In 1709, after eight years of war, France was on her knees. There was not enough money left in the treasury to pay, equip or feed the army and a bad harvest led to starvation throughout the kingdom. T
In the late 4th century, pressure from the Huns forced the Goths to cross the Danube into the Roman Empire. The resultant Battle of Adrianople in 378 was one of Rome’s greatest defeats. Both western (
Osprey's examination of the Battle of Adrianople (378 AD), fought between Goth rebels, led by Fritigern, and the Roman army, led by Emperor Valens. ’Never, except in the battle of Cannae, ha
On 31 December AD 406, a group of German tribes crossed the Rhine, pierced the Roman defensive lines and began a rampage across Roman Gaul, sacking cities such as Metz, Arras and Strasbourg. Foremost
Simon MacDowall examines how this relatively small group of Germans came to be overlords of all of the former Roman province of Gaul, giving their name to France in the process. From their earliest in
The twilight of the Roman Empire saw a revolution in the way war was waged. The drilled infantryman, who had been the mainstay of Mediterranean armies since the days of the Greek hoplite, was graduall
Between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD the traditional legions of heavy infantry were whittled away and eventually replaced by a force of various arms and nationalities dominated by cavalry and supporte
The 3rd to the 6th centuries saw the collapse of the classical Mediterranean civilization and the emergence of new states in western Europe based on the Germanic warrior society. This book focuses par
The battle of the Catalaunian Fields saw two massive, powerful Empires square up in a conflict that was to shape the course of Eurasian history forever. For despite the Roman victory, the Roman Empire
