EUREKA - Roman army troops

[Paullus Scipio]

Firstly I am not asking anyone to believe anything.

Isn't that the whole point of a new theory? You try to convince others. That's how you tell whether it might actually fly, or whether you've maybe been living too close to the wood to see the trees.

...I think you'll find if you put that quote in context, it is quite clear that Steven is saying that he does not expect anyone to take what he says on trust, but that he believes he has sufficient evidence to make his hypothesis likely......and that, as he says more than once, that would require his entire thesis/book...