Talk:Caesar's invasion of Macedonia

Latest comment: 1 year ago by Ifly6 in topic Casualties and strengths

As to the name "invasion of Macedonia"

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I'm leaving this note here to preempt/explain a naming choice, because if anything, Wikipedia loves to quibble about naming choices. The name follows the convention of describing the campaign as a Macedonian campaign. I am aware (and it is true) that Caesar went outside of what people might call "Macedonia": Epirus, Thessaly, etc. But it is described as a Macedonian campaign in some reliable sources:

  • Goldsworthy, Caesar (2006) pp. 405 ("Macedonia, November 49–August 48 BC"), 448 ("the Macedonian campaign").
  • Goldsworthy, In the name of Rome (2003) p. 243 ("The Macedonian Campaign, 48 BC").
  • Morstein-Marx, Julius Caesar and the Roman people (2021) p. 410 says that Metellus (the tribune who tried to stop Caesar's raid of the treasury when he took Rome in 49) "joined the Pompeians in Macedonia".

I am aware that other reliable sources, such as OCD4 s.v. "Iulius Caesar, Gaius (2)" says he crossed into "Greece", as does Goldsworthy, Caesar's civil war (2003) p. 23. Rawson, "Civil war and dictatorship" in CAH2 vol 9 (1992), p. 432 speaks of "the East" but then on the next page of "Macedonia and Greece". But Morstein-Marx, supra, also uses "Greece" and "Greece or Macedonia" on p. 429. A final settlement may require more research. Ifly6 (talk) 20:56, 16 May 2022 (UTC)Reply

Macedonia (Roman province) covered the former kingdom of Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, and parts of Illyria, Paeonia and Thrace. Dimadick (talk) 23:16, 16 May 2022 (UTC)Reply

Casualties and strengths

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@Romulus Cyrus: Infoboxes are a supplement to an article. They reflect the article's contents:

keep in mind the purpose of an infobox: to summarize (and not supplant) key facts that appear in the article (an article should remain complete with its summary infobox ignored, with exceptions noted below). The less information it contains, the more effectively it serves that purpose, allowing readers to identify key facts at a glance

Please do not add information to infoboxes which is not supported by the text of the article. Doing so is inconsistent with WP:VER. The information you added on casualties and strengths were dubious calculations from unsourced figures. It is also contradictory with the existing text which, referencing the military historian Adrian Goldsworthy, follows Asinius Pollio's lower figures over Caesar's higher ones at Pharsalus. This is also not a situation where one can just add up battle statistics: the campaign entire included disease and desertions which never show up in the battle statistics.

When you shorten Roman names, prefer omission of the nomen rather than the cognomen when present. That is how the Romans semi-abbreviated those names. Eg Gaius Caesar, Gaius Pansa, Decimus Brutus, Marcus Lepidus (all from Cic Phil 5). Ifly6 (talk) 17:33, 23 July 2023 (UTC)Reply