Reposted by Paul JohstonoUrsula von der Leyen @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu · 06/10/2026The situation in the Black Sea is increasingly concerning. Commercial ships – and innocent crews – are being targeted, with lives already lost at sea. Today, two commercial vessels were hit in Bulgaria’s economic zone in Black Sea. 3323167
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Had not seen the first one. Is it at Paestum or elsewhere? 200
Reposted by Paul JohstonoKate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Putin ordered Russian troops to disregard the rules of war, Zelenskyy tells the FT. Ukrainian intelligence intercepted information indicating that in September, Putin ordered the Russian military to intensify strikes on civilian infrastructure. Since then, 1011343684
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Drawn again to this letter (which also emphasized the sober study of the professional qualities of past commanders in the ellipsed clause) by its mention in the following WOTR article: warontherocks.com/school-of-wa...warontherocks.comSchool of War or School of Battle? Educating for an Uncertain FutureIn 1901, military analyst Jan Bloch declared that new military technologies had changed war so radically that the study of history had become useless. He 010
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 02/10/2026"when the serious student of the military art delves into the reasons for the failure of a specific attack … he is, by this very activity, preparing for a day in which he, under different circumstances, may be facing decisions of vital consequence to his country." -President Eisenhower 120
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 30/09/2026My .02 on the tenure at academies story: Most government civil servants are GS, but academy professors are administratively determined (AD). That means even after years of outstanding service a grant of tenure to an AD is still weaker than what a GS has after 3 years. 010
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Excited to see in print Warfare in Ancient Egypt, edited by Anthony Spalinger, out today from Brill, including a chapter by me, on warfare in the Ptolemaic period 0122
Reposted by Paul JohstonoWayne E. Lee @milhistlee.bsky.social · 28/09/2026The University of North Carolina is hiring a historian of Science and Technology, with time, place, and theme otherwise open. Military historians with that expertise should feel encouraged to apply. careers.historians.org/jobs/2260958... 055
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 22/09/2026But in the larger sense, Polybius definitely has the Greek transfer wrong. Pyrrhus probably played a large role introducing or popularizing shielded cavalry in Hellenistic armies, and was borrowing what he encountered in Italy, especially Southern Italy. 010
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I don't have my archive of images at hand but I think (again, would like to be able to look at images to be sure of this) this understates the number of popanum shield depictions in Latium and Etrurium in the early period. But it was definitely present in Sicily, too. 110
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Yes. I think the largest question is whether Roman cavalry really did transition from primarily popanum shields to primarily parma shields, perhaps around the Pyrrhic War 010
Reposted by Paul JohstonoJames @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · 19/09/2026It's just like in my Tom Clancy novels! 628217
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 20/09/2026The iron Montefortino seems to have been considerably more popular than we thought once. The use of quite large cavalry shields by Roman-like cavalry poses some problem for Polybius' cavalry shields comment (which we already knew) unless these date post-Pyrrhus 120
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Nick Saban looks like he's got a sarisa out there as his poker for Gameday. Hold it with two hands, bud! 001
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 07/09/2026This is a good point. But you are describing a distinction about care as well as capability. Some "popularizers" are brilliant and responsible at this, and I admire them so much. 001
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Hell yes! The study of Euclidean geometry as a through line: "the value is in reasoning through why it is that the lines remain parallel within the system constructed by Euclid...learning that if one thing is true, and another thing is true, then a third thing must by necessity also be true." 1344
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 15/08/2026From Nemrut Dağ, then? Lots of interesting armor details to be seen there on several figures, but not sure I'd seen this one before. But the date should then be 1st century, depicting an ancestor 010
Reposted by Paul JohstonoJohn Ma 🇺🇦 @nakhthor.bsky.social · 07/08/2026@drmichaeljtaylor.bsky.social 's excellent take on the Odyssey. TLDR: tension between the fantasy treatment and the dogged LBA collapse setting (the latter would be better served by Eggers style obessive realism) classicalstudies.org/scs-blog/mik...classicalstudies.orgBlog: Bronze Age Collapse on the Silver Screen: Thoughts on Chistopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. | Society for Classical Studies 2264
