John Cairns

Brian Todd Carey

Joshua Allfree

Warfare in the Ancient World explores how civilizations and cultures made war on the battlefields of the Near East and Europe between the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia in the late fourth millenium BC and the fall of Rome. Through a exploration of twenty-six selected battles, military historian Brian Todd Carey surveys the changing tactical relationships between the four weapon systems - heavy and light infantry and hevay and light cavalry - focusing on how shock and missile combat evolved from tentative beginnings in the Bronze Age to the highly developed military organization created by the Romans. The art of warfare reached a very sophisticated level of development during this three millenia span. Commanders fully realized the tactical capabilities of shock and missile combat in large battlefield situations. Modern principles of war, like the primacy of the offensive, mass, and economy of force, were understood by pre-modern generals and applied on battlefields throughout the period. Through the use of dozens of multiphase tactical maps, this fascinating introduction to the art of war during western civilizationÕs ancient and classical periods pulls together the primary and secondary sources and creates a powerful historical narrative. The result is a synthetic work that will be essential reading for students and armchair historians alike.

Warfare in the Ancient World

At Zama in what is now Tunisia in 202 BC the armies of two empires clashed. The Romans under Scipio Africanus won a bloody, decisive victory over Hannibal's Carthaginians. Scipio's victory signalled a shift in the balance of power in the ancient world. Brian Todd Carey's compelling reconstruction of the battle, and of the gruelling war that led up to it, gives a fascinating insight into the Carthaginian and Roman methods of waging war. And it offers a critical assessment of the contrasting qualities and leadership styles of Hannibal and Scipio, the two most celebrated commanders of their age.

Zama and the Fall of Carthage

Hannibal's Last Battle

Joshua B. Allfree

A “crisply written, well researched . . . superb piece of scholarship about one of the most dramatic and decisive battles in the ancient world” (Journal of Military History). At Zama (in what is now Tunisia) in 202 BC, the armies of two great empires clashed: the Romans under Scipio Africanus and Carthaginians, led by Hannibal. Scipio’s forces would win a decisive, bloody victory that forever shifted the balance of power in the ancient world. Thereafter, Rome became the dominant civilization of the Mediterranean. Here, Brian Todd Carey recounts that battle and the grueling war that led up to it. He offers fascinating insight into the Carthaginian and Roman methods of waging war, their military organizations, equipment, and the tactics the armies employed. He also delivers an in-depth critical assessment of the contrasting qualities and leadership styles of Hannibal and Scipio, the two most celebrated commanders of their age. With vivid prose and detailed maps of the terrains of the time, Hannibal’s Last Battle is an essential text for fans of military history and students of the classical period.

Brian Todd Carey

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