Recent Entries
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-12-20 15:18:31
Collections: On Bread and Circuses
Coming off of some of the discussion of Gladiator II (I, II), this week I want to discuss the place of ‘bread and circuses’ in the narrative of Roman decadence and decline. This is one of those phrases which long ago entered the standard lexicon, but which gets used and interpreted in a range of … Continue reading Collections: On Bread and Circuses
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-12-13 18:42:31
Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator II, Part II
Last week, we started our nitpicking of Gladiator II (2024) by looking at the problems with the films chronology and its portrayal of the Roman army of the early third century, both in its equipment and in its battle tactics. This week, we’re going to move forward to the main action of the film, set … Continue reading Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator II, Part II
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-12-06 06:30:37
Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator II, Part I
This week, I want to talk a bit about the recent release of Gladiator II. Now I’ve written a review of the film for Foreign Policy, which you can find here (behind the paywall). I also discussed it with Jason Herbert and Sarah Bond over at Historians at the Movies, which is a blast of … Continue reading Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator II, Part I
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-11-30 02:46:55
Collections: The Problem with Sci-Fi Body Armor
This week we’re covering the winning topic from the latest ACOUP Senate poll, which is a look at some of the odd designs and mechanics for futuristic science fiction body armor, particularly rigid ‘hardsuits.’ Naturally, this post isn’t going to cover every variety of armor that appears in science fiction, so I want to be … Continue reading Collections: The Problem with Sci-Fi Body Armor
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-11-22 16:35:59
Fireside Friday, November 22, 2024 (Roman Naming Conventions)
Hey, folks. Another Fireside this week! I had hoped to have the science fiction body armor post ready to go this week, but in addition to the continued work on the book project, I was asked to write a review of the now-out-in-the-USA Gladiator II and that consumed a fair bit of my time, pushing … Continue reading Fireside Friday, November 22, 2024 (Roman Naming Conventions)
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-11-15 17:18:26
Fireside Friday, November 15, 2024
Hey folks, Fireside this week! For the musing this week, I want to talk about, at least for a humanities field, what ‘research support’ from a university means and why it is valuable, but before we get to that, I just want to make a note going forward. In particular, there have been a few … Continue reading Fireside Friday, November 15, 2024
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-11-08 18:19:38
Collections: The Afterlife of the Roman Republic
This week we are taking a look at what ended up being the ‘runner-up’ in the latest ACOUP Senate poll (we’ll also do the winner, “The Problem with Sci-Fi Body armor” before year’s end, worry not), the “Afterlife of the Roman Republic,” which is to say a look at the continued existence of the various … Continue reading Collections: The Afterlife of the Roman Republic
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-11-01 15:49:18
Referenda ad Senatum: November 1, 2024: Ancient Weapons, Lost Works and Roman Spooky-Stuff!
Welcome back! At last, the hiatus has ended and we are back to regular weekly posts. As we’ve done a few times before, this week I am breaking the hiatus by taking a chance to answer a few shorter questions posed by my patrons over at Patreon who are the Patres et Matres Conscripti of … Continue reading Referenda ad Senatum: November 1, 2024: Ancient Weapons, Lost Works and Roman Spooky-Stuff!
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-10-26 04:02:27
New Acquisitions: 1933 and the Definition of Fascism
Today we’re going to look at definitions of fascism and ask the question – you may have guessed – if Donald Trump is running for President as a fascist. Worry not, this isn’t me shifting to full-time political pundit, nor is this the formal end of the hiatus (which will happen on Nov 1, when … Continue reading New Acquisitions: 1933 and the Definition of Fascism
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-10-07 21:58:34
Friends, Readers, Countrymen, lend me your eyes! As sadly expected, the hiatus is going to continue through October. I am making good progress on my writing, but still need to keep focusing. I am currently, I believe, on track for us to go back to normally scheduled posts in November, but I don’t want to … Continue reading Continues the Hiatus, 2024
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-09-07 02:54:12
Dear Readers! As I’ve noted during the summer, I was planning on a one to two month hiatus towards the end of this year in order to allow me to focus on finalizing the manuscript of my book project, a study of the cost of fielding armies in the third and second centuries BC. That … Continue reading Comes the Hiatus, 2024!
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-08-31 06:28:27
Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIIb:
This is the second half of the third and final part of our three-part (I, IIa, IIb, IIIa) look at Paradox Interactives ancient grand strategy game, Imperator: Rome, which covers (inter alia) the period of the collapse of the Roman Republic, which we generally call the Late Republic (c. 133-31 BC). Last time, we examined … Continue reading Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIIb:
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-08-24 06:28:13
Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIIa: De Re Publica
This is the first half of the third part of our three-part (I, IIa, IIb) look at Paradox Interactive’s ancient grand strategy game Imperator: Rome, running from the late fourth through the first century BCE, a period that, relevant for today’s discussion, covers the Middle and Late Roman Republic, including the collapse of the Roman … Continue reading Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIIa: De Re Publica
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-08-16 18:02:32
Fireside Friday, August 16, 2024
Fireside this week! I find I have my thoughts more or less together for the last part of the Imperator series, but I have not yet gotten them into a satisfying order – a common hazard of writing – so they will have to wait for next week. It’s not yet clear to me if … Continue reading Fireside Friday, August 16, 2024
From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2024-08-09 23:58:15
Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIb: Built in a Day
This is the second half of the second part of our three part (I, IIa) look at Paradox Interactive’s ancient grand strategy game Imperator: Rome which covers the broader Mediterranean and South Asia from the very late fourth century through to the end of the first century BC, the period of the imperial rise and … Continue reading Collections: Teaching Paradox, Imperator, Part IIb: Built in a Day