Paul Johstono

Wow, I hate it. I absolutely despise the entitled mentality that, "oh, this isn't behind a paywall, so I must just be able to take it and repurpose it without asking." No! No you can't! You need to ask first before lifting 67,000 of my words for your project!

RIP to Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf, the very first man to win the Top Gun trophy. Rumor is he engaged in the worst dogfight you ever dreamed of. There were bogeys like fireflies all over the sky. RIP Tom Skerritt

A Ukrainian helicopter door gunner shoots down a Russian Shahed kamikaze drone with machine-gun fire.

Prayers for Canadian Forces, and their friends and families, our kind neighbors and allies.

⚡️Russian attacks put millions of Ukrainians at risk of displacement this winter, UN Migration says.

The 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.

Putin 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,

My .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.

Excited 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

The 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...

It's just like in my Tom Clancy novels!

Nick Saban looks like he's got a sarisa out there as his poker for Gameday. Hold it with two hands, bud!

Read theory

Hell 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."

@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...

Like 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/

Fun with the Dowding System

Looking forward to CENTCOM's "is it a hack?" series about Tomahawks

I 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:

Already 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.

BREAKING: 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

At this rate France may wish they were signing the Treaty of Bretigny again over this match.

Oil 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.

Russians in Crimea are now paying 450 rubles per liter ($22 per gallon) to buy gasoline.

BREAKING: BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) - Homeland Security secretary said man killed by ICE in Maine was not the target of warrant, Maine Sen. Angus King says.

ἵνα παρρησιάσωμαι ὡς δεῖ με λαλῆσαι Contemplating obligations of frank speech

Okay, it's not lost Hieronymus of Cardia or a missing book of Polybius, but columns of late 3rd-early 2nd century BC Stoicism is a surprising find... AND, its (AI-located) critiques of technological learning and of learning that departs from our personal nature, are striking. Dear Prudence!

OTD, June 22nd 168 BC, the Battle of Pydna ended the Third Macedonian War, and the Macedonian monarchy. Re-upping, w @profpaulj.bsky.social our reconstruction of this decisive battle, open source at GRBS. grbs.library.duke.edu/index.php/gr...

Nifty Macedonian power move was the 7-arc phalangite pelte, which, contrary to 6-arc or 8-arc designs, required an impressive little piece of geometry to measure out.

“Theon to his father Theon, greeting (χαίρειν). It was a fine thing of you not to take me with you to the city! If you won't take me with you to Alexandria I won't write you a letter or speak to you or say bye to you” — a Romano-Egyptian son in Oxyrhynchos (P.Oxy. 1 119). papyri.info/ddbdp/p.oxy;...

Happy Father's Day 🖤

U.S. Vice President to Fox News: We have prevailed whether Iran changes its approach or chooses not to adhere to the agreement.

A toast to our fallen Airmen, a group of highly skilled aviators that advanced aviation every time they left the ground. Prayers for the families who are missing their loved ones tonight. 🍺

"Carthaginian pikemen" is why you need ancient languages and specialization. [Real conversation when an officer asked me about the Roman Helmet Guy debates]

Since today is National Barbecue Day, 🔥 remember to give a nod to the patron saint of Barbequers, Saint Lawrence, who—when being persecuted on a hot gridiron under Valerian in 258 CE—noted: “Assum est, versa et manduca.” “This side is done, turn (me) over & eat.” csla.history.ox.ac.uk

Good evening for some minor league baseball. I hope someone there will let me talk at them about the Thucydides Trap discourse.

One ping only for blue books.

The BMCR review of Seleukids at War reminded me to post a preview of my chapter on Academia, which you'll find here: www.academia.edu/166835760/Ge... and I'm happy to send a copy upon request. A study of the where from, how many, and by what means of putting together Seleucid armies.

BMCR write up of a fine volume which included my chapter on the Battle of Magnesia (190 BC). (DM or email if you would like an offprint) Also includes a great chapter by @profpaulj.bsky.social and many others! bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2026/2026.04...