Tanks were first used in battle in WWI, but before then, armies had nature’s tanks. A long, long time ago, someone had the bright idea to use elephants in battle. That person knew that elephants scared horses and men. Horses feared the sight, sound, and smell of the elephants. Read more
The return of Pyrrhus from his Sicilian adventure found Rome in bad straits. It was war-weary (constant warfare can do that to you) and suffering from a plague. In spite of that, Rome was still Rome. In 275 B.C., it sent two consular armies southward. Pyrrhus marched to meet them. Read more
The first battle in the Pyrrhic War was fought near Heraclea in 280. Heraclea was located southwest of Tarentum on the sole of Italian boot. The Romans camped on the other side of a river. When a scout was captured, the Romans knew Pyrrhus was nearby. Pyrrhus’ army consisted Read more
Roman military history is a popular subgenre in military history. Many books have been written about this period. Unfortunately, most of the original sources have been lost to history. For instance, Livy wrote a History of Rome from its beginnings to 9 B.C.E. Only 35 of his 142 books Read more