What were the greatest battles of the ancient world?
In our ranking the greatest battles of the ancient world are Gaugamela in 331 BC, where Alexander broke the Persian Empire, Marathon in 490 BC and Salamis in 480 BC, which saved Greece from Persia, and Actium in 31 BC, which made the first Roman emperor. The fifteen also include the Teutoburg Forest, Red Cliffs in China, Zama and Cannae.
In antiquity a battle could end a civilization in an afternoon. Phalanx and legion, chariot and trireme decided the fate of Greece, Persia, Carthage and Rome. Here are the fifteen greatest battles of the ancient world, from Greece and Rome to Persia and China. They are ranked by a score, not by date, and how we chose and ranked them is explained right after the list.
1 Gaugamela, 331 BC
- Where
- Plain of Gaugamela, near Arbela (Erbil), northern Iraq
- War
- Alexander the Great's war against the Persian Empire
- Sides
- Macedonians and Greeks under Alexander vs the Persian Empire under Darius III
- Strength
- Alexander about 47,000 (Arrian); Darius 1,000,000 foot in Arrian, 800,000 foot and 200,000 horse in Diodorus
- Result
- Decisive Macedonian victory; Darius fled
On 1 October 331 BC Darius III, already beaten at Issus, met Alexander on a plain in northern Iraq with the last great army of the Persian Empire. Arrian, our main source, gives Alexander 7,000 cavalry and about 40,000 infantry, and says Darius had 40,000 cavalry, 1,000,000 infantry and 200 scythed chariots. Diodorus gives him 800,000 foot and 200,000 horse instead. Britannica calls some of the ancient totals quite fantastic, though the Persians clearly outnumbered the Macedonians, so every Persian number here is disputed.1
Alexander edged his line to the right, the Persian front stretched to follow, and a gap opened in it. Alexander drove a wedge of his Companion cavalry and part of the phalanx into the gap, straight at Darius, and Arrian says the king was the first to turn and run. A Babylonian astronomical diary written at the time tells it the other way around: “the troops abandoned their king” and went home, which contradicts Arrian. Arrian's claim of 300,000 Persian dead against about 100 of Alexander's men is as unbelievable as his million; Curtius gives 40,000 Persian dead and Diodorus over 90,000.2
The result is not in doubt. Babylon, Susa and Persepolis fell to Alexander, who was proclaimed king of Asia, and within a year Darius was murdered by his own satrap Bessus.3
Why it ranks here: No battle on this list did more to end a state: Gaugamela has full marks for recognition, decisiveness and consequence, and that is why it is No. 1. Only its numbers hold it back, since the ancient Persian totals disagree and some are fantastic, so certainty scores 3.
2 Marathon, 490 BC
- Where
- Plain of Marathon, Attica, Greece
- War
- Greco-Persian Wars (Darius I's expedition)
- Sides
- Athens and Plataea vs the Persian Empire
- Strength
- About 10,000 Greeks (Nepos) vs 100,000 Persian foot in Nepos, about 25,000 in a modern estimate
- Result
- Athenian victory; the Persians sailed away
In the late summer of 490 BC a Persian fleet sent by Darius I landed at the bay of Marathon, northeast of Athens, to punish the city for backing a revolt in Ionia. Herodotus says the expedition sailed with 600 triremes. Athens sent out about 10,000 hoplites and Plataea joined them; Nepos counts 1,000 Plataeans and 10,000 men in all. Sparta, asked for help by the runner Philippides, would not march before the full moon. Nepos gives Datis 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse on the field, while the historian Jona Lendering reckons about 25,000, so the Persian strength is disputed.4
After days of waiting the Athenians, led by Miltiades, crossed the plain at a run, the first Greeks known to charge that way, Herodotus says. Their strong wings broke the Persian flanks and then turned in on the center, and the invaders fled to their ships. Herodotus counts 6,400 dead on the Persian side and 192 Athenians; the Persian figure looks suspiciously neat, but the defeat was heavy.5
Myth vs fact: no messenger in Herodotus ran from the battlefield to Athens and died; that story appears centuries later in Plutarch, who names the runner Eucles or Thersippus. It still gave the world its longest Olympic race, first run from Marathon to Athens in 1896.6
Why it ranks here: Marathon has full marks for recognition and memory, because every marathon race carries its name. It ended one Persian expedition but not the war, since Xerxes came back ten years later, so decisiveness and consequence score 4 and keep it just below the battle that ended an empire.
3 Salamis, 480 BC
- Where
- Strait between the island of Salamis and Attica, Greece
- War
- Greco-Persian Wars (Xerxes' invasion)
- Sides
- Allied fleet of the Greek city-states vs the Persian fleet of Xerxes
- Strength
- 310 to 400 Greek ships (Aeschylus, Herodotus, Thucydides) vs 1,207 Persian ships (Herodotus, Aeschylus)
- Result
- Greek victory; Xerxes withdrew to Asia
In September 480 BC Xerxes' invasion force was deep in Greece, and the allied Greek fleet lay in the narrow strait between Salamis and the Attic coast. The numbers are disputed. Herodotus counts 378 Greek ships, Aeschylus 310 and Thucydides 400; for the Persians, Herodotus lists 1,207 triremes at the start of the invasion and Aeschylus gives the same total.7
Themistocles of Athens may have sent Xerxes word that the Greeks were about to slip away, which drew the Persians into the strait to attack; the story is Herodotus', and Livius.org's Jona Lendering doubts the Persians needed it. In the crowded water their numbers counted for little, and the Persian fleet was beaten. Diodorus, writing four centuries later, puts the losses at 40 Greek ships against more than 200 Persian, not counting those captured.8
Xerxes went home to Asia and left Mardonius in Greece with an army that was still intact, and that army was beaten at Plataea the next summer, where Mardonius was killed. But the Persian army now fought without its fleet, which could have forced the Greeks to split their forces, and that is why Salamis is remembered as the turning point.9
Why it ranks here: Salamis scores full marks for decisiveness and consequence: it turned the greatest invasion Greece ever faced back toward Asia. It is a little less famous and less present in popular culture than Marathon, so recognition and memory score 4.
4 Actium, 31 BC
- Where
- Off the promontory of Actium, Ionian Sea, western Greece
- War
- Final war of the Roman Republic
- Sides
- Octavian, with Agrippa commanding, vs Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII
- Strength
- Antony 500 warships vs Octavian 250 in Plutarch; in Livius.org Antony 230, Octavian about 100 and Agrippa 300
- Result
- Octavian's victory; Antony's fleet and army lost
By 31 BC the Roman world was split between Octavian in the West and Mark Antony, allied with Cleopatra of Egypt, in the East. Agrippa cut Antony's supply lines in western Greece and penned his fleet and army in at the Gulf of Ambracia, beside the cape of Actium. The size of the fleets is disputed: Plutarch gives Antony 500 warships, 100,000 infantry and 12,000 horse against Octavian's 250 ships and 80,000 infantry, while Livius.org's Jona Lendering counts 230 vessels for Antony against some 100 ships with Octavian and 300 war galleys under Agrippa.10
On 2 September Antony tried to break out. In the middle of the fight Cleopatra's squadron, carrying the treasury, sailed through a gap in the line, and Antony followed her to Egypt. Plutarch counts not more than 5,000 dead but 300 ships captured, and the abandoned land army held together for seven days before it went over to Octavian. Antony and Cleopatra took their own lives in Alexandria the next year.11
The winners shaped the story: Octavian's propaganda painted the war as a fight against a foreign queen, and Virgil and the victory monuments repeated it. In 27 BC Octavian took the name Augustus, and Rome had its first emperor.12
Why it ranks here: Actium scores full marks for decisiveness and consequence, since it ended the civil wars and made an emperor, but the fighting is thinly described and filtered through Augustan propaganda, so certainty scores 3. It shares its total with the next two battles and stays ahead of them on the tie rules: against Red Cliffs on consequence, and against Teutoburg Forest, equal on recognition and consequence, as the older battle.
