AWA431 - Why do Roman swords have no crossguard?
Why does the Roman gladius have so little protection for the hand compared with many later swords? In this episode, Murray answers a listene...
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Ancient Warfare Podcast
Discussions from Ancient Warfare Magazine. Why did early civilisations fight? Who were their Generals? What was life like for the earliest soldiers? Ancient Warfare Magazine will try and ans...
Episodes
20 of 431 episodes
AW429 - Stratagems
Stratagems is the theme of the next issue of Ancient Warfare Magazine. The panel share their favourite stratagems from ancient warfare. Join...
AWA429 - The Dacian presence in Britain
What happened to the Dacians after Trajan's conquest of Dacia, and did some of them really end up serving in Roman Britain? In this episode,...
AWA428 - Where were Roman arms factories?
Roman legionaries of the late Republic and early Principate are often depicted wearing chain mail, but just how was enough armour produced t...
AWA427 - Questions about ancient military signal jamming
Jon asks "Hi Murray! Regarding command and control of units during battle through trumpets, drums and similar methods of audible communicati...
AW426 - Band on the Run
Murray chats with Robert L. O'Connell about his new book ' Band on the Run ' from Simon & Schuster (2026), which explores the March of the 1...
AWA425 - A letter on siege warfare
A second letter from James (in response to Murray answering his first!) James asks about ancient sieges - in particular, how Tyre fell to Al...
AWA424 - How did ancient artillery suppress defenders during sieges?
Demetrios asks, "Hello Mr. Dahm, Regarding ancient artillery, in certain cases such as Josephus' account of the siege of Jotapata during the...
AWA423 - How were auxiliary forces managed?
Tom asks: "Sorry for this stupid question. I have read a lot of the red Loeb, but never understood how the Auxiliary forces were managed. By...
AW422 - The Battle of Gaugamela
'After capturing the Mediterranean ports, and having been welcomed as a god in Egypt, Alexander turned east again, aiming to defeat Darius o...
AWA421 - Did legionaries and auxiliaries have to bribe their way into the Roman army?
The second part of Carlos' question from a few episodes ago: "Second, somewhere in an old issue of AWM I have read (but I cannot find it aga...
AWA420 - What were Roman walls for?
Russ asks, "I don't know what it is called, but at a certain point ( or a certain number of points) in time, Rome decided to build walls to...
AWA419 - Who is the better general: Thrasybulus or Demosthenes (or Brasidas)?
Jay asks "Murray, I really enjoyed your podcast about Demosthenes being one of the first generals to have a dedicated flank attack. I have a...
AWA418 - What did legionaries drink on campaign?
Dan asks "May I submit an awa for uncle Murray here? What did legionaries drink on campaign? Aside from the obvious water and wine. Did they...
AW417 - The Evolution of Tactics
How did tactics evolve in the ancient world? In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Podcast, the team explores how battlefield tactics devel...
AWA416 - What evidence is there for striped Egyptian headwear?
A comment exchange on FB led to today's question. Commenting on a cover of an issue of Ancient Warfare Magazine, Michael asked, "I still don...
AWA415 - Why did the Romans completely abandon the spear in favour of the pilum?
Seth tracked Murray down via Facebook Messenger and asked: "Hi Murray, really appreciate your AWA podcast, great short bursts of knowledge....
AWA414 - Did legionaries need to be 1.80 metres tall?
Carlos writes: "Hi Murray, Even though I've been an AWM subscriber for long, I only recently started listening to the podcast. I love the AW...
AW413 - Early Campaigns in Germania
'When Germanic warbands crossed the Rhine in 17 BC, they set in motion a turbulent series of Roman campaigns into Germania that spanned thre...
AWA412 - Were Cretan archers better than other archers?
Following on from Murray discussion of Athenian Archers in AWA 397, Tim asks "It would be interesting to hear of the effectiveness of the ar...