The best "who would win if they fought" idea I've seen in a while...

Well yeah, on account of it being less likely to produce the outcome of western civilisation, and hence the US marines, never existing in the first place....

How long have those Marines been stuck there?

I don't think you'd see a rash of suicides at all, not untill they truely thought they were stuck there.

Sounds more like the writer coming up with various ways to make it not look so one sided, rather than going by how it would really happen.

Which isnt bad mind you, it probably makes for a better story. Just I doubt it would happen.

The food and water thing is a definite possibility. But it also cuts both ways. The Marines wouldn't (probably) be immune to the various bugs and nasties that could be found in the local food supply, because let's face it, hygiene wasn't a very strong suit in that era. The locals would also not have immunity to the bugs that the Marines would invariably carry.

However, tipping point would probably go to the Marine medics and docs as they would have some knowledge on how to go about treating food poisoning and the like.

That's Navy medics and docs. The Marines don't have any medical personnel. They are all USN assigned to the Fleet Marines.

drop three nukes to provide similar results

SM Sterling summed that problem up best with his Island in the Sea of Time series, where an entire modern Maine island ended up being transported back a few thousand years.

Since there's clearly no record of discovering the ruins and remnant artifacts of a modern town when the island was first settled they have to be in an alternate timeline and therefore can't do anything that would cause themselves to not exist.

Standard trousers of time explanation.

Doesn't mean that a timeline without the Roman empire would be an improvement.

Only a small potion of Rome's troops were legions. Even Ceaser in Gaul, most of the troops were Gallic themselves.

Allow me to introduce the Maritime Prepositioning Force employed by the USMC: http://www.msc.navy.mil/pm3/mpf.asp. While I was stationed at Camp Lejeune we went on an exercise in Honduras where we unloaded these ships, cleaned and tested all the gear, and put it all back where it could be used should it need to be. This was done on a yearly basis. The exercise itself serves the double duty of maintenance of the gear and training for the rapid deployment of equipment.

The MEUs themselves are formed from existing units. IIRC, they're together for a year with six months of training followed by six months of active deployment to sea. (Please remember that I wasn't in a MEU and this was twenty years ago and I've slept at least once since then.)

Before the Gulf War in 90-91, the Joint Chiefs were polled by POTUS about how quickly they could get a force into country should it be necessary. Commandant Alfred Gray quoted three to seven days depending upon the size of force required. When I was in the Corps, there were always units on twenty-four hour alert status. These are battalions who are trained to pancake some pancake up.

Even in peacetime operations the Marines always sanitize their own water supply so it's something they are used to. The standard first aid kit I was issued came with iodine tablets for this very purpose. (And iodized water tastes nasty but it's got no bugs in it.) There's also SOP for preparing local food for consumption which wouldn't have to change all that much once the Marines located and identified adequate food sources. It wouldn't have to taste good because Marines carry hot sauce. The Marines would have simple science on their side as well as a handful of men who grew up hunting, fishing, and/or farming before they joined the military. I don't think food would be an issue. STDs, on the other hand...

I disagree with the morale issue simply because basic training tends to weed out the sort of person who would totally give up in that fashion. There would be some, certainly a few would make it through basic and others might develop mental issues in theater; but look at the history of armed conflict with the Marine Corps and you won't see a lot of suicides. You might see some desertion but not a lot simply because they wouldn't have anywhere to go.

"Shut up and soldier" is a phrase I've heard my Army buddies use and it would apply to the Marines as well. Dealing with the stress of such an extreme situation would be made much easier by simply concentrating on 'the mission' and worrying about extraction afterward.

Yet one more reason I like you, Steelclaw.

I was in communications working in Regiment and Division level communication centers so I wasn't infantry. Still, I completely agree with Steelclaw's assessment. Unlike in the movies, Marines aren't superheroes nor are they completely disfunctional man-children playing with expensive, deadly toys. They are professionals trained to do a dirty job. Many Marine officers are intelligent, well-educated, and prepared for unusual situations. Everything Steelclaw outlined jives with my personal experience as something a well-prepared commander would and could devise.

Finally, I'd like to point out one thing I think might have been overlooked by many of the folks so far. A MEU would have a compliment of combat engineers. I spent a year assigned to 3rd CEB in Okinawa. I've seen some of the things these guys can do to change the complexion of a battlefield. They don't even need anything more high tech than some axes, picks, and shovels to get the job done.

Seeing as how this is suppossed to be at the height of the Roman empire, wouldn't they have to wait awhile for that, not to mention, for all you know, they could find out how right they are.

So in this case, I'd say it's best to leave that bit out.

I thought the Marines were being dropped in around 24 BC - which means they'd have roughly 18 to 19 years before it could be an issue.

Octavian ruled Between 27BCE and 14CE...
Yeshua if he existed existed around that period.

So if you are aiming at that period you are aiming at a 50/50 shot of ending up in the time period... and even if not him his parents or even John the Baptist all lived in that span of time...

So if you couldn't find any evidence it would be highly likely that it didn't exist at all.

I see you missed Dark Ones post.

Haven't you guys learned to tell when someones grasping at straws?

This is more accurate.

May be they place the marines took over was Atlantis.....then blew it away to erase their presence hehe.

Right wing, left wing, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, whatever, at the end of the day they are Marines above all else. Fought together, bled together, lived together. They may not always get along, but at the end of the day, they'll have each other's backs.

Edit - And they'll get the job done whilst making it look so easy a Navy guy could've done it.

I was MOS 2531 while I was in the Corps. For you laymen out there that's a Radio Man... which loosely translates as "Grunt who carries everything the normal infantry does plus 50 extra pounds of radio and batteries."

Being a radio man in Desert Storm was interesting. Mostly because of the 10' whip antenna attached to the radio on my back. Let me tell you, the dumbest Iraqi Soldier in the world will know what's going on if they see what looks like a fishing pole with no lure or line on it waving back and forth above the top of a dune. It made life interesting... nervous... but interesting.

I can't say that the Essential Steelclaw didn't exist back then... after all... I wiled away the post-war-waiting-for-evac-back-to-the-states time by engaging in an extended practical joke war with a Corporal that ended up with him comm-wired to his cot and slid under the three seats of the two-by-four and plywood built outhouse where the catch-barrels usually sat.

I heard he's still looking for me. Heh.

I think the crazy is far more insidious than you think.

Also, anyone who says they are a Marine above all else is far too easily programmed and have faced deeper programming all their lives so i doubt they got away from it.

I'm not saying everyone would just fall apart or that all Marines are Christian, but if we apply population percentages and the likely hood that one of them would realize the opportunity they had and what they could find out... Well the fact of the matter is whether someone finds out there was a dude raising the dead or that it was all made up or somewhere in between there isn't a single person that was genuinely interested in truth wouldn't go and find out what they could... And given the probabilities the christian marines would find out that what they believe is wrong which would likely completely a number of their beliefs in the after life...

It's one thing to believe in an after life and be a soldier and to be one while not believing and given that short time period to incorporate that knowledge and while your on the battle field there would be several reactions from hiding, to suicide, to spastic because they now are hyper aware of their immortality, or spastic based on believing that nothing matters... to little to no reaction at all, but the more likely is one of the former.

If there was a Yeshua those very same christians would like abandon their mission follow Jesus around as might muslims and jews.

Other religions would be unaffected if it is false...

if it's true other religions might convert and desert to follow while some of the more skeptical would likely wonder how it's done and try to ask what how it was done and/or try to test his knowledge to confirm or disconfirm claims, but ultimately be unaffected and just consider it a curiosity...or try to take him back to the present.

The problem with this line of thinking is a few...

1) Even if they thought to look, what makes you think they wouldn't wait to find answers. Get the job done first, then if that doesn't get them home, they can go and look.

2) Right or wrong. Doesn't mean suicide or getting reckless. Plenty people of faith lose their faith and don't become reckless/suicidal about it. Those who gain a new faith if found to be true would then what? Not become a Judas to their fellow soldiers and finish the task at hand.

As mentioned, this is one grasping at straws. Not to mention, we living in the now, have no idea if it's true or not (outside of one's faith) so putting that into the equation, I don't think works.

But if you do, refere to the above. They decide their faith is wrong. Then go on living to make a lasting impression another way. Taking out all those Romans, and changing history, with their names in the books! \o/