5 Teutoburg Forest, AD 9
- Where
- Probably near Kalkriese, Lower Saxony, Germany
- War
- Roman wars in Germania
- Sides
- Three Roman legions under Publius Quinctilius Varus vs Germanic tribes under Arminius
- Strength
- Three legions with cavalry and six cohorts, perhaps 15,000 to 20,000 men in all; Germanic numbers unknown
- Result
- Roman army destroyed; Varus killed himself
In September AD 9 Publius Quinctilius Varus was leading three legions, the 17th, 18th and 19th, with three cavalry squadrons and six auxiliary cohorts through Germania when Arminius, a Cheruscan nobleman, led a coalition of tribes against him. No ancient writer gives the army's size. At about 5,000 men a legion, the three legions alone came to some 15,000 soldiers, and Britannica puts the whole column at roughly 20,000.13
Cassius Dio, writing two centuries later, describes a column strung out among wagons, women, children and servants in thick forest and driving rain, attacked from all sides over four days. When all was lost, Varus and his senior officers took their own lives. Suetonius says Augustus would beat his head against a door and cry, “Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!” Since 1989 excavations at Kalkriese have proved that Romans and Germans fought a battle there, and the museum there says only that many arguments make Kalkriese one of the sites of the disaster.14
Rome came back with eight legions, but in AD 16 the campaigns were called off, the frontier settled on the Rhine and Germania stayed outside the empire. Germans later made Arminius a national hero as Hermann, and the giant Hermannsdenkmal near Detmold was unveiled in 1875.15
Why it ranks here: Teutoburg Forest scores full marks for consequence and memory, but its decisiveness is 4 because Rome fought on in Germany for years, and its certainty is 3 because the story rests on later Roman writers and a disputed site. It ties on total with the battles on either side: it trails Actium, equal on recognition and consequence, as the younger battle, and beats Red Cliffs on consequence.
6 Red Cliffs, AD 208
- Where
- Yangtze River, probably near Jiayu, Hubei, China (site debated)
- War
- Wars at the end of the Han dynasty
- Sides
- Sun Quan and Liu Bei, led by Zhou Yu, vs Cao Cao
- Strength
- Cao Cao 800,000 in his own boast, 220,000 to 240,000 by Zhou Yu's reckoning; Zhou Yu 30,000 from Sun Quan, plus Liu Bei's men
- Result
- Allied victory; Cao Cao retreated north
In 208 Cao Cao, master of northern China, took Jing province and its Yangtze fleet and moved downriver against his southern rivals. The history comes from Chen Shou's third-century Sanguo zhi, mainly its biography of the southern commander Zhou Yu, and the commentary Pei Songzhi added in 429. There Cao Cao boasts of 800,000 men; Zhou Yu reckons him at 150,000 to 160,000 northerners plus 70,000 to 80,000 doubtful men from Jing, and Sun Quan gives Zhou Yu 30,000. None of these figures can be checked.16
In late 208 the armies met at the Red Cliffs, with sickness already spreading through Cao Cao's camp. Zhou Yu's officer Huang Gai offered a false surrender, then sent ten ships packed with reeds and oil, set them alight and let the wind drive them into the enemy fleet. Cao Cao retreated north and never had such a chance again; the Three Kingdoms followed.17
Most people know a different battle. Luo Guanzhong's fourteenth-century Romance of the Three Kingdoms devotes several chapters to it, and there and on stage the glory goes to Zhuge Liang, who borrows arrows with straw boats and summons the east wind; the histories credit Zhou Yu and Huang Gai. John Woo's two-part film Red Cliff followed in 2008 and 2009.18
Why it ranks here: Red Cliffs has full marks for decisiveness and memory, but its record is short and overgrown with fiction, so certainty scores 3. It ties on total with the two battles above and falls below them on consequence, scored 4 because it kept China divided rather than ending a state.
7 Zama, 202 BC
- Where
- Plain near Zama, in today's Tunisia (exact site debated)
- War
- Second Punic War
- Sides
- Rome under Scipio, with the Numidian king Masinissa, vs Carthage under Hannibal
- Strength
- No totals in the sources; Hannibal had over 80 elephants and some 12,000 mercenaries in front (Polybius)
- Result
- Roman victory; Carthage sued for peace
Hannibal had ravaged Italy for years without taking Rome. Scipio struck at Carthage itself instead, invading Africa, and Hannibal was recalled to defend the city. In 202 BC the two met near Zama. Masinissa brought Scipio 6,000 Numidian foot and 4,000 horse, and Hannibal placed more than 80 elephants in front of his line, with some 12,000 mercenaries behind them, then Libyans and Carthaginians, and his Italian veterans last. Neither Polybius nor Livy gives a total for either army.19
Scipio had left straight lanes through his maniples, and many of the elephants ran down them or turned back on their own side. The infantry fight was long and close until the Roman and Numidian cavalry came back from chasing Hannibal's horsemen and fell on his rear. Polybius counts 20,000 Carthaginians killed and almost as many captured, against more than 1,500 Romans, and Livy gives the same Carthaginian losses.20
The peace that followed took away Carthage's navy except ten triremes, all its elephants and 10,000 talents spread over fifty years, and forbade it to make war outside Africa at all, or inside Africa without Rome's consent. The Second Punic War was over, and Scipio received the name Africanus.21
Why it ranks here: Zama scores full marks for decisiveness and consequence, since it ended the war that made Rome master of the West. It is less famous than Cannae and has little living memory, with no race, film or national monument to keep it in view, which holds it at seventh.
