Ancient

Arrivals, inspections, victories.In this volume are three works concerning the campaigns engaged in by the great Roman statesman Julius Caesar (100-44 BC), but not written by him. The Alexandrian War, which deals with troubles elsewhere also, may have...

Spartans: A New History chronicles the complete history of ancient Sparta from its origins to the end of antiquity. Helps bridge the gap between the common conceptions of Sparta and what specialists believe and dispute about Spartan historyApplies new...

The period from 1200 BC onwards saw vast changes in every aspect of life on both the Greek mainland and islands as monarchies disappeared and were replaced by aristocratic rule and a new form of community developed: the city-state. Alongside these...

Greece was the scene of some of the most evocative and decisive battles in the ancient world. This volume brings together the ancient evidence and modern scholarship on twenty battlefields throughout Greece. It is a handy resource for visitors of every...

This book presents a collection of essays charting the developments in military practice and warfare across the world in the early modern period. It also considers the nature and role of technological change, and the relationship between military...

Walk the Wall, gaze northwards across hostile territory, man the turrets and milecastles...What was life like for the Roman troops stationed on Hadrian's Wall? Follow the life of one man, a Tungrian soldier, through recruitment, training, garrison duty...

An accessible modern translation of essential speeches from Thucydides's History that takes readers to the heart of his profound insights on diplomacy, foreign policy, and warWhy do nations go to war? What are citizens willing to die for? What justifies...

The appearance of Roman soldiers in the 3rd century AD has long been a matter of debate and uncertainty, largely thanks to the collapse of central control and perpetual civil war between the assassination of Severus Alexander in 235 and the accession of...

Across western Europe the long tradition of castle-building took on its most sophisticated form in the later medieval period and then, in response to the development of gunpowder weapons, it underwent a fundamental change - from castle to fortress. This,...

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The Middle Ages were a turbulent and violent time, when the fate of nations was most often decided on the battlefield, and strength of arms was key to acquiring and maintaining power. Feudal oaths and local militias were more often than not incapable of...

This is the second volume in an ambitious series giving the reader a comprehensive narrative of late Roman military history from AD 284-641. Each volume (5 are planned) gives a detailed account of the changes in organization, equipment, strategy and...

How can we attempt to understand the experience of those involved in ancient battles, sieges and campaigns? What was the visual impact of seeing the massed ranks of the enemy approaching or the sky darkened with their arrows? How did it feel to be...

Wars and Battles of The Roman Republic is no arid list of military engagements. In each listed battle, individual points of military or sociological interest are highlighted and examined, including the use of elephants as weapons, the first deployment of...

While in exile on St Helena, Napoleon dictated a commentary on the wars of Julius Caesar, later published in 1836. In each chapter he summarized the events of one campaign, then added comments from the standpoint of his own military knowledge. Over the...

Justinian I was the last great conquering Roman emperor, who dramatically increased the size of his realm although he never actually led an army in person. His long reign (527-565) was devoted to the challenging project of _renovatio imperii_, that is...

The papers in this book present, for the first time, the world of warfare, both defensive and offensive, from the Classical periods to end of the Middle Ages in one collection. These scholarships have attracted ancient writers and generals and nowadays...

Winner of Military History Monthly's 2017 Book of the Year AwardThe Classis Britannica was the Roman regional fleet controlling and protecting the waters around the British Isles - in other words, Britain's first-ever navy.For over 200 years it played a...

A miscellany of minor works.Xenophon (ca. 430 to ca. 354 BC) was a wealthy Athenian and friend of Socrates. He left Athens in 401 and joined an expedition including ten thousand Greeks led by the Persian governor Cyrus against the Persian king...

Classic political realism.Thucydides of Athens was born about 471 BC. He saw the rise of Athens to greatness under the inspired leadership of Pericles. In 430, the second year of the Peloponnesian War, he caught and survived the horrible plague that he...

From classicist James Romm comes a "striking...fascinating" (Booklist) deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great's destruction of Thebes-and the saga of the greatest military corps of the time, the Theban...

