Conor Whately is a professor of Classics at the University of Winnipeg. He has published a number of journal articles, book chapters, and books on topics ranging from the Roman frontiers and late antique historiography to Roman Arabia.

• List of figures vii Acknowledgements ix Timeline xv Maps xvii Introduction: “The bronze gleamed around him like flashing fire”: warfare in the Bronze Age Mediterranean, 1400–600 BCE 1 1 “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”: warfare in archaic and classical Greece, 600–404 BCE 15 2 “Very well then, Alexander comes first”: fourth-century Greece to the wars of the Diadochi, 404–275 BCE 37 3 Carthage and the “mutability of human affairs”: the Hellenistic age and the Punic Wars, 300–200 BCE 59 4 “More fortunate than Augustus, and better than Trajan”: from warlords to emperors, 200 BCE–117 CE 81 5 “They make a desert and call it peace”: the Roman Empire, 117–284 CE 103 6 “If you want peace, prepare for war”: the end of antiquity and the birth of the medieval world, 284–641 CE 123 Conclusion 143 Glossary 145 Further reading 157 Selected bibliography 163 Index 191

Conor Whately is a professor of Classics at the University of Winnipeg. He has published a number of journal articles, book chapters, and books on topics ranging from the Roman frontiers and late antique historiography to Roman Arabia.

• List of figures vii Acknowledgements ix Timeline xv Maps xvii Introduction: “The bronze gleamed around him like flashing fire”: warfare in the Bronze Age Mediterranean, 1400–600 BCE 1 1 “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”: warfare in archaic and classical Greece, 600–404 BCE 15 2 “Very well then, Alexander comes first”: fourth-century Greece to the wars of the Diadochi, 404–275 BCE 37 3 Carthage and the “mutability of human affairs”: the Hellenistic age and the Punic Wars, 300–200 BCE 59 4 “More fortunate than Augustus, and better than Trajan”: from warlords to emperors, 200 BCE–117 CE 81 5 “They make a desert and call it peace”: the Roman Empire, 117–284 CE 103 6 “If you want peace, prepare for war”: the end of antiquity and the birth of the medieval world, 284–641 CE 123 Conclusion 143 Glossary 145 Further reading 157 Selected bibliography 163 Index 191