The period of relative peace enjoyed by the Roman Empire in its first two centuries ended with the Marcomannic Wars. The following centuries saw near-constant warfare, which brought new challenges for the Roman Navy. It was now not just patrolling the Mediterranean but also fighting against invaders with real naval skill, such as Genseric and his Vandals.

With research from newly discovered shipwrecks and archaeological finds as well as the rich contemporary source material, this study examines the equipment and tactics used by the navy and the battles they fought in this tumultuous...

Following Hannibal's crushing victory at the battle of the Trebbia, the reeling Roman Republic sent a new army under the over-confident consul Gaius Flaminius to destroy the Carthaginian invaders--unbeknownst to him they were ready and waiting. The destruction of the Roman force at Lake Trasimene firmly established Hannibal as one of the Ancient World's greatest commanders thanks to his use of innovative tactics, including the first recorded use of a turning movement. The Romans would not send another major army to confront him until the battle of Cannae in 216 BC.

This new study,...

Mastering the West offers a thoroughly engrossing narrative of this century of...

The period from the 12th century onward saw vast changes in every aspect of life on both the Greek mainland and islands, as monarchies disappeared to be replaced by aristocratic rule and finally by the development of a new form of community: the city-state.

Alongside these changes, a new style of warfare developed, which was to be the determining factor in land warfare in Greece, until the 338 BC defeat of the Greek city-state, by the might of Macedonia at Chaeronea. This mode of warfare was based on a group of heavily armed infantrymen organized in a phalanx formation--the classic...

1,700 years ago, the emperor Constantine marched on Rome to free Italy from the tyrant Maxentius and reunify the Roman Empire. The army marched from Gaul in the spring of AD 312 and fought its way across the Empire. The defining moment of the campaign was the battle of the Milvian Bridge.
This highly illustrated book examines how Maxentius's poor choice of battleground ultimately doomed his army to defeat. Forced back toward the river by Constantine, the prospect of death by drowning caused panic to tear through Maxentius's army, who broke and fled for the bridge of boats. Constantine...

Caesar (C. Iulius, 102-44 BC), statesman and soldier, defied the dictator Sulla; served in the Mithridatic wars and in Spain; entered Roman politics as a "democrat" against the senatorial government; was the real leader of the coalition with Pompey and Crassus; conquered all Gaul for Rome; attacked Britain twice; was forced into civil war; became master of the Roman world; and achieved wide-reaching reforms until his murder. We have his books of commentarii (notes): eight on his wars in Gaul from 58-52 BC, including the two expeditions to Britain in 55-54, and three on the civil war...