For the Romans, Britannia lay beyond the comfortable confines of the Mediterranean world around which classical civilisation had flourished. Britannia was felt to be at the outermost edge of the world itself, lending the island an air of dangerous m…

When the Romans occupied the southern half of Britain in AD 43, the Iceni tribe quickly allied themselves with the invaders. Having paid tribute to Rome, they continued to be ruled by their own kings. But 17 years later when Prasutagus, the king of…

Drawn from a wide range of warlike peoples throughout the provinces, especially on the fringes of the empire, auxiliaries wer generally not citizens of the Roman empire. The cavalry of the auxilia provided a powerful fighting arm; organised, discipl…

Attila var hunnernas kung 343-453. I de nordiska sagorna kallas han för Atle. Hunnerriket var det största riket på sin tid, alltså även större än romarriket. I Europa härskade Attila över ett stort antal folk i Europa, från Donau i söder, ända upp t…

In 52 BC Caesar's continued strategy of annihilation had engendered a spirit of desperation, which detonated into a revolt of Gallic tribes under the leadership of the charismatic young Arvernian noble Vercingetorix. Major engagements were fought at…

The Roman excursions north of the Tyne-Solway line, the route of Hadrian's Wall, can be roughly divided into three main periods. Firstly, Agricola advanced against the Caledonii for six campaigning seasons culminating in the decisive battle of Mons…

Osprey's study of one of the most important battles of the Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 BC). In 415 BC Athens launched a large expeditionary force, its goal the rich, grain-producing island of Sicily. This was in response to a call for help in a min…

In the aftermath of the murder of Gaius Julius Caesar, his self-declared successor Mark Antony struggled to hold together his legacy. Following an abortive coup attempt by Caesar's adopted son Octavian, two of Antony's legions declared for him, lead…

With the death of Nero by his own shaky hand, the ill-sorted, ill-starred Iulio-Claudian dynasty came to an ignominious end, and Rome was up for the taking. This was 9 June, AD 68. The following year, commonly known as the 'Year of the Four Emperors…

An authoritative re-telling of one of the greatest tales of heroism of all time and a decisive moment for the history of the world, Leonidas and the 300 Spartans' fight to the death against overwhelming Persian forces preserved the future of Greece…

By the end of the First Punic War Carthage had been humiliatingly chased from the high seas, its once-powerful fleet reduced to a handful of triremes. However in 219 BC Hannibal, the eldest son of the charismatic general Hamilcar Barca, began the Se…

One of the greatest military commanders in history, Julius Caesar's most famous victory - the conquest of Gaul - was to him little more than a stepping stone to power. An audacious and decisive general, his victories over the Gauls allowed him to ch…

The Imperial Army established by Augustus drew heavily on the nomenclature and traditions of the late Roman Republic, but was revolutionary in its design. He decided to meet all the military needs of the Empire from a standing, professional army. Mi…

As Rome's power and influence extended across the Mediterranean, she was destined for a collision with the Carthaginian Empire, a clash ultimately resulting in the decisive Second Punic War. At first the Roman Army was no match for the superior tact…

In the year 73 BC, Spartacus broke out of a gladiatorial training school and formed an army of runaway slaves and people with little to lose. This army defeated two Roman armies and attacked several cities. Terrified lest the revolt spread, the gove…

Harald Hardrada is perhaps best known as the inheritor of seven feet of English soil in that year of fateful change, 1066\. But Stamford Bridge was the terminal point of a warring career that spanned decades and continents. Thus, prior to forcibly o…

By the outbreak of the First Carthaginian War, Carthage controlled the whole coast of northern Africa. At first, the core of the Carthaginian armies was made up of armed citizens, backed by levies from tributary allies and foreign mercenaries. Later…

The battle of Lepanto has long been considered one of the decisive naval battles of history. Yet, the savage fighting on Sunday, 7 October 1571 left the strategic map unchanged and the defeated Ottoman Turks were able to replace their losses and lau…

