Joseph Stoltz
@thehistorydr.bsky.social
Military Historian. Postdoc @ WesleyanU CSGS
Foodie. Dog Person.
Substack: thehistorydr.substack.com
Website: JosephStoltz.com
Foodie. Dog Person.
Substack: thehistorydr.substack.com
Website: JosephStoltz.com
Pinned
The Gulf Theater, 1813–15 - Casemate Publishers US
The Gulf Theater shaped the War of 1812, culminating in Andrew Jackson’s victory at New Orleans.While most of the fighting of the War of 1812 raged along t...
www.casematepublishers.com
My book about the War of 1812’s Gulf Theatre is being rereleased by @casematepublishers.bsky.social, with even more content, this spring! Preorder it here!
In my latest Substack post, I explore Xenophon’s _Anabasis_, adaptation in Greek military tactics, and the importance of innovation.
"Sea"-ing Innovation: Xenophon's Anabasis and the March to a New Greek Way of War
Xenophon’s Anabasis, often translated as The March Up Country, is a fascinating look at Greek warfare at the tactical level.
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:58 PM
In my latest Substack post, I explore Xenophon’s _Anabasis_, adaptation in Greek military tactics, and the importance of innovation.
Reposted by Joseph Stoltz
Demosthenes and Cicero both wanted what was best for their cities and believed strongly in principled governance.
Both were also, unfortunately, born at times when morals and values were increasingly set by the wayside as raw power outweighed principles.
Both were also, unfortunately, born at times when morals and values were increasingly set by the wayside as raw power outweighed principles.
Demosthenes and Cicero: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XX
Both Demosthenes and Cicero were well-intentioned statemen that failed to control the swirling events around them. Demosthenes was born in Athens following its defeat in the Peloponnesian War. He b…
josephstoltz.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Demosthenes and Cicero both wanted what was best for their cities and believed strongly in principled governance.
Both were also, unfortunately, born at times when morals and values were increasingly set by the wayside as raw power outweighed principles.
Both were also, unfortunately, born at times when morals and values were increasingly set by the wayside as raw power outweighed principles.
Demosthenes and Cicero both wanted what was best for their cities and believed strongly in principled governance.
Both were also, unfortunately, born at times when morals and values were increasingly set by the wayside as raw power outweighed principles.
Both were also, unfortunately, born at times when morals and values were increasingly set by the wayside as raw power outweighed principles.
Demosthenes and Cicero: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XX
Both Demosthenes and Cicero were well-intentioned statemen that failed to control the swirling events around them. Demosthenes was born in Athens following its defeat in the Peloponnesian War. He b…
josephstoltz.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Demosthenes and Cicero both wanted what was best for their cities and believed strongly in principled governance.
Both were also, unfortunately, born at times when morals and values were increasingly set by the wayside as raw power outweighed principles.
Both were also, unfortunately, born at times when morals and values were increasingly set by the wayside as raw power outweighed principles.
Reposted by Joseph Stoltz
Agis, Cleomenes, and the Gracchi all tried to use the inspiration of an idealized past to make Sparta and Rome great again. It didn't work out so well for them or their respective countries.
Agis, Cleomenes, and the Gracchi: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XVIV
Agis, Cleomenes, and the Gracchi all tried to use the inspiration of an idealized past to make Sparta and Rome great again.
josephstoltz.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Agis, Cleomenes, and the Gracchi all tried to use the inspiration of an idealized past to make Sparta and Rome great again. It didn't work out so well for them or their respective countries.
Agis, Cleomenes, and the Gracchi all tried to use the inspiration of an idealized past to make Sparta and Rome great again. It didn't work out so well for them or their respective countries.
Agis, Cleomenes, and the Gracchi: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XVIV
Agis, Cleomenes, and the Gracchi all tried to use the inspiration of an idealized past to make Sparta and Rome great again.
josephstoltz.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Agis, Cleomenes, and the Gracchi all tried to use the inspiration of an idealized past to make Sparta and Rome great again. It didn't work out so well for them or their respective countries.
Moules à la crème - mussels in a crème sauce
November 18, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Moules à la crème - mussels in a crème sauce
Is it more important to be right or more important to win?
In the case of Phocion and Cato, they preferred unimpeachable attention to their moral frameworks, even if that meant the countries they led collapsed around them.
josephstoltz.com/2025/11/18/p...
In the case of Phocion and Cato, they preferred unimpeachable attention to their moral frameworks, even if that meant the countries they led collapsed around them.
josephstoltz.com/2025/11/18/p...
Phocion and Cato: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XVIII
Phocion and Cato were two leaders who were renowned for their virtue and morals but whose hardline principles made them off-putting even their friends. Phocion was an Athenian stateman and general …
josephstoltz.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Is it more important to be right or more important to win?
In the case of Phocion and Cato, they preferred unimpeachable attention to their moral frameworks, even if that meant the countries they led collapsed around them.
josephstoltz.com/2025/11/18/p...
