If you had to die in battle, but it could be at any time in history...

United States
May 24, 2009 1:33pm CST
OK, so here's my thought experiment. Sorry if it's morbid (maybe not for everyone), but I think it raises some interesting issues. If you had to die in battle, but you got to choose what period of history it would be in, what would you choose? For instance, Roman legions were disciplined regimens of foot soldiers, wielding mostly spears and short swords. Death in battle during the Roman Empire meant looking your opponent in the eye, smelling his sweat, and feeling cutting metal. In the later Middle Ages, cavalry was employed more, as were long-range archers. Still, though, the majority of the work was done by foot soldiers, many of whom (because of economic/social class) were essentially dispensable. In the Civil War, getting hit by a bullet at all meant amputation of that limb. They did yet know about the causes of infection, but they knew that gangrene was fatal. Because of notched bullets, rifles replaced muskets in the Civil War, and you were able to shoot at an opponent from much longer ranges. Meanwhile, canon would be used to decimate reserve troops in the back, and to scatter formations. Then there's World Wars I and II, and then superpower proxy wars such as Vietnam and Afghanistan, and now we're in the age of unmanned drones, GPS, and heat seeking missiles. So, once again: you have to die in battle, but you get to choose the time period. What do you think?
2 responses
• Philippines
24 May 09
I would want to die in battle like in the movie 300. Like, wow, I would love to die like King Leonidas did, killing tons of Xerxes' soldiers with only 299 comrades by my side! SO FREAKIN' AWESOME!
@savypat (20216)
• United States
24 May 09
Well I don't want to know so I'd take today's wars where you are driving along and then all of a sudden you aren't there anymore.