Comments by "SantomPh" (@SantomPh) on "Middle East: Odenathus - Ghosts of the Desert - Extra History" video.

  1. basically Odeanthus' army had a lot of advantages compared to the proper Roman army- they were well fed, were all locals, and had trained to fight in open spaces without the need for strict formations. They also followed the Persian manual of combat and not the Roman- they had armored horses (similar to cataphracts) and lancers, with the infantry as the mobile and not stationary units. The Persian raiders didn't have too much cavalry and were stuck trying to cross the Euphrates river. The heavy baggage train didn't help much, especially with slaves that could have escaped and joined the fight.
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  2. quite the opposite, the Renaissance was also triggered by the learning and open mindedness of the Islamic Iberia (Spain and Portugal) -some 500 years of scholarly wisdom and scientific discovery, including astronomy, calculus and Greek Classics that were lost under the Romans. After Alexandria burned by accident, Baghdad was the last place a lot of Greek texts could be found, not even in Constantinople.
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