Osprey's examination of the Battle of Actium, which was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic (32-30 BC). In 32 BC, the Roman Republic declared war on Egypt and set in motion a chain of events that would tear the Republic apart. In Rome, the forces of the western republic were marshaled together under Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus) and Marcus Agrippa. In the east, armies were gathered under the leadership of the famous lovers, Marc Antony and Cleopatra.

On September 2, 31 BC, the forces of Octavian and Marcus Agrippa managed to trap their enemies...

The narrow strip of land now occupied by the modern state of Israel is where all paths from Europe, Asia, and Arabia must come together before they flow into Africa and has been the world's most hotly contested piece of territory for millennia. Occupied by Pompey the Great from 63 BC the region became the Roman province of Iudaea in AD 6. In AD 66 a local disturbance in Caesarea caused by Greeks sacrificing birds in front of a local synagogue exploded into a pan-Jewish revolt against their Roman overlords. Gaining momentum, the rebels successfully occupied Jerusalem and drove off an attack...