05-19-2005, 10:55 PM
Ok, now I'm home with my book and I can see that I made a mistake. H. does *not* give a number for each individual nation. I must have confused it for something else I read. In fact, this is what is said about the numbers.
That does sound like a fairly accurate way to measure! Anyone have any doubts about this method? Can anyone read the actual greek text to see how H. says 1,700,000?
Quote:What the exact number of the troops of each nation was I cannot say with certainty - for it is not mentioned by any one - but the whole land army together was found to amount to one million seven hundred thousand men. The manner in which the numbering took place was the following. A body of ten thousand men was brought to a certain place, and the men were made to stand as close together as possible; after which a circle was drawn around them, and the men were let go. Then where the circle had been, a fence was built about the height of a man's middle, and the enclosure was filled continually with fresh troops, till the whole army had in this way been numbered. When the numbering was over, the troops were drawn up according to their several nations.
That does sound like a fairly accurate way to measure! Anyone have any doubts about this method? Can anyone read the actual greek text to see how H. says 1,700,000?
Rich Marinaccio
