Ancient Military History from Viceroy Books

Osprey Pub Co, 2001. New book, 96 pages, CAM084. ’Never, except in the battle of Cannae, had there been so destructive a slaughter recorded in our annals.’ Thus the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus recorded the battle of Adrianople, which spelled the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Such a crushing Roman defeat by Gothic cavalry proved to the… Read more about this item

Osprey Pub Co, 2001. New book, 96 pages, CAM084. ’Never, except in the battle of Cannae, had there been so destructive a slaughter recorded in our annals.’ Thus the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus recorded the battle of Adrianople, which spelled the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Such a crushing Roman defeat by Gothic cavalry proved to the… Read more about this item

Pan Books, 2006. New book, 300 pages. "Go tell the Spartans, Passerby, That here, obedient to their laws, we lie" Thus did the poet Simonides remember the three hundred elite Spartan warriors who, led by their king, Leonidas, faced the vast, inrushing Persian army at the 'hot gates' of Thermopylae and fought to the death for an ideal dearer to… Read more about this item

University Park, Illinois, U.S.A.: Osprey Pub Co, 2002. New book, 95 pages, ESS026. The age of Alexander and his conquest of the Persian or ‘Achaemenid’ Empire, which had existed for over two centuries, represents a watershed in the history of the world. This book offers a fascinating insight into the achievements of one of the greatest generals ever known. Alexander's… Read more about this item

Osprey Pub Co, 2013. New book, 96 pages, ESS076. In this book Duncan Campbell explores the course of the wars that ensued as successive emperors sought to extend the empire, from Claudius' conquest of Britannia, Domitian's campaigns on the Rhine and the Danube, through Trajan's Dacian Wars and Parthian War, to Marcus Aurelius' Marcomannic Wars, as well as the Jewish… Read more about this item

Osprey Pub Co, 2013. New book, 96 pages, ESS076. In this book Duncan Campbell explores the course of the wars that ensued as successive emperors sought to extend the empire, from Claudius' conquest of Britannia, Domitian's campaigns on the Rhine and the Danube, through Trajan's Dacian Wars and Parthian War, to Marcus Aurelius' Marcomannic Wars, as well as the Jewish… Read more about this item

Allen Lane, 2010. New book, 521 pages. The devastating struggle to the death between the Carthaginians and the Romans was one of the defining dramas of the Ancient World. In an epic series of land and sea battles both sides came close to victory before the Carthaginians finally buckled and their capital city, history and culture were almost utterly erased.… Read more about this item

Osprey Pub Co, 2012. New book, 64 pages, CMD23. 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 ally of Julius Caesar and a member of the… Read more about this item

Osprey Pub Co, 2008. New book, 96 pages, CAM195. In the midsummer of 415 BC Athens launched a pre-emptive attack on Syracuse, urged on by the brilliant but reckless Athenian general Alcibiades, who claimed the Syracusans were providing the hostile Peloponnesian League with supplies. Moreover, if Athens could establish itself in Sicily then it would be in a commanding position… Read more about this item

Histoire & Collection, 2011. New book, 66 pages. The Romans had been at odds with the 'Gauls' for a very long time indeed. Somewhere between 390 and 386 BC, a Senoni warchief called Brennus managed to capture Rome and ransom the city with his famous Vae Victis. Nonetheless, the sack of Latium’s capital, highlighted by Livy in his History of… Read more about this item

University Park, Illinois, U.S.A.: Osprey Pub Co, 2002. New book, 95 pages, ESS027. It is a testament to the fascination of the subject that even today the events of the Peloponnesian War are studied for what they can teach about diplomacy, strategy and tactics. This book reveals the darker side of Classical Greek civilization. From the horrific effects of overcrowding… Read more about this item

Oxford, United Kingdom: Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2006. New book, 96 pages, CAM174. In 48 BC, the stage was set for the final clash of the two titans of the Roman world and the odds were heavily in Pompey's favour, with 45,000 men against Caesar's 22,000. Having the dice loaded against him, however, seems to have stimulated Caesar's genius for battle.… Read more about this item

Oxford, United Kingdom: Osprey Publishing Ltd, 1994. New book, 96 pages, CAM036. Cannae is rightly regarded as one of the greatest battles of military history. Hannibal's stratagem has become a model of the perfectly fought battle and is studied in detail at military academies around the world. At Cannae the Romans confronted Hannibal with an army of 80,000 infantry and… Read more about this item

University Park, Illinois, U.S.A.: Osprey Pub Co, 2002. New book, 95 pages, ESS027. It is a testament to the fascination of the subject that even today the events of the Peloponnesian War are studied for what they can teach about diplomacy, strategy and tactics. This book reveals the darker side of Classical Greek civilization. From the horrific effects of overcrowding… Read more about this item

Osprey Pub Co, 2010. New book, 64 pages, CMD11. 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 Second Punic War and was so successful that he… Read more about this item

Osprey Pub Co, 2009. New book, 96 pages, BTO37. 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. Military service became a career: enlistment was for 25 years (16… Read more about this item

Osprey Pub Co, 2010. New book, 64 pages, CMD04. 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 challenge for the political leadership of Rome. Leading… Read more about this item

Pen & Sword, 2010. New book, 259 pages. In the later 2nd century BC, after a period of rapid expansion and conquest, the Roman Republic found itself in crisis. In North Africa her armies were already bogged down in a long and difficult guerrilla war in a harsh environment when an invasion by a coalition of Germanic tribes, the Cimbri,… Read more about this item

Pen & Sword, 2009. New book, 164 pages. Alexander the Great is often regarded as the greatest military genius of all time (Julius Caesar wept at the feet of his statue in envy of his achievements). Most of his thirteen year reign as king of Macedon was spend in hard campaigning, during which he was never defeated in open battle… Read more about this item

Vintage, 2009. New book, 290 pages. Attila the Hun - godless barbarian and near mythical warrior king - has become a byword for mindless ferocity. His brutal attacks smashed through the frontiers of the Roman empire in a savage wave of death and destruction. His reign of terror shattered an imperial world that had been securely unified by the conquests… Read more about this item