8 Milvian Bridge, AD 312
- Where
- Milvian Bridge over the Tiber, just north of Rome
- War
- Roman civil wars of the tetrarchy
- Sides
- Constantine vs Maxentius
- Strength
- Constantine 98,000 vs Maxentius 188,000 in Zosimus; Maxentius the stronger in Lactantius
- Result
- Constantine's victory; Maxentius drowned
By 312 the Roman world was divided among rival emperors. Constantine invaded Italy, and Maxentius, who held Rome, sent his army across the Tiber to meet him. The much later pagan historian Zosimus gives Constantine 90,000 foot and 8,000 horse and Maxentius 170,000 foot and 18,000 horse. Lactantius, who wrote at the time, gives no numbers but agrees that Maxentius had the larger forces.22
The battle came at the end of October, on the anniversary of Maxentius' accession. Constantine's cavalry broke Maxentius' horsemen, the rest of his army fled for the river, and the bridge of boats they crowded onto gave way. Maxentius drowned in the Tiber with many of his men.23
The battle is remembered for what came before it. Lactantius, a Christian writer of the time, says Constantine was told in a dream to paint the heavenly sign on his soldiers' shields. Eusebius, years later, tells a grander story that he says the emperor swore to: a cross of light above the sun with the words “Conquer by this,” followed by a dream of Christ. Myth vs fact: the two accounts do not agree with each other, and the vision in the sky is a later, embellished tradition. What is certain is the outcome: Constantine took Rome, the next year he and Licinius gave Christians freedom of worship, and he became the first Roman emperor to profess Christianity.24
Why it ranks here: Milvian Bridge scores full marks for consequence, because it put the first Christian emperor in Rome. Its decisiveness is 4, as Constantine still had to defeat Licinius to rule the whole empire, and its certainty is 3, because the famous vision is legend and the armies are known only from the figures of a much later writer.
9 Gaixia, 202 BC
- Where
- Gaixia, eastern China
- War
- Chu-Han Contention, the war for China after the fall of the Qin
- Sides
- Liu Bang of Han and his allies vs Xiang Yu of Chu
- Strength
- About 100,000 Chu vs 300,000 to 500,000 Han and allies (ancient figures)
- Result
- Chu army destroyed; Xiang Yu dead; Liu Bang emperor of a new Han dynasty
When the Qin dynasty collapsed, two rebel leaders fought for its empire: Xiang Yu of Chu and Liu Bang, king of Han. In 203 BC they agreed to divide China, and Liu Bang broke the deal almost at once, buying his generals with promises of kingdoms. By the winter of 203 to 202 BC Xiang Yu was dug in at Gaixia, starving, inside several rings of Han and allied troops.25
Sima Qian has Han Xin lead 300,000 men against about 100,000 Chu. He was thrown back at first, but his flanks held and the Chu army broke. That night Xiang Yu heard the Han soldiers singing the songs of Chu on every side and asked whether Han had already taken all his land. He broke out with about 800 horsemen, was run down by the Wu River and cut his own throat. Within months Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor. The Han dynasty he founded lasted, with a break from AD 9 to 25, until AD 220. Almost all of this comes from Sima Qian, and modern historians treat his numbers with caution.26
The night of the Chu songs and Xiang Yu's farewell to his consort Yu became a Peking opera, and that opera is the heart of Chen Kaige's film Farewell My Concubine.27
Why it ranks here: One night at Gaixia ended the war between Chu and Han and founded a dynasty that ruled China for four centuries, full marks for decisiveness and consequence, and the story still lives on the opera stage. It is held to ninth place because it is known in the West mainly through one film (recognition 3) and rests on Sima Qian alone (certainty 3).
10 Cannae, 216 BC
- Where
- Plain by the Aufidus river, Apulia, southern Italy
- War
- Second Punic War
- Sides
- Hannibal's Carthaginian army vs the consuls Aemilius Paullus and Terentius Varro
- Strength
- About 40,000 foot and 10,000 horse vs about 80,000 foot and 6,000 horse
- Result
- Roman army destroyed; 48,200 to about 70,000 dead (Livy, Polybius)
In 216 BC, in the middle of his invasion of Italy, Hannibal seized the Roman supply depot at Cannae, and the Senate sent both consuls to fight him. They brought about 80,000 infantry and rather more than 6,000 horse; Hannibal had some 40,000 foot and 10,000 horse.28
He pushed his center of Gauls and Spaniards forward in a crescent and let it bend back under the weight of the legions, while his African infantry waited on both flanks. His heavy cavalry routed the Roman horse, rode around behind the battle and fell on the rear, and the Roman army was closed in on every side. Polybius counts about 70,000 dead and 10,000 prisoners; Livy gives 45,500 infantry and 2,700 cavalry killed. Both are ancient figures and disputed.29
Yet the war went on. Much of southern Italy, Samnites, Bruttians and Lucanians among them, went over to Hannibal, but the Senate refused even to ransom the prisoners and raised new armies. Livy has Hannibal's cavalry commander Maharbal tell him that he knew how to win a victory but not how to use one. Polybius marvels that the beaten city went on to defeat Carthage and master the known world. What Cannae won was a name: Schlieffen built the German general staff's idea of the battle of annihilation on it, and in 1914 the younger Moltke told his son to “study Cannae”.30
Why it ranks here: Recognition and memory take full marks: Cannae is the textbook encirclement and still the word for one. But Rome refused to make peace and won the war, so decisiveness 2 and consequence 3; it finishes level on points with Plataea and goes ahead only on recognition.
11 Plataea, 479 BC
- Where
- Plain north of Plataea, Boeotia, central Greece
- War
- Greco-Persian Wars, Xerxes' invasion of Greece
- Sides
- Greek alliance under the Spartan regent Pausanias vs the Persian army of Mardonius
- Strength
- 110,000 Greeks vs 300,000 Persians and allies (Herodotus)
- Result
- Persian army routed and Mardonius killed; the invasion over
Salamis sank the Persian fleet but not the invasion. Xerxes went home and left his general Mardonius in Greece with a land army still intact and much of the country in his hands. In the summer of 479 BC Mardonius invaded Attica again, then drew up behind the river Asopus in Boeotia, where the Spartan regent Pausanias led the united Greek army against him. Herodotus counts 110,000 Greeks, 38,700 of them hoplites, and 300,000 men in Mardonius's army. Livius.org's Jona Lendering thinks Mardonius had too few troops to beat the Greeks, whose army he calls the largest Greek army yet seen.31
For days the armies faced each other across the river, Persians on the plain, Greeks on the broken ground below Mount Cithaeron. Persian cavalry cut the Greek supply columns and spoiled the Gargaphia spring, and when Pausanias pulled back by night his army fell apart into separate bodies. Mardonius took it for flight and crossed the river. The Spartans and Tegeans turned and charged, Mardonius was killed, and his army broke; the Athenians and Tegeans stormed the Persian camp. Herodotus says that on the same day a Greek force landed at Mycale in Ionia and beat another Persian army. Xerxes' attempt to conquer Greece was over. The Greeks set up the Serpent Column at Delphi as their victory monument; it still stands in the old hippodrome of Constantinople, today's Istanbul.32
Why it ranks here: Plataea, not Salamis, actually ended the Persian invasion of Greece: full marks for decisiveness and consequence. Salamis and Thermopylae took most of the fame and the memory, so Plataea scores 3 for recognition and 3 for memory, and on the same total it loses the tie with Cannae on recognition.
