Hello and welcome to the 101st episode of the Ancient Warfare Magazine podcast.

Today we are recording the podcast episode to go with Ancient Warfare Issue 136, which is all about Claudius at war.

We've got a couple of questions in for the team to answer and with me today are Murray Dom,

the assistant editor of ancient warfare, Mark McCaffrey, Mark DeSantis, Lindsay Powell,

and there's me, Jasper Ortiz, and I'm the editor of the magazine.

Let's just start off with some questions and see where we can take it from here. The fun one. Let's

start with the fun one. Cosmos from Patreon asks, Cassius Dio relates Claudius bringing war elephants.

I can't find this practical. I don't think anybody did. Maybe that was not the point. Did he use them

as a show-off maybe? Are they mentioned in any of the battles? I think the Roman army elephants were kind of obsolete and also the point. Did he use them as a show off maybe? Are they mentioned in any of the battles?

I think the Roman army elephants were kind of obsolete and also the landscape and especially

weather of Britain would have been a challenge for them. I think he hasn't read the issue yet because

Murray wrote an article without the, but Murray, you know, you know, just leave something for people to be

read. But can you answer the question?

Yes, it's, it's one of those very brief answers that Diocassius is the only historian to record that

Claudius prepared elephants to be taken to Britain. So the specific reference for you is book 60,

chapter 21, 1 to 2.

And that's basically it.

So Diocassia says he took elephants, which has then caused all sorts of issues.

The funny thing about it, of course, is that the practicalities of taking elephants to Britain in the first century AD,

how did he do it?

Did he build these, you know, the transports for elephants must have been very tricky,

blah, blah, blah.

...