Saw this before, and just having come back from seeing the Two Towers (myy only Tolkein experience besides reading the Hobbit) all I have to say is It was Damn good.
NOw here is my question, suppose Vespasian's army of 70,000 men (around there) with a very good (one of the best of his time) commander going to Judea to destroy Jerusalem is transported by Gandalf into middle eart. With enough time to prepare and set up before the Orcish (forgot what their real name was , sorry) army 10,000 men strong marching of to kill the Rowanians.
Who would win?
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Not a fair contest. You're pitting 70,000 battle-hardened, well trained, highly efficient Roman soldiers against an undisciplined mob with 12% of their numbers.
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Straha wrote:Saw this before, and just having come back from seeing the Two Towers (myy only Tolkein experience besides reading the Hobbit) all I have to say is It was Damn good.
NOw here is my question, suppose Vespasian's army of 70,000 men (around there) with a very good (one of the best of his time) commander going to Judea to destroy Jerusalem is transported by Gandalf into middle eart. With enough time to prepare and set up before the Orcish (forgot what their real name was , sorry) army 10,000 men strong marching of to kill the Rowanians.
Who would win?
I think you mean the "Uruk-Hai." They look tough but against a Roman army, they're toast. Especially when the Roman force has a 7 to 1 advantage.
Even if the numbers were even, the Romans would annihilate the Uruk-Hai. The Romans have superior artillery, tactics, strategy, archers, the list goes on. The Uruk-Hai can rely on brute strength when their numbers are large, like in the army that attacked Helm's Deep, but against seasoned enemies, they fall rather quickly.
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IG-88E wrote:But it would be rather entertaining....
For the half hour the battle would last...
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Straha wrote:Saw this before, and just having come back from seeing the Two Towers (myy only Tolkein experience besides reading the Hobbit) all I have to say is It was Damn good.
NOw here is my question, suppose Vespasian's army of 70,000 men (around there) with a very good (one of the best of his time) commander going to Judea to destroy Jerusalem is transported by Gandalf into middle eart. With enough time to prepare and set up before the Orcish (forgot what their real name was , sorry) army 10,000 men strong marching of to kill the Rowanians.
Who would win?
It would be a slaughter...and the legioners wolud be the butchers!
The Roman general would only need to send in three legions against the Uruk-hai while keeping the remaining four in reserve. Indeed, the reserve archers could pour on a murderous hail of arrows as the three forward legions advance following an initial fire bombardment with onager and ballista. If the surviving Uruk-hai charge mindlessly, the Roman infantry discipline will very soon show its superiority to the scream-and-hack style of fighting to which the Uruk-hai are accustomed.
Whoops, slight correction —that would be about eleven legions in reserve.
Indeed, with that kind of manpower, the Roman general could divide his army and dispatch five legions to attack Isengard with the Ents while relieving Helm's Deep.
This is absoloute sadism. The romans are the most effective (accounting for tech progress since) army ever.
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Suppose we had a different fight, same Roman army goes and Sieges the Black Gate and Mount Mordor. Please note that the Romans were already preparing to Siege Jerusalem.
What do you think would happen now?
'After 9/11, it was "You're with us or your with the terrorists." Now its "You're with Straha or you support racism."' ' - The Romulan Republic
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
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Well, as good as the Romans were, I'm not sure they could take Mordor. If it were just about the physical defenses, I'd give it to the Romans without hesitation. But there is also the power of the Ring, and the ability of the Nazgul to instill fear in their enemies. Also, as good as the Romans were, they came from a superstitious age. The sight of trolls and flying fell beasts such as the Nazgul rode would be unnerving, to say the least. The Ring, and other magical abilities might tip the balance in favor of Mordor, but without those advantages I'd say Mordor was about to have the Pax Romanaenforced on it.
Sort of a buildup from the start of this thread, what about the kingdom of Gondor is replaced by the Roman Empire at its height. They inhabit Minas Tirath but the armies are now Roman Legionaires and they have their finest generals with them. The Emperor is not insane (say Augustus) and it is the dawn of theWar of the Ring. Sauron is not impressed by these newcomers and in fact feels that he can press the advantage since they are unfamiliar with the area so launches his attack on Gondor.
All that stands between the orcish hordes and Middle Earth are the finest legions Rome has ever fielded. The Eagle stands defiant. What say you?
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I'd love to see what would happen once the elves are assimilated into the empire. I think the roman cavalry would get an overhaul. Then tehre is teh eagles...
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NecronLord wrote:I'd love to see what would happen once the elves are assimilated into the empire. I think the roman cavalry would get an overhaul. Then tehre is teh eagles...
I think the elfs would see the romans as a worthy ( and trustworthy ) ally... together they might crush Mordor...
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It was Damn good.
, sorry) army 10,000 men strong marching of to kill the Rowanians.
