ENGLISH:

Finally started reading Max Hastings' Vietnam.
And so, a pretty fast sketch with grunts, jungle, grass, napalm, hueys and, althought you can't hear it, Fortunate Son playing in the background. Some classic, generic 'Nam. 

ENGLISH:

He fell in October 1918, on a day that was so quiet and still on the whole front, that the army report confined itself to the single sentence: "All quiet on the Western Front". He had fallen forward and lay on the earth as though sleeping. Turning him over one saw that he could not have suffered long; his face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come.

ITALIANO:

Egli cadde nell'ottobre 1918, in una giornata così calma e silenziosa su tutto il fronte, che il bollettino del Comando Supremo si limitava a queste parole: "Niente di nuovo sul fronte occidentale".
Era caduto con la testa in avanti e giaceva sulla terra, come se dormisse. Quando lo voltarono si vide che non doveva aver sofferto a lungo: il suo volto aveva un'espressione così serena, quasi fosse contento che la fine fosse giunta a quel modo.

(Erich Maria Remarque)

11/11/1918 - 11/11/2018

ENGLISH:

Ah, those dashing Hussars in their dashing uniforms!
This one in particular is from Lord Cardigan's 11th Regiment, his "Cherry-Bums" as he called them. During the Crimean War, the splendid regiment was famously involved in the legendary Charge of the Light Brigade - a feat of military idiocy sung by poets, historians, film directors, heavy metal bands. The whole Battle of Balaclava was a far more complex affair, but the Light Brigade charging into the russian guns vastly obscured everything else.

If you're curious to know more about the Charge of the Light Brigade, Lord Cardigan personal life, the regiment, the victorian society, the crimean war and even the great irish famine, read the splendid "The Reason Why" by Cecil Woodham-Smith; maybe a tad dated, but still one of the best historical essay I ever read. 
If you are lazy but still curious, the 1968 movie, "Charge of the Light Brigade" (Tony Richardson); while being certainly flawed, it is one of the most historically accurate movie I ever seen and a very good adaptation of the book. Trevor Howard as Cardigan and Harry Andrews as Lucan are just...wow.

If you are even lazier, Iron Maiden's The Trooper is all about the event.

ITALIANO:

Un magnifico ussaro nella sua splendente uniforme.
Questo in particolare è dell'11° Reggimento britannico all'epoca di Lord Cardigan. Durante la guerra di Crimea, lo splendido reggimento fu coinvolto in quella che rimase poi famosa come la "Carica dei Seicento" - un'impresa di eroismo ma soprattutto imbecillità militare successivamente cantata da poeti, storici, registi e gruppi heavy metal. La carica della Brigata Leggera contro i cannoni russi riuscì a oscurare tutto il resto della Battaglia di Balaclava, affare molto più complicato.

Se siete curiosi di sapere qualcosa in più sulla carica dei seicento, su Lord Cardigan, Lord Lucan e tutti gli altri, sul reggimento, la società vittoriana, la guerra di Crimea e persino la carestia irlandese, leggete lo splendido volume di Cecil Woodham-Smith, "La Carica dei Seicento", uno dei migliori saggi storici che mi sia mai capitato di leggere. Forse un po' datato, ma scorrevole come un romanzo, breve eppure densissimo.
Se foste più pigri, potreste farvi bastare la versione cinematografica del 1968 "I seicento di Balaclava" (T. Richardson); non è un film perfetto, ma è tra quelli più storicamente accurati che mi sia mai capitato di vedere e un ottimo adattamento del saggio della Woodham-Smith. Trevor Howard e Andrew Harris nel ruolo di Cardigan e Lucan...eccezionali.

Se foste ancora più pigri, fatevi bastare The Trooper degli Iron Maiden, forse uno dei "prodotti" più famosi sulla carica.

ENGLISH:

So saying, he [Menelaus] sprang upon him [Paris], and seized him by the helmet with thick crest of horse-hair,
and whirling him about began to drag him towards the well-greaved Achaeans;
and Paris was choked by the richly-broidered strap beneath his soft throat,
that was drawn tight beneath his chin to hold his helm. 

Iliad, Homer, III, 369-375

This day I went back to the basic, reading Homer's Iliad, a (possibly) 3000 years old epic poem about a short segment of the mythical war of Troy.
Differently from what most people thinks, the poem starts in media res, after ten years of siege - and it ends before the capture of the city.
The war, which seems to be fought a couple of generations after some of the most famous characters of greek mythology by their nephews and sons, was famously caused by Paris, one of the many princes of Troy. The prince famously broke the rules of hospitality (Xenia) with Menelaus, king of Sparta, when he fell in love and took away the king's wife, Helen. All of the Greece went to war to avenge the capital offense.

