Nic Fields - все книги по циклам и сериям | Книги по порядку

Hadrian's Wall is the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain. It is the best known frontier in the entire Roman Empire and stands as a reminder of the past glories of one of the world's greatest civilisations. Its origins lie in a visit by the Emperor Hadrian to Britain in AD 122 when he ordered the wall to be built to mark the northern boundary of his Empire and 'to separate the Romans from the Barbarians'. This title details the design, development and construction of the wall and covers the everyday lives of those who manned it as well as the assaults it withstood.

One of the greatest military commanders in history, Julius Caesar's most famous victory - the conquest of Gaul - was to him little more than a stepping stone to power. An audacious and decisive general, his victories over the Gauls allowed him to challenge for the political leadership of Rome. Leading a single legion across the Rubicon in 49 BC, Caesar launched a civil war which would end the Roman Republic and usher in the Roman Empire, with Caesar at its helm. This examination of the great general's life covers his great victories and few defeats, looking at the factors which lay behind his military genius.

By the end of the First Punic War Carthage had been humiliatingly chased from the high seas, its once-powerful fleet reduced to a handful of triremes. However in 219 BC Hannibal, the eldest son of the charismatic general Hamilcar Barca, began the Second Punic War and was so successful that he threatened to destroy Roman power completely. Hannibal was a cool, thoughtful general, and can arguably be described as the greatest general of antiquity. His genius rested on a mixture of bluff, double bluff, and an ability to use all troop types to their best advantage. The battle of Cannae remains a chef-d'oeuvre to which generations of subsequent generals have aspired.

Hisarlik is a small place, a sandy stone strewn hillock cut up into gullies and hummocks. Yet its historical significance is immense, for this is the site of Troy - the legendary city whose story sprawls across cultures, time and geography. The tale of the siege of Troy is the greatest secular story ever told, and has captured the imagination of the Western World for some 3,000 years. Although there are many difficulties in using Greek myths, oral traditions and the Homeric epics to reconstruct the Trojan War, this title uses the latest archaeological evidence to reconstruct in detail the fortifications of Troy as well as making more general observations about the possible historical events behind the epics of Homer.

Mycenaean society was constantly geared for battle and invasion. Their ‘cities' were heavy fortresses with unimaginably thick perimeter walls. Legendary sites such as Mycenae, Tiryns, Argos, Krisa, the Athenian Acropolis and Gla are all representative of their fortified citadels that dominated the Greek countryside for some 300 years until their sudden decline and abandonment around 1100 BC. This title describes the golden age of these fortifications; it details how these formidable structures were constructed and extended, as well as revealing the elaborate palace complexes built by the great Mycenaean warlords immortalised in the verses of Homer's Iliad.

Pompey, or Pompey the Great, was one of the best military leaders of the late Roman Republic. His campaigns against the Marians, his battles in Hispania and his defeat of the Mediterranean pirates launched him to political stardom where he became an ally of Julius Caesar and a member of the First Triumvirate. However, an alliance between two such ambitious figures could not last, and the two became bitter rivals as the Republic descended into civil war. This book tells the complete story of Pompey as a military commander, pulling him out from the shadows of Julius Caesar's writings and examining him and his campaigns on their own merits.

As Rome's power and influence extended across the Mediterranean, she was destined for a collision with the Carthaginian Empire, a clash ultimately resulting in the decisive Second Punic War. At first the Roman Army was no match for the superior tactics and leadership of Hannibal and his troops. However, talented generals like Scipio Africanus transformed the legions into a formidable fighting force. Covering Rome's catastrophic defeats at Lake Trasimene and Cannae to her final victory at Zama, this book examines the development of Roman tactics and organization through Rome's transition from a city-based state to a Mediterranean powerhouse.

One of the most powerful men in late antiquity, Attila's peerless Hunnic empire stretched from the Ural mountains to the Rhine river. In a series of epic campaigns dating from the AD 430s until his death in AD 453, he ravaged first the Eastern and later the Western Roman Empire, invading Italy in AD 452 and threatening Rome itself. Lavishly illustrated, this new analysis of his military achievements examines how Attila was able to sweep across Europe, the tactics and innovations he employed and the major battles he faced, including one of his few major setbacks, the defeat at the battle of the Catalaunian Fields in AD 451.

When the Romans first fought against Caledonii during the reign of Agricola (AD 77-84), Agricola established a frontier along the Gask Ridge. He also consolidated the Forth-Clyde isthmus, the location at which the Romans would later build the Antonine Wall from AD 138 to 143. The following 100 years saw a cycle of advance into and retreat from Scotland, until the Romans abandoned the Antonine Wall completely. This book examines the Flavian, Antonine and Severan conquests of Scotland and the fortifications along Rome's northern frontier, and it explores the archaeological remains and places them in historical context.

The Roman Legions were the most highly organized troops of the ancient world, but the process of turning the Legions into the professional force that built an empire, was no small feat. Focusing on the organisational changes in the Roman Army during the Civil Wars, Nic Fields examines the role played by Caius Marius and his far-reaching reforms. With the nuts and bolts detail that readers demand from the Battle Orders series, this is an intriguing description of how the Roman army grew, modernised, rebelled and finally helped build an empire, complete with full organisational charts, photographs and detailed maps.