In the case of Phocion and Cato, they preferred unimpeachable attention to their moral frameworks, even if that meant the countries they led collapsed around them.
josephstoltz.com/2025/11/18/p...
Coquilles Saint-Jacques poêlées
Seared Scallops with Leek and Cider Velouté
Seared Scallops with Leek and Cider Velouté
November 17, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Coquilles Saint-Jacques poêlées
Seared Scallops with Leek and Cider Velouté
Seared Scallops with Leek and Cider Velouté
Got my friend a friend!
November 16, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Got my friend a friend!
I finally had to write about the two "big boys" in Plutarch's LIVES, Alexander and Caesar.
Check out my take on Plutarch's take and why I think you can, arguably, sum up most of Ancient Greek and Roman military theory with those two, for better or for worse.
josephstoltz.com/2025/11/14/a...
Check out my take on Plutarch's take and why I think you can, arguably, sum up most of Ancient Greek and Roman military theory with those two, for better or for worse.
josephstoltz.com/2025/11/14/a...
Alexander and Caesar: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XVII
Plutarch handles the two giants of Ancient Greek and Roman history in an interesting fashion. On the one hand, they have the longest paired biographies in the entire text. On the other hand, he is …
josephstoltz.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I finally had to write about the two "big boys" in Plutarch's LIVES, Alexander and Caesar.
Check out my take on Plutarch's take and why I think you can, arguably, sum up most of Ancient Greek and Roman military theory with those two, for better or for worse.
josephstoltz.com/2025/11/14/a...
Check out my take on Plutarch's take and why I think you can, arguably, sum up most of Ancient Greek and Roman military theory with those two, for better or for worse.
josephstoltz.com/2025/11/14/a...
Too much internal discord and civil war are a waste of resources that often lead to unexpected outcomes. Just ask Agesilaus and Pompey, in my latest examination of Plutarch's LIVES.
Agesilaus and Pompey: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XVI
Plutarch presents the lives of Agesilaus and Pompey as cautionary tales of the disaster and waste that is civil war. Agesilaus was a Spartan king, who was never originally intended for the line of …
josephstoltz.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Too much internal discord and civil war are a waste of resources that often lead to unexpected outcomes. Just ask Agesilaus and Pompey, in my latest examination of Plutarch's LIVES.
Reposted by Joseph Stoltz
Were Alexander and Caesar really good or did they just have resource advantages?
Eumenes and Sertorius had nothing. They provide interesting early examples of asymmetric strategies that weaker forces used to successfully prosecute military campaigns against larger more powerful opponents.
Eumenes and Sertorius had nothing. They provide interesting early examples of asymmetric strategies that weaker forces used to successfully prosecute military campaigns against larger more powerful opponents.
Eumenes and Sertorius: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XV
Eumenes and Sertorius are great examples of skilled military leaders that did not have the material and personnel advantages of a Caesar or Alexander. They had to struggle through adverse condition…
josephstoltz.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Were Alexander and Caesar really good or did they just have resource advantages?
Eumenes and Sertorius had nothing. They provide interesting early examples of asymmetric strategies that weaker forces used to successfully prosecute military campaigns against larger more powerful opponents.
Eumenes and Sertorius had nothing. They provide interesting early examples of asymmetric strategies that weaker forces used to successfully prosecute military campaigns against larger more powerful opponents.
Were Alexander and Caesar really good or did they just have resource advantages?
Eumenes and Sertorius had nothing. They provide interesting early examples of asymmetric strategies that weaker forces used to successfully prosecute military campaigns against larger more powerful opponents.
Eumenes and Sertorius had nothing. They provide interesting early examples of asymmetric strategies that weaker forces used to successfully prosecute military campaigns against larger more powerful opponents.
Eumenes and Sertorius: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XV
Eumenes and Sertorius are great examples of skilled military leaders that did not have the material and personnel advantages of a Caesar or Alexander. They had to struggle through adverse condition…
josephstoltz.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Were Alexander and Caesar really good or did they just have resource advantages?
Eumenes and Sertorius had nothing. They provide interesting early examples of asymmetric strategies that weaker forces used to successfully prosecute military campaigns against larger more powerful opponents.
Eumenes and Sertorius had nothing. They provide interesting early examples of asymmetric strategies that weaker forces used to successfully prosecute military campaigns against larger more powerful opponents.
Check out the latest WETA @pbs.org documentary, where I discuss living history public programing and what many groups are doing to get ready for the United States' 250th.
Go Behind the Scenes at Mount Vernon's Revolutionary War Weekend | WETA Arts
YouTube video by WETA PBS
www.youtube.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Check out the latest WETA @pbs.org documentary, where I discuss living history public programing and what many groups are doing to get ready for the United States' 250th.
Reposted by Joseph Stoltz
Just because a system has been working for you doesn't mean it will always work. The lives of Nicias and Crassus are a cautionary example of imperial overreach and fighting the war you want, not the war you have.
