Elagabalus is back! Obama, return of a historical figure?

While reading a book on roman Emperors, I happened to stumble upon, a little known Roman Emperor named Elagabalus. I began to see some parallels between Varius Avitus Bassianus Elagabalus and the modern day Barack Hussein Obama. Get me clear now, many things are completely different form the modern day situation, and this past example. This is just my musings on the similarities the popped into my head while reading about Elagabalus.

Elagabalus and Barack Obama both share names from the middle east, and a mixed heritage. Obama has white and black heritage, Elagabalus had north African, Syrian, and Roman origins. Many people in the country were they came rule were bigoted against them because of their foreign origins.

Their childhoods are fantastically familiar to one another. Both had to leave the countries they would one day come to rule with their mothers . They were raised in a foreign states Obama in the Philippines and Elagabalus in Syria. Obama and Elagabalus's fathers disappeared from the scene at an early age. Because of the exodus from the comfort of the land of their birth both were raised primarily by both their mother and grandmother.

The former Emperor Macrinus was very unpopular because of his failure to gain victory over an inferior enemy (the Parthians who were from modern day Iraq) caused considerable resentment among the Romans. Sound familiar to Bush? Iraq? Malcontent with a long war with no victory? Macrinus also suffered from bad popularity in the late-summer of 218 A.D when a massive thunder storm caused catastrophic flooding, and Macrinus' appointee as urban prefect proved unable to repair the damage to the satisfaction of the populace and had to be replaced. The Romans became even more enraged when Macrinus never even showed up to comfort his people and oversee rebuilding. I believe this sounds familiar to Katrina and New Orleans, which caused his popularity to fall. One of the greatest early criticisms Obama and Elagabalus was their youth and inexperience. Elagabalus was only 14 when he became the youngest Emperor in Roman history at that time

The Romans said it was time for a change.

Elagabalus and his followers promised change to Macrinus's incompetent leadership and a return to Roman greatness. Macrinus was overthrown and Elagabalus started his reign as a extremely popular and hopeful new leader.

During the beginning of his rule, Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos. This is similar to the way in which the conservative right views Obamas support of the Gay marriage leaders, and his abortion stance. In Elagabulus's case it was his open acceptance of transsexuals. The conservatives were silenced by the masses of Romans who just wanted to return to government that was not incompetent.

This was the situation at the beggining of the rien of Elagabalus.

Love to hear any questions, comments, feedback, good or bad.

imperial Spanish forces

(click on picture for larger image)

This is my latest drawing and homage to the imperial Spanish soldier. These were the warriors that were the dominant fighting force not only in Europe, but also the Americas for nearly a hundred years; from roughly 1540 to 1640. Many of the same soldiers who fought the moors in north Africa, the French in Italy, native peoples in the Philippines and the dutch in Flanders were also the same adventurers who would conquer the new world. Within a few years of Spain uniting the Conquistadors would have fought on every continent besides Australia.

When reading about the Spanish Empire I began to see parallels to the modern American society. After Spain became a world power her armies were nearly invincible for a hundred years, today Americas armies cannot be defeated in any sort of "pitched battle" against a foreign army, and without question are the finest in the world today. Spain also had a global empire which brought it immense wealth. The United States while not having a global empire, it maintains a global presence. With military bases in Asia, the middle east, Europe, and naval fleets all over the world, and the benefits from trade and commerce that is gained from being the global police, and having far flung global contacts.

However the Spaniards became weak, soft, and corrupt above all; because all the wealth that empire brought, and the security that the professional Spanish soldier brought. America may face the same fate if it does not change. Americans have become weak, soft, and corrupt. We are so wealthy that one could not imagine a world without all the comforts we have become accustomed to, and the American warrior has provided the United States with such an untouchable feeling, that most Americans are living in a "mickey mouse land" in their heads which does not exist.

