William Mclaughlin

William Mclaughlin is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE

Articles by William Mclaughlin:

Development of the Awe-inspiring Triple Walls of Constantinople

The great city of Constantinople was one of the most impressive and impregnable cities in the world for over 1,000 years. It retained the glory…

Rome’s Worst Defeat: The Battle of Cannae 216 B.C.E.

The battle of Cannae was an almost perfect tactical victory for Hannibal Barca. Facing a Roman army almost twice the size on a level field,…

The Pros and Cons of Ancient War Elephants

Elephants are generally peaceful and majestic creatures but throughout history, their size and power were used with devastating results on the battlefield. With the adoption…

Great Sieges of the Ancient World: Tarentum

The siege and battles of Tarentum were an underappreciated and often forgotten aspect of the second Punic War.The second Punic war between Carthage and Rome…

How Scipio Defeated Hannibal And His Elephants and Earned the Name Africanus

Scipio Africanus was only of the most talented generals in the ancient world. He was barely an adult when Hannibal invaded Italy. He fought in…

AD 732, Battle of Tours: Charles Martel the ‘Hammer’ Holds The Line Of Battle

Few Empires emerged as quickly as that of the Muslim Caliphates. Bursting out from what is now Saudi Arabia in the mid-7th century, the Islamic…

The Teutonic Knights, The Hospitallers, And The Templars: Massive Battle of Tannenberg, 1410

The Crusades were monumental military efforts to secure the lands around Jerusalem. Two orders of warrior monks, the Templars, and Hospitallers, had great successes in…

Enemies Within And Without – Caligula, Arminius and Vercingetorix – Most Hated Men Of Ancient Rome

Rome hated a lot of people over the thousands of years it held power, so this list is far from comprehensive, feel free to add…

The Most Hated Enemies Of The Ancient World’s Greatest Empire: Rome

Throughout the history of Rome, from the Kingdom of the 700s BCE  to the fall of the Empire in 476, there have been individuals who…

The Spartans Never Surrendered Until The Brutal Battle Which Changed The Course Of The War

It is often said that the Spartan warriors never retreated and never surrendered. They would fight to the death no matter the odds, and were…

Ancient Generals Who Had No Problem Fighting Heroically On The Front Lines

Generals now certainly do not fight on the front lines, that would be ridiculous. Perhaps the last time we had instances of high-ranking officers in…

The Persian Thermopylae: When Alexander The Great Nearly Lost His Empire In Battle

The Battle of the Persian Gate is not well-known, despite it being almost identical to the Greek stand at Thermopylae, only with reversed sides. A…