Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World
Taking a populist approach to a serious subject, Myke Cole combines a novelist's flair for drama with an ancient historian's eye for detail to create a unique book that delves into one of the most popular areas of the Ancient World.

From the time of Ancient Sumeria, the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears or pikes, standing shoulder to shoulder with shields interlocking, the men of the phalanx presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy. Until, that is, the Roman legion emerged to challenge them as masters of infantry battle.

Covering the period in which the legion and phalanx clashed (280–168 BC), Myke Cole delves into their tactics, arms and equipment, organization and deployment. He draws on original primary sources to examine six battles in which the legion fought the phalanx – Heraclea (280 BC), Asculum (279 BC), Beneventum (275 BC), Cynoscephalae (197 BC), Magnesia (190 BC), and Pydna (168 BC).

Cole shows how and why the Roman legion, with its flexible organization, versatile tactics and iron discipline, came to eclipse the hitherto untouchable Hellenistic phalanx and dominate the ancient battlefield.
"1128112799"
Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World
Taking a populist approach to a serious subject, Myke Cole combines a novelist's flair for drama with an ancient historian's eye for detail to create a unique book that delves into one of the most popular areas of the Ancient World.

From the time of Ancient Sumeria, the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears or pikes, standing shoulder to shoulder with shields interlocking, the men of the phalanx presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy. Until, that is, the Roman legion emerged to challenge them as masters of infantry battle.

Covering the period in which the legion and phalanx clashed (280–168 BC), Myke Cole delves into their tactics, arms and equipment, organization and deployment. He draws on original primary sources to examine six battles in which the legion fought the phalanx – Heraclea (280 BC), Asculum (279 BC), Beneventum (275 BC), Cynoscephalae (197 BC), Magnesia (190 BC), and Pydna (168 BC).

Cole shows how and why the Roman legion, with its flexible organization, versatile tactics and iron discipline, came to eclipse the hitherto untouchable Hellenistic phalanx and dominate the ancient battlefield.
12.49 In Stock
Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World

Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World

by Myke Cole
Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World

Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World

by Myke Cole

eBook

$12.49  $16.00 Save 22% Current price is $12.49, Original price is $16. You Save 22%.

Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers

LEND ME® See Details

Overview

Taking a populist approach to a serious subject, Myke Cole combines a novelist's flair for drama with an ancient historian's eye for detail to create a unique book that delves into one of the most popular areas of the Ancient World.

From the time of Ancient Sumeria, the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears or pikes, standing shoulder to shoulder with shields interlocking, the men of the phalanx presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy. Until, that is, the Roman legion emerged to challenge them as masters of infantry battle.

Covering the period in which the legion and phalanx clashed (280–168 BC), Myke Cole delves into their tactics, arms and equipment, organization and deployment. He draws on original primary sources to examine six battles in which the legion fought the phalanx – Heraclea (280 BC), Asculum (279 BC), Beneventum (275 BC), Cynoscephalae (197 BC), Magnesia (190 BC), and Pydna (168 BC).

Cole shows how and why the Roman legion, with its flexible organization, versatile tactics and iron discipline, came to eclipse the hitherto untouchable Hellenistic phalanx and dominate the ancient battlefield.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781472828439
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date: 10/18/2018
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 288
File size: 41 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Myke Cole has had a colorful and varied career, with a long career in combat and crisis response, beginning as a mercenary on contract to the CIA, and transitioning into a federal intelligence position first with DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency), and finally with the ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). He currently works for the NYPD in cyber threat intelligence and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

He has published extensively in military history and security, including pieces in the journals of the American Association of Museums and the American Historical Association, and is also a popular fantasy novelist with Ace/Roc, the fantasy imprint of Penguin Random House.
Following a long career in the military, intelligence, and law enforcement, Myke Cole is a fire/rescue responder in NY's Hudson Valley. He is a freelance historian and writer, and has published ten novels with publishers including Penguin Random House and Macmillan in addition to his history books for Osprey. Myke's short work has appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, The Daily Beast, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, McSweeney's, and Slate. He's starred on TV shows on CBS and Discovery, and has featured on NPR.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chronology
Maps


PART I: And in this Corner . . . Examining the Legion and the Phalanx
1. Who Would Win in a Fight? The Eagle and the Lion
2. Not your Father's Phalanx: The Legacy of Iphicrates
3. Mules that Kill: Under the Eagle of Rome

PART II: Fight! The Legion versus the Phalanx in Six Battles
4. Heraclea (280 BC): Rome's First Test
5. Asculum (279 BC): "One more such victory, and we are undone."
6. Beneventum (275 BC): Pyrrhus' Last Gasp
7. Cynoscephalae (197 BC): The Legion Triumphant
8. Magnesia (190 BC): No Refuge for Hannibal
9. Pydna (168 BC): The Fall of the Antigonids
10. Legions and Phalanxes

Glossary
Bibliography
Index
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews