July 2020 – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during July 2020| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks, Fireside this week! As I noted a couple of weeks ago, things are probably going to get more than a little fireside-y over the next few weeks, simply because of the start of the semester – and a semester in which I am undertaking a set of entire new preps (that is, teaching … Continue reading Fireside Friday, August 27, 2025 (On Defending History)→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during July 2020| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during August 2022| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the start of the fourth part of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb) discussing the structures of life for pre-modern peasants, who made up the majority of all humans who have ever lived. In the last few sections, we’ve looked broadly at how mortality, marriage and childbearing patterns shape the households these folks … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVa: Subsistence and a Little More→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during May 2025| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during May 2024| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
4 posts published by Bret Devereaux during April 2024| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during March 2024| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
4 posts published by Bret Devereaux during February 2024| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
4 posts published by Bret Devereaux during January 2024| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks, Fireside this week! The new semester is starting up next week, so things may be a little more fireside-y than usual over the next few weeks, but I do promise we will get to the end of “Life, Work, Death and the Peasant” eventually. That said, since I am teaching Latin rather than … Continue reading Fireside Friday, August 15, 2025 (On Latin Pronunciation)→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of the third part of our series (I, II) discussing the patterns of life of the pre-modern peasants who made up the great majority of all humans who lived in our agrarian past and indeed a majority of all humans who have ever lived. Last week, we looked at death, … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIa: Family Formation→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the back half of the third part of our series (I, II, IIIa) discussing the patterns of life for the pre-modern peasants who made up the great majority of humans who lived in the past. Last week, we started looking at family formation through the lens of marriage, this week we’ll consider it … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIb: Children and Childrearing→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
4 posts published by Bret Devereaux during February 2025| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
4 posts published by Bret Devereaux during February 2023| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
4 posts published by Bret Devereaux during January 2023| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during December 2022| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during December 2021| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during October 2021| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during May 2020| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
We’re going to talk about the comically nonsensical logistics of the “Battle of the Goldroad” from Game of Thrones (S7E4), commonly just called the ‘Loot Train battle.’…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during October 2019| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we’re going to talk about armor effectiveness, comparing the value of body-armor before gunpowder with what gets portrayed in fiction and broader pop culture. What does it take to …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during July 2019| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
10 posts published by Bret Devereaux during May 2019| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the fourth and last part of our series (I, II, III, IV) examining the historical assumptions of Europa Universalis IV, Paradox Interactive’s historical grand strategy computer game se…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Today we’re going to start looking at one facet of how polytheistic religions function, their practicality. This is going to be a four-part series (II, III, IV) looking at some of the general…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of the third part of our series (I, II) discussing the patterns of life of the pre-modern peasants who made up the great majority of all humans who lived in our agrarian past…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of our series (I) discussing the basic contours of life – birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death – of pre-modern peasants and their families. As we’ve discussed, pre-modern peasant farmers make up the vast majority of human beings in in the past. Last week we started by looking at the basic … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part II: Starting at the End→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Hey folks! I am on vacation this week, so you’ll have to wait till next week to get the next installment of “Life, Work, Death and the Peasant.” However, if you are looking for some ACOUP content to fill your Friday, I have a few suggestions! First, if you want some of my writing in … Continue reading Gap Week, July 25, 2025→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
As is traditional here, I am taking advantage of the Fourth of July this week to write something about the United States, this time a brief discussion of the nature of civil-military relations in the United States. Civil-military relations (typically shortened to ‘civ-mil’ or sometimes CMR) is, simply put, the relationship between the broader civil … Continue reading Collections: The American Civil-Military Relationship→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Welcome back! We are back from our November hiatus and thus back to regular weekly posts! This week we’re going to answer the runner-up question in the last ACOUP Senate poll (polls in which …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of our series (I) discussing the basic contours of life – birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death – of pre-modern peasants and their families. As we’ve …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
6 posts published by Bret Devereaux during August 2019| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first post in a series discussing the basic contours of life – birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death – of pre-modern peasants and their families. Prior to the industrial revolution, peasant farmers of varying types made up the overwhelming majority of people in settled societies (the sort with cities and writing). And when … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part I: Households→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
