[Pollster1]

Big question: has even one member of the MEU studied Latin or Greek? If so, it could be like our special forces in Afghanistan before the Taliban fell - the Marines could augment one side of the squabbles and their picked winner would be irresistible.

Second question: Bio diesel? If even one member knew how to make it off the top of his head, which is very easy, that would make an even bigger difference. Their armor would eventually break down and run out of ammunition, but they could go quite a few miles first. Planning for those limits would allow them to accomplish quite a bit if they had the extra range from unlimited diesel.

When they collide, my money is on the Marines.

Finally: could they make black powder on their own? It's not the same as their initial loadout, but I'd guess they would have dozens of Marines who are handloaders. Rome would have issues dealing with that, unless a Marine decided to sell that knowledge to the other side (unlikely with the USMC).

Night vision and a modern knife alone would be formidable and would last for a very long time if they conserved their batteries.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Big question: has even one member of the MEU studied Latin or Greek?"

They could hire this chick as an adviser...

[Joe 6-pack]

"Big question: has even one member of the MEU studied Latin or Greek?"

Having some facility with languages, I would wager that an intelligent Spanish speaker (of which a MEU would no doubt have any number of) could, in an immersion environment, develop a utilitarian pidgin with Latin speakers. If by chance, they had a Romanian speaker, they'd be even better off (slim chance I know, but curiously enough, in my first assignment to Ft. Riley as a lieutenant, our Battalion S2 spoke Romanian.)

[BenKenobi]

Yeah, but what if you start in North Africa? What then? :)