Ancient Roman Swords Unearthed In the Cotswolds – ‘A Remarkable Archaeological Find’
The central-southwest region of England is known for its rural landscape and quaint towns, but what many might not be aware of is that it…
‘It’s a Dream!’ – Discovery of Roman-Era Swords In Judean Desert Surprises Researchers
A team of researchers and archaeologists are celebrating the discovery of four “excellently preserved” Roman-era swords and a shafted weapon within a cave in the…
Archaeologists Uncover Hoard of Coins Belonging to Fearsome Ancient Roman Legion
A team of Polish and Georgian archaeologists have unearthed a trove of ancient Roman coins in what was once the ancient city of Colchis, now…
Zheng of Qin: The Chinese Emperor Who Escaped Assassination By Running Around a Pillar
Zheng of Qin, who reigned as the first emperor of China’s Qin Dynasty from 221-210 BC, survived several assassination attempts, including some that occurred while…
Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat: Does Fortune Actually Favor the Bold?
The Latin phrase fortis Fortuna adiuvat – which translates to “fortune favors the bold” or “fortune favors the brave” – has a long and storied…
From the Scythians to Russia: The Use of Scorched Earth Tactics in War
Scorched earth tactics have been used nearly as long as armies have conducted military campaigns. While the practice is less common in modern times, it…
Legendary Battles That Would Make Outstanding Films
War movies have been popular for as long as films have existed. As a result, some of the more popular subjects have been completely exhausted.…
Lethal Weapons: 5 of the Most Effective Man-Killing Tools in History
Weapons are simply an extension of the capabilities of the human body. In practice, though, they have been extremely expensive and complex, with quite literally…
These 4 Weapons Created For Combat Were Cheap But Ingenious Game Changers
Sometimes, no matter how tactically adept a military force may be, if an opponent suddenly shows up with a particularly advanced or capable weapon, it…
The Ancient Greek Army of Same-Sex Lovers who helped defeat the Spartans
The ancient Greek city of Thebes was surprisingly relaxed about gay relationships, even catching the attention of famous Greek philosopher Plato, who noted that opinions…
Berserkers: Soldiers who fought in a trance and gave us the modern-day word for “Berserk”
Old Norse literature details stories of wild soldiers who fought battles in a trancelike state, feeling neither pain nor fear and not stopping until, they,…
16th Century Rocket Cats: Brilliant Warfare Tactic Or Terrible Idea?
The Medieval era is known for its unique takes on just about everything. From strange hygiene habits to medical practices, it was certainly a different…
Persian Immortals: The Elite Army Of The Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire, also known as the First Persian Empire, was founded by Cyrus II in 550 B.C. It controlled a large swath of western…
Athenian Hoplites: An Overlooked Part Of Athens’ Success In The Ancient World
Ancient warfare has been heavily analyzed by scholars and has made waves in movies such as 300. However, popular culture and scholarly studies tend to…
How Sling Weaponry Revolutionized Warfare In The Ancient World
For most, the sling is known as the weapon of choice for cartoon troublemaker Bart Simpson. However, it used to be a widely used weapon…
Did The Trojan War Really Happen? Here’s What We Know
The Trojan War remains one of the greatest stories from ancient times. Filled with strong warriors, heroes, epic battles, divine intervention, and a giant wooden…
History Hack – Fantastic Podcasts Beating Lockdown Blues
Timing, as they say is everything. With everyone currently at home under confinement there has never been a better time to launch a series of…
More Terracotta Warriors Found at Ancient Chinese Burial Site
Chinese farmers were digging a well in 1974 when they discovered fragments of a life-sized statue of a terracotta warrior. The area was then discovered…
150,000 Men, 900 Ships: Excavation Reveals Size of Antony & Cleopatra’s Fleet
In the years that followed, Antony was busy – he defeated the assassins who had despatched Caesar and later struck up a romance with the…
Boudicca: The Warrior Queen who Defeated the Mighty Romans
All of the infantry, approximately 2,000 men, was wiped out on a field close to the settlement. Only Cerialis and his cavalry managed to escape.…
Ancient Monument Reveals Secrets of History-Changing Battle
The timbers would have been unusually massive to fit the dimensions of the battering rams, and it is possible that some of the ships were…
Rome Vs Carthage: The Largest Naval Battles in Ancient History
The Romans quickly busied themselves training sailors, although Rome was first and foremost a land power. Various historians have pondered what might have happened had…
I am a Lover not a Fighter: The Roman Emperor Forced into War
When the Kingdom of Parthia under its King Vologases IV began rattling its saber, the co-emperors had no choice but to march east to war.…
Centurions and Cohorts: X Facts about the Roman Army
Ancient Rome was one of the greatest civilizations in history. From its birth in the 8th Century BC, it grew from a small settlement on…
