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Corn?
Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:28 pm
by gunny
Reading "The Gallic Wars" by Julius Caesar on my new Kindle. Several references about the food for his Legions was "corn"? Was corn the Latin word for wheat, barley, or what?
Re: Corn?
Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:14 pm
by dannan14
i'm pretty sure that except in the US, corn is a generic term for grain.
Re: Corn?
Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 8:49 pm
by Minimalist
Check the bio of the translator. In Britain "corn" is general term for "grain."
Roman troops usually ate wheat baked into bread plus whatever else could be scrounged from the area.
Re: Corn?
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:21 am
by Digit
What you call corn we call Maize.
Roy.
Re: Corn?
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:40 am
by gunny
Translator was British--Ol' JC had, so far, five major battles, 20,000?, in one year. looks like there would be remains scattered all over France.
Re: Corn?
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:48 am
by gunny
We used to shudder with the thought of having to use our bayonet---imagine facing thousands with axes, swords, and spears--bigger cajones than me----
Re: Corn?
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:01 am
by Minimalist
Just allow that the Commentaries were political documents and, as was common in ancient writing, the tendency to overstate the size of the opponent's army was both omnipresent and unrestrained. The bigger they are the more impressive it looks when you beat them.
Nonetheless, particularly at Alesia...which I guess you haven't gotten to yet... archaeologists have found artifacts.
Totally agree about the weaponry, though.
Re: Corn?
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:25 am
by gunny
Speaking of battles---anything more on my previous post on the site of Boudicia?
Re: Corn?
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:46 am
by Digit
Wars have become much less personal with the advent of long range weapons without a doubt.
Roy.
Re: Corn?
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:18 am
by Minimalist
gunny wrote:Speaking of battles---anything more on my previous post on the site of Boudicia?
Not that I've heard.