12 Thermopylae, 480 BC
- Where
- The pass of Thermopylae, central Greece
- War
- Greco-Persian Wars, Xerxes' invasion of Greece
- Sides
- Greek alliance under King Leonidas of Sparta vs the army of Xerxes
- Strength
- 4,000 to 7,000 Greeks vs a much larger Persian army of unknown size
- Result
- Greek rearguard destroyed on the third day; the road south open
In 480 BC Xerxes led the Persian army into Greece in person. The Greek plan was to stop him twice at once: the fleet would fight the Persian navy off Artemisium, and the army would hold the Hot Gates, a narrow coastal pass, so the fleet could not be taken from behind. Leonidas held the pass with 4,000 to 7,000 men, of whom only 300 were Spartans.33
For two days the narrow front held. Then the Persians found a mountain path to the Greek rear (Herodotus names a local man, Ephialtes, as their guide), and on the third day Leonidas, the last Spartans, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans were surrounded and killed. Myth vs fact: it was never 300 men alone but a Greek army, and the 300 died beside their allies.34
As a battle of the war it decided little. The pass fell, the fleet left Artemisium, Thebes was taken and Athens sacked, and it needed Salamis that autumn and Plataea the next summer to throw the invasion back. What Thermopylae won was a story, told in the epitaph “Go tell the Spartans” that Herodotus quotes and, since 1955, in the bronze Leonidas that stands at the pass.35
Why it ranks here: Thermopylae is the best-known battle of antiquity, with full marks for recognition and memory, and No. 1 among our last stands. Judged as a battle of the war, though, it was a defeat that held Xerxes up for days (decisiveness 2) with Persian numbers no one can pin down (certainty 3); on the same total it stays ahead of Issus through recognition.
13 Issus, 333 BC
- Where
- The Pinarus river near Issus, Cilicia, southern Turkey
- War
- Alexander the Great's war against Persia
- Sides
- Alexander of Macedon vs Darius III of Persia
- Strength
- About 47,000 Macedonians and allies vs 600,000 Persians in Arrian, about 100,000 in Livius.org
- Result
- Persian army routed; Darius fled; his family captured
Issus was Alexander's second battle against Persia and his first against Darius III himself. In November 333 BC the Persian king came down behind him onto the coast, into the narrow plain between the Amanus mountains and the sea, and drew up behind the Pinarus river. Arrian and Plutarch give Darius 600,000 men; Livius.org's Jona Lendering reckons the army that marched to the battle at about 100,000, against about 41,000 Macedonian and allied infantry and 6,000 horse.36
The cramped ground canceled the bigger army's advantage. Alexander led his cavalry through the Persian left and turned on the center, where he could see Darius. The king fled, first by chariot and then on horseback, and his army broke after him, many men trampled in the crush. Arrian claims 100,000 Persian dead, so many that the pursuers crossed a ravine on the bodies; Livius.org thinks the lowest ancient figure, about 20,000 Persian dead, nearer the truth, and Curtius gives 150 Macedonians killed and 302 missing. Darius's mother, wife and children were taken in his camp, and when he wrote asking for them, Alexander told him to address him in future as king of Asia. Instead of chasing Darius east, Alexander marched down the Phoenician coast, took Byblos and Sidon and laid siege to Tyre on the road to Egypt.37
The Alexander Mosaic from Pompeii, now in Naples, is usually read as this battle, with Alexander charging and Darius turning to flee, though some scholars argue it shows Gaugamela.38
Why it ranks here: Issus broke Persian power in the west, opened the Levant and Egypt to Alexander and lives on in the Alexander Mosaic. It was not final, since Darius raised a new army and fought again at Gaugamela (decisiveness 3), and on the same total it falls just behind the more famous Thermopylae.
14 Changping, 260 BC
- Where
- Changping, near today's Gaoping, Shanxi, northern China
- War
- Warring States period: Qin against Zhao
- Sides
- Qin under Bai Qi vs Zhao under Zhao Kuo
- Strength
- Over 400,000 Zhao by Sima Qian (unverified) vs a Qin army of unknown size
- Result
- Zhao army starved into surrender; prisoners said to have been massacred
By the third century BC seven states fought for China, and Qin, in the west, was conquering its neighbors one after another. The test came when Qin moved on land belonging to the state of Han and Zhao resisted. The armies dug in at Changping, near today's Gaoping in Shanxi, for a campaign that ran from 262 to 260 BC.39
According to Sima Qian, Zhao replaced its cautious general Lian Po with the young Zhao Kuo, and Qin quietly sent its best general, Bai Qi. Bai Qi feigned a retreat, let the Zhao army chase him onto his fortified lines and cut it off. After 46 days without food the Zhao soldiers were killing one another to eat; Zhao Kuo was shot down leading a breakout and the army surrendered. Sima Qian says Bai Qi had 400,000 prisoners buried alive and counted 450,000 Zhao killed or taken in all.40
That figure looks unreasonably large, though a 2024 study by L. Wu argues that it is too subjective to call it an exaggeration, because “soldiers” then meant something different. Sixth Tone reported in 2020 that human bones have turned up in the fields around Gaoping since at least 1995 and that experts think they may come from the battle. Zhao was finished as a rival: Qin conquered it in 228 BC and all of China in 221.41
Why it ranks here: Changping broke the last state that could stand up to Qin and opened the road to China's first unified empire, full marks for decisiveness and consequence. It is little known outside China (recognition 3) and its central number rests on Sima Qian alone and cannot be checked (certainty 2); level on points with Pharsalus, equal on recognition and consequence, it goes ahead as the older battle.
15 Pharsalus, 48 BC
- Where
- Plain by the Enipeus river near Pharsalus, Thessaly, Greece
- War
- Caesar's civil war
- Sides
- Julius Caesar vs Pompey the Great and the Senate's army
- Strength
- 22,000 foot and 1,000 horse vs 45,000 foot and 7,000 horse (Caesar's figures)
- Result
- Pompey's army routed and surrendered; Pompey fled to Egypt
By 48 BC the quarrel between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great had become a war for the Roman world. Pompey had abandoned Italy and gathered the Republic's forces in Greece; Caesar followed, failed to wall him in at Dyrrachium and slipped away into Thessaly. Pompey, pressed by the senators in his camp to finish it, followed him to the plain near Pharsalus. Caesar gives himself 80 cohorts of about 22,000 men and 1,000 horse against Pompey's 110 cohorts of 45,000 and 7,000 horse.42
On 9 August Pompey sent his great mass of cavalry around Caesar's right to take the legions from behind. Caesar had expected it: he had pulled six cohorts out of his rear line and posted them behind his right, and their charge sent Pompey's horsemen flying. Caesar then threw in his third line, and Pompey's legions broke for the hills. Caesar claims 15,000 enemy dead and more than 24,000 prisoners for a loss of 200 soldiers and 30 centurions; Asinius Pollio, as Plutarch reports him, said that no more than 6,000 soldiers fell, and Livius.org gives almost 6,000.43
Pompey fled to Egypt and was murdered there. The war went on in Africa and Spain until Caesar had beaten the last Republican armies, and in 44 BC he was made dictator for life. We know the battle chiefly from the winner, who wrote it up himself.44
Why it ranks here: Pharsalus decided the civil war that ended the Roman Republic (consequence 5) and is well documented by Caesar himself, but the war dragged on for years after it (decisiveness 4) and Actium has the greater fame (recognition 3). It ties on points with Kalinga and takes 15th on consequence.
