — What questions *can* we ask about a spear? Find out at IAWC 2022

The latest International Ancient Warfare Conference will happen online from Thursday 23 June to Saturday 25 June under the sponsorship of Prof. Graham Wrightson in South Dakota. I am speaking in session 14 from 10.45 to 12.15 Saturday. The topic I picked is “Get to the Point: What Questions Should We Ask About a Spear?”

Sessions are open to the public and will not be publicly recorded (I may share my talk afterwards). There is no website for the conference, but here are a list of panels with links. All times are US Central Time (UTC -5.00).

Upcoming Online Conference Plataea 2.5k

On Friday 8 April from 13.00 to 15.15 Harvard time I will be speaking at an online conference, The Battle of Plataea 2.5k: Questions, Contexts, Echos. I believe registration is open to the public and panels may be released online in some form. This is not related to the reenactment event being organized in Greece.... Continue reading: Upcoming Online Conference Plataea 2.5k

Another Chance to Register for Plataia 2022

A group of men and women in hoplite kit on a sandy beach — An Ethiopian hoplite on the beach at Marathon circa 2011 or 2015. Photo courtesy of Hoplologia Toronto, photographer unknown https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53442cfae4b011260e4040da/t/5bafce47b208fc046cb97e2b/1538249515737/11232033_982241378481876_1738786449720157603_o.jpg?format=1000w

Some of you will remember that the registration for the reenactment event at Plataia, Greece, was posted in 2018. From Giannis Kadoglou, there is now a new site to re-register for the event at https://plataea2022.com/

Cross-Post: Bronze Spear Workshop, England, 11 July

Isn’t it cool? And very La Tène 500 years before that archaeological culture. A bronze spear from Hampshire, England found in the 19th century: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number: 1998.540.1 Neil Burridge of Bronze Age Swords is teaching a spear casting workshop at Berrycroft Hub in Oxfordshire, England on 11 June 2022. I am... Continue reading: Cross-Post: Bronze Spear Workshop, England, 11 July

Call For Sources: Spears in the Imperium Romanum

An intact spear and buckler from the famous excavations at La Tène, Switzerland. Planche II of P. Vouga, “La Tène: Quatrième Rapport, Foulles de 1910 et 1911,” *Musée Neuchâtelois*, XLIXme Année (1912) pp. 7-15 http://doc.rero.ch/record/12454

There are many great publications of Germanic, British, and Celtic spears. Are there any published spears from the imperium Romanum, especially the eastern half? Or from pre-imperial Italy? I’m curious about what woods were used, how the diameter varies from point to butt, and the overall length.