The Decisive Battles of World History

How warfare changes the course of historical events; the factors that make a military battle decisive, such as its role in transfers of power and its social and political effects; the study of battles as an analytical tool for understanding history.

The battle of Kadesh ushers in an era of peace in the ancient Near East; the strategy and tactics of the Egyptian and Hittite armies; the unusual sequence of battlefield events that lead to a remarkable treaty; a forerunner of peaceful diplomacy.

In the 479 B.C. battle of Plataea, Greek hoplite forces fighting in phalanxes meet the army of the Persian superpower; the unfolding of this dramatic engagement; how it ends the Persian threat to Greece; the flowering of Greece's cultural Golden Age.

The victory of Alexander at Gaugamela results in the spread of Greek culture throughout the Macedonian Empire; Alexander's campaign against the Persians and his confrontation with the Persian forces; how he overcomes his foe's advantages.

In 197 B.C., two rival military systems clash; the forces of Philip V of Macedon, with their phalanx system; the legacy of Alexander; the ambitious Romans with their manipular army based in flexible subunits of soldiers; the battle's consequences.

This naval battle results from conflict within republican Rome; the rivalry between Mark Antony and Octavian for Rome's domination; the fateful events of the confrontation; how it marks the end of the Roman Republic; the dawn of the Roman Empire.