Am I supposed to be impressed by conquering only a part of a

You're right, you should instead start wars you can't possibly win

I dunno, are you?

>>1689862
Romans took on actual countries with actual armies and won.

You're supposed to be impressed by how many warriors were able to do that. When Vikings invaded territories they did so with around hundred (or couple hundred, perhaps) men. The little kingdoms, principalities, etc. in the invaded territories would raise thousands of men, albeit from the agrarian population armed with little more than pitchforks and little to no training.

Nevertheless, to defeat an enemy who outnumbers you often over 10 to 1 is an impressive feat. They were able to do this thanks to their big shield and the snout formation. They would form a triangle, shielded on the sides and the tip. Then they would move in, pushing the enemy. The men in the front would break the enemy defense, and allow the inside berserkers and archers to kill a few of the enemy, then the formation would close again, protecting them. They were also strong and battle-hardened, giving them an advantage. And they probably looked scary, making lots of the villagers run away.

>>1689876
Not in the beginning. Look up: Battle of Cannae

>>1689876
>Iberia
>Britannia (only won England)
>Germania (lost)
>Dacia
>Greece
>not bands of petty kingdoms/tribes

The only formidable opponents they faced were defeated by their own massive retardation (Egypt and Carthage), whereas Rome continually was btfo by the Persians (Valerian literally served as a footstool to the Shah)

>>1689857
No, but few other empires managed to do that. That must be worth something.

>>1689885

>albeit from the agrarian population
As oposed to Viking Industrial population?

>>1689896
>Germania
They had control of half of Germania.

>>1689936
They had Germania Minor, but muh Legions happened and Arminius defeated Rome, which was more my point

And it wasn't a unified country so it's not fair to say that since they controlled half of it they defeated the Germans. It's like the US saying they defeated the Koreans when Best Korea still has its border

Admittedly I should've written more about it in the first post

>>1689885
Only the first raiding parties had a hundred or so men, the Great Heathen Army was a way bigger horde and they got BTFO even when they outnumbered the fucking enemy.

File: 988px-England_878.svg.png (818KB, 988x1229px) Image search: [Google]

818KB, 988x1229px

>>1689968
They got BTFO? Looks like a huge success to me.

>>1690037
>got meme'd out of the Danelaw decades later
>never regained a foothold again

yeah, so successful :^)