WebOps (January 2005)
Welcome to WebOps, Armchair General’s first original content website column! I am the WebWarrior, Jim H. Moreno, and here you will find links to the best in military history that the Internet has to offer. From topics covered in the current issue of Armchair General magazine, to interviews with military historian webmasters, WebOps aims to help guide you through the online minefield of bad military history sites to get to the good ones.
This month’s article will focus on bringing you more information on the stories and features in the March 2005 issue of Armchair General.
The History of Herodotus, By Herodotus, Written 440 B.C.E, Translated by George Rawlinson
{default}"These are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the Greeks and the Barbarians from losing their due meed of glory; and withal to put on record what were their grounds of feuds." – The History of Herodotus
All nine books are here at this section of The Internet Classics Archive website, which houses another 440 classical literature works in English translations by such authors as Xenophon, Tacitus, Livy, and Julius Caesar.
Cicero called him the "Father of History", and the Herodotus website does a great job of documenting what is known about him and his work in history.
The Battle of Salamis section picks up just as Xerxes has king Leonidas beheaded, and continues through Xerxes’ march on Delphi and Athens, the account of the battle at Salamis, and the aftermath. Also included is an essay on the quality of Greek resistance against Xerxes’ invasion.
The entire Herodotus website is an acedemic study and documentary on his life, brought together with an easy interface and an eye towards relevant information.
There are some subjects that proliferate and plague the Internet to the nth degree, like the Alyssa Milano pics on my computer. Historical peoples make up a very large percentage of web topics, and Alexander the Great certainly has his name well known amongst those websites. Just open your favorite browser’s Search section, type in ‘Alexander the Great’, and you’ll see what I mean.
Thankfully, the Internet has been around a while, and much like I’m doing with this article for our dear readers, the work involved in looking for good Alexander sites has already been done, resulting in the best site I have seen on Alexander by far.
Tim Spalding is the person responsible for this immense conglomeration of web info on and about Alexander the Great, which is itself only a section of the much larger and strangely named Isidore of Seville website.
The Alexander section begins by claiming to be the "comprehensive guide to 1,000 websites about Alexander, sorted, described and ranked." In about thirty well-sorted categories, Tim has links to info and other sites concerning Alexander’s web biographies, his life’s history, his army and their battle campaigns, his friends and enemies, documentaries, academic articles, and even resource sites geared towards students young and old. His lengthy ‘no-spoilers’ review of Oliver Stone’s movie Alexander is the best I’ve read. In short, if you are looking for Alexander the Great on the Web, the search starts and stops here.
Like the current Armchair General issue, it doesn’t seem right to mention Alexander without also saying something about his father, history’s first modern General, Philip of Macedon.
Philip of course has his own section at this site (next to another very good section on Alexander, found under the History of Ancient Macedonia heading), but the entire site is so well constructed I felt it worthy to include the whole of it.
The ancient and legendary 2,500 year-long history of the Macedonian empire is collected at this site under headings covering the ancient ethnicity of the Macedonians, through Roman, Ottoman, and Independent Macedonia, Macedonian rule in Egypt and Asia, and a collection of sites about Macedonia in the modern age. The font type takes some getting used to, and could be made a couple of sizes larger and a few shades darker so as not to be a strain on the eyes, but that’s my only gripe. Bookmark this site!
Biblical history is full of warfare, and much is written in the Bible on the subject of battle, armies, command and leadership, and conquest over evil enemies. One of the best websites I found that doesn’t shy away from what the Bible teaches through warfare is this site, and a perfect example being the Studies in the Life of Joshua series.
This section is page eight of ten in the series, and excellently describes Joshua’s course of action that helped bring about his victory over the fortress at Ai. Also of interest is Joshua’s Jericho campaign and how he destroyed the Amorite Coalition. Valuable lessons of warfare wrapped in intelligent writing permeate this entire site, so, if you are looking for help with this month’s You Command Combat Decision Game, look no further.
These next two links are from the Dispatches section , and since that is where you will find them already explained, I’ll stand at ease so you can get to the sites.
Finally, in this month’s Interactive Combat Story (ICS – pg 52), we pick up the tale of Sergeant Devin and the intrepid crew of "Baker’s Hammer" as they prepare to hold the line near Mortain against a Kraut counterattck, with your help, of course. Here’s a couple of websites that dig into the history of the 3d Armored Division (Spearhead).
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Stay Alert, Stay Alive!
Jim H. Moreno
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