this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2024
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Rough Roman Memes

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A place to meme about the glorious ROMAN EMPIRE (and Roman Republic, and Roman Kingdom)! Byzantines tolerated! The HRE is not.

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  2. Memes must be Rome-related, not just the title. It can be about Rome, or using Roman aesthetics, or both, but the meme itself needs to have Roman themes.

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[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 19 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Explanation: In the armies of the mid-Republic era, the poorest soldiers who regularly accompanied the Legions were the Velites - men who could only afford a shield, a sword, and some javelins. Hoping for recognition and status from their actions, since they sure as shit weren't getting it from their vast wealth, they would wear distinguishing marks - one of which cited by ancient sources was a wolf pelt, which they have become associated with in the modern day.

In order to defeat elephants, a variety of tactics were employed, but the most effective involved pelting the big bastards with as many javelins as possible. At the Battle of Zama, Scipio Africanus had his troops funnel the elephants down empty 'channels' in the lines with a bunch of Velite javelineers waiting for them at the end of the line. Spear-throwing furries win!

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

Hoping for recognition and status from their actions,

And you know, if you can't buy arms and armor, battlefields just have them laying around

[–] Albbi@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

They weren't the elite units? It's right there in their name: vElites. /s

I know my history from Rome: Total War that these guys were the expendables.

[–] JayEchoRay@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Speaking of Rome: Total War

The power of the flaming pig compels the the elephant to lose its mind