Running of the bulls

THE GATEHOUSE OF VALENCIA

PAMPLONA DURING THE SAN FERMIN FESTIVAL

THE WALLS OF PAMPLONA
Recently I had an amazing trip to my motherland, of basque country in northern Spain. I travelled there with a friend and was able to witness, an over five-hundred year old tradition, the running of the bulls. I hope you enjoy my video of the running of the bulls.

ARMY OF MACEDON

This is my still almost completed Macedonian army. The mass of Phalangites form the phalanx in the center of the army. Hypaspists secure the flanks, while the Macedonian elite Calvary attempt to counter flank the enemy army (they are caring a Xyston(a long, two-handed lance between 11-14 feet). Also, Thracian mercenaries and a war elephant advance on the left flank.

( all miniatures are 28mm foundry macedonians and thracians)

The Dark lords of Hattusha

This is a truly awesome documentary about the ancient Hittites. Detailing their achievements and sincerely spectacular culture and society. A must see love to hear what anyone thinks :)

Chariots of war

Chariots of War

Here is an essay I wrote a while back for school about bronze age war chariots.

The Bronze Age was the era of the chariot. Massive Empires were ruled by great kings clad in gold. The King’s might was demonstrated before foreign nations by an impressive show of force, technology, wealth and authority, by means of the chariot. Any respectable army of the time would have a considerable chariot wing. The New Kingdom era Egypt was at the height of her splendor, prosperity and territorial dominance. The Hittites were the contemporary super power of the age. These two great Empires would clash in several epic battles pitting the technology of the two peoples against one another. The robust and reliable Hittite war chariot would bring to the battlefield power and strength; the Egyptian chariot of war was speedy and maneuverable, able to be used to the utmost strategic advantage. Over time each machine has been called the superior weapon of war, this controversy has been enhanced by the ambiguity surrounding the outcome of the battle of Kadesh. The Egyptian chariot’s characteristics of speed, maneuverability, and durability as well as its ability to adapt made it superior machine of war.

Although in Egypt’s early days, all her armies’ essential and fundamental roles were filled by various types of infantry, Egyptian military thinking was turned on its head after the invasion of the Hyksos. The conquering Hyksos introduced the horse as well as the chariot to Egypt and after the Hyksos were expelled by Egypt’s Pharaohs, the military was able to adopt and adapt the chariot into their army. The consequence of Egypt’s triumph over the Hyksos was that the Pharaoh Ahmose, and his descendants, were able to forge a choice chariot corps.[i]

The Hyksos had been the mentors for the Egyptians in the arts of chariot construction and warfare. Afterwards, the Egyptians would obtain knowledge and techniques from the Canaanites, Mitanni, Syrians, and other Mesopotamian peoples. Ultimately the Egyptian chariot would evolve into its own distinctive and unique form, which would mirror its specialized battlefield role.

The centre of Anatolia in the Bronze Age was the foundation and hub of the Hittite Empire, it was known as Hatti to all the predominant peoples of the time. Throughout Hittite history there was a constant lust for expansion which brought them into conflict primarily with Mittani and thee Egyptians with the focus of this conflict remaining in Syria and the greater Levant. During this time the Hittites were known for their innovation in iron work and primarily for their proficiency and capability for constructing and handling chariots.

Egyptian chariots were of lightweight maneuverable and stable pieces if equipment. Put side by side with the other chariots of the day the Egyptian chariot gave the impression that it was somewhat fragile even rickety and unfit for the battlefield. The appearance of the Egyptian chariot is somewhat deceiving; while the heavy Hittite chariot was designed for the charge and concentrated close combat. The Egyptian chariot was designed of reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, counter attack, and the massive deployment of archers to strategic positions on the battleground and was manned by a lightly armored charioteer-shield bearer and another warrior armed with a composite bow, several short spears and a heavy side arm called a khopesh (sickle sword)[ii].

