First published in 1981, Greece and Rome at War is a coffee-table book with a difference: its meticulously researched illustrations took the study of ancient warfare from the realm of university classics departments into school classrooms, re-enactment groups, war-games clubs, and the popular imagination.
In an obituary of its author, Peter Connolly, historian Ed Fordham said that ‘whilst Russell Crowe made Roman history fashionable through Gladiator, Peter achieved it through good old-fashioned research, study, and accurate illustrations’.
Ancient warfare has been closely studied ever since Julius Caesar wrote his self-serving account of his Gallic Wars. The focus has usually been on the great leaders like Caesar and Alexander the Great, and the great ‘decisive battles’ popularised by Victorian historian Sir Edward Creasy (seven of his 15 battles date before Hastings).
War Classics – On the Psychology of Military Incompetence