Braveheart: Fact or Fiction? The Real William Wallace
The Scottish infantrymen, armed with pikes and spears, managed to successfully defend against an English cavalry charge. The name William Wallace, once known only by…
More to The Ill-fated Mongol Invasions of Japan Than Just a “Divine Wind”
Most people know of the kamikaze pilots of WWII who deliberately piloted their planes into Allied ships during the latter stages of the war. Many…
Counting Arrows: How the Persian Empire Counted Its Dead
In an era before dog tags or modern military bureaucracy, ancient and medieval powers needed to get creative in how they kept track of their…
The Mystery of the Lost Legion: One of the Most Experienced Legions Vanished
What could have happened to the 9th Legion? How could it simply disappear? The fate of the 9th has been the subject of debate for…
Amazonian Warriors of the Ancient Worlds
Women warriors of the ancient world Warfare has traditionally been a man’s world. The reasons for this varies historically and culturally but, regardless of time…
How a Mathematician Stopped the Roman Army: The Siege of Syracuse
A Desperate Effort When a small group of Roman soldiers made their way quietly to the walls of Syracuse in 212 BCE, they were looking…
WW2 “Sweetheart Grips” Surprisingly Few People Know About Them
The personalization of equipment goes back for centuries. The Greeks often had to supply their own armor so they usually added ridged elements that simulated…
Holding Back the “Savages” – Roman Engineering of Hadrian’s Wall
The Romans built many enormous and impressive structures – castles, arenas, coliseums – that even today offer mute testimony to the ingenuity and brilliance of…
How War Built An Empire: Conflicts Ensured Rome’s Future Growth
It’s a terrible reality that war can be useful for a country. It spurs economic growth and helps a nation expand its territory. The military…
Cruel and Unusual? Fact and Fiction About Punishment in Ancient Rome
There are numerous tales of cruel and unusual punishments in ancient Rome. One of the tales in Livy’s History tells of how Tarpeia was punished…
Guarded by 7,000 Warriors – Tomb of Qin Shihuangdi
Qin Shihuangdi died in 210 BCE. He was the first ruler to unite China. He also built an extensive network of roads, standardized the currency,…
Hannibal’s Revenge: Elephant General of Carthage
The Origin of an Oath Rome and Carthage were two large and rich states that in the 3rd century BC dominated the Central and Western…
Celtic Warriors Limit Roman Power at Hadrian’s Wall
The Roman Empire’s success, like that of many empires, was closely linked with its ability to expand. Rome’s history was borne of conflict, and for…
17 Women to 1 Man – Generations of War May Explain Ancient Mystery
Several millennia ago men were in an unusual position. According to recent studies, genetic diversity–specifically the diversity of the Y-chromosome–virtually collapsed over the course of…
Hadrian’s Wall of Denmark – Dannevirke Defensive Complex
Beginning in the later part of what historians know as the “Nordic Iron Age,” the pagan Danes built massive lines of fortifications along their border…
Ultimately Disgraced – Scipio Africanus was One of Rome’s Greatest Generals
Publius Cornelius Scipio was born around 236 BC, the son of a Roman aristocrat. He grew up amid the privilege of the Roman elite and…
Mysterious Fate of Zenobia: The Palmyra Queen Who Defied Rome
In the third century AD, Palmyra was a stopover for traders traveling across the deserts. This made Palmyra wealthy and earned it the nickname “The…
Spartans – Men Who Were Born To Fight
Spartans were a people from ancient Greece who had two main goals in life: to be the best warriors in the land, and to serve…
Mongol Tactics Learned from the Great Sun Tzu – Speed, Deception and Intel
The strategic genius of Genghis Khan is immortalized in history. The writings of Sun Tzu have established sound military principles that have transcended time and…
Egyptian Master General – Pharaoh Thutmose III And The Battle of Megiddo
Ancient Egypt had seen many Pharaohs come and go, several dynasties rise and fall, many amongst whom were great and truly remarkable but only a…
Boudica – The Celtic Queen Who Challenged Rome
Arminius, born in the Germanic territories and forced to become a Roman soldier, never forgot his past and decided, when the chance came, to fight…
2000 Year Old “Barbarian” Battlefield in Denmark Yields New Evidence
War has always been with us, and we’ve always been truly excellent at finding new and enhanced ways of slaughtering one another. The evidence, gathered…
Taking on an Army of Elephants: Roman Leaders in the War Against Hannibal
In late 218 BC, Hannibal led the armies of Carthage over the Alps and into the heart of the Roman Empire. Of all the events…
Romans & Vikings: 3 Fantastic Books from Haynes – Review by M. Barnes
Printed books are making a comeback as people get bored with tablets and their lack of the substance only achieved with ink and paper. I’m…
Iron Age Fort in Scotland Reveals Origins
For over one hundred years excavation work has been in progress on an ancient fort that was built on a small peninsula jutting out toward…
