Reddit Comments Lead to Movie Deal

A post at reddit asked a hypothetical question: could a modern US Marine infantry battalion defeat the legionnaires of the Roman Empire if they traveled back in time? Member Prufrock451 offered a scenario covering a week of such a story in a series of well-received comments. Here's a sample:
DAY 1 The 35th MEU is on the ground at Kabul, preparing to deploy to southern Afghanistan. Suddenly, it vanishes.

The section of Bagram where the 35th was gathered suddenly reappears in a field outside Rome, on the west bank of the Tiber River. Without substantially prepared ground under it, the concrete begins sinking into the marshy ground and cracking. Colonel Miles Nelson orders his men to regroup near the vehicle depot - nearly all of the MEU's vehicles are still stripped for air transport. He orders all helicopters airborne, believing the MEU is trapped in an earthquake.

Nelson's men soon report a complete loss of all communications, including GPS and satellite radio. Nelson now believes something more terrible has occurred - a nuclear war and EMP which has left his unit completely isolated. Only a few men have realized that the rest of Bagram has vanished, but that will soon become apparent as the transport helos begin circling the 35th's location.

Within an hour, the 2,200 Marines have regrouped, stunned. They are not the only moderns transported to Rome. With them are about 150 Air Force maintenance and repair specialists. There are about 60 Afghan Army soldiers, mostly the MEU's interpreters and liaisons. There are also 15 U.S. civilian contractors and one man, Frank Delacroix, who has spoken to no one but Colonel Nelson.

OK, here's where it gets interesting. Adam Kolbrenner from Madhouse Entertainment read the story on reddit and contacted the author, James Erwin, about developing the idea. Warner Brothers bought the story, now called Rome, Sweet Rome, and is making plans to film it. Link -via reddit

(Image source: Rome, Sweet Rome Facebook page)

Oh boy... I just watched "The Final Countdown" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Final_Countdown_(film) on Netflix. The plot is the same - modern military goes back in time. The movie was terrible. I really hope they don't take any hints from it.

I would think it would be more interesting if the Romans won.
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Interesting idea that's been done before in different ways. Still, once you run out of fuel and ammunition, you're left with a bunch of trained, disciplined soldiers with improvised weapons.

Not to disparage our Marines and their ability to improvise, but generally, when you fight American units, you're really fighting America. There's normally a long logistical umbilical path that keeps the fighting unit supplied, and that is connected to the infrastructure and manufacturing capacity of the whole country.
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@Daniel Kim: I agree. I'm a huge booster for our guys in green, but I think they'd be out matched once the modern tech gave out. A Legionaire spent years training with sword and shield while the Marines, for all their teamwork and courage, would be starting fresh and with virtually no experienced trainers.

It'd be a slaughter before the tech gave out, though. A phalanx is a mother beautiful target for artillery and machine guns.
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Let me guess: the Americans win. [rolleyes]

Yeah, or how about: will the native with bow and arrow win or will the modern soldier with an AK-47?
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That's why I think that Forstchen hit the technological sweet spot in The Lost Regiment by putting a Civil War era infantry regiment in medieval Russia. The soldiers had the know-how to make a smoothbore musket and cannons, and the Russians had the tools necessary to make the tools necessary to manufacture them.
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Colonel Nelson? Was he in I Dream of Jeannie? No, that was Major Nelson...

Variations of this book have been written before. The writing appears to be more of a description. Hopefully, it's a bit more fleshed-out.
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