Who would win in a battle: Julius Caesar or Cao Cao?
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Who would win in a battle: Julius Caesar or Cao Cao?
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Who would win in a battle: Julius Caesar or Cao Cao?
If you mean a one-on-one duel with standard equipment, probably Caesar. Roman shields are quite good at negating the advantages of spears, letting the Romans get up close and personal where swords are effective.
If you mean whose army would win, Caesar wins in Italy and Cao wins in China, because of logistics.
If they fight at the midpoint, Cao wins because China often had good relations with Iran, while Rome never did. Hence China gets easier logistics.
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If you mean a one-on-one duel with standard equipment, probably Caesar. Roman shields are quite good at negating the advantages of spears, letting the Romans get up close and personal where swords are effective.
If you mean whose army would win, Caesar wins in Italy and Cao wins in China, because of logistics.
If they fight at the midpoint, Cao wins because China often had good relations with Iran, while Rome never did. Hence China gets easier logistics.
@Infrapink There’s one thing you’re not factoring, though: terrain.
If it’s just an open field, okay, Caesar wins.
But if it’s floodplains, marshes, or mountain passes, Cao Cao thrives—creates chaos. -
@Infrapink There’s one thing you’re not factoring, though: terrain.
If it’s just an open field, okay, Caesar wins.
But if it’s floodplains, marshes, or mountain passes, Cao Cao thrives—creates chaos.@atomicpoet
Hannibal's experience indicates Caesar would probably beat Cao on mountain passes.In any case, even if Cao wins the battle, his victory is likely to be pryrrhic. Leaning *heavily* on @bretdevereaux blog, the Roman army was built to wear down their enemies by attrition, and they inflicted heavy casualties even when losing the battle; indeed, Pyrrhus was compared positively to Alexander by his contemporaries, but his campaign in Italy is why such victories are called pyrrhic.
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@atomicpoet
Hannibal's experience indicates Caesar would probably beat Cao on mountain passes.In any case, even if Cao wins the battle, his victory is likely to be pryrrhic. Leaning *heavily* on @bretdevereaux blog, the Roman army was built to wear down their enemies by attrition, and they inflicted heavy casualties even when losing the battle; indeed, Pyrrhus was compared positively to Alexander by his contemporaries, but his campaign in Italy is why such victories are called pyrrhic.
@atomicpoet
So if they fight in Europe or West Asia and Cao wins, Caesar comes back with another army and keeps doing so until Cao is dead.In central or east Asia, Caesar is cut off from Rome, allowing Cao to mop his legions up.
But you know what would be an interesting matchup? Julius Caesar vs Genghis Khan.
@bretdevereaux -
@atomicpoet
Hannibal's experience indicates Caesar would probably beat Cao on mountain passes.In any case, even if Cao wins the battle, his victory is likely to be pryrrhic. Leaning *heavily* on @bretdevereaux blog, the Roman army was built to wear down their enemies by attrition, and they inflicted heavy casualties even when losing the battle; indeed, Pyrrhus was compared positively to Alexander by his contemporaries, but his campaign in Italy is why such victories are called pyrrhic.
@Infrapink @bretdevereaux The Battle of Tong Pass suggests the advantage is Cao Cao’s when it comes mountain passes.
On paper, Ma Chao and Han Sui should have destroyed Cao Cao.
But Cao Cao literally re-routed a river, then he created alternate mountain routes.
He didn’t fight yet, though. He held his armies back while he forged letters that caused Ma Chao and Han Sui to turn against each other.
Then with doubt sown, he reformatted the terrain to re-engineer the battlefield itself, creating movement where none was possible.
Caesar excelled at fast movements, but how often did he change geography itself? -
@atomicpoet
So if they fight in Europe or West Asia and Cao wins, Caesar comes back with another army and keeps doing so until Cao is dead.In central or east Asia, Caesar is cut off from Rome, allowing Cao to mop his legions up.
But you know what would be an interesting matchup? Julius Caesar vs Genghis Khan.
@bretdevereaux@Infrapink @bretdevereaux Who are we kidding? Genghis Khan destroys Caesar.
The only general more impressive than Khan is Shaka Zulu. And that’s not because he’d win against Khan—but because Shaka operated under more constraint.