Global Warming Research Yields Shipwrecks and Ancient City
The intention behind the Black Sea Maritime Archaeological Project (MAP) was not to trawl the Black Sea in search of ancient ships, but that’s exactly…
The Grand Master: Alexander’s Genius in the Battle of Issus
King Darius planned on fighting Alexander on the wide Syrian plains.This tactic would have allowed Darius the opportunity of surrounding Alexander’s greatly outnumbered army. Darius…
Conquest or Myth – Questioning Cortez and the Spaniards in Mexico
There are few historical “facts” about the history of the settlement of North America that can be accepted without secondary scrutiny – in fact, it…
Caesar’s Loss to Vercingetorix at Gergovia
The Gallic wars were a series of battles that ensued when the Gallic people of what is now France stood in resistance to the invading Roman…
Prelude to the Fall of Rome – The Destruction of Carthage
According to legend, the city was started by Queen Dido in 813 BC. Her romance with Aeneas has been one of the most popular sources…
The Largest Chariot Battle Ever: Kadesh – Hittites vs. Egyptians
For most of recorded history, The Hittite Empire was thought to be more of a myth than an actual fact. This state of affairs lasted…
Battlefield Gallipoli – From Troy to the Anzacs
Few spots in the world boast a history of conflict to match the Gallipoli region of Turkey. Troy, sitting on the Asian side and looking…
Finding Historical Treasure May Get New Rules on Britain’s Battlefields
Metal detecting in England has become a popular pastime. With history to be found under almost any footstep in parts of England, there are many…
Huge Discovery of Roman Artifacts Near Krefeld, Germany
A wealth of Roman artifacts has been unearthed over the past ten months north of the town of Krefeld in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalian region. Excavations…
Julius Caesar At The Siege Of Alesia – The Decisive Battle In His Conquest Of Gaul
The Imperator Gaius of the Julii, who was called Caesar, was in Gaul with sixty thousand men. Twelve legions of Roman infantry were supported by…
Boudica’s Uprising: A Fearsome Challenge To The Might Of Ancient Rome
The coastal county of Norfolk in the south-east of England is a peaceful place. Little villages are scattered throughout a patchwork of fertile fields and…
A Turning Point In The Life Of Musashi, The Undefeated Samurai
Miyamoto Musashi was three hours late. This was his way. On the beach the tension in the air was palpable. Sasaki Kojiro paced up and…
The Battle of Actium: Agrippa’s Victory, Octavian’s Glory
Rome after Caesar’s death was a place of great uncertainty. Caesar had a long road to secure power and had finally secured it, and seemed…
Devastating Missile Power – The Archers Of The Ancient Roman Army
Although the armies of Rome were famous for their hard-hitting legionaries, they also used a range of other troops. Cavalry, slingers, and light infantry all…
The Man Who Found The Ancient Greek City of Troy
It’s difficult to mention either the early days of archaeology, Troy or even the history of ancient Greece without mentioning Heinrich Schliemann. The German archaeologist,…
Battle of the Metaurus: Nero saves Rome
The Carthaginians made many mistakes during their ill-fated Punic Wars with Rome. In the first two, they fought wars of attrition against the most stubborn…
The Sword of Rome: Marcus Claudius Marcellus
All three of the Punic Wars were won by Rome, and the third war saw Carthage’s complete destruction, but there were periods where the Romans…
The Battle of Telamon: A Gaulish Army Trapped Between Three Roman Armies
The Romans and the Gauls had a bitter rivalry that lasted as long as any other in the world. One of the most humiliating events…
Single Combat in Ancient Rome
David and Goliath, Hector and Achilles, Romulus and Acro. Great instances of single combat are not limited to these far distant and historically vague events.…
The Siege of Masada: Rome’s Assertion of Authority
During Rome’s centuries as a growing empire it faced countless rebellions and challenges to its dominance of the Mediterranean, the old Italian allies even revolted…
The Shield of Rome: Fabius Cunctator
Many generals are overshadowed or underappreciated for what they did for their state; Belisarius who reconquered much of the lost Western Roman Empire and Tamerlane,…
Thousands of Romans killed in the dense German woodland: What if the Teutoburg Disaster Didn’t Happend
“What if” history questions can be a divisive. Some view them as an exercise in futility, a place where no serious historians should go. Others…
These Five Kings Made Sparta A Force To Be Reckoned With In The Ancient World
The Kingdom of Sparta is one of the most famous city states of ancient Greece. The harsh military upbringing given to its male citizens has…
Great Sieges: Jerusalem (70 CE) – One Million Lives Lost In 8 Months Of Combat
The Romans generally tolerated other religions, allowing and even welcoming Egyptian gods into their pantheon. Though they viewed the monotheistic Jews as being odd, they…
Romans in China: The Lost Legions of Carrhae
