History is violent, and the ancient world was an especially bloody place. Ruled by ambitious kings and shaped by mighty empires, it was a time of aggressive expansion and dramatic collapses, an era of glory-hunting commanders and fanatical warriors. From the earliest clashes of the Stone Age to the death throes of the Western Roman Empire, prepare to charge into the defining battles of human history.
TO WAR!
FIRST BLOOD • DISCOVER THE EVIDENCE OF FIGHTING BEFORE THE INVENTION OF WRITING
BATTLE OF THE GRANICUS • ALEXANDER THE GREAT’S FIRST TEST IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE WOULD SET THE PATTERN FOR HIS CONQUEST. VASTLY OUTNUMBERED, COULD HE LEAD HIS ARMY TO VICTORY?
BATTLE OF JINGXING • STRATEGIC BRILLIANCE AND AN AUDACIOUS PLAN ENSURED VICTORY FOR THE UNDERDOG IN THIS LEGENDARY CLASH IN ANCIENT CHINA
BATTLE OF CANNAE • EAGER TO CRUSH HANNIBAL IN OPEN BATTLE, TWO ROMAN GENERALS LED THEIR MEN INTO A DEADLY TRAP
AKKADIANS AT WAR • HOW THE AKKADIAN EMPIRE REVOLUTIONISED WARFARE TO CREATE AN UNSTOPPABLE FIGHTING FORCE
BATTLE OF RED CLIFFS • UNCOVER THE ROOTS OF THE STRUGGLE THAT USHERED IN THE THREE KINGDOMS PERIOD
BATTLE OF MARATHON • THE FIRST GREAT CLASH OF EAST AND WEST: GREECE AGAINST THE MIGHT OF PERSIA
BATTLE OF ALESIA • CONFRONTING TWO GALLIC ARMIES, CAESAR SET TO WORK ON A FORT THAT WOULD DIVIDE AND DOOM HIS ENEMY
BATTLE OF RAPHIA • MENACED BY THE MIGHT OF THE SELEUCID EMPIRE, PTOLEMY IV RACED TO RECRUIT AN ARMY THAT COULD SAVE HIS KINGDOM
BATTLE OF THE CATALAUNIAN PLAINS • IN THE SUMMER OF 451 CE, WESTERN EUROPE STOOD ON A PRECIPICE. COULD THE HORDES OF ATTILA BE HALTED, OR WOULD GAUL BECOME THE LATEST HUNNIC CONQUEST?
THE ASSYRIAN WAR MACHINE • DISCOVER THE GREATEST ARMY OF THE IRON AGE MIDDLE EAST AND HOW IT ALMOST CAPTURED JERUSALEM
BATTLE OF ACTIUM • ON 2 SEPTEMBER 31 BCE, OCTAVIAN AND AGRIPPA CLASHED WITH ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA IN THE ULTIMATE FIGHT FOR POWER
BATTLE OF PLATAEA • 2,500 YEARS AGO, AN ALLIANCE OF A FEW GREEK CITY-STATES DEFEATED THE INVADING ARMY OF THE MIGHTY PERSIAN EMPIRE, SAVING GREECE AND SECURING THE FUTURE OF EUROPEAN CIVILISATION
BATTLE OF LAKE TRASIMENE • ON A FOGGY JUNE DAY IN 217 BCE, THE ROMAN ARMY WAS ROUTED IN ONE OF THE MOST AUDACIOUS AMBUSHES IN MILITARY HISTORY
BATTLE OF GAIXIA • IN 202 BCE, A DECISIVE CLASH OF ARMS ENDED YEARS OF FRACTIOUS RULE AND ESTABLISHED THE HAN DYNASTY IN CHINA
BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE
BATTLE OF KADESH • THIS SAVAGE STRUGGLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST WITNESSED ONE OF THE LARGEST CHARIOT FIGHTS IN THE HISTORY OF WAR
BATTLE OF SALAMIS • OUTNUMBERED AND FACING DEATH OR ENSLAVEMENT IF DEFEATED, THE GREEKS WOULD HAVE TO TURN THE PERSIAN FLEET’S SIZE AGAINST IT TO TRIUMPH
BATTLE OF PYDNA • A CLASH OF CONTRASTING CULTURES SPARKED MACEDONIA’S COLLAPSE AND THE RISE OF ROME
THE BATTLE OF GAUGAMELA • HOW A DARING MOVE SECURED ONE OF ALEXANDER’S GREATEST TRIUMPHS
BATTLE OF ZAMA • FOR YEARS HANNIBAL HAD TERRORISED ROME, BUT IN 202 BCE HE WOULD FINALLY MEET HIS MATCH ON THE DUSTY PLAINS OF NORTH AFRICA
10 BATTLES YOU’VE (PROBABLY) NEVER HEARD OF • YOU’VE READ ABOUT SALAMIS AND GAUGAMELA, BUT THESE LITTLE-KNOWN BATTLES ALSO HAVE A PLACE IN THE PANTHEON OF CRUCIAL CLASHES
BATTLE OF DARA
BATTLE OF MUYE
BATTLE OF SILARIUS RIVER
BATTLE OF ILIPA
BATTLE OF HYRBA
BATTLE OF 300 CHAMPIONS
BATTLE OF MYLAE
BATTLE OF ARAUSIO
BATTLE OF THE FRIGIDUS RIVER
BATTLE OF EMMAUS
BATTLE OF CARRHAE • DETERMINED TO BASK IN THE GLORY OF HIS OWN MILITARY TRIUMPH, MARCUS CRASSUS TURNED HIS GAZE TOWARDS PARTHIA. HIS THIRST FOR ADORATION WOULD RESULT IN CATASTROPHE
BATTLE OF RAVENNA • ANNOY...