Unlike the Egyptian chariot’s apparent unbalanced and lightweight appearance, it was extremely stable. Both wheels were fastened together with the axle by a small lynch pin, in addition to this secured by a tough and flexible thong that passed all the way through to the lower end. Created from specifically chosen pieces of ash or tamarind wood, and painstakingly covered in birch-bark the entire axle was positioned as close to the rear as possible. Having a large, strong, and heavy axle so far back balanced the lightweight vehicle with the hoses and crew; this seriously improved the speed and maneuverability of the chariot. The Egyptian engineers also designed the chariot to have a very wide wheel track, produced to be much longer than the width of the cab, this gave the chariot enhanced permanence and steadiness while making sharp turns, moreover the wide wheel track provided maximum shock absorption over difficult terrain. The wide wheel track and axle suited the Egyptian battle chariot for almost any kind of situation and terrain the ancient Middle East to through its way[iii].

The Heavy Hittite chariot was not suited of the sandy deserts and uneven grounds which typified Egypt and Canaan. The Egyptian chariot was lightweight, strong and flexible making it perfect for unpredictable terrain. According to Rovetta et al. “…the wheels are flexible with respect to the body and offer a high degree of functionalism vis-à-vis bending and perturbations due to ground irregularities. The wheels are elastic because the rims and spokes are elastic thus offering a remarkable level of comfort during both slow and fast motion. The coupling between wheel and the axle is built with low friction durable bearings. When the outer surface of chariot axles and the internal surface of the bearings are in wood, animal grease, which reduces friction and increases running duration, has been used. Chariots with wooden axles and internal hub surfaces covered by metal are more durable with increased mechanical resistance.”[iv] The engineers who made them used this system of loose tolerances so that in the field they would be able to navigate over diverse terrain features without causing a without the danger of adverse effects such as loosing control and ejection as well as allowing archers to maintain aim in battle.

Hittite chariots are fundamentally known through the Kadesh reliefs (made by the Egyptians)[v]; which illustrate the axle passing underneath the center of a hefty well-built cab, giving it further stability. The box shaped cab’s axle was not situated in the rear as was the norm with Canaanite, Syrian, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian chariots. Furthermore the draught pole continues from the front to the rear of the cab making the structure tremendously well built and sturdy facilitating the chariot’s capacity to carry a crew of three. The crew consisted of an unarmed charioteer and a shield-bearer/spearman who were both armored in light textile armor and an un-shielded heavily armored warrior caring a long thrusting spear. They would have also had available side arms for such as axes and maces[vi].

The Hittite chariot was first and foremost designed for the charge, and close combat using the sheer weight of the vehicle to shatter through lines of peasant infantry. Coming in strong, their goal was to mutilate and overwhelm their victims in the initial collision, and then continue the attack at close quarters; taking full advantage of the initial shock as well as the elevation and weight benefit which the crew of three would benefit from in order to cause the hapless enemy to flee causing a gap in the line that the rest of the Hittite army could pour into resulting in victory.

During the reign of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, the great king of all the Hittites, Suppalliliumus, marched into the Levant to do battle with the Pharaoh. However, Akhenaten dropped dead, and the Egyptians sued for peace offering Akhenaten’s daughter in marriage to Suppalliliumus’s son as an incentive for peace. With this offer, the Hittites withdrew, however, the Egyptians broke the truce rather preemptively and killed Suppalliliumus’s son before he was able to claim his bride. Because of this treachery, war broke out and continued primarily though Egyptian and Hittite raids upon one another.

