Search found 22 matches

by Matthew Amt
Wed Jun 15, 2016 2:27 pm
Forum: Alexander the Great in the Media
Topic: Rugger
Replies: 23
Views: 19581

Re: Rugger

It is a common mistake, Matthew Amt, to believe Pompei a totally Roman city, but really the Mosaic is a local transposition (100 century B.C.) of an original more ancient Greek painting that reproduces strictly colours, arms, clothes, weapons and equipments of the Alexander's times. Yes, I realize ...
by Matthew Amt
Tue Jun 14, 2016 3:06 pm
Forum: Alexander the Great in the Media
Topic: Rugger
Replies: 23
Views: 19581

Re: Rugger

Oh! Hadn't spotted that before! Looks like a Roman vexillum to me--maybe not surprising since the mosaic is from Pompeii? Hmm....

Matthew
by Matthew Amt
Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:12 pm
Forum: Alexander the Great in the Media
Topic: Rugger
Replies: 23
Views: 19581

Re: Rugger

This begs the question, did the ancient Greeks have standards? You never hear tales of rallying round the flag, or capturing the colours of the enemy etc. Did you distinguish Spartan from Athenian by colour of shield, helmet shape, or what? No standards or banners that I've ever heard of. Uniform s...
by Matthew Amt
Thu Jun 09, 2016 3:10 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: Tomb II or I?
Replies: 5
Views: 12925

Re: Tomb II or I?

As I understand it, the skull reconstruction with the dramatic eye injury involved a bit of, shall we say, wishful thinking. The scar on the bone could very well be normal post-mortem damage. (Doesn't the ancient description say there was *not* a great piratical scar?) There's an older thread which ...
by Matthew Amt
Mon May 23, 2016 3:59 pm
Forum: Alexander the Great in the Media
Topic: The Sword of Alexander in the Batman vs Superman film
Replies: 47
Views: 46582

Re: The Sword of Alexander in the Batman vs Superman film

Men of Bronze is simply the latest work in this Dead End line........and I don't recommend it at all to any serious student of ancient warfare. Just as an aside, I was afraid to read "Men of Bronze" for several years, fearing it would be just another assembly of outdated misinformation. O...
by Matthew Amt
Tue Apr 26, 2016 3:47 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: The Sphinxes Guarding the Lion Tomb Entrance at Amphipolis
Replies: 1585
Views: 542231

Re: The Sphinxes Guarding the Lion Tomb Entrance at Amphipolis

...The absence of Classical tombs elsewhere is not evidence that there are none under the mound. So it does not exclude the presence of cremation fragments in the soil used to backfill the cist tomb. Really this is just a fact and not susceptible to debate . I'm sorry, I feel like I'm the little ki...
by Matthew Amt
Thu Apr 07, 2016 3:11 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: A terrible loss - Agesilaos; Karl
Replies: 22
Views: 12119

Re: A terrible loss - Agesilaos; Karl

Oh, no! That will definitely make a bad dent, here. One of the things I love about Pothos is seeing all you incredibly well-read people (and I mean this in the most complimentary way!) beating each other over the head with the primary sources! There's no way I can begin to catch up with the depth of...
by Matthew Amt
Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:55 pm
Forum: 'Off-topic' forum
Topic: Ancient holiday traditions
Replies: 4
Views: 2845

Re: Ancient holiday traditions

Very interesting, but could you indicate the sources of this statement, please? Ha, I should have put a "wink" in there! I made it up myself. Had the basic idea as soon as I got the helmet, which I tend to call my "Santa hat". (The pompom is real wool fleece, by the way!) And th...
by Matthew Amt
Fri Dec 25, 2015 6:02 pm
Forum: 'Off-topic' forum
Topic: Ancient holiday traditions
Replies: 4
Views: 2845

Ancient holiday traditions

Some of the holiday's traditions have surprisingly ancient roots. For instance, Nicias of Santos in the 4th century BC was known leave gifts in stockings for good hoplites and peltasts during the winter. http://www.larp.com/hoplite/MacSanta1.jpg This led to a brief fashion of rather over-sized footw...
by Matthew Amt
Thu Dec 17, 2015 6:42 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Xmas present for the past
Replies: 5
Views: 3526

Re: Xmas present for the past

Okay, I'm in! 1) A couple nice pair of stockings! Both to keep his feet warm in those Zeus-forsaken wastelands he insists on conquering, and to have something to hang by the fire! 2) A couple dozen sarissophoroi reenactors to play with... 3) Gosh, I don't know his friends all that well--are gift car...
by Matthew Amt
Fri Aug 07, 2015 4:27 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'
Replies: 129
Views: 7900578

Re: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'

Matthew wrote: One thing I notice is that every artifact from a tomb is assumed to have *belonged* to the person buried in that chamber. That's not necessarily an unreasonable place to start, but taking it as fact seems very dangerous to me. Other cultures have buried men with women's objects, and ...
by Matthew Amt
Thu Aug 06, 2015 6:54 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'
Replies: 129
Views: 7900578

Re: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'

Yeah, I just finished reading Jolene McLeod's thesis (where the heck did I find the link for that??), and now I think *everybody* is wrong! Maybe. I had totally missed the whole right leg/left leg problem the first time... The whole issue is clearly MUCH worse than I thought! One thing I notice is t...
by Matthew Amt
Sun Jul 26, 2015 8:23 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'
Replies: 129
Views: 7900578

Re: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'

So, were all these secret stashes of bones part of some official policy by people who claim to be dedicated to knowledge and education? Or just damn sloppy archeology? Gads...
by Matthew Amt
Sat Jul 25, 2015 8:19 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'
Replies: 129
Views: 7900578

Re: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'

The photo is Fig S13 in the appendix. Okay, I see it--that *is* a nice hole, isn't it? They don't mention it though, unless it's in technospeak that I'm not catching. And it doesn't look like one of the male's bones, so I don't think it's mislabeled. Presumably it's pos-mortem damage. The young lad...
by Matthew Amt
Sat Jul 25, 2015 3:47 am
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'
Replies: 129
Views: 7900578

Re: ' The lameness of king Philip II .'

Mathew it I, not Taphers who posited a Brazil Nut Effect (or maybe it was Xenophon first, I can't remember), Taphoi argued against it.... Apologies, my mistake! :oops: I should have double-checked. It is certainly possible for things to move within loose soil or even mud. Absolutely! Just to make i...