#numantia

Antonio Guerrero (Spanish, 1777-after 1802) The taking of Numantia, Detail, 1802 Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

The principle of this reversal can be expressed in simple terms. CAESARIAN UNITY, ESTABLISHED BY A LEADER - A HEAD - IS OPPOSED BY THE HEADLESS COMMUNITY, BOUND TOGETHER BY THE OBSESSIVE IMAGE OF A TRAGEDY. Life demands that men gather together, and men are only gathered together by a leader or by a tragedy. To look for a HEADLESS human community is to look for tragedy: putting the leader to death is itself tragedy, it remains a requirement of tragedy. A truth that will change the appearance of human things starts here: THE EMOTIONAL ELEMENT THAT GIVES AN OBSESSIVE VALUE TO COMMUNAL LIFE IS DEATH.

- Georges Bataille, Nietzschean Chronicle, Visions of Excess

INTERVIEW: Numantia: Recreating the Ancient Iberian World

RECOTechnology is a small game-developer studio based in Madrid, Spain. Their latest video game - Numantia - allows players to explore the conflicts between the ancient Iberians and ancient Romans. James Blake Wiener of Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) speaks to Mr. Pablo Serrano of RECOTechnology about the game and ancient Iberia in this exclusive interview.

Pablo Serrano is a video game developer based in Madrid, Spain. He has worked on several projects in various studios through the last years. He studied history and art and is an avid devotee of ancient history. He is currently RECOtechnology's project manager for the video game Numantia.

“We had our own historical advisor working with us during the development of Numantia. He has helped us greatly on matching dates, creating gear and units, and in our own understanding of the Celtiberian society of this particular period. And of course, we have individually expanded that documentation with lots and lots of books and documents regarding Numantia and the Iberian Peninsula during that time.”