Reposted by Paul JohstonoSarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Like Loebs? Every fall semester, I like to remind people that while Perseus has many free Loebs sectioned up into book and chapter, if you want to download and read the public domain Loebs (277 of them) as PDFs or txt files, Duke U's very own Ryan Baumann created _Loebolus 📗📕_. ryanfb.xyz/loebolus/ryanfb.xyzLoebolus 615460
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Don't want to leave out the Trojans and their allies... 000
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 04/08/2026I just wanted a boat of Sherden and Odysseus' ship to pass each other likestatic.klipy.comUmbrella Academy: Vanya & Five in CarsALT: Umbrella Academy: Vanya & Five in Cars 130
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Happy to share this build with you. It's a card and placards 11 Group, first week, defensive air campaign. But for teaching reasons we've been working on an e-version instead of printing 50 copies. 131
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Looking forward to CENTCOM's "is it a hack?" series about Tomahawks 050
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 31/07/2026I'll be honest, unless he's going to be *launching snake attacks* onto the decks of enemy ships in the Propontis, and then taking poison, I daresay he's a more than a tad too old... Or be Massinissa as king, and tell the whole story in flashbacks? 000
Reposted by Paul JohstonoFaine Greenwood @faineg.com · 31/07/2026I used to do some work on the ethical use of satellite and drone imagery for aid and disaster response, and it is genuinely hard to express in words what a dangerous, stupid thing Google is doing by making it easy to use GenAI to create faked satellite imagery:digitaldigging.orgHow to plant a nuclear plant in IranThe question is: what on earth is Google doing? 742393894
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Already most military institutions restrict tenure to those at rank of full professor*, it is subject to an additional review after getting rank at full, and is not real tenure anyway. *In regular academia tenure comes at associate rank. 020
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 25/07/2026But also, those Trojan helmets were some of the crappiest helmets of any kind of all time. Egads they're atrocious. So bad I wonder if they're a send-up I didn't get. 050
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Really enjoyed the Odyssey. Lots of fantasy armor but wondered if Menelaus' was intentionally evoking Sea Peoples armor from Egyptian sources. What ancient tale would you like to see in a film adaptation next? For me, it's Leucippe and Clitophon, by Achilles Tatius. 180
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 22/07/2026But for the knob there'd be *zero* argument with identifying an Attic helmet. 030
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Decent bit of variety in top decorations, although a knob is weird. But it has an Attic "visor" and the neckguard is expected on an Attic. Frankenhelm perhaps? 020
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 22/07/2026But isn't that more likely an "Attic" style helmet? 220
Reposted by Paul JohstonoChristopher Miller @christopherjm.ft.com · 21/07/2026BREAKING: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has chosen Mykhailo Drapatyi to be commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces and dismissed controversial general and close ally Oleksandr Syrsky in the biggest shake-up of the country’s military leadership since 2024. @financialtimes.com 418538
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 21/07/2026I was just wondering whether @drmichaeljtaylor.bsky.social might have discussed this piece in his Etruscan arms article. I believe there's at least one other Etruscan mirror with a Montefortino'd soldier, by the way. 140
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 18/07/2026At this rate France may wish they were signing the Treaty of Bretigny again over this match. 020
Reposted by Paul JohstonoShipwreck @shipwreck75.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Oil markets and Middle East producers appear to be aligning around a new reality: The Strait of Hormuz is no longer expected to return to a prewar norm. 726850
Reposted by Paul JohstonoJake Broe @realjakebroe.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Russians in Crimea are now paying 450 rubles per liter ($22 per gallon) to buy gasoline. 21488115
Reposted by Paul JohstonoKyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 13/07/2026BREAKING: BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) - Homeland Security secretary said man killed by ICE in Maine was not the target of warrant, Maine Sen. Angus King says. 45354962028
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 12/07/2026ἵνα παρρησιάσωμαι ὡς δεῖ με λαλῆσαι Contemplating obligations of frank speech 021
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Mbappe the Bastard/Conqueror twist on the General memes 020
Paul Johstono @profpaulj.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Battle of Stamford Bridge: key to the match is the play of the star from the Norse side, freshly returned from what some called a "mercenary" turn as star for Istanbul's "Varangians" club. #keepchopping 390