The Romans in the first century BCE were perhaps the most growing empires around. Though the civil wars of Caesar and Pompey, and Octavian and…
Egyptian Warfare and the Largest Chariot Battle in History
The battle of Megiddo was the first reliably recorded battle, and not long after the battle of Kadesh would claim the title of the largest…
How Cortes Captured the Mighty Tenochtitlan with 1,000 Spaniards… and smallpox, and 100,000 natives, and guns
In June of 1521 Hernan Cortes had a sizable force of Conquistadors outside of Tenochtitlan but was tasked with rescuing his garrison of a few…
The Fall of the Aztecs, The Bloody Path to Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan was an absolutely amazing city. The city was larger than any in Europe at the time and held approximately 200,000 people with some estimates…
Alexander’s Masterpiece: Gaugamela – Defeating The Persians, 331 BC
In the countless theoretical lists of best generals of all time, Alexander the Great is often at or very near the top, in fact, such…
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…
Sparta: Growth Of An Empire – It Is Widely Known That The Spartans Produced Some Of The Most Brutally Efficient Warriors Of All Time
It is widely known that the Spartans produced some of the most brutally efficient warriors of all time, but how did they gain that reputation?…
Sons of Mars: Early Formative Events that Shaped the Roman Empire
How exactly were the Romans able to rise from a small trading settlement near a ford in the Tiber to establishing an empire that stretched…
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 Greatest Underdog Victories in Pre-Gunpowder Battles
Ancient and Medieval generals were often smart enough to avoid battle against a much larger force but throughout history there are many cases where much…
Caligula, Arminius and Vercingetorix Rome’s Most Hated Persons
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…
Blood and Discipline: What it Was Like to Fight in a Roman Battle
It’s the first century AD and the Roman army is at the height of its power and professionalism. You’re part of that army – a…
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…
Rome’s Greatest Enemies – Five People Who Fought Back Against the Empire
At its height, the Roman Empire spanned huge swathes of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Their military prowess, groundbreaking use of strategy and enormous…
The Roman Army Never Wanted To Be Forgotten – Here Are Some Legacies They Left Behind
Given the circumstances, we know an amazing amount about the ancient Roman army. Over 1500 years after the fall of the Roman Empire fell, we…
Being a Footsoldier in Ancient Battles; A Frontline View of Victory
What was it actually like to fight with the heavy infantry on an ancient battlefield? The average person has their views shaped by Hollywood, but…
3 Key Phases in the History of the Roman Army
The Roman army is often remembered as a highly professional force, with legionaries in segmented armour organised into centuries for close order combat. In reality, the…
Roman Military Officers and What They Did
The Roman Empire saw one of the first truly professional armies in history, and became the inspiration for European armies that followed it. Though its…
The Battle of Megiddo: The First Recorded Battle Of Military History
The first battle for which we have a clear historical record took place in the Levant in the 15th century BC. Though we know that…
Napoleon As Augustus: How He Modelled Himself On The Roman Empire
“I am a true Roman Emperor; I am of the best race of the Caesars – those who are founders.” – Napoleon Bonaparte, 1812. Throughout…
When Pirates Kidnapped Julius Caesar He Laughed at Their Ransom Demands & Told Them To Ask for More
Long ago a 25-year-old Roman author, poet, priest, and aristocrat was kidnapped by pirates. Rather than plead for his release, however, he ordered them to…
Leonidas I, Sparta’s Greatest Warrior King
King Leonidas I is the most famous general in the history of Sparta, and perhaps the whole of Greece. Disappointingly little is known about the…
Battle of Agincourt – The English Really Should Have Lost, But They Won
The Battle of Agincourt is an iconic moment in English military history. On 25 October 1415, an army of English raiders under Henry V faced…
Greek Fire: Civil War in the “Cradle of Democracy” After World War Two
War History Online Presents this Guest Blog From Alan G. Gauthreaux. A highly motivated and extremely determined Greek army descended on communist guerrillas on three sides…
The Most Terrible, Deadliest Sieges Before the 19th Century
Sieges throughout history were awful affairs. Unlike Field Battles, Sieges involved civilians, as well as numerous ways to die over long periods of time. Starvation…
1453: The Fall Of Constantinople And The End Of The Roman Empire
The Roman Empire didn’t end with the 476 depositions of the Western Emperor Romulus or the Fall of Rome. It continued with solid momentum in…
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Rome’s Greatest Defeat And The Broken Remnants of a Glorious Army
Varus was crushed. His feet and hands and mind were numb with the freezing rain. His legions, so splendid and untouchable only days before, were…