3 ms·
Definitely interesting, but the post isn't about elephants vs wolves (no wolves are mentioned!) but about why the Romans didn't adopt the use of elephants in wa
by ekanes 6y ago
Definitely interesting, but the post isn't about elephants vs wolves (no wolves are mentioned!) but about why the Romans didn't adopt the use of elephants in war.
TLDR; Despite being theoretically SUPERBADASS (my words), elephants are only somewhat effective against prepared armies, but are expensive and hard to maintain, especially compared to horses.
- z3phyr 6y agoThe Wolves are representative of the Romans! Legend has it that the founders of Rome were raised by a she wolf! A lot of roman cultural items have an imagery of the she wolf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus
- ekanes 6y agoOh, of course. Sigh. Thanks.
- smogcutter 6y agoThe wolves in this case are the Romans themselves (The wolf being a symbol of Rome thanks to the Romulus and Remus myth). republican light infantry wore wolf pelts, and legionary standard bearers wore animal pelt headdresses, including wolves.
- ekanes 6y agoThanks!
- wavefunction 6y agoAnd the elephants were explicitly linked to three war-elephant using states absorbed by the Roman Empire, Carthage, Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire.