>>96408375
Media brainrot. Which I won't blame people for, but we have to call it like it is.

There's also all that downtime where the standing armies were given stuff like tournaments or other jobs so they don't turn to banditry out of sheer boredom. Which, yeah, I bet tournaments look glamorous and personal. That was probably the closest most people got to seeing war in person.

I'm reminded of a specific battle in the American Civil War that taught people this lesson harshly. Bunch of citizens showed up see the armies match off and thought it would be cute. They had their picnics and everything ready on a nearby hill. Not only did they get traumatized, but some caught stray fired and got maimed or died. For some reason, everyone thought it would be this organized, tidy, cute little standoff they can just watch unfold? Maybe this is just our default assumption on how things SHOULD work.