THE ALEXANDER TENT. The tent of Alexander the Great was a mobile headquarters and officers' school, the first such institution of its kind. Beneath the awning of Alexander's campaign tent gathered the commanders and officers of his army for politicalintelligence, strategy and tactics briefings and discussions. I am happy to report that the letters keep coming in. The quality of the letters has improved dramatically in the past few weeks with the inclusion of sources. My thanks to those who have written, and keep those cards and letters coming. For those interested, the University of Pennsylvania has just published an English translation of Strategikon. Entitled Maurice's Strategikon, and selling for around $25.00, this work covers not only the late 6th - early 7th Century Byzantines, but also some of the Byzantine enemies such as the Avars. I cannot stress enough what a major event this translation is for the wargaming hobby. Now on to business. There were so many good answers this time that I have had to cut back on questions. Again, my thanks to all those who wrote. ANSWERS TO EARLIER QUESTIONS IV. QUESTION 1. As the Romans apparently adopted the gladius and pilum from Hannibal's Celtiberians, were the later legion formations also a copy of Hannibal's formations? AN ANSWER. Since the premises of the question are false, the conclusion the author wishes to draw from are also false. The gladius hispaniensus was adopted by the Roman legions at the time of Marius, as part of his reform of the army to fight the Gauls. This was a considerable time after the Punic Wars, and to say that the Gladius was adopted as a result of encounters with Iberians during these wars is stretching creditability a bit. As far as I know, there is no evidence the Marion reforms adopted any tactical or organizational aspects of the Iberians. The bibliography to H.M.D. Parker's The Roman Legions, though somewhat dated, will provide adequate primary reference material for the Marion reforms of the Roman Army. (L. Wiseman, IL) V. QUESTION 1. What prompted the Assyrians to abandon the two-horse chariot and adopt the four-horse chariot? AN ANSWER. Assyrian reliefs of chariots overrunning enemies fleeing in disorder can be seen in The Art of War in Biblical Lands, by Yigael Yadin, and other sources. It can be assumed that Assyrian chariots were used as a shock weapon as much as any age's mounted arm, in that they were quite effective against shaken or not too well-ordered troops, but less successful against steady, formed troops. The progression toward heavier vehicles and larger crews through the history of Assyria can be seen to necessitate more horses... As another reason for four-horse chariots, I would like to propose the theory that the outboard horses were regarded as somewhat expendable, shielding the inboard ones from fire, and since not necessaryto move the chariot, could be cut out when wounded faster than a replacement could be brought up from reserve; thus saving the chariot from loss (although it had perhaps been stopped in its charge). This is supported by the fact that early four-horse teams had the outboard horses rather tenuously attached to the drawing rig. (C. Hoover, CO) V. QUESTION 3. When did cavalry replace the chariot? Begin to be used as a shock 'weapon' against formed infantry? AN ANSWER. The first mention of cavalry in Assyrian written records is by Adad-Nirari II (909-889 BC) who mentions incorporating horsemen of the Nairis into the Assyrian Army after defeating them. (Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, by D.D. Luckenbill.) Early reliefs of Assyrian cavalry show them in two-horse 'teams' with one rider holding the reins of both horses while the other uses a bow. (Reign of Assurnasirpal II, 883-859) (Yadin, op. cit. p. 297,456) Cavalry operating individually with long spears first appear (Yadin, op. cit. p. 416,457) under Tiglath-Pileser III in 745-727 BC. (C. Hoover, CO) V. QUESTION 4. Arran's Array shows indirect fire. Does the effect warrant inclusion in ancient rules? AN ANSWER. In regards to your request for more data on my Hastings example: I agree that the 'indirect' fire mode in the question as I am using it does lie outside the definition as you mean it. I misunderstood it somewhat. However, my point was that the target of the Norman archers was the more rearward ranks of the Saxon army, rather than the front-rank troops, who were protected by a wall of shields. Source: SAXON ENGLAND, G.A. Embleton and D.R. Banting, Almark Press, p. 75. Thus, the archers were firing at 'unseen' targets. Any rules would be structured to reflect this harassing-fire as just that, and not decisive, and all rules for indirect fire would be of a like ineffectiveness. (M. Carr, IA) VII. QUESTION 1. Who were the Aryans? Where did they originate and what did they look like? What was their influence concerning ancient India? AN ANSWER. Racially they were cousins of the "skuthoi" or Scythians. Blue or grey-eyed men, tall with reddish hair covering their long heads. They have been called the Great White Race, or Indo-Europeans. They have also been credited with the swastika emblem, although the symbol is much older than the Aryans. See "Primitive Mythology" Vol. 1 of "The Masks of God". The Aryans were nomads, and all over the steppes they left grave mounds. On the mounds they placed stone figures, slightly larger than life called "babas" by the Russians. Russia is thought by some to have been their birthplace, but no one knows for certain. Whilst it is difficult to trace the Aryans historically, their influence can be seen by studying folklore. They influenced the Greeks, Celts, Romans, and the Eastern races. An excellent book on this influence is "Occidental Mythology" - Vol. III of "The Masks of God" byJoseph Campbell, published in the USA by The Viking Press (reprinted 1975) or in G.B. by Penguin Books (1984). Harold Lamb mentions the Aryans in "The March of the Barbarians" (1940). This last work is not worth buying for Aryan information, but it is an excellent book. (B. Black, London, England) Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VI No. 1 Back to Courier List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com