The ultimate result was the battle of Kadesh. The great Pharaoh Ramesses II was fixated on destroying the army of the Hittite King Muwatallish. Both armies relied on the chariot divisions as the main striking force, with masses of infantry fallowing in support. As Ramessess’ army marched into central Syria, where the Hittite force lay in wait behind the fortified city of Kadesh, where the Egyptian Army began to make camp along the banks of the river Orontes. The Hittite army dashed across the river and the chariot charge overran the Egyptian division setting camp. The Hittite chariots were able to charge across the plain, and with help from yet another chariot arm were able to devastate another Egyptian regiment. Despite this, Ramesses and his personal division of chariots were able to maneuver out of harms way and regroup and adapt to the situation allowing him to counterattack and route the Hittite chariots. Afterwards, a non aggression treaty was put into effect; a testimony that neither side emerged dominant. However, the Egyptian’s version of the battle is not completely backed by the Hittite accounts; this has led to countless disagreements over the battles results. According to Antonio Santosuosso “…to argue that Ramesses lost at Kadesh is probably going too far. At least initially, he must have remained master of the battlefield, which meant, according to most periods, that he was the winner”[vii] Nevertheless, the fact remains that solely on the Egyptian chariots ability to adapt and maneuver prevented their utter annihilation.
It is apparent that the strategies employed by the Egyptians, to counter the chariots of the other super powers, were well developed and quite sophisticated by the height of the New Kingdom. In particular they were deliberately constructed in a lightweight way so they could take full advantage of speed, flexibility and maneuverability using techniques that until recently were thought too advanced for the ancients. Rovetta et al. says that “These chariots appear to be the first mechanical systems involving the use of kinematics, dynamics and lubrication principles.”[viii] In short, these machines were advanced for their time. In contrast the Hittite chariot was designed for the flat lands of Eastern Anatolia and Mesopotamia. Taking full advantage of the unobstructed countryside, the chariot could use its weight to its maximum advantage, allowing momentum and acceleration to build up so that it could plow through the enemies’ lines causing it to break. As effective as this was, this specialized role did not allow it to have the versatility of the Egyptian chariot. The ability of the Egyptian chariot to adapt to the situation and the landscape allowed it to take full advantage of its own characteristics making it the superior machine of war. The Egyptian chariot’s characteristics of speed, maneuverability, durability, and most importantly its ability to adapt, made it the superior machine of war.
[i] Watkins, Trevor. Warfare In The Ancient World. Facts On File (1989): pp. 29

[ii] Fields, Nic. Bronze Age War Chariots. Osprey Publishing (2006): pp. 14

[iii] Fields, Nic. Bronze Age War Chariots. Osprey Publishing (2006): pp. 16

[iv] Alberto Rovetta, Iskander Nasry and Abeer Helmi. The chariots of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tut Ankh Amun in 1337 : kinematics and dynamics. Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 35, Issue 11 (Nov., 2000), pp. 1014

[v] Fields, Nic. Bronze Age War Chariots. Osprey Publishing (2006): pp. 19

[vi] Watkins, Trevor. Warfare In The Ancient World. Facts On File (1989): pp. 34

[vii] Santosuosso, Antonio. Kadesh Revisited: Reconstructing the Battle Between the Egyptians and the Hittites. The Journal of Military History, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 444

[viii] Alberto Rovetta, Iskander Nasry and Abeer Helmi. The chariots of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tut Ankh Amun in 1337 : kinematics and dynamics. Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 35, Issue 11 (Nov., 2000), pp. 1030
Bibliography

Fields, Nic. Bronze Age War Chariots. Osprey Publishing (2006): pp. 1-22

Santosuosso, Antonio. Kadesh Revisited: Reconstructing the Battle Between the Egyptians and the Hittites. The Journal of Military History, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Jul., 1996), pp. 423-444

Watkins, Trevor. Warfare In The Ancient World. Facts On File (1989): pp. 15-35

Alberto Rovetta, Iskander Nasry and Abeer Helmi. The chariots of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tut Ankh Amun in 1337 : kinematics and dynamics. Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 35, Issue 11 (Nov., 2000), pp. 1013-1031

( all miniatures are 28mm foundry egyptians)

Spartan

This is a 28mm wargames foundry spartan miniature i have just painted

CARTHAGE IS HERE

Here is an awesome documentary on Ancient Carthaginian technology. It shows how the ancient Carthaginians were a match for anything the ancient world had, furthurmore that they truly deserve thier place among the great civilizations and cultures of all time.

Ahhhh I have been gone for some time in Miami and have not had time enough to paint and keep up with my blogs. will all change now:)

I also broke my digital camera and have just yesterday purchased a replacement.

I am almost finished with my Macedonians I have been painting.