The Society of Ancients is a long-established international amateur society for the promotion of the study of ancient and medieval military history and wargaming the period 3000 BC to 1500 AD. It is run by volunteers for the benefit of its worldwide membership.
The Society publishes a bi-monthly journal, Slingshot, containing a wide range of items related to Ancient and Medieval military history and wargaming contributed by Society members. It organises various events, including an annual games day and members' conference, and runs a wargames championship. The Society also publishes a number of games and booklets which are available from our web store.
An introduction to the Society is also available on YouTube.
Membership is open to all, and lasts for 6 issues of Slingshot.
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Containing articles on
As well as all the usual features. |
Available in web store.
Click on 'read more' to see a list of the internet links appearing in articles in this edition.
Internet links after the break:
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Containing articles on
As well as all the usual features. |
Available in web store.
Click on 'read more' to see a list of the internet links appearing in articles in this edition.
Internet links after the break:
Telamon 225 BC
The Celts at first were ignorant of the arrival of Atilius and imagined from what they saw, that Aemilius' cavalry had got round their flank in the night and were engaged in occupying the position. They therefore at once sent on their own cavalry and some of their light-armed troops to dispute the possession of the hill. But very soon they learnt of Gaius' presence from one of the prisoners brought in, and lost no time in drawing up their infantry, deploying them so that they faced both front and rear, since, both from the intelligence that reached them and from what was happening before their eyes, they knew that the one army was following them, and they expected to meet the other in their front
The Gauls discover they are trapped between two Roman armies and must fight it out with both of them in order to escape with their loot.
Translation of the Loeb Classical Library edition of The Histories of Polybius Book II 27, found online at http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/2*.html
For our sixteenth annual Battle Day, we once again invite you to a unique day’s wargaming.
The battle: Telamon 225 BC – two Roman consular armies catch up with the raiding Gallic army that is trying to return home with all its loot. With enemy to front and rear, the Gauls must fight back to back and defeat both Roman armies to make their escape.
The aims of the day remain the same as ever:
The day will run from 9am until 5pm, with an hour either side to set up and pack away.
We will have the usual pre-battle introduction to Telamon, this year given by well-known author and Society member Duncan Head, putting it in its historical context and highlighting the controversial aspects of the battle.
And of course, The Society of Ancients will be awarding a number of prizes (for various criteria, some more frivolous than others) to the wargamers on the day, including prizes for Best Game and Best Terrain.
To offer to stage a game – contact Richard Lockwood at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or else via his details in Slingshot. But in any case, come along and take part as a player – most if not all of the games have room to take extra players and we have always managed to place people with a game. Of course, some like to attend just as a spectator and that too is fine.
The cost of attending the Battle Day, to contribute towards hire of venue and tables, will this year be £10 (juniors and students free). Ideally we will collect your cash on the day, but cheques can be accepted too.
Don’t miss out – come and be part of it!
The Battle Day is open to both members and non-members of the Society of Ancients.
 |
Containing articles on
As well as all the usual features. |
Available in web store.
Click on 'read more' to see a list of the internet links appearing in articles in this edition.
 |
SLINGSHOT, the bi-monthly journal of the Society, is the most admired publication in its field. This DVD includes every Slingshot produced from 1965 to 2015. It constitutes an invaluable resource of over 13,000 pages about ancient and medieval history and wargaming. The collection is fully indexed and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or later. |
 |
Containing articles on
As well as all the usual features. |
Available in web store.
Click on 'read more' to see a list of the internet links appearing in articles in this edition.
Another successful Battle Day was fought out on Saturday 2 April. We had 13 games and nearly 60 players, which is "above par" for both games and attendance, so we should be very pleased with that.
Much thanks must go to the groups who organised and put on the games - without this the Battle Day would not exist. It was good to see two new "Game Organisers" running games for the first time at Battle Day, making up for a couple of stalwart groups who could not make it this year.
We had most "popular" rule sets represented, and including one under development. We also had two games that used novel approaches: one game played the main legionary action in 6mm using Phil Sabin's Lost Battles rules, while playing out the vital cavalry action on the flank in 10mm with Hail Caesar rules, and funnelling the appropriate 6mm figures back into the main battle at the appropriate times - it seemed to work well. The other game used Piquet Archon rules and 2mm figures, but had two "telescopic zones" on large circles where the action was fought out in 15mm. It is exciting to see such innovative ways to deal with refights and I look forward to reading the full write-ups on these in future Slingshots.
Look out for news soon of the chosen battle for 2017…
Richard Lockwood
The Society of Ancients is a volunteer organisation, and relies on its members. It's very easy to join -– just go to the join page, add a membership to your cart and check out using Paypal. You can alternatively download a postal membership form. Membership costs £27 for 6 issues of Slingshot (normally a year).
Membership now runs for six issues from the point that you subscribe from, rather than annually. The Join page will tell you the first issue you will receive and your membership number will tell you the issue after which you need to renew. Renewal is easy - just purchase a new subscription in the webstore and the membership secretary will match up your details.
The Society of Ancients respects the privacy of its Members and only retains such personal data as is needed to meet its contractual obligations or for which it has a legitimate purpose.