At the beginning of the poem, as the two armies met in the plains outside the city for yet another offensive, Paris challenges the anyone brave enough to duel him.
When an enraged Menelaus shows up, the prince cowers and hide behind the troyan ranks.

Now, despite the mythological subject, both sides are weary of the prolonged and bloody conflict fought to avenge a remote offense committed ten years before and openly question the war. The Trojans despise Paris just as much as the Aecheans: a truce ensues and Hector, Paris' older brother, forces the prince to take responsability and fight Menelaus.

The decisive duel would have finally decide, in a pretty rational way, the fate of the war; 
Had Menelaus won, he would have received Helen back, with a cospicuous sum of money; had Paris won, the Aecheans would have abandoned the siege.

Now, as bitter and resentful as I actually am, this whole part gave me a lot of satisfactions; you can see how pissed off the stronger Menelaus is when he can finally fight his one and true enemy Paris. Having lost or broke his weapons during the fierce fight, Menelaus simply grabs the prince by helmet's crest and humiliatingly drags him into the Aechean ranks.

So, the war is over now, is it?

SPOILERS

Sadly, the gods begged to differ, particularly Aphrodite (Venus, in latin): she let loose the strap and covers Paris with a mist, and instantly teleport him in the safety.
Now this could pass as a minor problem, as technically, claims Agamemnon, Menealus' brother and leader of the Aecheans, the duel was won by his side. 
Yet Hera (Zeus' wife), pissed at Troy for reasons of her own, wants the war to continue and the city to burn down: a trojan hero, Pandarus, is convinced by Athena to kill the Aecehan leader Agamemnon with an arrow.
Needless to say, the leader is only wounded.

The truce is broken and so here we go again, another offense, another betrayal, the massacre starts again.


HISTORICAL NOTE:

For clothing and armor during Greece's Bronze Age, I used this wonderful and rich page as a source.

www.salimbeti.com/micenei/inde…

Discovering that the heroes of my youth were not dressed with cool V century BC hoplite armors and corinthian helmets hurts as dinosaurs with feathers, you have been warned.

ENGLISH:

Have you missed it?
Finally a new illustration about the Thirty Years' War!

This scene, set in the 1620s, is not referred to anything in particular, it's just a skirmish between a spanish tercio and some caracoling dutch cuirassiers.
Yes, caracoling - riding towards the enemy, discharge the pistols and going back - wasn't probably a proper tactic anymore, just something discouraged or tactically disadvantaged cavalry formations would have done to avoid risking their precious horses in a charge. And charging inside a forest of pikes - that would be tactically disadvantegeous.

ITALIANO:

Nel caso ne aveste sentito la mancanza,
una nuova illustrazione sulla guerra dei trent'anni.

La scena, ambientata negli anni 20 del seicento, non si riferisce a nessuno battaglia in particolare e rappresenta una schermaglia tra un tercio spagnolo e alcuni corazzieri olandesi.
Il caracollo - cavalcare verso il nemico, scaricare le pistole, tornare indietro - non era più una tattica molto utilizzata in quegli anni; si trattava più che altro dell'azione offensiva meno rischiosa per formazioni di cavalleria scoraggiate o tatticamente inferiori. 

ENGLISH:

According to older medieval bestiaries, the peacock represents vanity and luxury, its beauty being only superficial: the beautiful, coloured tail of the peacock covers the awful legs - a corrupted soul.

ENGLISH:

"Anal nathrach,
orth' bhais's bethad,
do che'l de'nmha!"

[...]

Uther: "But the CLIFF! The SEA!"
Merlin: "Your LUST will hold you up! You will float on the dragon's breath! RIDE!"

A tribute to one of my childhood's classic movie, Excalibur (1981), by John Boorman.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4I_zb…

ITALIANO:

"Anal nathrach, 
orth' bhais's bethad, 
do che'l de'nmha!"

[...]

Uther: "Ma il mare! La scogliera!"
Merlino: "La tua lussuria ti sorreggerà! Galleggerai sull'alito del drago! VAI UTHER!"

Tributo a uno dei classici dei più importanti film della mia infanzia, Excalibur (1981), di John Boorman.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_nIiC…