Warning: I did four years of Latin in High School, and Livy was by far
my favorite.
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 19:50:05 -0500 (EST)
From: FOOLETERNAL@delphi.com
Livy is best known (aside from his jingoistic emphasis on Rome's
greatness and inevitiable ascension)
I take it you're not a fan of Whig history? :-)
for the questionable accuracy of his battle-discriptions. [ Much
no doubt accurate accuracy bashing. ]
Ahem.
And here it was I always thought Livy's enduring value was in the
series of "morality plays" he presents. While he's certainly no
Thucydides, the moral content of his work has enlightened figures as
diverse as Machiavelli (who's major work, on republican virtue and the
like, takes Livy as it's jumping off point) to the American Founding
Fathers. I defy any of you to read the story of the tyranny of
Decimvirs and not be moved, let along enraged. A work that speak this
strongly across millennia is likely to have some merit, I would say.
I sometimes feel the parallel between LoGH and Livy.
Niether works show a grounded grasp of the actual details
of tactics and strategy (let alone logistics), and both
show an exaggerated respect for the importance of leadership
over every other factor.
While you certainly have a point that their grasp of things martial is
somewhat weak, I think you're giving Livy and Tanaka (at least as LOGH
is portrayed in the first movie and OAVs 1-26, all I've seen so far) a
bad rap. While both certainly subscribe to the Great Man (Men?)
approach to history, it's not to the complete exclusion of other
factors.
E.g. the focus of the story of the Decimvirs is an otherwise obscure
centurion, who's daughter happened to attract the unwanted attention
of one of the Decimvirs (hmmm, where have we heard of this before?).
LOGH focuses at least some attention on the men in the ranks, and
others affected by the grand drama; witness the focus on the planet in
the Frontier's Liberation episodes.
Anyway, focusing on the leaders may be currently unpopular, if not
Politically Incorrect, but in my view it's an entirely valid approach
to history, and has the added advantages of helping to engage the
audience (certainly better than a focus on the grey "common man").
- Harold