As is traditional here, I am taking advantage of the Fourth of July this week to write something about the United States, this time a brief discussion of the nature of civil-military relations in t…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
One of the first questions anyone asks about past societies is, ‘how many people were there?’ It is one of those basic bits of information and generally speaking those of us who teach t…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first post in a series discussing the basic contours of life – birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death – of pre-modern peasants and their families. Prior to the industria…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Fireside this week! Originally, I was thinking I’d talk about the ‘future of classics’ question in this space, but I think that deserves a full post (in connection with this week’s book recommendation and the next fireside’s book recommendation), so instead this week I want to talk a little about foreign policy realism, what it … Continue reading Fireside Friday, June 27, 2025 (On the Limits of Realism)→| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week at long last we come to the clash of men and horses as we finish our three-part (I, II, III) look at the iconic opening battle scene from the film Gladiator (2000). Last time, we brought …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during December 2023| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
4 posts published by Bret Devereaux during November 2023| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
5 posts published by Bret Devereaux during September 2019| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
4 posts published by Bret Devereaux during June 2022| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
4 posts published by Bret Devereaux during June 2020| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we’re doing another ‘silly’ topic, but this being me, it is a silly logistics topic, because – as the saying goes – amateurs talk tactics, professionals tal…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, in part as a follow-on to our series on the contest between Hellenistic armies and Roman legions, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about Alexander III, who you almost certainly k…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the third part of the fourth part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) look at the how the Roman military system and its manipular legion were able to defe…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of the fourth part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) look at the context between the Roman military system based on the manipular legion…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of the fourth part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) look at why the thing to use to beat a Macedonian sarisa phalanx is, in fact, a Roma…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of the third part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) look at the performance of the Roman army and its legions in the third and second ce…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of the third part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) look at the triumph of the Roman legions in the third and second century over the Hel…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of the second part of the second part of our four part look (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) at the great third and second century BC contest between the Rom…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of the second part of our four? four part look (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) at the great third and second century BC contest between the Hellenistic armie…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of the first part of our four part look (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) at the context between the Hellenistic army and its Macedonian phalanx and the Roman…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week on the blog we are starting what is a planned four-part ten-part series (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, V) looking at the twilight of Hellenistic warfare and the triumph of …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we’re going to do something a bit silly, in part because I have to prepare for and travel to an invited workshop/talk event later this week and so don’t have quite the time fo…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of our [I don’t know; a few?] part series looking at the Siege of Eregion sequence from the second season of Amazon’s Rings of Power and what we can learn by poin…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the third part of our three part (I, II, III) look at many of the smaller issues of historical realism in Amazon’s Rings of Power, following up our mode the major worldbuilding proble…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of a three part (I, II, III) look at the issue of of historical realism in Amazon’s Rings of Power, following on our more substantive discussion of the major worldbuil…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we’re going to take a look at the worldbuilding of Amazon Studio’s Rings of Power from a historical realism perspective. I think it is no great secret that Rings of Power broa…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the fourth part of a five part (I, II, III, IV, V) series covering some of the basics of fortification, from city walls to field fortifications, from the ancient world to the modern period.…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the first part of a planned five-part series (I, II, III, IV, V) covering some of the basics of fortifications, from city walls to castles and field fortifications! We are going to discuss …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the fifth part of a series taking a historian’s look at the Battle of Helm’s Deep (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII. VIII) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Today we’re going to talk about what a pre-modern battlefield might look like after the battle is over. Obvious content warning, since this post is going to talk about (and show pictures of) …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we’re going to look at how the effectiveness of arrow fire – especially against armored targets – varies over distance. This is, in a sense, a continuation of my previo…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