Diocletian and Constantine were the greatest of the Late Roman emperors, and their era marks the climax of the legionary system. Under Constantine's successors the legions were reduced in size and increasingly sidelined in favour of new units of elite...

In the annals of ancient history the lights of Alexander the Great and Gaius Julius Caesar shine brighter than any other, inspiring generations of dynasts and despots with their imperial exploits. Each has been termed the greatest military leader of the...

Despite Rome's conquest of the Mediterranean, by the turn of the first century BC, Rome's influence barely stretched into the East. In the century since Rome's defeat of the Seleucid Empire in the 180s BC, the East was dominated by the rise of new...

A gripping and groundbreaking history of how ancient cultures developed and used biological, chemical, and other unconventional weapons of warFlamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease: are these terrifying agents...

In the late 4th century, pressure from the Huns forced the Goths to cross the Danube into the Roman Empire. The resultant Battle of Adrianople in 378 was one of Rome s greatest defeats. Both western (Visigoth) and eastern (Ostrogoth) branches of the...

The First and Second Italian Wars describes the course of military operations and political machinations in Italy from 1494 to 1504/. The narrative begins with the French conquest of much of Italy. But the French hold collapsed. The second French...

In 431 BC, the long simmering rivalry between the city-states of Athens and Sparta erupted into open warfare, and for more than a generation the two were locked in a life-and-death struggle. The war embroiled the entire Greek world, provoking years of...

Pharaoh Seti I ruled Egypt for only 11 years (1290-1279 BC), but his reign marked a revival of Egyptian military and economic power, as well as cultural and religious life. Seti was born the son of a military officer in northern Egypt, far from the halls...

Logistics have become a principle, if not a governing factor, in modern military operations. Armies need to be fed and supplied and the larger the army, the greater the logistical difficulties that have to be overcome. Two thousand years ago, when...

The Late Roman Empire was a period of significant change in the designs of standards and in the costumes of standard-bearers. During the middle decades of the chaotic 3rd century, evidence confirms the continued use of the old legionary eagle and the...

'A superb analysis of the military power that underpinned Augustus' rise to power, his conquests, and his ability to sustain his rule. Powell's achievement is to demonstrate just how much Augustus deserved his name of `Imperator'.'- Tom Holland,...

Edward I s conquest of Wales was a key formative event in the history of Britain, but it has not been the subject of a scholarly book for over 100 years. Research has advanced since then, changing our perception of the medieval military mind and shining...

The Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt and much of the eastern Mediterranean basin for nearly 300 years. As a Macedonian dynasty, they derived much of their legitimacy from military activity. As an Egyptian dynasty, they derived much of their real wealth and...

From the time of the Bronze Age, the warriors of all tribes and nations sought to emblazon their arms and armour with items and images to impress upon the enemy the wealth and power of the wearer. Magnificently decorated shields were as much a defensive...

The Military History of Late Rome Volume 457-518 provides a fresh, new look into the events that led to the collapse of West Rome, while East Rome not only survived but went on to prosper despite a series of major defeats that included, most notably, the...

This book presents a selection of eighteen land battles and sieges that span the Classical Greek period, from the Persian invasions to the eclipse of the traditional hoplite heavy infantry at the hands of the Macedonians. This of course is the golden age...

The Thracians are mentioned as early as in the epic poems by Homer and were fundamental in the evolution of the Greek military systems across the ages. They fought in the Persian Wars, were part of Alexander the Great's army, were used as mercenaries in...

As with everything else, there were good and bad Roman emperors. The good, like Trajan (98-117), Hadrian (117-138), Antoninus Pius (138-161) and Marcus Aurelius (161-180) were largely civilized and civilizing. The bad, on the other hand, were sometimes...

In the year AD 9, three Roman legions were crushed by the German warlord Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. This event is well-known, but there was another uprising that Rome faced shortly before, which lasted from AD 6 to 9, and was just as...