Dense formations
Shields, spears and collective command give organized infantry power greater than the sum of its individual fighters.
Military history
Transformations of the period
Antiquity is not a simple progression from crude weapons to perfect ones. Above all, it shows how societies learned to train, feed, command and replace thousands of men acting together.
More flexible combinations
Armies combine heavy infantry, skirmishers and cavalry to create local advantages rather than rely on a single frontal clash.
Sustainable armies
Rome and the Hellenistic kingdoms sustain long campaigns through institutions, alliances and pools of manpower.
Strained frontiers
Mobility, fortifications and federate recruitment respond to more dispersed threats and fragmented political resources.
Explore
Chronological dossier
Greco-Persian WarsThe Greek city-states face several Persian campaigns in which coalition, sea power, terrain and speed of concentration become decisive.Second Punic WarHannibal brings war to Italy; Rome survives, learns and gradually shifts the conflict’s centre of gravity.Roman–Parthian WarsRome and Parthia contest Upper Mesopotamia, Armenia and the Euphrates routes.Conquest of the Achaemenid EmpireAlexander of Macedon confronts the Persian Empire and turns a series of victories into the seizure of its capitals.Roman Wars in GermaniaRome tries to control territories east of the Rhine before abandoning a permanent province after several reverses.CannaeHow Hannibal turns the advance of a larger army into a double envelopment.TicinusHannibal turns a cavalry encounter into his first seizure of the initiative in Italy.TrebiaHannibal draws the Roman army towards an icy river and turns exhaustion into a tactical multiplier.Lake TrasimeneFog, hills and lake compress a Roman march into a prepared trap.New CarthageScipio exploits intelligence, surprise and an unexpected approach to seize the principal Carthaginian base in Spain.
Military history
Sources
General referenceCambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare
A collective overview of military institutions, practices and transformations.