but horses can’t live like this. aside from likely 2-3x exaggeration of infantry, they are at least plausible in that roman had that many people around.
You are right about the horses, I don’t think the Romans had that much horse, because even for agriculture they used oxen.
That being said, look up iraj castle, that’s the ruins of a late antiquity military installation meant to house 10k cavalry. There seem to be many smaller structures of similar design all over central asia.
Bubonic plague killed a lot of people in Europe during the Middle Ages, coupled with individual monarchs not being very powerful in comparison to the Roman Empire. Wars in the Middle Ages were often fought by fifes who levied their peasant populations. The ancient world (not just Rome, but also places like Carthage) had large standing armies and slave populations.
Like Marcus Crassus was just some guy who had so much money he privately funded multiple wars. His wealth was unrivaled until you start getting closer to the Renaissance and the Medicis.
they would also field troops from their conquered/allied satellite states; that was how they kept the peace. You can keep your rules and status quo, but you must muster soldiers when we go to war.
also romans likely were lying
TBH, late Roman Empire suffered an intense depopulation due to collapsing birth rates.
but horses can’t live like this. aside from likely 2-3x exaggeration of infantry, they are at least plausible in that roman had that many people around.
You are right about the horses, I don’t think the Romans had that much horse, because even for agriculture they used oxen.
That being said, look up iraj castle, that’s the ruins of a late antiquity military installation meant to house 10k cavalry. There seem to be many smaller structures of similar design all over central asia.
As well as global cooling and a black plague. It was not fun times
Bubonic plague killed a lot of people in Europe during the Middle Ages, coupled with individual monarchs not being very powerful in comparison to the Roman Empire. Wars in the Middle Ages were often fought by fifes who levied their peasant populations. The ancient world (not just Rome, but also places like Carthage) had large standing armies and slave populations.
Like Marcus Crassus was just some guy who had so much money he privately funded multiple wars. His wealth was unrivaled until you start getting closer to the Renaissance and the Medicis.
Not necessarily, the state capacity was larger, population density was higher, the empire was larger geographically. (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/seminars/seminars/conferences/venice3/programme/ancient-modern-economies01.pdf)
they would also field troops from their conquered/allied satellite states; that was how they kept the peace. You can keep your rules and status quo, but you must muster soldiers when we go to war.
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