How we chose and ranked these ancient battles
We counted any battle on land or at sea fought anywhere in the world before AD 476, the conventional end of antiquity, so China, India and the Near East stand beside Greece and Rome. Sieges of cities, such as Caesar's Alesia, are left to our guide to the greatest sieges in history, and battles after 476 to the greatest medieval battles. Thermopylae is here and also heads our greatest last stands, where it is judged as a stand rather than as a decision.45
We considered 25 candidates and scored each one from 1 to 5 on five criteria. Recognition counts three times, because this page answers the question of which ancient battles are the greatest and best known; decisiveness, consequence and memory count twice, and certainty once:
- Recognition (×3). 5 if the name is known far beyond military history and appears on most published lists of its kind, 1 if only specialists know it.
- Decisiveness (×2). 5 if it decided a war or the fate of a state, 1 if the war went on as if it had not happened.
- Consequence (×2). 5 if it changed the course of history for centuries (an empire ended, a dynasty or a religion rose), 1 if its effects were local and short.
- Memory (×2). 5 if it is still a living part of culture (a word, a race, a monument, a national story, a film), 1 if it is forgotten.
- Certainty (×1). 5 if the numbers and events are confirmed by independent sources, 1 if they rest on one late source or are disputed.
The list is ranked by total score, not by date. Ties go to the better-known battle, then to the one with the greater consequence, then to the older one. The scores are our editorial judgment, made on the evidence in the sources below, and the table shows every one of them. It explains, for example, why Cannae, the most admired victory of antiquity, is only tenth: Hannibal destroyed a Roman army in an afternoon, but Rome refused to make peace and won the war, and Zama, not Cannae, decided it.
| Rank | Name | Recognition ×3 | Decisiveness ×2 | Consequence ×2 | Memory ×2 | Certainty ×1 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gaugamela | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 46 |
| 2 | Marathon | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 45 |
| 3 | Salamis | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 44 |
| 4 | Actium | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 43 |
| 5 | Teutoburg Forest | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 43 |
| 6 | Red Cliffs | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 43 |
| 7 | Zama | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 42 |
| 8 | Milvian Bridge | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 41 |
| 9 | Gaixia | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 40 |
| 10 | Cannae | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 39 |
| 11 | Plataea | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 39 |
| 12 | Thermopylae | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 38 |
| 13 | Issus | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 38 |
| 14 | Changping | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 37 |
| 15 | Pharsalus | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 37 |
Close calls
Six battles came close and did not make the fifteen:
Kalinga, c. 261 BC. The Mauryan emperor Ashoka conquered Kalinga, roughly today's Odisha, and in his thirteenth rock edict counted the cost himself: 150,000 deported, 100,000 killed and many more dead, and a remorse that turned him to the Dhamma. The consequence was large, but we know the war almost only from that edict; it ties with Pharsalus on points and loses on consequence.46
Adrianople, AD 378. On 9 August 378 the Goths under Fritigern destroyed the army of the eastern emperor Valens near today's Edirne, and Valens died with it. Ammianus wrote that barely a third of the army escaped and that only Cannae compared. It marked the start of the end in the West, but one detailed source and modest fame keep it just outside.47
Watling Street, AD 60 or 61. Suetonius Paulinus, with about 10,000 men, met Boudica's far larger host on ground of his choosing, broke it and kept Britain Roman. But the site is unknown, and Tacitus's 80,000 British dead against 400 Romans is the kind of lopsided figure ancient writers used to flatter Rome, so certainty 2 keeps it out.48
Megiddo, c. 1457 BC. Thutmose III led his army through a narrow mountain pass, surprised the coalition led by the king of Kadesh at Megiddo, and after a siege of seven or eight months took the city and with it Canaan. It is often called the first reliably recorded battle, and the place gave its name to Armageddon. It missed because the record is the pharaoh's own and its date depends on Egyptian chronology.49
Kadesh, c. 1275 BC. Ramesses II marched on the Hittites with some 20,000 men in four divisions, walked into an ambush by Muwatalli II and fought his way out. He claimed a great victory, but at best he fought the Hittites to a draw, and Kadesh stayed in their hands. It is famous from the poem and the official record Ramesses had carved on temple walls, yet it settled nothing: its real result was the peace treaty of 1258 BC.50
Catalaunian Plains, AD 451. Aetius, allied with the Visigothic king Theodoric, checked Attila's invasion of Gaul on the Catalaunian Plains, a site never identified. Attila withdrew and invaded Italy the next year, and the main account comes from Jordanes, writing in the sixth century. The old claim that it saved the West does not hold up, so it misses the list.51
For the Greek story on its own, from the Persian Wars to Alexander, see the greatest battles of ancient Greece, set these battles beside every other era in Battles That Changed the World, or follow Rome's conquest of Gaul at Alesia.
What made an ancient battle decisive
In the ancient world a single afternoon could decide the fate of an empire. Battles were fought at close quarters by citizen soldiers and professional phalanxes, and victory usually went to the side with better discipline, ground and nerve rather than the bigger numbers. That is why encirclements like Cannae and against-the-odds wins like Gaugamela are still studied today.
What was the biggest and bloodiest ancient battle?
No ancient battle can be measured precisely, because the only figures come from ancient writers. On their numbers, Cannae in 216 BC is the best-documented case of mass slaughter in a single day: Polybius says about 70,000 Romans died, while Livy counts roughly 48,000 killed. Gaugamela may have been larger, but its figures are far less reliable.52
Polybius gives the Romans about 80,000 infantry and just over 6,000 cavalry against some 40,000 Carthaginian foot and 10,000 horse. Livy records that 45,500 infantry and 2,700 cavalry are said to have been killed. Our full account of Cannae follows how the double envelopment produced those losses.53
Gaugamela in 331 BC shows why ancient totals need caution. Arrian reports that Darius III brought 40,000 cavalry and a million infantry, and the Persian dead range from about 40,000 in Curtius Rufus and more than 90,000 in Diodorus to some 300,000 in Arrian. Britannica calls some of the ancient totals fantastic, while agreeing that the Persians outnumbered Alexander. The numbers are weighed in our account of the Battle of Gaugamela, and the bloodiest battles of every era are compared in the deadliest battles in history.54
What was the first recorded battle in history?
The Battle of Megiddo, usually dated to about 1457 BC, is often called the first reliably recorded battle in history. The Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III defeated a coalition of Canaanite and Syrian rulers led by the king of Kadesh, and an account of the campaign was carved on the walls of the Temple of Amun at Karnak.55
The annals tell how the king overruled his officers, who feared a narrow mountain pass, and led the army through it to surprise the enemy; Megiddo itself fell only after a siege of seven or eight months.56
Kadesh, fought around 1275 BC between Ramesses II of Egypt and the Hittite king Muwatalli II, is the other famous early battle, known above all from the poem and the official record Ramesses had carved on temple walls. He claimed a great victory, but at best he fought the Hittites to a draw, and in 1258 BC the two empires made peace as equal great powers.57
Which ancient general never lost a battle?