Nicias and Crassus: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XIV
Nicias and Crassus were the victims of imperial overreach, at times when both Athens and Rome felt they could not fail at anything they tried.
josephstoltz.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Just because a system has been working for you doesn't mean it will always work. The lives of Nicias and Crassus are a cautionary example of imperial overreach and fighting the war you want, not the war you have.
Just because a system has been working for you doesn't mean it will always work. The lives of Nicias and Crassus are a cautionary example of imperial overreach and fighting the war you want, not the war you have.
Nicias and Crassus: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XIV
Nicias and Crassus were the victims of imperial overreach, at times when both Athens and Rome felt they could not fail at anything they tried.
josephstoltz.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Just because a system has been working for you doesn't mean it will always work. The lives of Nicias and Crassus are a cautionary example of imperial overreach and fighting the war you want, not the war you have.
Cimon and Lucullus were both skilled military leaders that also saw how external conflicts could boomerang into domestic politics. Both sought to ameliorate those effects.
Check out more in my latest blog post about Plutarch's LIVES!
Check out more in my latest blog post about Plutarch's LIVES!
Cimon and Lucullus: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XIII
Plutarch seems to pair Cimon with Lucullus because both men were successful military leaders and statemen that attempted to keep their respective cities unified, but who both ultimately failed.
josephstoltz.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Cimon and Lucullus were both skilled military leaders that also saw how external conflicts could boomerang into domestic politics. Both sought to ameliorate those effects.
Check out more in my latest blog post about Plutarch's LIVES!
Check out more in my latest blog post about Plutarch's LIVES!
Finally back from the Bahamas! Time to start looking for a “permanent” job again. If you know of anything, hit me up!
November 8, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Finally back from the Bahamas! Time to start looking for a “permanent” job again. If you know of anything, hit me up!
Why is this an option, JetBlue?! 😂
November 2, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Why is this an option, JetBlue?! 😂
My book about the War of 1812’s Gulf Theatre is being rereleased by @casematepublishers.bsky.social, with even more content, this spring! Preorder it here!
The Gulf Theater, 1813–15 - Casemate Publishers US
The Gulf Theater shaped the War of 1812, culminating in Andrew Jackson’s victory at New Orleans.While most of the fighting of the War of 1812 raged along t...
www.casematepublishers.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:22 PM
My book about the War of 1812’s Gulf Theatre is being rereleased by @casematepublishers.bsky.social, with even more content, this spring! Preorder it here!
Reposted by Joseph Stoltz
Lysander and Sulla were toxic leaders. However good of a job they did as battlefield or operational commanders, they failed to understand or honor the civil constitutions they served.
Fueled by self-aggrandizement and personal grievances, they brought about the downfalls of their countries.
Fueled by self-aggrandizement and personal grievances, they brought about the downfalls of their countries.
Lysander and Sulla: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XII
Lysander and Sulla were domineering figures that, while successful military leaders, were disasters in the political realm, failing to understand the differences between those two realms. Lysander …
josephstoltz.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Lysander and Sulla were toxic leaders. However good of a job they did as battlefield or operational commanders, they failed to understand or honor the civil constitutions they served.
Fueled by self-aggrandizement and personal grievances, they brought about the downfalls of their countries.
Fueled by self-aggrandizement and personal grievances, they brought about the downfalls of their countries.
Lysander and Sulla were toxic leaders. However good of a job they did as battlefield or operational commanders, they failed to understand or honor the civil constitutions they served.
Fueled by self-aggrandizement and personal grievances, they brought about the downfalls of their countries.
Fueled by self-aggrandizement and personal grievances, they brought about the downfalls of their countries.
Lysander and Sulla: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XII
Lysander and Sulla were domineering figures that, while successful military leaders, were disasters in the political realm, failing to understand the differences between those two realms. Lysander …
josephstoltz.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Lysander and Sulla were toxic leaders. However good of a job they did as battlefield or operational commanders, they failed to understand or honor the civil constitutions they served.
Fueled by self-aggrandizement and personal grievances, they brought about the downfalls of their countries.
Fueled by self-aggrandizement and personal grievances, they brought about the downfalls of their countries.
Creole-style gumbo. ⚜️
October 28, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Creole-style gumbo. ⚜️
Leaders should be working towards some sort of realistic conceptual framework of victory. In the cause of Pyrrhus and Marius, we find military leaders who often fought battles simply for the sake of fighting battles, not using those events to build towards some sort of articulated end state.
Pyrrhus and Marius: Plutarch’s Lives, Part XI
Pyrrhus of Epirus and Gaius Marius of Rome were two accomplished generals. Their success came from a willingness to take risks and seek battle to an extent many of their peers would not. Their down…
josephstoltz.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Leaders should be working towards some sort of realistic conceptual framework of victory. In the cause of Pyrrhus and Marius, we find military leaders who often fought battles simply for the sake of fighting battles, not using those events to build towards some sort of articulated end state.
