Whew. Another 2.5 hours of mayhem!
In this episode, Caesar and Pompey finally face off in the battle to determine the fate of Western civilization. Two men enter – one man leaves!
- It’s August in 48BCE.
- Caesar withdraws from Dyrrachium.
- He arrives at Gomphi who close their doors to him – so he lays siege to the city and gives his men permission to kill, rape and plunder.
- When he gets to the city of Metropolis, they decide they are better off letting him in.
- Pompey catches up with him at Pharsalus. They camp, stare each other down for a few days but don’t give battle. UNTIL…
- Caesar tries to leave but notices Pompey’s troops follow him onto the open plains. He turns around and they prepare to do battle.
- Caesar is outnumbered 2-to-1. His cavalry are outnumbered SEVEN-to-one.
- And then, in a feat of military tactics that is still pretty unbelievable, Caesar DESTROYS Pompey’s forces, in a matter of hours.
- Pompey runs away to Egypt… where he is assassinated by an old friend and beheaded.
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A good song for Caesar victory over Pompey would be Scorpions- “Rock you like a hurricane”
The definitive evidence that Nagasaki was not aimed at military-industrial assets, the bomb was armed to explode at a level above the ground that would have maximal impact on wooden structures (civilian houses and business), whereas had the detonator been set to a lower altitude, the impact would have been more constrained and effective at destroying steel and concrete structures (factories). I forget where the source for that is on the web but it comes partly from the airman tasked with setting the arming mechanism.
Great show. Love you guys.
Iain: you need to read up on your history of Nagasaki specifically, and the use of Atomic weapons in WW2 in general..starting with the fact that Nagasaki was not even the primary target that day. I recommend a book called Downfall, which is heavily sourced with primary sources from both Japan and the United States . I really learned a lot reading it, and some of the other sources cited.
Fantastic episode! Such a dichotomy of emotion – glorious amazement at Caesar’s finesse and hollow depression at the demise of such an amazing military leader. I’m not sure any future episodes can top this one ….