10-20-2006, 09:10 PM
Ah, this again... A very fun discussion!
I've said my piece here:
Xerxes 5,000,000 men
All I'd like to add is that from Herodotus, I don't get the feeling that these are nobles and their retainers. For example, H. says they crossed the hellspont bridge in 7 days *under whip*. You can't do that to nobles, can you? From Herodotus I get the picture of a giant mass of slaves and peasants, some of whom, coming from the more remote corners of the empire where the Persion language is unknown, might not have had any idea what was going on. Yeah you had your Immortals and cavalry and what not, but most of the troops seemed to be just 'guys' rather than actual troops. They DID all starve! When people say, "You can't have that big of an army, they would starve." Well......yeah.
I've said my piece here:
Xerxes 5,000,000 men
All I'd like to add is that from Herodotus, I don't get the feeling that these are nobles and their retainers. For example, H. says they crossed the hellspont bridge in 7 days *under whip*. You can't do that to nobles, can you? From Herodotus I get the picture of a giant mass of slaves and peasants, some of whom, coming from the more remote corners of the empire where the Persion language is unknown, might not have had any idea what was going on. Yeah you had your Immortals and cavalry and what not, but most of the troops seemed to be just 'guys' rather than actual troops. They DID all starve! When people say, "You can't have that big of an army, they would starve." Well......yeah.
Rich Marinaccio
