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.”

Ancient Rome

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

By Eric Niderost

The name Gaius Suetonius Paulinus doesn’t ring across the centuries from the annals of Roman military history like the names of Julius Caesar, Tiberius Nero, or Scipio Africanus. Read more

Ancient Rome

Spartacus: Freedom by the Sword

By Eric Niderost

In the spring of 73 bc, Thracian gladiator Spartacus decided that the time was right to attempt an escape. Read more

Hannibal leads his Carthaginian army, mounted on elephants, against the Romans in this 16th-century painting.

Ancient Rome

Hannibal And The Failure Of Success

By Steven Weingartner

Although Hannibal Barca has rightly been hailed as one of history’s greatest military commanders, his reputation for greatness is based largely on his performance in the first three years (218-202 bc) of the 16-year conflict known as the Second Punic War. Read more

Byzantine forces led by Narses won a decisive victory over the Ostrogoths at the Battle of Vesuvius in 553. The resourceful septuagenarian proved an able statesman and general.

Ancient Rome

Narses the Eunuch

By Peter L. Boorn

On January 18, ad 532, a 54-year-old eunuch by the name of Narses, described by Agathias, a contemporary chronicler, as “small in stature and of abnormal thinness,” entered alone into the Hippodrome of Constantinople carrying a bag of gold. Read more

Ancient Rome

Drusus the Elder: Hero of Rome

By P. Lindsay Powell

On a sultry summer night in 9 BC, 29-year-old commander of Augustus Caesar ’s army in Germania bolted upright in his cot, dripping with sweat. Read more

Ancient Rome

Jugurtha: Numidian King, Roman Enemy

By William Stroock

Jugurtha, king of the desert nation of Numidia, was a long-time antagonist of Republican Rome. Over more than a decade of war, he was a bold and cunning battlefield commander who used swiftness and determination to make fools of Roman consuls, even as the Romans were systematically conquering his country. Read more

Ptolemy of Mauretania helped the Romans suppress the rebellious tribes. When he offended Caligula he was put to death.

Ancient Rome

Tacfarinas’ Berber Revolt Against Rome

By Ludwig Heinrich Dyck

Tacfarinas, a former soldier of Rome’s Numidian cavalry, reined in his steed at the edge of the cliff with the ease of one born in the saddle. Read more

A modern illustration shows Roman legionnaires on the march. The front ranks typically charged into battle, stopping to hurl their pilum before closing with the enemy using their gladius. In the melee, they used their scutum to knock their opponents off balance.

Ancient Rome

Roman Armageddon at Pharsalus

By William E. Welsh

The snow-capped peaks of the Ceraunian Mountains stared down on the sturdy barks hunting for a suitable place to land on the coast of Epirus on January 5, 48 bc. Read more

Ancient Rome

Briton Warrior Queen Boudicca

By Ludwig Heinrich Dyck

The lash bit into the flesh of the woman’s back, beaten raw by metal balls tied into the ends of leather thongs. Read more

The night before the battle, Marius posted 3,000 legionnaires in a nearby wood with orders to attack the tribesmen while they were assailing the Roman fort. The plan worked perfectly, and Marius sallied out to finish off the disorganized enemy troops.

Ancient Rome

Roman Revenge at Aquae Sextiae

By John E. Spindler

In the evening hours on a midsummer day in 102 bc, Roman Consul Gaius Marius decided that tomorrow was to be the day to confront the barbarians. Read more

Ancient Rome

The First Punic War’s Mortal Enemies: The Romans Versus Carthage

By Ludwig H. Dyck

The huge gangplank dangled in the air, suspended by a rope and pulley from a massive pole standing upright in the bow of the Roman galley. Read more

Ancient Rome

Roman General Sulla

By Peter L. Boorn

When Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix was governor of Cilicia in 95 bc, he received an embassy from the Parthians. Read more

Ancient Rome

Slaughter at the Battle of Cannae

By Christopher Miskimon

Long ranks of Carthaginian infantry stood on a dusty plain a few miles east of the ruined town of Cannae on August 2, 216 bc. Read more

Ancient Rome

Roman Army Pluck at the Battle of Pydna

By Tim Miller

What began as a polite truce between armies that allowed each to draw water from the same river turned into the battle that would give Greece to Rome. Read more

Ancient Rome

Bloody Clash on the Tiber

By Tim Miller

On October 28, ad 312, a Roman emperor was drowning. The sight must have amazed his soldiers. All summer Rome had been filled with rumors of the western emperor, Constantine, and the ease with which he and his army had crossed the Alps and, once on Italian soil, strung together a handful of victories in the north. Read more

Ancient Rome

The Fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE: A Story of Roman Revenge

By Tim Miller

After a summer of starvation and siege had been imposed on the city’s people during the fall of Jerusalem, the great Second Temple was finally on fire. Read more

Ancient Rome

The Roman Gladius

By Gabriele Esposito

Few weapons in world history have had such great tactical importance as the Roman gladius. To understand the importance this short sword had on the battlefields of antiquity, it is best to start with the Roman historian Livy. Read more

Ancient Rome

Rome Avenged: Hannibal in Italy

By Eric Niderost

Two Generals met in the Fall of 202 BC in a last-ditch attempt to secure a mutually agreeable peace between their respective nations. Read more

Ancient Rome

Havoc in the Teutoburger Forest

By Michael D. Greaney

One of the most devastating events to shake the early Roman Empire was the defeat of Legate Publius Quinctilius Varus and his army at the hands of Arminius in the Battle of Teutoburgerwald in 9 ad. Read more