The Great Commanders of the Ancient World 1479BC - 453AD

Hannibal’s victories over Roman armies and Alexander’s campaigns across Asia depended on more than courage in battle. Commanders had to judge the ground, deploy their troops and maintain authority through campaigns whose outcomes were far from certain.

Edited by Andrew Roberts, this illustrated collection brings together historians’ profiles of fifty military leaders from the ancient world, covering 1479 BCE to 453 CE. Each account follows a career through its campaigns and weighs the decisions behind success or defeat. The armies, weapons and political settings change across the centuries, but questions of timing, strategy and leadership keep returning in different forms.