When Philip II ascended the throne in 359 BC, Macedonia was in danger of being engulfed by wild barbarian tribes to the north and wily Greek cities to the south. Philip had to expand the power of the throne or be swallowed up: the creation of a powerful army was imperative. When his son, Alexander, inherited his kingdom at the age of 20, he also inherited an army which was truly unrivalled. The Macedonians were veterans of battle, well equipped and eager for conquest. Add to this Alexander's supreme gifts as military commander and it is little wonder they achieved so much.

The Army of Alexander the Great (Men at Arms Series, 148) (Men-at-Arms, 148)

History

Sekunda, Nicholas

Military

Osprey_Publishing

The cradle of western civilisation, the ancient Greek world, consisted of a series of independent city states some of which, such as Athens and Sparta, became major world powers. This authoritative volume by Nicholas Sekunda covers Greek warfare in the Classical Period, which stretches from the Greek victories over the Persian Empire to the death of Alexander the Great at the end of the 4th century. The book includes such famous battles such as Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis and offers a detailed account of Greek military dress during this period, supported by 12 full colour plates by Angus McBride.

The Ancient Greeks (Elite, 7)

Ancient Civilizations

Fully illustrated story of the army of the Greek king who fought both Rome and Carthage in the 280s--270s BC, and gave the world the phrase "a Pyrrhic victory" for a success so costly that it counts as a defeat.
Fully illustrated with detailed color plates, this is the story of one of the most renowned warrior-kings of the post-Alexandrian age, whose costly encounters with Republican Rome have become a byword for victory won at unsustainable cost.
Pyrrhus was one of the most tireless and famous warriors of the Hellenistic Age that followed the dispersal of Alexander the Great's brief empire. After inheriting the throne as a boy, and a period of exile, he began a career of alliances and expansion, in particular against the region's rising power: Rome. Gathering both Greek and Italian allies into a very large army (which included war-elephants), he crossed to Italy in 280 BC, but lost most of his force in a series of costly victories at Heraclea and Asculum, as well as a storm at sea. After a campaign in Sicily against the Carthaginians, he was defeated by the Romans at Beneventum and was forced to withdraw. Undeterred, he fought wars in Macedonia and Greece, the last of which cost him his life.

The Army of Pyrrhus of Epirus: 3rd Century BC (Men-at-Arms)

The Athenian Army 507–322 BC (Elite, 259)

Osprey's study of the first Persian invasion of Greece in 490 BC. The story of the Marathon campaign is an epic of the Ancient World. When the Ionian Greeks revolted against their Persian overlords in 499 BC, the cities of Athens and Eretria came to their aid. The Persian King Darius swore vengeance and in 490BC a fleet of 600 ships packed with troops was sent to take revenge on the Athenians. At Marathon the Greeks met the Persians in battle and drove them in rout back to their ships. The moral effect of this victory was enormous – for the first time a Greek army had defeated the Persians and demonstrated the superiority of hoplite tactics.

Marathon 490 BC: The first Persian invasion of Greece (Campaign, 108)

The spectacular career of Alexander the Great represented a watershed in military history. This book examines the structure and organisation of Alexander's world-beating army, and traces the course of his epic campaigns.

Alexander the Great (General Military)

The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC threw the Macedonians into confusion; there was no capable heir, and no clear successor among the senior figures in Alexander's circle. Initial attempts to preserve the unity of Alexander's conquests gave way to a period of bloody and prolonged warfare (322-275 BC), and the break-up of this glittering but momentary empire.
Macedonia, the heartland of Alexander's dominions, was ruled first by the heirs of Antipater, Alexander's regent, and then by the descendents of Alexander's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ('the One-Eyed'). For well over a century the largely mercenary armies of Alexander's successors imposed their influence in matters of military costume, kit, doctrine and tactics over the whole of the Near East, while absorbing local military practices.
After Rome's decisive defeat of Carthage in 202 BC and the subsequent Roman dominance over the Western Mediterranean, Macedonia came under increasing pressure from the Romans. Three wars between the two powers culminated in the Roman victory at Pydna in 168 BC, which marked the final destruction of Alexander's empire and established Roman authority over the Near East.
Drawing upon a wide array of archaeological and written sources and written by a noted authority on the Hellenistic period, this survey of the organisation, battle history and appearance of the armies of Alexander's successors is lavishly illustrated with specially commissioned full-colour artwork. It is an essential resource for all those interested in the development of warfare in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East in the turbulent centuries following the death of Alexander.

Macedonian Armies after Alexander 323–168 BC (Men-at-Arms)

The Persian Empire grew in the vacuum left by Assyria's destruction of the Kingdom of Elam (648 BC). Prince Teispes captured Anshan, once a stonghold of the Elamites. His father, Achaemenes is the person who is apparently responsible for training and organising the early Persian army and it is his name that is the beginning of the royal line of Achaemenian Kings. It is a dynasty which includes Darius the Great – the finest ruler of the Achaemenid era. The army he commanded included the infamous 'Immortals', who formed the elite of the Persian army, their numbers always kept to exactly 10,000 men.

The Persian Army 560–330 BC (Elite, 42)

The early Romans were only one of a number of peoples that inhabited Iron Age central Italy. From the 8th to the 3rd century BC, the Romans undertook territorial expansion, and conflict with neighbouring tribes and cultures resulted in open war, most notably with the Samnites. Alliances were created, too, but the rise of Rome was unstoppable. This title covers the equipment, weaponry and dress of the early Romans, from the traditional foundation in 753 BC to the third century BC, where the dominance of Rome was beyond challenge. It also deals with developments in warfare, covering the early cavalry, the pre-Hoplite Army, the Hoplite Army and the Manipular Army. Etruscan, Latin, and Samnite warfare is also discussed.

Early Roman Armies (Men-at-Arms)

Northwood, Simon

Although Sparta's early history is not clear, by the end of the 8th century most of the other cities of Lakedaimon had been reduced to subject status. The Lakedaimonians were the only full time army in ancient Greece and were thus truly an elite force. The institutions of the state and the system of education were organised with a view to creating superbly trained soldiers. Nick Sekunda examines this unique military machine in this book describing the organisational systems of the Spartan army through the Hellenistic period, how they were trained, the battles they fought, and the society that produced them.

The Spartan Army (Elite)

Europe

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Books by Sekunda, Nicholas