Subject:
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Re: Very funny bit of information on the guage of American Railroads (Not directly LEGO related)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains, lugnet.castle, lugnet.space
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Date:
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Wed, 28 Aug 2002 22:00:19 GMT
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Viewed:
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57 times
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In lugnet.trains, Leonard Erlandson writes:
> Why don't you think the Romans had war chariots? Or do you mean they just
> didn't call them "war chariots" but something else. I'm pretty sure the Romans
> had a military chariot.
None that I am aware of, though I suppose it is possible that they used
available ones as auxilliaries in the middle east or those of Briton allies.
But Rome itself didn't use chariots. The terrain of Italy was not
particularly conducive to chariot tactics and Rome was an infantry power
through all its wars of consolidation of Italy, the Republic and on into the
late Imperial age, when they shifted to a greater reliance on cavalry.
Certainly they had chariots for personal conveyance, and perhaps that's
really what they mean except for one too many viewing of History As Told By
Hollywood. I'm not actually disputing the crux of the story, just some
finnagling little details.
As for the ruts in paved road, it can happen. I've
> seen ruts several inches deep in solid rock caused by the repetitive erosion
> from wagon train wheels here in the US.
Romans maintained their roads, though at some point I'm sure that broke
down. I have not been to Europe, so I do not know the state of the old
Roman roads beyond that they are still often used due to their excellent
construction. In any case, the point would be that in the time the ruts
standardized wheel spacing, it would have happened on non-roman roads
(non-paved roads). The story flows better by bringing in the Roman
road-building angle, but it gives the wrong impression about the roads built
for the swift movement of imperial armies.
Bruce
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