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Dr Roel Konijnendijk Profile picture
Dr Roel Konijnendijk
@Roelkonijn
Ancient historian (Greece, Persia, war, history-writing). Darby Fellow in Ancient History at Lincoln College, @UniofOxford. Moderator at @askhistorians.
Oct 17, 2024 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
For #ClassicsTober24 I chose the historical figure whose name I use on @askhistorians: the general Iphikrates, the son of Timotheos, absolute unit and poster child of social mobility in democratic Athens. Im stuck on a bus so let's talk about him🧵 Iphikrates was the son of a cobbler. Established families in Athens mocked him for his low birth. He was first noticed when he served as a deck fighter at the battle of Knidos. He boarded an enemy ship then swam back to his trireme in full armour, dragging a prisoner he took.
Jul 29, 2023 • 25 tweets • 5 min read
Sparta again! Here's a lil thread for your weekend🧵

There's a few defences against historians setting the record straight on Sparta (in this case @BretDevereaux' recent article in Foreign Policy). This one is moving the goalposts: "but within these limits I'm still right!" 1/ And indeed: Spartans were the acknowledged "leaders of Greece" from ca. 550 BC.

(Not 600 BC. In the first half of the 6th century they were still getting their asses handed to them by Tegea, their much smaller neighbour.)

And it's mainly because Sparta is just so big. 2/
Jun 11, 2023 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
Yesterday my thread about ancient warriors' bodies was RT'ed w/ fairly reasonable criticism. Since then I have been inundated with abuse from literal fascists for daring to challenge their ideas about ancient Greece.

For any adults in the room here are the receipts🧵 Image Ancient Greek men obv. admired strength, venerated athletes & praised those who trained their bodies. But since the Archaic period there was tension between the needs of games and war. Athletes overspecialised & lost touch with practicality; they neglected what really mattered.
Jun 7, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
A lot of the internet seems to think ancient warriors were ripped like the actors in "300". Ancient Greeks actually thought bulked-up athletes made useless warriors: sluggish, indulgent, dependent on strict diets, and unable to bear toil and deprivation This is related to the misconception that an ancient warrior would mostly be doing close combat all day (like the comment on Marv in Sin City, "He'd be right at home on some ancient battlefield, swingin' an axe into somebody's face"). In reality? Marching, cooking, keeping watch
Jul 5, 2021 • 24 tweets • 7 min read
I did a tweet earlier about the Corinthian War and no one asked me to elaborate but I will anyway because it's the wildest war you've never heard of. It has the largest hoplite battle in history and it ends with Persia winning the Persian Wars.

*record scratch*

Strap innnnn 🧵 A little earlier (404 BC) the Spartans secured Persian funding to build a fleet and defeat the Athenians. They claimed they were fighting the war to liberate the Greeks from Athenian imperialism but instead they just took over the empire.
May 19, 2021 • 30 tweets • 8 min read
I have been asked for my thoughts on the 'battle' part of @BretDevereaux' wildly successful blog series on the myth of Sparta. With his permission, I shall now proceed to apply pedantry to his pedantry. 1/help
acoup.blog/2019/09/20/col… I should point out first of all that this series is really good overall. It's well-read, incisive and funny. It's really helpful to see someone make an informed assault on a massive pop-history chimera. Kudos &c.

But.

2/
Sep 2, 2020 • 21 tweets • 8 min read
The myth of Thermopylai and the Greek resistance is built on some... strange ideas about the Persians and their armies.

Don't worry though, @reeshistory and I are here to clear some stuff up.

1/many Our view on Persia is weird. It was the largest empire the world had ever seen. Its king claimed to rule the whole planet. But our best sources for it are Greek.

Imagine if we knew Rome mostly through clay tablets from Babylon.

2/
Aug 30, 2020 • 18 tweets • 6 min read
2499 years ago, approximately #OTD, the pass at Thermopylai in Central Greece became the site of one of the most famous land battles in history.

You've probably heard a bunch of tall tales about it. @reeshistory and I are here to tell it a little differently.

1/lots It was a heroic struggle and a moral victory for the Greeks: 300 Spartans gave their lives for the Greek cause, killing innumerable enemies and teaching the arrogant Persians to fear the indomitable hoplite phalanx. Right?

RIGHT???

Wrong.

2/
Jun 2, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Being on the academic job market for more than 5 years has taught me an important lesson, which was driven home for me again yesterday, and which I'll share in case it may be helpful. It runs counter to all received wisdom, and and it is simply this:

Nothing you do matters. Only 2 things determine whether you will get a particular job or not, AND YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER EITHER OF THEM:

- Does the department need teaching in your specific subfield?
- Does the department like you?

Nothing else meaningfully affects your chances.
Apr 25, 2020 • 25 tweets • 8 min read
I study early scholars of Greek warfare.

Most of them are obscure teachers and professors.

Only one is found in the letters of Mazzini, Bismarck, Garibaldi, Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln.

That's right, Twitter. It's time to talk about Wilhelm Rüstow, born #OTD in 1821. Rüstow was one of the most famous military writers of the 19th century. But his life was lived in exile and ended with his suicide. No one remembers his name.

How did this happen?

It is a tale of kings and sugar mamas, of prison break and cross-dressing and obsession. 2/