(Note: Thanks to the effort of a kind reader, this post is now available in audio format! The playlist for the entire series may be found here.) This is the third part of of a six part series (I, I…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the third part of our [I, II, I don’t know, a few more?] part series looking at Rings of Power’s Siege of Eregion from a military history perspective. Last week, we discussed th…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the eight and last part of a series taking a historian’s look at the Battle of Helm’s Deep (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week (and probably next) I want to talk a bit more Tolkien, but in a somewhat different vein from normal. Rather than discussing the historicity of Tolkien’s world or adaptations of it, …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, the part you have all been waiting for – we’re going to look at how the Spartans fought. This is part six of our series (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, Gloss., Retrospective) lo…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we’re going to look at how the Spartan state governs itself. We’re going to lay out a broad picture of how the parts of the Spartan government function, but we are remaining …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we’re looking more at what life was actually like in Sparta, this time focusing on wealth and property. Last time (here), we looked at the question of daily life for women in Spart…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Today, in part III of our seven part look at Sparta (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, Gloss., Retrospective) we’re going to take a close look at the role of women in Spartan society, keeping in mi…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is Part II of our seven part look at Sparta (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, Gloss., Retrospective). Last week we took a look at our sources for Sparta and then examined the Spartan child-training…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
The following post is intended as a ‘reference sheet’ of sorts for any of the difficult or obscure terminology that is going to get used in the “This. Isn’t. Sparta.” …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we’re breaking out of the main series of posts on the Fremen Mirage (I, II, IIIa, IIIb) to answer a brewing discussion that has been running in the comments: does Dune exist within …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is Part IIIb of our four-and-three-quarters part series (I, II, IIIa) on what we’re calling the Fremen Mirage. Last week, we traced the origins of this idea in the Greek and Roman ethnog…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is Part IIIa of our four-part series (I, II) looking at what I’ve termed the ‘Fremen Mirage.’ We defined the core tenets of this pop-historical notion in more detail in the f…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is part II of our four-part series (I, IIIa, IIIb, interlude, IV) looking at what I’ve termed ‘the Fremen mirage,’ after the fiction people from the science fiction novel Dun…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the seven (and last!) part of our seven part series (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, Gloss., Retrospective) look at Sparta in popular memory and historical truth. Last time we talked about Spar…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Thanks to our helpful volunteer narrator, this entire post series is now also available in audio format! As the fourth and final part (I, II, III) of our look at the basic structure of food product…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Thanks to our helpful volunteer narrator, this entire post series is now also available in audio format! As the third part (I, II, III, IV, A) of our look at the basic structure of food production …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we’re taking another trip, this time through a medieval author, in this case looking at a selection of passages from Dhuoda of Uzès, Duchess of Septimania’s Liber Manualis (&…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Last week, we looked at a model for what the countryside around an ‘ideal city’ might look like. Today we’re going to introduce some complications to that model (you will recall, …| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week and next, we’re going to look at an issue not of battles, but of settings: pre-modern cities – particularly the trope of the city, town or castle set out all alone in the midd…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This post is also available in audio form, thanks to the efforts of our volunteer narrator. This is the third part of our four part (I, II, III, IVa, IVb) look at the production of textiles, partic…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This post is also available in audio form, thanks to the efforts of our volunteer narrator. This week we are starting the first of a four (I, II, III, IVa, IVb) part look at pre-modern textile prod…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second part of a three part (I, II, III) look at some of the practical concerns of managing pre-industrial logistics. In our last post we outlined the members of our ‘campaign com…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
In this three-part series (I, II, III) we’re going to be bowing to reader demand and taking a close look at the nuts and bolts of maintaining an army in the field. In our last series, after all, w…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Thanks to our helpful volunteer narrator, this entire post series is now also available in audio format! This essay will hopefully be the first post in a series (II, III, IV, A) covering some of th…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week’s post is the first in a four part series (II, IIIa, IIIb, interlude, IV) looking at what I’m going to term the Fremen Mirage (a play on Le Mirage Spartiate, which we’ve…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Thanks to our helpful volunteer narrator, this entire post series is now also available in audio format! This is the second part (I, II, III, IV, A) of our look at the basic structure of food produ…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week we are taking a look at the latest winner of the ACOUP Senate poll, which posed the question “Why didn’t the Roman Empire have an industrial revolution?” To answer that,…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is Part I of a seven part series (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, Gloss., Retrospective) comparing the popular legacy of Sparta (embodied in films like 300) with the historical ancient state. Toda…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This week, we’re going to take a look at a different aspect of ancient infantry tactics: how heavy infantry shield formations work. While I’ve framed this around ‘shield walls,…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second and (in theory) last addendum to our series on Roman civic governance (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV, V, A1, A2). Having discussed how Rome handles those parts of Italy it controls…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the second of a three-part (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc) look at the role of the general in a pre-modern army, particularly in the context of a pitched battle. Last week, we looked at the infor…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
This is the seventh part of a series taking a historian’s look at the Battle of Helm’s Deep (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII. VIII) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2…| A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
