Great Battles of the Ancient World
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Great Battles of the Ancient World
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Narrated by:
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Garrett G. Fagan
About this listen
Forget Hollywood's portrayal of violence and mayhem in ancient warfare and find out what the ancient battles were really like. What were the weapons, tactics, armor, training, and logistics? What were the crucial factors that could turn the tide of battle, giving one side victory and the other defeat?
In 24 exciting lectures, Professor Fagan introduces you to the many fateful battles that became crucibles of history: the fearsome clash between the Athenians and the invading Persian army at the Marathon, Alexander the Great's crushing hammer-and-anvil tactics against the Persians at Gaugemela, and the Roman mastery of siege warfare at the Jewish fortress of Masada.
Encompassing the region from Mesopotamia to western Europe-including Egypt and Northern Africa-this course charts the development of warfare from prehistoric times and examines battles and warfare from the city-states of early Sumer to the fearsome Assyrian war machine, the Greeks' distinctive form of combat, the Persian invasions, and the legions of Rome, which evolved brutally effective tactics that gained them dominion over the entire Mediterranean basin.
Although the battles you study were fought long ago, considerable controversy exists among contemporary historians. Professor Fagan presents contending theories without losing sight of the grim realities of war, and the many millions who have died on the battlefields.
"We owe it to them," he concludes, "and to the thousands who continue to perish in our planet's wars, to understand as fully as possible what it was that killed them. If this course has advanced its audience's comprehension of war even a little, then it has amply fulfilled its purpose."
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2005 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2005 The Great CoursesListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Great Battles of the Ancient World
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Deus
- 14-04-17
An exceptional and open minded review
My favourite great courses lecturer so far. His ability to explain concepts that he does not agree with succintly is very refreshing.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mark Twineham
- 23-01-23
Good Narration
The lecturer is very easy to listen to, he's done a few courses and they're all good. Content is pretty in-depth but still easy to understand
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Louis Sampson
- 30-08-22
Brilliant
A fantastic and digestible course on the anthropology, causes, tactics, and results of warfare. A great focus on the provenance of sources, with a vast range of sources used. A brilliant course, and one of my favourites. RIP Dr. Fagan, and thank you for all of your work on advancing historical understanding.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Cabbages
- 27-07-23
excellent
as a lover of ancient history, I enjoy listening to and reading as many books or lectures as I can.
this is an extremely interesting course of lectures. it doesn't often go into depth and there are certain aspects where I would have liked a bit more information, but as a whole, it's excellent. the lecturer (RIP) is extremely knowledgeable. he isn't a natural on this and there are way too many occasions he stumbles over his words. that being said, if you like ancient history, you will enjoy this.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-09-22
Excellent history of the art of war in ancient tim
I am a retired British Army officer and now am a defence analyst. This is an excellent account of the art of war from prehistory to the fall of the Roman Empire. It is better than any single book I have read on the topic. The arguments are clear, the evidence expertly handled and the language both clear and engafing. Within it there are also some useful insights on enduring characteristics of warfare and armed forces. For example the analysis off the human factor in Roman legions.
The best book on ancient warfare I have read!
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- Anonymous User
- 07-02-23
Great listen
Very engaging, well written by a professor who clearly loved his area of history. A really wonderful and interesting overview.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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- No Nonsense
- 24-09-19
Engaging and well worth listening to.
Not as good as his other series 'History of Ancient Rome', but still very interesting and well delivered.
He has an engaging and easy to understand delivery style.
His knowledge of classical history is outstanding and he does an excellent job of summarising the key battles of the period. His explanation of the known facts/truths is excellent and he does a good job of explaining his sources. That said, I am not convinced with his credentials as a military historian.
As a military man myself (20 years experience, staff college instructor), I found that I disagreed with many aspects of his analysis. This is fine, his interpretations might be correct and mine might be wrong. But all the same, I'd recommend that you read more widely into the military history of the period and indeed military tactics/strategy in general so that you can make up your own mind.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 22-10-23
Fantastic Lecture
My favourite lecturer so far amongst a great group. Brilliantly delivered in an informative and engaging way
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Chris
- 21-05-15
Very well written and fascinating
This course covers several major battles that took place in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa during ancient times (prehistory - ~400 AD). In doing so, discussions range from detailed descriptions of military technology to more anthropological musings on the nature of human conflict.
The first two lectures are taken up with pure anthropology, essentially trying to define war and find when the first human wars occurred. I would actually skip these had I known about them as they come over as quite dry and technical discussions on what "counts" as a war. I found myself thinking "get to the battles already!" during these lectures.
Once we move passed the anthropology, the lectures become much more engaging. With discussions of the Assyrian empire and their military methods. This being a topic I knew nothing about, I found these very enlightening. However, the author is an academic historian and it very much shows. He spends a huge amount of time discussing differing theories placed upon the evidence, which sometimes is illuminating, and other times just detracts. For example, I remember a good stretch where he talks about different views on what chariots were used for...
As soon as the sources become a bit stronger, once we get into the Greek and Roman battles especially, the course comes into it's own. The final five or six lectures are brilliant, and the descriptions of the Roman defeats at Cannae and the Teutoberg forest are enthralling.
I'm giving 4 stars overall, and I would suggest this course to interested folk. But be ready to skip a few lectures and get to the good stuff!
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Edward W. Mckie
- 15-08-20
Interesting
Really enjoyed this course and discovered many interesting facts of the Ancient methods of war.
Recommend this enjoyable course.
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