Ancient Rome

The Roman Empire, which at times included much of the known world, came into being following the five centuries of the Republican period in the history of Rome. The Roman Empire was founded in 27 B.C. and existed as a unified entity until approximately A.D. 480. During this period, the Roman Empire extended from the Middle East to the British Isles. The Roman Empire is remembered for its influence of language, law, military operations, and culture. The Roman Empire was ruled by a succession of emperors, and a 200-year period of peace that began with the reign of Caesar Augustus is known today as the “Pax Romana.”

Romans end their march of the day by building a fortified camp surrounded by a ditch. No camp was ever overwhelmed in the Gallic or Civil Wars.

Ancient Rome

Roman Marching Camps: An Essential Element in Rome’s Empire-Building

By Arnold Blumberg

From the late 3rd century bc to the 3rd century ad, Roman troops on campaign built a defended camp at their resting place each night. Read more

Julius Caesar was a politician who believed his posting to Gaul could raise his reputation and power. Germanic tribes invading Gaul played into his hands.

Ancient Rome

Germanic Tribe Run Amok: Caesar vs. Ariovistus

by Ludwig Heinrich Dyck

East of the Rhine the horizon melted away in an unbroken emerald sea upon which, or so the legends told, giants piled up ranges of rugged hills. Read more

Ancient Rome

Battle of Cape Ecnomus & the First Punic War

By Marc G. De Santis

“But so long as the Carthaginians held unchallenged control of the sea, the issue of the war still hung in the balance. Read more

Ancient Rome

Weapons of the Middle Ages: the Medieval Catapult

By Robert Heege

It was the spring of 1097 and the Turks guarding the walls of Nicaea were in a confident mood. Read more

Roman legionaries clamber out of galleys and wade toward the battle on the English shore.

Ancient Rome

Julius Caesar’s Expedition to Brittania

By Ludwig Dyck

By the summer of 55 bc, 45-year-old Roman proconsul Gaius Julius Caesar was a veteran military campaigner. For the past three years, under his lead, the tramp of hobnailed sandals had resounded across the countryside of Gaul, the westernmost province of the Roman empire. Read more

Ancient Rome

Mark Antony’s Roman Navy: Clash at Actium & the Ionian Sea

By Joesph Horodyski

Julius Caesar’s assassination on the ides of March, 44 bc left Rome without a clear and decisive leader. Read more

Ancient Rome

The Eagle at Asculum: General Pyrrhus of Epirus

By Jeffrey A. Easton

By the middle of the 4th century bc, the Roman Empire had steadily expanded its reach into the southern half of Italy. Read more

Ancient Rome

Roman General Flavius Aetius

By Mark S. Longo

In many ways, Flavius Aetius personified the tumultuous changes that rocked the Western Roman Empire during its final years. Read more

Highly disciplined Roman infantry, fighting under the imperial banner, battle German tribesmen in 81 ad.

Ancient Rome

Teutoburgerwald Avenged

By Michael D. Greaney

Arminius, war leader of the Cherusci, a powerful German tribe on the east bank of the Rhine, was livid. Read more

Wary Roman forces enter the Apennine Mountain pass at Caudine Forks in 321 bc. Samnite forces under Gaius Pontius were waiting for them.

Ancient Rome

Swords and Citizens: Romans & the Samnites

By Jeffrey A. Easton

Centuries before the Romans came to dominate the Mediterranean basin, they fought a series of wars against neighboring peoples to establish their hegemony over the Italian peninsula. Read more

Ancient Rome

The Praetorian Guard

By Arnold Blumberg

Its name has become synonymous with intrigue, conspiracy, betrayal, and assassination. It was responsible for the overthrow, abandonment, or murder of 15 out of the first 48 emperors who governed Rome between 27 bc and ad 305. Read more

Ancient Rome

Judas Maccabeus, Hammer of the Jews

By Kelly Bell

By 167 bc, when a full-scale revolt erupted in Judea, it had been more than 400 years since an organized Jewish army had taken up arms against an enemy. Read more

Parthian cataphracts armed with long spears known as kontos assail Roman legionaries at Carrhae.

Ancient Rome

Roman Disaster at Carrhae

By Ludwig Heinrich Dyck

Gigantic clouds of dust rose from the sun-baked plain. The ground shook under the hoofs of thousands of cavalry. Read more

Pompey led troops to victory in a series of battles and actions that neutralized threats to Rome’s interests in Asia Minor.

Ancient Rome

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus

By Ludwig Heinrich Dyck

Gnaeus Pompey was one of the pivotal Roman leaders during the last decades of the Republic. He was born into an old and wealthy provincial family from Picenum on September 29, 106 BC. Read more

Ancient Rome

Zenobia’s Bloody War of Independence

By Glenn Barnett

The pages of history tend to dwell on the men who created empires. No matter how ephemeral may be the famed exploits of an Alexander, Caesar or Napoleon, historians have written volumes on their behalf. Read more

Ancient Rome

Teutonic Fury

By Ludwig Heinrich Dyck

As part of tribal obligations to appease Rome, Segimer, the powerful Cherusci chief, surrendered his sons Arminius and Flavus to the Roman emperor Augustus. Read more

Ancient Rome

The Battle of Chalons: Attila’s Stinging Defeat

By John Walker

In AD 451, Attila the Hun, by then known to terrified Western Christians as the “scourge of God,” crossed the Rhine River in command of a multi-ethnic army. Read more

Ancient Rome

Learning from David and Goliath: The True Origin of the Sling Weapon

By Erich B. Anderson

More than 3,000 years ago, an army of Israelites led by King Saul confronted a force of Philistine invaders in the valley of Elah. Read more

Ancient Rome

Caesar’s Grand Siege at Alesia

By Coley Cowan

As Julius Caesar’s Roman army began its march on a late summer day in 52 BC in eastern France it discovered Gallic cavalry barring the way of its vanguard. Read more