Alexander the Great is the usual answer. In eleven years of campaigning, from the Granicus in 334 BC through the Hydaspes in 326 BC to his death in 323 BC, he never lost a major battle, as Britannica's summary of his career notes. Most other great commanders of antiquity suffered at least one defeat, including Hannibal and Julius Caesar.58 › Alexander the Great
Hannibal, the victor of Cannae, lost the decisive battle of Zama in 202 BC, where Polybius says the Carthaginians lost 20,000 killed and almost as many taken prisoner. Caesar was thrown back at Gergovia in Gaul in 52 BC, a repulse that by his own account cost 46 centurions, and Suetonius counts it among only three setbacks of his years in Gaul. The two great rivals of the ancient world are set side by side in Hannibal vs Alexander.59
When did ancient history end?
By convention, ancient history ends in AD 476, when the Germanic commander Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor in the West. The date is a symbol rather than a sudden break: the Eastern Roman Empire, later called the Byzantine Empire, lived on for centuries with Constantinople as its capital, and the fall of the West had many causes.60
The battles ranked on this page all fall before that line, the latest being the Milvian Bridge in AD 312. Rome's centuries of expansion and civil war are covered in the greatest battles of ancient Rome.61
Each battle above has its own full account a click away. To see how these clashes fit the wider sweep of history, read on to the greatest battles of all time, or meet the men who won them in the greatest military commanders in history. Five of them, Marathon, Thermopylae, Gaugamela, Cannae and Actium, are questions in the ancient battles quiz.
Notes
A number in the text points to a note; each note names the works that paragraph draws on, listed in full under Sources.
- Livius.org, “Gaugamela (331 BCE)”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Gaugamela”; Arrian, “The Anabasis of Alexander, Book III”; Diodorus Siculus, “Diodorus Siculus, Book XVII, chapters 52 to 83”. ↩
- Arrian, “The Anabasis of Alexander, Book III”; Livius.org, “Gaugamela (331 BCE)”. ↩
- Arrian, “The Anabasis of Alexander, Book III”; Plutarch, “Plutarch, Alexander, chapter 34”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Gaugamela”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Marathon (490 BCE)”; Herodotus, “Histories 6.95”; Herodotus, “Histories 6.105”; Cornelius Nepos, “Cornelius Nepos”. ↩
- Herodotus, “Histories 6.112”; Livius.org, “Marathon (490 BCE)”; Herodotus, “Histories 6.117”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Marathon (490 BCE)”; Plutarch, “De gloria Atheniensium”; History.com, “The Olympic Marathon’s Outlandish Early History”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Salamis (480 BCE)”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Xerxes I”; Herodotus, “Histories 8.48”; Aeschylus, “Aeschylus, Persians, lines 333 to 360”; Thucydides, “Thucydides 1.74”; Herodotus, “Histories 7.89”. ↩
- Herodotus, “Histories 8.75”; Livius.org, “Salamis (480 BCE)”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Greco-Persian Wars”; Diodorus Siculus, “Diodorus Siculus, Book XI, chapters 1 to 37”. ↩
- Herodotus, “Histories 8.113”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Xerxes I”; Livius.org, “Salamis (480 BCE)”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Actium (31 BCE)”; Plutarch, “The Life of Antony”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Actium (31 BCE)”; Plutarch, “The Life of Antony”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Actium (31 BCE)”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Roman Empire”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Teutoburg Forest (9 CE)”; Velleius Paterculus, “Velleius Paterculus, Book II, chapters 104 to 131”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of the Teutoburg Forest”; Livius.org, “Teutoburg Forest (5)”. ↩
- Cassius Dio, “Cassius Dio, Book LVI”; Suetonius, “The Life of Augustus”; Museum und Park Kalkriese, “The Varus Battle”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Teutoburg Forest (9 CE)”; Museum und Park Kalkriese, “The Varus Battle”; ingenieur.de, “Hermannsdenkmal”; Landesverband Lippe, “Lippe feiert seinen Hermann”. ↩
- Rafe de Crespigny, “Generals of the South”; Chen Shou, “三國志/卷54”. ↩
- Rafe de Crespigny, “Generals of the South”; Chen Shou, “三國志/卷54”. ↩
- Rafe de Crespigny, “Generals of the South”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”; Luo Guanzhong, “三國演義/第046回”; Luo Guanzhong, “三國演義/第049回”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “John Woo”; Time Out, “Red Cliff”. ↩
- Livy, “From the Founding of the City, Book 30”; Polybius, “Polybius, Histories, Book XV”. ↩
- Polybius, “Polybius, Histories, Book XV”; Livy, “From the Founding of the City, Book 30”. ↩
- Polybius, “Polybius, Histories, Book XV”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Scipio Africanus”; Livy, “From the Founding of the City, Book 30”. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Constantine I”; Lactantius, “Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died”; Zosimus, “Zosimus, Historia Nova, Book 2”. ↩
- Lactantius, “Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died”; Zosimus, “Zosimus, Historia Nova, Book 2”; Eusebius, “Life of Constantine, Book I”. ↩
- Lactantius, “Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died”; Eusebius, “Life of Constantine, Book I”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Constantine I”. ↩
- History of War, “Battle of Gaixia, January 202 BC”; Sima Qian, “史記/卷007 (Basic Annals of Xiang Yu)”. ↩
- Sima Qian, “史記/卷008 (Basic Annals of Emperor Gaozu)”; Sima Qian, “史記/卷007 (Basic Annals of Xiang Yu)”; History of War, “Battle of Gaixia, January 202 BC”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Han dynasty”; Asia for Educators, “Timelines”. ↩
- The China Project, “Film Friday”. ↩
- Polybius, Histories; Livy, History of Rome. ↩
- Polybius, Histories; Livy, History of Rome. ↩
- Livy, History of Rome; Polybius, Histories; HistoryNet, “The Enduring Mystique of Cannae”. ↩
- Herodotus, Histories; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Xerxes I”; Livius.org, “Plataea (479 BCE)”. ↩
- Herodotus, Histories; Livius.org, “Plataea (479 BCE)”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Xerxes I”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Thermopylae (480 BCE)”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Greco-Persian Wars”; Herodotus, “Herodotus on Thermopylae”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Thermopylae (480 BCE)”; Herodotus, “Herodotus on Thermopylae”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Thermopylae (480 BCE)”; Herodotus, Histories; Visit Greece, “Thermopyles”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Issus (333 BCE)”; Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander; Plutarch, Life of Alexander. ↩
- Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander; Livius.org, “Issus (3)”; Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander; Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander. ↩
- Lumen Learning, “Alexander Mosaic”. ↩
- Sixth Tone, “Mass Grave From Ancient Battle Earmarked for Shanxi Cultural Park”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Qin dynasty”; Sima Qian, “史記/卷073 (Biographies of Bai Qi and Wang Jian)”; History News Network, “Ancient Chinese battlefield to seek world heritage status”. ↩
