In the article dedicated to the Mardaites, the Christian highlanders who maintained their autonomy between Byzantium and the Caliphate, we mentioned the Akritai (or Akritoi), a group of light infantry soldiers who guarded the eastern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire and were recruited from the peasants of the border provinces. Today, we will take a […]
Armies
Posted inSecond World War
Black Panthers: The African American Soldiers of the 761st Tank Battalion Who Fought at the Battle of the Bulge
They made a good first impression, but I have no faith in the inherent fighting ability of the race. This was what General Patton declared after inspecting the 761st Tank Battalion in 1944, on the eve of their baptism of fire. The renowned military leader was merely reflecting the prevailing opinion among U.S. commanders regarding […]
Posted inAncient Rome
Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus: The Rivalry of Two Roman Centurions as Told by Julius Caesar
We know the names of very few Roman centurions and legionaries, mostly those found on inscriptions and commemorative steles, along with a few mentioned in written sources. However, there are two whose names are so well-known that they even appear as characters in several television series and historical novels about ancient Rome. Their names were […]
Posted inAntiquity
The Mesopotamian Stele Showing the First Phalanx Formation in History
When we talk about a phalanx in a military context, we automatically think of Alexander the Great’s Macedonian army, with its compact formation of armored infantrymen armed with long sarissas. These were arranged in 64 squares or syntagmas, 16 men across (each in a one-square-meter space) by as many in depth, forming a total of […]
Posted inModern Era
Operation Argus: The U.S. Project to Create a Radiation Belt in Space to Prevent a Soviet Missile Attack
In 1958, at the height of the Cold War, the U.S. carried out an experiment in the South Atlantic aimed at testing an innovative defense system. This system involved creating a radiation belt in the outer layer of the atmosphere, over the country, so that missiles launched in a potential Soviet nuclear attack would have […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Belisarius, the General Who Upheld Justinian’s Empire and Refused to Be Emperor of the West
I entrusted the care of arms to my Belisarius, and so favorable did the divine hand show itself to him that it gave me the security to live peacefully. These words, which Dante Alighieri places in the mouth of Justinian I, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, in canto VI of the Divine Comedy, refer […]
Posted inModern Era
The German General who Died Dressed in Tutu and Crown of Roses Dancing for the Kaiser
A deep shock must have seized those attending the party at Donaueschingen Castle on the night of November 14, 1908. There, in the middle of the ballroom, in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II, lay the body of a high-ranking German Empire general, Dietrich von Hülsen-Haeseler, who had just suffered a heart attack. This might […]
Posted inSecond World War
Mikhail Devyatayev, the Soviet Prisoner who Staged a World War II Escape by Stealing a German Aircraft
The city of Kazan, capital of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia), has a medieval historic center where the local cemetery is located. There stands a monument in memory of World War II and, next to it, an artistic tombstone bearing the name of Mikhail Devyatayev, a character with a more than curious story: he starred […]
Posted inModern Era
Why Did Armies Fight In Lines? (Video)
In the annals of early modern warfare, the line formation emerged as a standard tactical arrangement that revolutionized the way armies engaged in battle. This formation, which found its roots in the ancient phalanx and medieval shield wall, involved arranging infantry soldiers armed with polearms in several ranks, typically ranging from two to five, with […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
First-Ever Discovery of “Pila Fossata”, Intact Defensive Wooden Stakes of the Roman Army in Germany
After successfully concluding archaeological research campaigns at two Roman military camps near Bad Ems, the findings and discoveries have been presented to the public in Mainz. For the first time, researchers have managed to recover sharply pointed wooden stakes from a Roman defensive trench (1st century AD) virtually intact. So far, this defense technique and […]
