AUTHOR’S NOTE
I am an author, not a linguist - a novelist, and
not fully an historian. Despite this caveat, I do the best I can to
research everything from clothing to phalanx formations as I go -
and sometimes I disagree with the accepted wisdom of either academe
or the armchair generals who write colorful coffee table books on
these subjects. An excellent example would be the ‘linothorax’ or
linen body armour of the Greek and Macedonian warriors. I don’t
believe there ever was a ‘linothorax’ in the periods about which I
write, and you’ll never find one here. If you want to learn more
about why the ‘linothorax’ may be a figment of the modern
imagination, I recommend that you visit my website at www.hippeis.com.
That said, all the usual caveats apply. Many
professional and amateur historians read these books and help me
with criticism - thanks! But ultimately, the errors are mine. I
read Greek - slowly and with a pile of books at my elbow - and I
make my own decisions as to what Pausanias says, or Arrian. And
ultimately, errors are my fault. If you find a historical error -
please let me know!
One thing I have tried to avoid is altering
history as we know it to suit a timetable or plotline. The history
of the Wars of the Successors is difficult enough without my
altering it . . .
In addition, as you write about a period you love
(and I have fallen pretty hard for this one) you learn more. Once I
learn more, words may change or change their usage. As an example,
in Tyrant I used Xenophon’s Cavalry Commander as my
guide to almost everything. Xenophon calls the ideal weapon a
machaira. Subsequent study has revealed that Greeks were
pretty lax about their sword nomenclature (actually, everyone is,
except martial arts enthusiasts) and so Kineas’s Aegyptian
machaira was probably called a kopis. So in the
second book, I call it a kopis without apology. Other words
may change - certainly, my notion of the internal mechanics of the
hoplite phalanx have changed. The more you learn . . .