The development of the city-state in the Classical period of Greek history ensured a shift in the nature of fortifications in the region. No longer were fortresses designed to defend a ruler and his entourage, rather the whole of the citizen body ha…

The 'Saxon Shore' forts are among the most impressive surviving monuments of Roman Britain, although much about them remains a mystery. In an impressive outlay of money, manpower and materials the frontier system stretched across the Wash-Solent and…

Hadrian's Wall is the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain. It is the best known frontier in the entire Roman Empire and stands as a reminder of past glories of one of the world's greatest civilizations. Its origins lie in a visit…

The prototypical 'Roman Legionnaire' often seen on television and in movies is actually the product of nearly a millennium of military development. Far back in the Bronze Age, before the city of Rome existed, a loose collection of independent hamlet…

The third in the Roman Conquests series briefly covers Rome's first forays into the dark continent during the First and Second Punic Wars, then covers in detail her vindictive final conquest and destruction of Carthage in the Third Punic War. The su…

Pompey, or Pompey the Great, was one of the best military leaders of the late Roman Republic. His campaigns against the Marians, his battles in Hispania and his defeat of the Mediterranean pirates launched him to political stardom where he became an…

From 1600 BC urban civilisation in Greece began to thrive and the power of a number of warlord states began to be felt around the Aegean. This period of Greek development and prosperity is called the Late Helladic or Mycenaean period, a time when Gr…

Osprey's study of the Tarentine horsemen from 430 to 190 BC. The Taras were the leading power of the scattered Greek states of southern Italy and built their reputation on the unmatched horse warriors who helped the Taras claim and maintain their po…

The Huns were the most feared barbarians of the Ancient world, known to their Roman enemies as the 'scourge of god'. Superb horsemen and excellent archers, they fought with a reflex composite-bow that could penetrate armour at 100 metres. In battle…

By 390 BC, the Roman army was in need of change, as Greek-style tactics of fighting with a heavy infantry phalanx were proving increasingly outdated. A military revolution was born in the form of the legion, a tool of war better suited to aggressive…

In all the stories told by mankind and recorded through its history, the tale of the siege of Troy is perhaps the greatest secular story ever told. It has certainly captured the western imagination for some 3000 years. Archaeological work has reveal…

Formidable and sophisticated, triremes were the deadliest battleships of the ancient world and at the height of their success the Athenians were the dominant exponents of their devastating power. Primarily long ships designed to fight under oar powe…

Soon after the Caudine Forks fiasco in 321 BC, the tactical formation adopted by the Roman Army underwent a radical change. Introduced as part of the Servian reforms, the legion had originally operated as a Greek-style phalanx. Now, however, the Rom…

Following Hannibal's crushing victory at the battle of the Trebbia, the reeling Roman Republic sent a new army under the over-confident consul Caius Flaminius to destroy the Carthaginian invaders - unbeknownst to him they were ready and waiting. The…

Chariots, the first mobile fighting vehicle, seem to have originated in Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. The highly mobile two-wheeled war chariot, carrying a driver and an archer armed with a short compound bow, revolutionized military tacti…

The Pharaohs of Egypt have captured the imagination of readers throughout the ages. Their existence and power have almost taken on a mythical status. In this book, Nic Fields reveals the truth behind these myths and explores the lives of the ordinar…

Byzantium. Was it Greek or Roman, familiar or hybrid, barbaric or civilised, Oriental or Western? In the late eleventh century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Christendom, the seat of the Byzantine emperor, Christ s vice-regent…

For a period of some 200 years, Sparta was acknowledged throughout the Greek world as the home of the finest soldiers. Xenophon called them 'the only true craftsmen in matters of war'. Nic Fields explains the reasons for this superiority, how their…

The Roman Legions were the most highly organized troops of the ancient world, but the process of turning the Legions from what was essentially a part-time citizen militia into the professional force that first made Rome the dominant power in the Med…

One of the most powerful men in late antiquity, Attila's peerless Hunnic empire stretched from the Ural mountains to the Rhine river. In a series of epic campaigns dating from the AD 430s until his death in AD 453, he ravaged first the Eastern and l…