In the first century B.C., Rome was the ruler of a vast empire. Yet at the heart of the Republic was a fatal flaw: a dangerous hostility between the aristocracy and the plebians, each regarding itself as the foundation of Rome's military power. Turning from their foreign enemies, Romans would soon be fighting Romans.Swords Against the Senate describes the first three decades of Rome's century-long civil war that transformed it from a republic to an imperial autocracy, from the Rome of citizen leaders to the Rome of decadent emperor thugs. As the republic came apart amid turmoil, Gaius Marius, the "people's general," rose to despotic power only to be replaced by the brutal dictator Sulla. The Roman army, once invincible against foreign antagonists, became a tool for the powerful, and the Roman Senate its foe.

For centuries, Carthage has ruled a sprawling maritime empire. Now, a Roman armada sails from Sicily, landing four legions onto Africa. The legionaries are hard-bitten veterans, men of middle height, with powerful chests and shoulders and bronzed faces. They carry javelins, short keen swords and heavy shields. Consul Regulus leads them. His goal is more than victory, but the end of an ancient empire... In 256 B.C., the Carthaginian Empire is a seething, buckling realm of barbaric warriors, unstable generals and baffled seamen. At this pivotal moment, a young Hamilcar Barca thrusts himself forward. He befriends a canny Spartan mercenary and learns the intricacies of elephant warfare. Now, in a last, desperate battle, he faces the man who slew his brother, the conquering Roman who fights like a raving wolf. THE SWORD OF CARTHAGE is the recreation of a historical campaign of bitter savagery, filled with dust, sweat and the roar of battle, written by bestselling author Vaughn Heppner.

The epic struggle between Carthage and Rome, two of the superpowers of the ancient world, is most famous for land battles in Italy, on the Iberian peninsula and in North Africa. But warfare at sea, which played a vital role in the First and Second Punic Wars, rarely receives the attention it deserves. And it is the monumental clashes of the Carthaginian and Roman fleets in the Mediterranean that are the focus of Christa Steinby's absorbing study. She exploits new evidence, including the latest archaeological discoveries, and she looks afresh at the ancient sources and quotes extensively from them. In particular she shows how the Romans' seafaring tradition and their skill, determination and resourcefulness eventually gave them a decisive advantage. In doing so, she overturns the myths and misunderstandings that have tend to distort our understanding of Roman naval warfare.

The Carthaginians are well known as Rome's great enemy of the three Punic wars and Hannibal, their greatest general, is a household name. While narrative histories of the Punic wars (especially the second) and biographies of Hannibal abound, there have been few studies dedicated to detailed analysis of Carthaginian armies and warfare throughout the city-state's entire existence. Joshua Hall puts that right with this in-depth study of their tactics, equipment, unit organization, army composition and operational effectiveness. Importantly, while the Second Punic War is rightly given prominence, this is not at the expense of the many earlier wars Carthage waged as she built and then defended her empire. Drawing on all the available archaeological and literary evidence, the author shows the development of Carthage's forces and methods of warfare from the ninth century BC to the city's demise. The result is the most in-depth portrait of the Carthaginian military available in English.

“A very good read . . . and a reminder that the Romans were hardly the only imperialist warmongers of the ancient world.” —StrategyPage Carthage was the western Mediterranean’s first superpower, long before Rome, and her military history was powerful, eventful, and checkered even before her “Punic Wars” against Rome. Although characterized in the surviving sources and modern studies as a predominantly mercantile state, Carthage fought many wars, both aggressive and defensive, before and in between the contests with the Roman parvenus. The Greek states of Sicily, above all Syracuse under its tyrants Dionysius the Great and then Agathocles, were her most resolute opponents, but in North Africa itself, in Sardinia, and later on in Spain she won—and sometimes lost—major wars. This is the first full-length study dedicated to these other wars that furthered Carthage’s interests for over half a millennium. Based firmly and analytically on ancient sources, it also offers the insight that Carthage, though usually considered a naval power, did more fighting on land than at sea—and with more success. Includes illustrations