Ancient Warfare Podcast
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Ancient Warfare Podcast
Discussions from Ancient Warfare Magazine. Why did early civilisations fight? Who were their Generals? What was life like for the earliest soldiers? Ancient Warfare Magazine will try and answer these questions. Warfare minus two thousand years.
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AWA382 - How Did Caesar's Legionnaires Stay Battle-Ready?
A listener asks: without modern nutritionists or recovery plans, how did Caesar's legionnaires maintain the stamina to fight repeated battles, such as...
AWA381 - Did Ancient Soldiers Protect Their Feet?
A listener asks: with Greek and Roman soldiers well-armoured elsewhere, how did they protect the tops of their feet from injury? Murray Dahm explores...
AWA380 - How Did the Greek Phalanx Keep Its Line?
A listener from Brisbane asks: how did the Greek hoplite phalanx maintain a cohesive front while advancing into battle over uneven terrain dotted with...
AW379 - Commanding and Army in Antiquity
How do you get the right man to command your armies? Does he learn on the job, or from books, and what happens when something goes wrong?
In thi...
AWA378 - Did the Persians Really Use Cats at the Battle of Pelusium?
Augusto from Argentina asks: "How reliable is Polyaenus' account of the Persians using cats—or images of cats—against the Egyptians at Pelusium? Is th...
AWA377 - How Much Do We Really Know About the Bacaudae?
A listener on YouTube asks: "How much do we really know about the Bacaudae, and how important were they in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire?"...
AWA376 - Are there any sources for the chariot driver actually exiting the chariot before contact?
In this episode, Murray Dahm revisits Alexander's encounter with scythed chariots and unpacks some of the practical and tactical issues surrounding th...
AWA375 - What was the relationship between Korybantic/Kouretic dances and ancient warfare?
In this episode of Ancient Warfare Answers, Murray Dahm explores the link between the Korybantic and Kouretic dances and the ancient warrior tradition...
AW374 - Which Battle Would You Witness?
In this episode, we explore the ultimate "time travel" question: if you could witness any battle in history, which one would you choose?
We focu...
AWA373 - Greek phalanx vs. Germanic shield wall: how different were they?
In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Podcast, Murray tackles a question from Jörn: How different are an ancient Greek city-state's hoplite phalanx a...
AWA372 - Were ancient armies ever at full strength?
In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Podcast, Murray answers a question from Marc about the actual size of ancient military units. Modern sources of...
AWA371 - Do we know anything about ancient soldiers dice games?
In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Podcast, Murray answers a listener's question about games of chance in the ancient world. Did soldiers pass the...
AW369 - Battles of the Bronze Age
'With the emergence of the first city-states came the first cases of organised warfare and campaigns of conquest, as well as developments in arms and...
AWA368 - What happened to the Hastati, Principes, and Triarii?
In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Podcast, Murray answers a question from @tadejtomic1943: Why and when did the distinctions between Hastati, Pri...
AWA367 - How permanent were institutions like dux or comes?
In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Podcast, Murray answers a question inspired by Finis Britanniae: Were Roman military commands permanent structu...
AWA366 - When did the classical Greek hoplite cease to exist?
In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Podcast, Murray tackles a listener question from @tadejtomic1943: When did the classical Greek hoplite cease to...
AW365 - Controversies of Roman Warfare
We're between issues of Ancient Warfare magazine, so in this episode the team takes the opportunity to discuss some of the major controversies in Roma...
AWA364 - Victories by missile-based armies
In this episode, Murray tackles a thoughtful listener question: were heavy, armoured troops consistently more effective than missile-armed light troop...
AWA363 - Why do slingers go away?
In this episode, Murray takes on a question that's been asked before — but this time, he's invited to share his personal opinion:
"OK... so it's...
AWA362 - What can you tell me about the Scythed Chariots at Gaugamela?
In this episode, Murray addresses a fascinating and complex listener question concerning the famous scythed chariots used at the Battle of Gaugamela:<...
AW361 - Helmets in the Ancient World
"From the simple cap to the most intricately-wrought and elaborately-decorated royal example, the humble helmet could do much more than just protect i...
AWA360 - Did the ancient Greeks have a padded garment under their armour?
In this episode, Murray tackles a listener question sent in by postcard from Damien in Tasmania:
"Hi Murray, I love the magazine and the podcast...
AWA359 - Who are your go-to translators for your favourite texts?
In this episode, Murray Dahm tackles a listener question about the best translators for classical texts like Herodotus's Histories. Are modern version...
AWA358 - What was an oblique phalanx?
Matt from North Carolina writes 'Can you explain and describe what an oblique phalanx is and how it was used in war by Alexander the Great?'
<...
AWA357 - What was the least influential weapon on the ancient battlefield?
Ralph Kirby challenges Murray with an intriguing question: could the Polybolas be considered the least influential weapon on the ancient battlefield?...
AW356 - New discoveries in Ancient Warfare 2025
In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Magazine Podcast, the team explores groundbreaking archaeological discoveries from 2025 that are reshaping our...
AWA355 - Did small built-up areas play a role in ancient battlefields?
In more modern battles, small farm compounds like La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont played pivotal roles in the fighting. But in ancient warfare, we rarel...
AWA354 - Why did ancient armies have few ranged units compared to line infantry?
Long-time listener Uygar sent this in. "why did ancient armies, especially Greek phalanx-heavy ones, have relatively few ranged units like archers and...
AWA353 - Who were ancient scouts?
'I was curious as to how exactly the scouting process worked in ancient armies, although I'm sure it varied widely throughout different cultures and t...
AW352 - Tiberius
In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Podcast, Marc De Santis talks to historian and author Lindsay Powell about his latest book, Tiberius: From Mas...
AWA351 - What would be your ideal military?
What would be your ideal ancient military? Would it be a semi-nomadic people with skilled cavalry and infantry, and how would you structure this milit...
AWA349 - Were there any inspiring elites in ancient warfare?
Dylan Thomas, watching on YouTube, asked, 'I'm curious about the early life of Marcus Furius Camillus. He seems to pop up during the siege of Veii in...
AW348 - Greece in the fourth century BC
"The Peloponnesian War had ripped up the existing alliances in Greece — over the next decades, the main city-states looked for ways to regain money, p...
AWA347 - Questions about Masada and Josephus (part II)
In the last episode, Murray expanded upon an article in the magazine in response to Chris's question. After recording that episode, Murray realised he...
AWA350 - What do we know about the early life of Marcus Furius Camillus?
Don Antonius sent this question: 'Was there an inspiring role of Elite Units in ancient armies? Do we have accounts of battles where elite units (not...
AWA346 - Questions about Masada and Josephus
Chris sent this question for Murray, asking him to expand on one of his articles in the magazine.
'I recently read your article on the siege of...
AWA345 - Why didn't Rome's adversaries emulate her?
Christopher asks, 'why didn't adversaries to Rome (especially on the Italian peninsula) see the methods by which Rome consistently recovered from defe...
AW344 - Roman Soldier vs Dacian Warrior
In the latest episode of the Ancient Warfare Magazine podcast, Marc De Santis speaks with Murray Dahm about his new book, Roman Soldier vs Dacian Warr...
AWA343 - Which type of armor did the legions under Caesar and Augustus use?
This question came via a comment on an earlier podcast.
'Which type of armour did the legions under Caesar and Augustus use? I understand the lo...
AWA342 - How vulnerable were armies during the Bronze and Iron Ages to lightning strikes?
Shabbi poses this intriguing question,'how vulnerable were armies during the Bronze and Iron Ages to lightning strikes, whether on the battlefield or...