05-31-2005, 02:08 PM
My opinion is that they are all unreliable, and that you can´t really take one or another just because it seems plausible. I am writing a paper on the subject of military logistics in premodern armies and my conclusion is that literary evidence is so unreliable as to better forget most of it.
I have made a survey on the bibliography for the size of Xerxes army in several well known scholars
De Sanctis: 90.000
Beloch:60.000
Tarn:60.000
Bury: 180.000
v Fischer:40.000
Giannelli:300.000 (including camp followers)
Wilcken:100.000
So, between 40.000 and 150.000? fighting men, not an inconsiderable gap.
I have made a survey on the bibliography for the size of Xerxes army in several well known scholars
De Sanctis: 90.000
Beloch:60.000
Tarn:60.000
Bury: 180.000
v Fischer:40.000
Giannelli:300.000 (including camp followers)
Wilcken:100.000
So, between 40.000 and 150.000? fighting men, not an inconsiderable gap.
AKA Inaki