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and the vaunted Roman legionaries of Middle Republic to Early Empire were also Italian farmers... in the Old World, for thousands of years, farmers and nomads

and the vaunted Roman legionaries of Middle Republic to Early Empire were also Italian farmers... in the Old World, for thousands of years, farmers and nomads fight each other. Sometimes the former won, sometimes the latter won - don't forget, the Indo-Europeans were steppe nomads who were the first to tame cavalry and make chariots!

thrower123 8y ago
Until the development of modern firearms, the nomads won pretty consistently any time they could get their ducks in line and stop infighting. Mobility and being able to almost totally mobilize the fighting age population let them punch well above their weight.