10-25-2006, 04:30 PM
Quote:[
1) I can´t share your opinion that ancient soldiers somehow were tougher than medieval or modern soldiers,
I have expressed no such opinion; rather, I said the ancients were more accustomed to privation.
Quote: the pains that French soldiers endured in Russia, for instance, have little parallels, and there were plenty of armies that starved to death
You appear to be agreeing with me.
Quote:2) Figures lower than 100.000 combatants have been regarded as acceptable by many senior scholars.
You made this point earlier. I then pointed out that figures above have also been seen as acceptable. What have you to say to that?
Quote:3) You accept 300.000,
No, I expressed the opinion that it is a possibility, backed up by historians with much greater authority than mine.
Quote:so you are willing to accept that Herodotus greatly inflated figures,
No, I'm not. I was just allowing for the fact that you believe it.
Quote: why stop at 300.000 once Herodotus numbars are discarded?
Why, indeed? But I don't discard his numbers.
