This is possibly the greatest explanation of this topic I've ever heard. I've read some articles by Dr Devereaux before and he's just as good here. It's rare to get something (especially on youtube) that covers thematic, rather than chronological, history let alone that does it this well. A near perfect combination of high level overview, specific details, and sources, and avoids getting lost in the weeds. Thanks to both interviewer and interviewee for this.

I've always had the notion in my mind that there was a spectrum of statehood in antiquity: those with access to large resources but could only mobilise a small fraction of them (like the Achaemenids), and those with small resources but able to draw upon almost all of it (like individual Greek poleis). Understanding how the Roman republic could break the mould and have the best of both worlds is fascinating.

Top notch analysis.
I recently “discovered” Dr. Devereaux. He is now my favorite ancient historian.
Look up his other interviews, you won’t be disappointed.

I finally understand how Rome Zerg rushed the Mediterranean after the Punic Wars. Thank you both

Interesting note on the archeology.
I suspect the peak of prosperity was a good deal earlier than we normally think.
The Augustan period rather than the Antonine.

This is the kind of energy I’m looking for, awesome format and great episode.

Thanks Doc

That was really good.

- ...what a fascinating and interesting podcast.... thank you ...

Good, interesting talk. Shame about the near constant ads interrupting it.

Great interview

Like commented and subscribed 👍

Well worth the listen. Lots of good points.very though provoking. Thanks

I'm becoming a fan :)

Good interview

For the algorithm!

Alot of the political stuff in this episode we can definitely see happening right now here in the u.s.a.

Excellent commentary on an interesting subject. But I would question the notion that pila were hard to fix; unless the rivets attaching the head to the shaft broke which would require tools to repair, the soft iron head is easy to straighten by hand. Likewise they would only be lost if the army were required to quit the field of battle.

The only thing i didn't agree with in this episode is the part about the Pilum. They would have been more expensive to produce than a lighter /simpler throwing spear like a javelin and require significantly more iron, and as you say in the episode there's an enormous amount of logistics to produce even one kg of iron. Pilum were extremely effective, but not remotely effective enough to justify the ruinous cost if they were, indeed, single use weapons (or required repairs after every use). Not to mention the fact that even if every legionary carried 2 and used at least one in each engagement, an army in the 10s of thousands would need literally dozens of wagons carrying nothing but spare Pilum to make it through more than a handful of engagements. Even if a wagon could carry 1000 of them, that's already 5 wagons for one legion to use them in one engagement. It simply wouldn't be justifiable from an economic, logistical, or practical sense to waste so much on a single use weapon.
As for whether Pilum were designed to break or bend on impact, there's not much beyond anecdotal evidence for it. They certainly COULD break or bend, but we know pretty well what the thickness and properties of the iron was through the minor design changes over the years, and recreations using extremely similar metals have shown that they are surprisingly strong, and easily survive repeated throws at armor, trees, the ground etc. It's possible that they might have experimented with changing one of the pegs holding it together to an easily breakable wooden peg that would make the shaft dangle uselessly after impact (making it impossible to immediately throw back). Even if this wasn't the case, the Pilum was still difficult to get out of a shield, and EXTREMELY difficult to get out with the shield still in your hand, more difficult still if you were in battle formation or moving, and basically impossible to get out before the now charging Roman legionaries close the 20 or less meter distance they threw from. The Pilum didn't need to bend or break because the front few rows that were hit by them were going to have time or space to try and get it out before they were smashed into by the charge. Even if they did actually bend, you wouldn't need a blacksmith to bend it back, you could just bend it back over your knee. If the force of a one handed throw is enough to bend something, then using 2 hands to bend it back is more than enough. Sure the iron will be slightly more brittle after that, but it won't need actual repairs until it finally snaps.
In short, i agree with almost everything else here, but the idea that Pilum were designed to be unusable after one throw is an outdated idea that came about from a handful of accounts that mention them getting bent from people who likely never saw combat, and if I recall correctly, they just say that it's a thing that CAN happen to Pilum, not that they always do it or are even meant to. Then historians took those couple mentions and started claiming that they were intentionally designed to bend.

Did anyone catch the name of the book he mentioned?

Do you not find it passing strange that Alexander reckoned it easier to conquer Persia than Illyria?