- Sima Qian, “史記/卷073 (Biographies of Bai Qi and Wang Jian)”; History News Network, “Ancient Chinese battlefield to seek world heritage status”. ↩
- L. Wu, Journal of Chinese Military History; Sixth Tone, “Mass Grave From Ancient Battle Earmarked for Shanxi Cultural Park”; Sima Qian, “史記/卷006 (Basic Annals of the First Emperor of Qin)”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Qin dynasty”. ↩
- Livius.org, “Pharsalus (48 BCE)”; Plutarch, Life of Caesar; Julius Caesar, The Civil War; Julius Caesar, The Civil War; Julius Caesar, The Civil War. ↩
- Julius Caesar, The Civil War; Julius Caesar, The Civil War; Plutarch, Life of Caesar; Livius.org, “Pharsalus (48 BCE)”. ↩
- Plutarch, Life of Caesar; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Pompey the Great”; Livius.org, “Caesar (7): Civil war”; Livius.org, “Caesar (8): Dictator”; Plutarch, Life of Caesar. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Roman Empire”; Livius.org, “Romulus Augustulus”. ↩
- Access to Insight, “The Edicts of King Asoka”. ↩
- Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae; EBSCO Research Starters, “Battle of Adrianople”. ↩
- Tacitus, Annals; University of Warwick, “Boudica's Defeat”. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Thutmose III”; National Geographic, “How a single battle, and one young pharaoh, turned Egypt into a superpower”; Livius.org, “Megiddo”; HistoryNet, “Hallowed Ground”. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Ramses II”; Biblical Archaeology Society, “The Battle of Kadesh”; Center for Online Judaic Studies, “Ramesses the Great and the Hittite Treaty, 1258 BCE”. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Attila”; Jordanes, The Origin and Deeds of the Goths. ↩
- Polybius, Histories; Livy, History of Rome. ↩
- Polybius, Histories; Livy, History of Rome. ↩
- Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander; Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni; Diodorus Siculus, “Diodorus Siculus, Book XVII, chapters 52 to 83”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Gaugamela”. ↩
- HistoryNet, “Hallowed Ground”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Thutmose III”; National Geographic, “How a single battle, and one young pharaoh, turned Egypt into a superpower”; Livius.org, “Megiddo”. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Thutmose III”; National Geographic, “How a single battle, and one young pharaoh, turned Egypt into a superpower”. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Ramses II”; Biblical Archaeology Society, “The Battle of Kadesh”; Center for Online Judaic Studies, “Ramesses the Great and the Hittite Treaty, 1258 BCE”. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Alexander the Great”. ↩
- Polybius, “Polybius, Histories, Book XV”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Scipio Africanus”; Julius Caesar, The Gallic War; Suetonius, The Life of the Deified Julius. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Roman Empire”; Livius.org, “Romulus Augustulus”; Livius.org, “Constantinople (Istanbul)”. ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Constantine I”; Lactantius, “Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died”. ↩
Sources
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- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Gaugamela”
- Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, Book 3, chapters 8, 12, 15, 16, 18 and 21, tr. E. J. Chinnock, on Wikisource, “The Anabasis of Alexander, Book III”
- Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 17.53 (the Persian army) and 17.61 (Persian and Macedonian dead), tr. C. Bradford Welles, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius, “Diodorus Siculus, Book XVII, chapters 52 to 83”
- Plutarch, Life of Alexander 34, tr. B. Perrin, on Perseus Digital Library, “Plutarch, Alexander, chapter 34”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Marathon (490 BCE)”
- Herodotus, Histories 6.95 (the Persian fleet), tr. A. D. Godley, on Perseids, “Histories 6.95”
- Herodotus, Histories 6.105 (Philippides sent to Sparta), tr. A. D. Godley, on Perseids, “Histories 6.105”
- Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades 4 to 5, tr. J. C. Rolfe, on Attalus.org, “Cornelius Nepos: Lives of Eminent Commanders”
- Herodotus, Histories 6.112 (the charge at a run), tr. A. D. Godley, on Perseids, “Histories 6.112”
- Herodotus, Histories 6.117 (the dead on both sides), tr. A. D. Godley, on Perseids, “Histories 6.117”
- Plutarch, On the Glory of the Athenians 3, tr. F. C. Babbitt, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius, “De gloria Atheniensium”
- History.com (Christopher Klein), “The Olympic Marathon’s Outlandish Early History”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Salamis (480 BCE)”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Xerxes I”
- Herodotus, Histories 8.48 (the Greek fleet), tr. A. D. Godley, on Perseids, “Histories 8.48”
- Aeschylus, Persians 337 to 343 (the fleets), tr. H. W. Smyth, on Perseus Digital Library, “Aeschylus, Persians, lines 333 to 360”
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.74 (the Greek fleet at Salamis), tr. R. Crawley, on Perseus Digital Library, “Thucydides 1.74”
- Herodotus, Histories 7.89 (Xerxes' triremes), tr. A. D. Godley, on Perseids, “Histories 7.89”
- Herodotus, Histories 8.75 (Themistocles' message), tr. A. D. Godley, on Perseids, “Histories 8.75”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Greco-Persian Wars”
- Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 11.19 (losses at Salamis), tr. C. H. Oldfather, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius, “Diodorus Siculus, Book XI, chapters 1 to 37”
- Herodotus, Histories 8.113 (Xerxes leaves Mardonius in Greece), tr. A. D. Godley, on Perseids, “Histories 8.113”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Actium (31 BCE)”
- Plutarch, Life of Antony 61, 66 and 68, tr. B. Perrin, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius, “The Life of Antony”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Roman Empire”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Teutoburg Forest (9 CE)”
- Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2.117 (the army lost with Varus), tr. F. W. Shipley, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius, “Velleius Paterculus, Book II, chapters 104 to 131”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of the Teutoburg Forest”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Teutoburg Forest (5)”
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 56.18 to 24, tr. E. Cary, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius, “Cassius Dio, Book LVI”
- Suetonius, Life of Augustus 23, tr. J. C. Rolfe, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius, “The Life of Augustus”
- Museum und Park Kalkriese, “The Varus Battle”
- ingenieur.de, “Hermannsdenkmal: die ganze Baugeschichte unter der Kupferhaut” (in German)
- Landesverband Lippe (press release, 23 July 2025), “Lippe feiert seinen Hermann” (in German, PDF)
- Rafe de Crespigny, Generals of the South (Australian National University, 2004 internet edition), chapter 4 and appendix on Chen Shou and Pei Songzhi, “Generals of the South” (PDF)
- Chen Shou, Sanguo zhi 54 (biography of Zhou Yu, with Pei Songzhi's commentary), on Wikisource, “三國志/卷54” (in Classical Chinese)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”
- Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, chapter 46 (borrowing the arrows), on Wikisource, “三國演義/第046回” (in Chinese)
- Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, chapter 49 (the east wind), on Wikisource, “三國演義/第049回” (in Chinese)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “John Woo”
- Time Out (film review), “Red Cliff”
- Livy, History of Rome, Book 30 (Hannibal recalled, Zama, the peace and the name Africanus), tr. Canon Roberts, on Wikisource, “From the Founding of the City, Book 30”
- Polybius, Histories 15.5, 9 to 14 and 18, tr. W. R. Paton, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius, “Polybius, Histories, Book XV”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Scipio Africanus”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Constantine I”
- Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died 44, on New Advent, “Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died”
- Zosimus, New History, Book 2 (1814 translation), on Tertullian.org, “Zosimus, Historia Nova, Book 2”
- Eusebius, Life of Constantine 1.28 to 29 and 1.38, on New Advent, “Life of Constantine, Book I”
- History of War (J. Rickard), “Battle of Gaixia, January 202 BC”
- Sima Qian, Shiji, chapter 7, Wikisource, “史記/卷007 (Basic Annals of Xiang Yu)” (in Classical Chinese)
- Sima Qian, Shiji, chapter 8, Wikisource, “史記/卷008 (Basic Annals of Emperor Gaozu)” (in Classical Chinese)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Han dynasty”
- Asia for Educators, Columbia University, “Timelines: China”
- The China Project (David Seamans), “Film Friday: Xiang Yu, the tragic Chinese hero”
- Polybius, Histories, Book 3, 107 to 118 (Loeb translation at LacusCurtius, University of Chicago), “Polybius, The Histories, Book III”
- Livy, History of Rome, Book 22, 46 to 61 (translation by Canon Roberts, Wikisource), “From the Founding of the City, Book 22”
- HistoryNet (Douglas Hill, first published in MHQ, 1990), “The Enduring Mystique of Cannae”
- Herodotus, Histories, 7.228, 8.113 and Book 9, trans. G. C. Macaulay, Project Gutenberg, “The History of Herodotus, Volume 2”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Plataea (479 BCE)”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Thermopylae (480 BCE)”
- Herodotus, Histories 7.202 to 7.223, trans. G. C. Macaulay, Livius.org, “Herodotus on Thermopylae”
- Visit Greece (Greek National Tourism Organisation), “Thermopyles”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Issus (333 BCE)”
- Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 2.8 (the armies at the Pinarus), trans. E. J. Chinnock, Wikisource, “The Anabasis of Alexander, Book II, Chapter VIII”
- Plutarch, Life of Alexander 18 (Darius' army), trans. B. Perrin, Perseus Digital Library, “Plutarch, Alexander, chapter 18”
- Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 2.11, trans. E. J. Chinnock, Wikisource, “The Anabasis of Alexander, Book II, Chapter XI”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Issus (3)”
- Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 2.14 (Darius' letter and Alexander's reply), trans. E. J. Chinnock, Wikisource, “The Anabasis of Alexander, Book II, Chapter XIV”
- Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 2.15 (Byblus, Sidon and the march on Tyre), trans. E. J. Chinnock, Wikisource, “The Anabasis of Alexander, Book II, Chapter XV”
- Lumen Learning, Art History I (Beth Harris and Steven Zucker, Smarthistory), “Alexander Mosaic”
- Sixth Tone (Fan Yiying), “Mass Grave From Ancient Battle Earmarked for Shanxi Cultural Park”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Qin dynasty”
- Sima Qian, Shiji, chapter 73, Wikisource, “史記/卷073 (Biographies of Bai Qi and Wang Jian)” (in Classical Chinese)
- History News Network (Xinhua report, 2011), “Ancient Chinese battlefield to seek world heritage status”
- L. Wu, Journal of Chinese Military History (Brill, 2024), abstract at OPUS, University of Technology Sydney, “A Study on the Battle of Changping”
- Sima Qian, Shiji, chapter 6, Wikisource, “史記/卷006 (Basic Annals of the First Emperor of Qin)” (in Classical Chinese)
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Pharsalus (48 BCE)”
- Plutarch, Life of Caesar 41 (Pompey pressed to fight), trans. B. Perrin, Perseus Digital Library, “Plutarch, Caesar, chapter 41”
- Julius Caesar, The Civil War 3.89 (Caesar's army), trans. W. Duncan, Perseus Digital Library, “Caesar, Civil War, Book 3, chapter 89”
- Julius Caesar, The Civil War 3.88 (Pompey's army), trans. W. Duncan, Perseus Digital Library, “Caesar, Civil War, Book 3, chapter 88”
- Julius Caesar, The Civil War 3.84 (the cavalry of both sides), trans. W. Duncan, Perseus Digital Library, “Caesar, Civil War, Book 3, chapter 84”
- Julius Caesar, The Civil War 3.99 (the losses), trans. W. Duncan, Perseus Digital Library, “Caesar, Civil War, Book 3, chapter 99”
- Plutarch, Life of Caesar 46 (Asinius Pollio on the dead), trans. B. Perrin, Perseus Digital Library, “Plutarch, Caesar, chapter 46”
- Plutarch, Life of Caesar 48 (Pompey's death), trans. B. Perrin, Perseus Digital Library, “Plutarch, Caesar, chapter 48”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Pompey the Great”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Caesar (7): Civil war”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Caesar (8): Dictator”
- Plutarch, Life of Caesar 57 (dictator for life), trans. B. Perrin, Perseus Digital Library, “Plutarch, Caesar, chapter 57”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Romulus Augustulus”
- Access to Insight (S. Dhammika), “The Edicts of King Asoka”
- Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, Book 31, 12 to 13 (Loeb translation at LacusCurtius, University of Chicago), “Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman History, Book XXXI”
- EBSCO Research Starters (Raymond H. Schmandt and Nicholas Birns), “Battle of Adrianople”
- Tacitus, Annals 14.34 to 37 (Loeb translation at LacusCurtius, University of Chicago), “Tacitus, Annals, Book XIV”
- University of Warwick, Warwick Classics Network, “Boudica's Defeat”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Thutmose III”
- National Geographic (Javier Martínez Babón, 2025), “How a single battle, and one young pharaoh, turned Egypt into a superpower”
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Megiddo”
- HistoryNet (David T. Zabecki), “Hallowed Ground: Megiddo (Armageddon), Israel”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Ramses II”
- Biblical Archaeology Society, BAS Library (a sidebar from the magazine Bible Review), “The Battle of Kadesh”
- Center for Online Judaic Studies, “Ramesses the Great and the Hittite Treaty, 1258 BCE”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Attila”
- Jordanes, The Origin and Deeds of the Goths 36 to 42, trans. C. C. Mierow, Project Gutenberg, “The Origin and Deeds of the Goths”
- Livy, History of Rome 22.49 (Roman dead at Cannae), trans. Canon Roberts, on Perseus Digital Library
- Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 3.8 (the Persian army at Gaugamela) and 3.15 (the dead), trans. E. J. Chinnock, on Wikisource
- Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni 4.16.26 (Persian and Macedonian dead), Latin text on LacusCurtius
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Alexander the Great” (summary)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Scipio Africanus: Battle of Zama”
- Julius Caesar, The Gallic War 7.47 to 52 (the repulse at Gergovia and its losses), trans. H. J. Edwards, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius
- Suetonius, The Life of the Deified Julius 25 (three setbacks in Gaul), trans. J. C. Rolfe, Loeb Classical Library, on LacusCurtius
- Livius.org (Jona Lendering), “Constantinople (Istanbul)”
