MrBrutok

MrBrutok t1_j7ewfzz wrote

There is a neat little trick to get better numbers. Romans liked to include civilians in the number of the enemy to make their victories sound greater.

In a pre-industrial nation you can expect halve the people to be children. Half again for the women, who didn't fight at the time. Take a bit of for the elderly and you land at ~50.000 fighting men. Much more reasonable.

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MrBrutok t1_j1zh6ll wrote

I don't think it's just age. I hear plenty of old people with the same argument. Usually something like "Why spend all that money on space?" as if we're literally sending cash up there.

People just don't seem to get how economies work.

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