The Imperial Army established by Augustus drew heavily on the nomenclature and traditions of the late Roman Republic, but was revolutionary in its design. He decided to meet all the military needs of the Empire from a standing, professional army. Military service became a career: enlistment was for 25 years (16 in the Praetorian Guard), and men were sometimes retained even longer. The loyalty of the new army was to the emperor and not to either the Senate or the People of Rome. Imperial legions became permanent units with their own numbers and titles and many were to remain in existence for centuries to come.

The development of the city-state in the Classical period of Greek history ensured a shift in the nature of fortifications in the region. No longer were fortresses designed to defend a ruler and his entourage, rather the whole of the citizen body had to be protected against any outside threats. The enceintes of these Greek city-states did not have to be very high or strong as city-state conflict was still decided by spear and shield, though some thought was still given to the science of fortification. This book details the construction and ongoing development of the defences that protected some of the most illustrious sites in Greece during the most famous period of her history.

Constructed to protect the coastline of southern and eastern Britain, the forts of the 'Saxon Shore' are among the most impressive surviving monuments of the Roman occupation of the British Isles, although much about them remains a mystery. In an impressive outlay of money, manpower and materials the frontier system stretched from the Wash to the Solent and included the heavy fortification of the major harbours and estuaries of the east and south-east coast. This book explores the history of this frontier system the ruins of which define the British landscape to this day.

This book provides a detailed examination of the design, development and construction of the defences of ancient Rome, with a particular focus on the Aurelian Wall - arguably the best preserved of all city walls in the Roman empire.

Drawn from a wide range of warlike peoples throughout the provinces, especially on the fringes of the empire, auxiliaries were generally not citizens of the Roman empire. The cavalry of the auxilia provided a powerful fighting arm; organized, disciplined and well trained, it was adept at performing both skirmish and shock action. This book details the many roles of the Roman auxiliary cavalryman, including reconnaissance, communication and policing duties, as well as in battle. Motivation for enlisting, conditions of service and experience of battle are all explored, and colour illustrations support the text.

The Huns were the most feared barbarians of the Ancient world, known to their Roman enemies as the 'scourge of god'. Superb horsemen and excellent archers, they fought with a reflex composite-bow that could penetrate armour at 100 metres. In battle they would rush into the fray with surprising speed and apparent chaos, maintaining an incessant barrage until the enemy was sufficiently weakened; thus their very name came to epitomise swift, merciless destruction. This book explores the rise of the Huns and their development in terms of equipment, tactics and society, from their first attacks on the Goths to the death of the Emperor Justinian, including the great battle of Chalons and the reign of Attila.

Chariots, the first mobile fighting vehicle, seem to have originated in Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. The highly mobile two-wheeled war chariot, carrying a driver and an archer armed with a short composite bow, revolutionized military tactics after 1700 BC. This expensive weapon spread throughout the Middle East and is thought to have reached Egypt with the conquering Hyksos. It spread into Asia Minor, Greece, and was known in Northern Europe by 1500 BC. This book covers the evolution of the war chariot throughout the Bronze Age, detailing its design, development and combat history - in particular its fundamental involvement at the battle of Qadesh.

Mythical in their own time, the power and status of the Pharaohs of Egypt have remained so through the millennia. In this book, Nic Fields explores the lives of the ordinary soldiers who sustained Middle Kingdom Egypt. Using rare artefacts he reconstructs the day-to-day existence of the Pharaoh's army from archers to hand-to-hand fighters, through to the 'sole-companions' of the Pharaoh. Quoting from ancient sources he narrates sea and land battles in dramatic detail, all the while providing the reader with a rare insight into the minutiae of the soldier's life, from the food he ate to the gods he worshipped.

A fascinating and detailed exploration of one of the most famous warships of the Ancient world - the trireme - and its tactical employment by the opposing sides in the 5th-century BC Graeco-Persian Wars.

You may be familiar with the Athenian trireme - but how much do you know about the ram-armed, triple-oared warships that it dueled against at the battles of Artemision, Salamis and the Eurymedon River? How similar or different were these warships to each other? And why did the Persians rely on Phoenician vessels to form much of their navy?

Much attention has been devoted to the Greek trireme, made famous by modern reconstruction - with only passing notice given to the opposing Persian navy's vessels in illustrated treatments. Join us on the Aegean as, for the first time, we reveal a rarely attempted colour reconstruction of a trireme in Persian service.

Compare the form, construction, design, manoeuvrability, and tactical deployment of the opposing triremes, aided by stunning illustrations. Man the decks of these warships with the fighting complement of Greek citizen hoplites, Scythian archers and Persian marines, and learn why the Greeks placed a bounty of 10,000 drachmae on the head of Artemisia - the Karian queen and Persian admiral, and the only woman among Xerxes' commanders.

The Taras were the leading power of the scattered Greek states of southern Italy and built their reputation on the unmatched horse warriors who helped the Taras claim and maintain their power. In this book, expert author Nic Fields examines the Tarentine horsemen in detail, discussing their tactics, weapons and equipment and detailing how they operated as mercenaries throughout the region. With a wealth of contemporary sources and rare artefacts, illustrated with specially commissioned colour artwork and photographs of artefacts, this is an intriguing insight into the everyday lives of these horsemen, revealing how they acquired the skills that enabled them to dominate the region.