Posted: September 16, 1999 at 15:06:33: by neithan
: : One must also keep in mind that the Roman army was also the
: : most efficent fighting force of that era as well as a political
: : tool. These factors lent a great deal to the army size
: : throughout. To compare that to Gondor/MT would be an error.
: : Afterall Gondor/MT at the best of times was in a state of
: : skirmish with Minas Morgul (in the third age) and one would
: : think that this would possibly lead to a disproportionate army
: : size.: Actually, at the best of times, Gondor was the dominant power in Middle-earth, but that ascendancy had long since passed by the time of the War of the Ring. : : Also (as Tolkien illustrated in RotK) they seemed to rely
: : heavily on irregulers and local militia (where Rome relied on
: : heavily trained legions). : Er, no, Tolkien doesn't illustrate this at all. Martin has been arguing this is what they were doing, but the texts don't show that at all. Very few irregulars (perhaps no more than a couple hundred) are mentioned in THE RETURN OF THE KING. : : Just some things one should take into account when trying to
: : determine the populations IMHO. : What I think is more credible here is the fact that Gondor was on its last legs. It was in a fight for its very existence. The Parthian campaign and even Adrianople were not similar conflicts. Adrianople resulted from an arrogant emperor's mishandling of a Gothic rebellion (and only part of the Goths were involved). Parthia was just a stupid attempt at conquest, IIRC. It was an attempt to end an ongoing war and threat by conquest. However, Julian had not considered alternative reactions on behalf of his enemy and was thus caught by him when retreating. : Gondor had mobilized all its forces for war at the end of the Third Age. Every soldier was expected to see battle. Maybe half of them did see battle. We have no idea of how many men were lost at Pelargir. We only know that by the time Aragorn arrived there the Corsairs were in control of the city. : Now, Legolas does say, "and soon there was a great gathering of men out of Lebennin and the Ethir, and Angbor of Lamedon came up with all the horsemen that he could muster." : This statement is rather vague, but these men, if armed and armored for war, could not simply the local peasants leaving the farm for love of the Heir of Isildur. Whether militia or regular forces they would have to have been trained and mustered for some length of time. I agree mostly, but i am not comparing the Parthian campaign or Hadrianopolis in other ways then to say "look we have major battles deciding the future of the empire fought by 30- 40.000 romans- appr. 10% of the total size of their army. The battles with Huns, Goths, Franks and Vandals later are better examples of the sort of threat Gondor faced and the pitifull remains of an army they had IMO.
Neithan Turambar
| 
