Great Battles of the Classical Greek World

by Owen Rees

This book presents a selection of eighteen land battles and sieges that span the Classical Greek period, from the Persian invasions to the eclipse of the traditional hoplite heavy infantry at the hands of the Macedonians. This of course is the golden age of the hoplite phalanx but Owen Rees is keen to cover all aspects of battle, including mercenary armies and the rise of light infantry, emphasizing the variety and tactical developments across the period. Each battle is set in context with a brief background and then the battlefield and opposing forces are discussed before the narrative and analysis of the fighting is given and rounded off with consideration of the aftermath and strategic implications. Written in an accessible narrative tone, a key feature of the book is the authors choice of battles, which collectively challenge popularly held beliefs such as the invincibility of the Spartans. The text is well supported by dozens of tactical diagrams showing deployments and various phase of the battles.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Ancient History, Greece

304 pages, Paperback

Published February 22, 2023

About the author

Owen Rees is an interdisciplinary researcher at Birmingham Newman University with a core specialism in ancient history.

He studied at the universities of Reading and Nottingham before completing his PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2018. Previously, Owen held postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute of Medical Humanities at the University of Durham, and a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the University of Nottingham.

He is also the founder and lead editor of badancient.com, which brings together a growing network of specialists to fact-check common claims made about the ancient world.

Reviews

[Guy Sandison · Rating 4 out of 5]

It does what it sets out, in giving accounts of the battles. The prose gets a bit clunky at times when explaining the context, but overall worth a read.