"Battle of Sapientza – 1941" Topic

"Andromache, Astyanax and Hector in a touching scene from the Iliad. Astyanax, on Andromache's knee , reaches out to touch his father's helmet before his duel with Achilles (Apulian red-figure column-crater, ca. 370–360 BCE). Now in the Museo Nazionale of the Palazzo Jatta in Ruvo di Puglia (Bari)

It is often assumed, beginning with Hector in the Iliad, that conflict was the exclusive preserve of men in the battles and wars fought by the ancient Greeks and the Romans. After all, Alexander the Great, Scipio Africanus and Julius Caesar are much more familiar to us than, for example, Fulvia who embroiled herself in the conflicts of Mark Antony, her husband, during the Perusine War, or Agrippina the Elder who interceded with the troubled legions in Germanicus' campaigns in Germania. At least Cleopatra, Boudicca and the Amazon fighters are much better known. However, these military women are just four of many who took on exceptional and significant roles in the wars of the ancient Greeks and Romans, from Homer to the end of the Roman empire: in those 1200 or so years there is a large number of women who had a significant role in the causation, direction or conduct of wars and battles. Guile, military intelligence, diplomacy, tactical excellence, courage, atrocity and ferocity are just a few of the qualities exhibited amongst belligerent women in the Greek and Roman worlds. This may still surprise some readers today, but, when we observe that the vast majority of books and journals published even in recent years on Greek and Roman warfare ignore the role of women, then I remain unsurprised that they are surprised…"

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Armand

"On the 6th of April 1941 German forces launched their invasion of Greece. Despite the recent losses at the Battle of Matapan the Regia Marina was ordered to sortie to threaten the vulnerable Allied supply lines to Greece. The Italian forces comprised the heavy cruisers of the 3rd Cruiser Division (Trieste & Trento) and the light cruisers of the 8th Cruiser Division (Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi and Giuseppe Garibaldi). They were supported by the the 12th Destroyer Squadron (Ascari, Carabiniere and Corazziere) as well as the 16th Destroyer Squadron (Emanuele Pessagno and Nicoloso da Recco). Vice Admiral Luigi Sansonetti, with his flag on the heavy cruiser Trieste, held a course to the south east with the ships deployed in their various divisions with the light cruisers operating on the southern flank…"

Across the Table

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Armand

Ups!…

Armand