Caracalla's Macedonian Phalanx

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 21 November 2021

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Alexander the Great and Caracalla. One often considered among the most successful military commanders of all time, the other, one of the worst emperors of Ancient Rome. So is it possible that the latter modelled himself and his army on the former. In this second episode with Dr Alex Imrie, we return to the story of Caracalla to explore the evidence for his Macedonian Phalanx, a formation of men purportedly used in his invasion of the Parthian Empire.

Dr Alex Imrie, from the University of Edinburgh, is an expert on the Severan Dynasty and the author of The Antonine Constitution: An Edict for the Caracallan Empire.

Alex's Twitter: @AlexImrie23

Tristan's Twitter/Instagram: @ancientstristan

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's the entrance on History Hit, I'm Tristan Hughes your host.
0:07.1	And in today's episode, well, we are talking once again about the Emperor Caracalla, but
0:12.2	we're also going to be talking about Alexander the Great because Caracalla, he had quite an
0:17.2	obsession with this Macedonian king.
0:20.4	There's even a story that in his Eastern campaign against the Parthians during the later years
0:25.5	of his reign, he created a unit, a unit which he equipped with
0:29.7	Alexandrian weapons, Alexandrian arms and armor, the Sarisapike and labeled them Alexander's
0:37.4	phalanx.
0:38.4	But how much can we believe of this story?
0:41.4	What's the truth and what is likely to be the fiction?
0:44.7	Well, joining me to talk through all of this, I was delighted to get back on the show
0:48.1	Dr. Alex Imry from the University of Edinburgh.
0:51.5	Alex, he knows all things Caracalla, he was on a podcast recently, all about the
0:56.0	reign of Caracalla, the Antenine Constitution, the assassination of his younger brother
1:01.4	Gator and so much more.
1:03.5	But without further ado, to talk all about Caracalla and the Macedonian phalanx, here's
1:08.6	Alex.
1:09.8	Alex, great to have you back on the podcast.
1:16.7	Wonderful to be back, thanks very much for having me again.
1:19.9	You are very welcome indeed.
1:21.3	I mean, we talked last time about let's say the rise of Caracalla, his horrific murder
1:25.8	is brother and what happens afterwards.
	...

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