pothos.org

Thanks for the photos, Chris. I'm afraid I still think your photos are in a different location than the Turkish professor's photos. you might be right. simplest thing would be to email the guy and ask. I'd do it, but I'm just an amateur. https://comu.academia.edu/ReyhanK%C3%B6rpe who knows, he migh...

Ah! now I see where the confusion arose. the article says "...uncovered a man’s bones in 2024, could be the place where *Alexander* had stationed the Greek mercenaries". that didn't make any sense: the only "Greek Mercenaries" that had their own story line in this battle were tho...

I understand the key point now about the bones found on Mercenary Hill - thanks for clarification The photo I posted appears to show the hill on which Alexander stationed the Greek mercenaries in the middle distance and the river going from left to right along where the line of trees is. not sure ab...

I don't understand the jist of this article at all: I thought that the site of the battlefield was undisputed: on the alluvial plane formed by the Biga Cay river, about 10km north east of modern day Biga, Turkey. the only thing "new" is the potential location of Hermaion. that'd be great, ...

I crossed the Jaxartes on a very cold and rainy day in 2009. It wasn't anything like as glamorous as I expected! :-) I remember you posting about this all these years ago. enviable! I had hoped to retrace the route through Uzbekistan this year, but as a single female, logistics & cost are prohi...

just saw Paralus' posts - hurrah and welcome back

not sure how reliable this is but the translation of agema as "vanguard" made sense. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20756716 "the word agema is used of an elite unit which took the lead in any army, and is perhaps best translated as 'vanguard'. The word first appears used in this sense ...

Chris, I wonder how big that agema at Guagamela was? 50-100 men? If it was 200-300 men, then they effectively were the Royal Squadron, displacing them in the line. maybe this is something that was lost in translation: a group fo anywhere between 50 - 300 is too large to act as what I would call &qu...

That sounds very reasonable. The only issue I have is that you have missed out the fact that Philotas (until 330) was in overall command of the Companion Cavalry, and after Philotas' death the command was divided between Hephaestion and Cleitus (before it all went to pot in 328). ah, you're right, ...

I have a question: what is the difference between the ile basilike (Royal Squadron) and the agema (Royal Bodyguard)? No guarantees as to historical accuracy, but this is what I figured while trying to work out how Alexander formed his cavalry wedge at Gaugamela. apologies for stating the obvious, b...

system1988 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 19, 2024 1:19 pm Some considerations :
I would like to apologize if there are language mistakes but the meaning of the lecture is this .

I wish my Greek was as good as your English!

thanks for this. really good stuff.

I also won't be surprised if the date gets adjusted downward (blue mosaic again). It could be an outlier, or the first of its kind. I just keep coming back to the colors. I forgot to mention: my understanding is that there are no other floor mosaics from that period *inside a tomb". The mosaic...

I have always been VERY curious about the BLUE color of the mosaic, as that's not a color we find in any of the Pella or Aigai mosaics from the late 4th century, Interesting. never thought about that. it seems quite difficult to photograph the mosaic in situ. this one shows the whole mosaic, but it...

I've been thinking about this, and a couple of things: your detailed knowledge is AMAZING. what struck me most when I went to see it was the weird combination of size & location: it's visible from everywhere. it clobbers the landscape. Amphipolis was strategically and commercially important, ho...

Basically ... yes to all of this. :-) #MeToo :) I went to see this thing two years ago, and it's unbelievably enormous. rule no 1: follow the money. is there anyone else other than the royal house of Macedon who would have had the money and *the access to labor force* to build a tomb that size for ...