From the author's introduction: "
Ancient battles seize the modern imagination. Far from being
forgotten, they have become a significant aspect of popular
culture, prompting a continuing stream of books, feature films,
television programs and board and computer games... there is a
certain escapist satisfaction in looking back to an era when
conflicts between entire states turned on clear-cut pitched battles
between formed armies, lasting just a few hours and spanning just a
few miles of ground. These battles were still unspeakably traumatic
and grisly affairs for those involved - at Cannae, Hannibal's men
butchered around two and a half times as many Romans (out of a much
smaller overall population) as there were British soldiers killed
on the notorious first day of the Somme.
However, as with the great clashes of the Napoleonic era, time
has dulled our preoccupation with such awful human consequences,
and we tend to focus instead on the inspired generalship of
commanders like Alexander and Caesar and on the intriguing tactical
interactions of units such as massed pikemen and war elephants
within the very different military context of pre-gunpowder
warfare.
Lost Battles "takes a new and innovative approach to the battles
of antiquity. Using his experience with conflict simulation, Philip
Sabin draws together ancient evidence and modern scholarship to
construct a generic, grand tactical model of the battles as a
whole. This model unites a mathematical framework, to capture the
movement and combat of the opposing armies, with human decisions to
shape the tactics of the antagonists. Sabin then develops detailed
scenarios for 36 individual battles such as Marathon and Cannae,
and uses the comparative structure offered by the generic model to
help cast light on which particular interpretations of the ancient
sources on issues such as army size fit in best with the general
patterns observed elsewhere. Readers can use the model to
experiment for themselves by re-fighting engagements of their
choice, tweaking the scenarios to accord with their own judgment of
the evidence, trying out different tactics from those used
historically, and seeing how the battle then plays out. "Lost
Battles "thus offers a unique dynamic insight into ancient warfare,
combining academic rigor with the interest and accessibility of
simulation gaming. This book includes access to a downloadable
computer simulation where the reader can view the author's
simulations as well create their own.
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