03-09-2010, 12:54 AM
D. Campbell wrote:
....and deservedly so, on this occasion ! :lol: :lol:
You have quoted me out of context, what I actually wrote was this:
In addition you have also sought to justify your comment by quoting Paul Elliott.He actually wrote that a garrison 'has need of only a modest number of mules' compared to the field, not that a garrison needed no mules at all, as you suggested.
The Mule was universal in the Roman world, and was the equivalent of 'motor vehicles' in ours, in that Roman society could not have existed without them. According to Varro (De Re Rustica II.8.), nearly all road transport was pulled in carts or wagons pulled by pairs of mules. They were extremely valuable too.
Columella (VI.27) divides horses into three classes. Firstly the thoroughbred stock for the Circus(chariot racing) and the Sacred Games; next the stock for breeding mules ( rated almost as high as the noble stock); finally normal riding animals. In the Army, a thief who stole weapons was scourged, but a thief who stole a pack-animal had his hands cut off, on the grounds that 'weapons are only useful in battle, while pack animals are useful at all times' ( "Roman Military Law" C.E. Brand University of Texas 1968) - incidently this implies pack-animals were present all the time.
In Diocletian's "Edict' on prices (X.1) a military saddle is priced at 500 denarii, whereas a mule saddle is 800 denarii; a pack-saddle for a donkey is 250 denarii and for a mule(hinny) 350 denarii.
The baggage animal handlers in the army ( and civilian life too) were called 'muliones' - which speaks for itself and specialist vets called 'mulomedici' existed.......... need I go on?
The idea that "Many Legions would have absolutely no use for mules, in any case" is about as probable as a modern Western army having absolutely no use for motor vehicles.
Quote:But this idea was abruptly shot down as "most improbable".
....and deservedly so, on this occasion ! :lol: :lol:
You have quoted me out of context, what I actually wrote was this:
Quote:Since the preferred pack-animal of the military has universally been the Mule from time immemorial right down to the present ( both sides use mules in Afghanistan, for instance), and since there are many references to mules in the Roman Army, that suggestion is most improbable. Of course, on occasion there might be a shortage of mules, and donkeys or camels substituted, but it would be fairly safe to say that mules were present in all Roman Armies, and that their total absence would be an extreme rarity, if it ever occurred.
In addition you have also sought to justify your comment by quoting Paul Elliott.He actually wrote that a garrison 'has need of only a modest number of mules' compared to the field, not that a garrison needed no mules at all, as you suggested.
The Mule was universal in the Roman world, and was the equivalent of 'motor vehicles' in ours, in that Roman society could not have existed without them. According to Varro (De Re Rustica II.8.), nearly all road transport was pulled in carts or wagons pulled by pairs of mules. They were extremely valuable too.
Columella (VI.27) divides horses into three classes. Firstly the thoroughbred stock for the Circus(chariot racing) and the Sacred Games; next the stock for breeding mules ( rated almost as high as the noble stock); finally normal riding animals. In the Army, a thief who stole weapons was scourged, but a thief who stole a pack-animal had his hands cut off, on the grounds that 'weapons are only useful in battle, while pack animals are useful at all times' ( "Roman Military Law" C.E. Brand University of Texas 1968) - incidently this implies pack-animals were present all the time.
In Diocletian's "Edict' on prices (X.1) a military saddle is priced at 500 denarii, whereas a mule saddle is 800 denarii; a pack-saddle for a donkey is 250 denarii and for a mule(hinny) 350 denarii.
The baggage animal handlers in the army ( and civilian life too) were called 'muliones' - which speaks for itself and specialist vets called 'mulomedici' existed.......... need I go on?
The idea that "Many Legions would have absolutely no use for mules, in any case" is about as probable as a modern Western army having absolutely no use for motor vehicles.
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
