Warpath Wednesday: Go tell the Spartans

by Scott Manning April 6, 2016
Thumbnail image for Warpath Wednesday: Go tell the Spartans

Although tells us of several monuments that resided on the Thermopylae battlefield, not a single one of them has survived to today. However, there are numerous modern recreations. One in particular pays tribute to the last stand of the Spartans and their Thespian allies on Kolonos Hill, the probable spot where they fell.1   To get […]

1 comment Read the full article →

The Spartans would have ruled Twitter

by Scott Manning April 4, 2016
Thumbnail image for The Spartans would have ruled Twitter

The Greeks and the eventually the Romans were infatuated with everything about the Spartans, especially their words. You can find choice quotes throughout the works of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon, but no one was a greater admirer than Plutarch. Mixed in with his numerous writings were the , which were just books of quotes. Sometimes there […]

0 comments Read the full article →

Warpath Wednesday: My Favorite Spot at Gettysburg

by Scott Manning March 30, 2016
Thumbnail image for Warpath Wednesday: My Favorite Spot at Gettysburg

Welcome to the first edition of Warpath Wednesday, the day in which I recount something historical from the warpath. Today’s focus is my absolute favorite spot at Gettysburg: Sedgwick Avenue. First, I am an unlicensed tour guide of Gettysburg, which means I provide tours to friends, family, and coworkers for free. Want a professional? Then […]

4 comments Read the full article →

Slaughtering 3,000 people was normal in 1370

by Scott Manning March 14, 2016
Thumbnail image for Slaughtering 3,000 people was normal in 1370

One of the most difficult aspects of reading military history is the brutality of it all. Some accounts are so detached, so transactional that it hardly makes a blip on the humanity scale. When Arrian described Alexander’s troops massacring Greek mercenaries within the Persian army at Issus, he simply described them as “cut off” and “decimated by […]

4 comments Read the full article →

Medieval version of a do-nothing manager

by Scott Manning February 11, 2016
Thumbnail image for Medieval version of a do-nothing manager

In the ninth-century, the Frankish historian provided a medieval depiction of what many modern-day managers and would-be managers think their job might look like. Describing the last of the Merovingian kings, his “sole command function was to sit back on his throne with flowing hair, his beard uncut, satisfied with the name of king and […]

0 comments Read the full article →

Liberty Place Monument and #BLACKLIVESMATTER

by Scott Manning January 12, 2016
Thumbnail image for Liberty Place Monument and #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Nestled between the Aquarium of the Americas, The Westin, and a parking lot, the monument to the Battle of Liberty Place is difficult to find, even with the Historical Marker Database. Last week, I tracked it down. This monument claims to pay tribute to the casualties on both sides of the 1874 battle—the New Orleans […]

0 comments Read the full article →

Why study Alexander the Great?

by Scott Manning December 19, 2015
Thumbnail image for Why study Alexander the Great?

Every historian takes a crack at explaining why their area of expertise is important for today’s world. It is difficult to argue with Guy MacLean Rogers’s take on Alexander the Great from more than a decade ago. In less than a decade Alexander conquered the Persian empire, the largest and most successful empire in the […]

22 comments Read the full article →

‘Agincourt’: A battle made famous by Shakespeare

by Scott Manning November 14, 2015
Thumbnail image for ‘Agincourt’: A battle made famous by Shakespeare

No other medieval engagement has a “greater cultural legacy” than the Battle of Agincourt, according to Anne Curry, professor of medieval history at the University of Southampton. Shakespeare’s Henry V, and popular lore before and after, has portrayed it as the miraculous victory of outnumbered, God-favored English underdogs against the overwhelming superiority of the French, […]

0 comments Read the full article →

I have knelt before the tomb of the Athenians at Marathon

by Scott Manning August 3, 2015
Thumbnail image for I have knelt before the tomb of the Athenians at Marathon

As with many 2400-year-old battlefields, most of Marathon is the victim of development. Although historians continue to debate over the exact positions of the Greek and Persian armies in 490 BC, the reality is that modern buildings and streets cover much of the terrain. Our modern-day concept of preserving battlefields would likely confuse the ancients […]

3 comments Read the full article →

“Don’t forget your roots, Yank”

by Scott Manning July 19, 2015
Thumbnail image for “Don’t forget your roots, Yank”

I typically reserve these conversations for the battlefield. The toxicity of the Confederacy mixed with the Internet and long-held beliefs is a recipe that I prefer to avoid. Instead, I wait until I am with friends, family, or coworkers at Gettysburg or Antietam. There, I can talk freely about military strategy and tactics, and provide […]

14 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries