"And he sent a message to Sparta and he said, 'if my army invades Sparta..." and the Spartans responded with just one word, "If." AND THEN HE DID INVADE THEM, in 338. And they didn't fight, they just gave up and Philip II punked them and took some land.
-
-
Notes that the lives were paired, doesn't give the pair for Lycurgus. It's Numa Pompilius. Also not a historical figure. Refers to Plutarch's life as "the story of Lycurgus, the true Lycurgus." ...sure, the true story, based entirely on oral tradition, 900 years later. I bet.
Näytä tämä ketju -
Plutarch even admits, at the very beginning of his Life of Lycurgus, "Concerning Lycurgus the lawgiver, in general, nothing can be said which is not disputed" But sure thing, this is the straight scoop.pic.twitter.com/uV3rEljZJM
Näytä tämä ketju -
Alright, calling it there for tonight. I see above I have been corrected on one point, that apparently Pressfield served in the Marines. So noted. The quality of his ancient history is very weak; it's all Plutarch (not the best source!), read entirely uncritically.
Näytä tämä ketju -
His grasp on the actual Sparta could be improved by reading any number of books on the topic - Cartledge, Kennell, Hodkinson, Rahe, Bayliss, ANYTHING (note, I like some of those books rather better than others, but the bar here is so low, anything will do).
Näytä tämä ketju -
I find myself suddenly deeply concerned that his writing is being used as a proxy for actual historical narratives by the general public, but especially by military readers. Anyway, I'll pick this up when I next have an excess of sanity.
Näytä tämä ketju
Keskustelun loppu
Uusi keskustelu -
Lataaminen näyttää kestävän hetken.
Twitter saattaa olla ruuhkautunut tai ongelma on muuten hetkellinen. Yritä uudelleen tai käy Twitterin tilasivulla saadaksesi lisätietoja.