Had Roman involvement in Illyria and the Macedonian alliance with Carthage in the Second Punic War (right after Cannae!) not made Rome and Macedon the best of friends, then peace of 205 BC was destined not to last. Rome suspiciously watched its neighbour across the sea. Philip V of Macedon sought supremacy over the Greeks, …
The Battle of Ilipa in 206 BC was in my opinon Scipio’s masterpiece.If Rome had ten years earlier been terribly defeated at Cannae by Hannibal, then Scipio had spent his time training his forces in the wars in Spain. He had learned the lesson so brutally taught by Hannibal and drilled his forces to be …
The Battle of Cannae in the summer of 216 BC is a milestone in Roman history. It was Hannibal’s finest hour and forced the Romans to learn a painful lesson. The Roman legions were perhaps the finest military units of their day. Their methods of fighting, their training and their equipment were highly sophisticated and …
Background of the Fourth Crusade In the years from 1201 to 1202 the Fourth Crusade, sanctioned by pope Innocent III, was readying itself to set out to conquer Egypt, which was by then the center of Islamic power. After initial problems, finally Boniface, the Marquis of Monferrat was decided as the leader of the campaign.But …
Flavius Magnus Magnentius(AD ca. 303 – AD 353) Magnentius was born at about AD 303 around Samarobriva (Amiens) to an English father and a Frankish mother. He served in a barbarian unit under he rule of Constantine. During the reign of his sons Magnentius then rose to become staff officer and then a commander of …
Basiliscus (died AD 476) Basiliscus was the brother of Aelia Verina and hence emperor Leo’s brother-in-law. In about AD 464 he became ‘Master of Soldiers’ in Thrace where he on several occasions successfully repelled invaders. These successes, and the help of his sister, won him the position of ‘Master of Soldiers’ at the headquarters of …