Books by Nicholas Sekunda

Fully illustrated story of the army of the Greek king who fought both Rome and Carthage in the 280s--270s BC, and gave the world the phrase "a Pyrrhic victory" for a success so costly that it counts as a defeat.Fully illustrated with detailed color plates, this is the story of one of the most renowned warrior-kings of the post-Alexandrian age, whose costly encounters with Republican Rome have become a byword for victory won at unsustainable cost.Pyrrhus was one of the most tireless and famous warriors of the Hellenistic Age that followed the dispersal of Alexander the Great''s brief empire. After inheriting the throne as a boy, and a period of exile, he began a career of alliances and expansion, in particular against the region''s rising power: Rome. Gathering both Greek and Italian allies into a very large army (which included war-elephants), he crossed to Italy in 280 BC, but lost most of his force in a series of costly victories at Heraclea and Asculum, as well as a storm at sea. After a campaign in Sicily against the Carthaginians, he was defeated by the Romans at Beneventum and was forced to withdraw. Undeterred, he fought wars in Macedonia and Greece, the last of which cost him his life.

The principal source of information on the Roman Republican Army is the sixth book of the Histories of the Greek historian Polybius, written a little before 150BC. This engaging text by Nicholas Sekunda draws heavily on this vital source to outline the equipment and organisation of the Roman Republican Army from 200-104 BC - a time when Rome was growing from a regional to a world power. With plenty of photographs and illustrations, including eight vivid full page colour plates by Angus McBride, this fascinating volume examines such topics as the Roman shield, helmets, the cuirass, greaves, the pilum, legion organisation, the principales and the tactics they employed. Men-at-Arms 283, 291 and 46 are also available in a single volume special edition as 'Caesar's Legions'.

A study of the Greek Hoplite in the "Golden Age" of Ancient Greek civilization, from the victory at Marathon over Darius of Persia, to the rise of Alexander the Great. It covers the Greek warrior's weapons, armour, shield and helmets, and how he was recruited, trained and fought.

Sparta was a city in the ancient Greek state of Lakedaimon, the only state in Greece to have a full-time army. Nick Sekunda examines this ancient military machine, describing the organizational system of the Spartan army, the battles they fought and the society that produced them.

The antagonism between the Persian and the Greek colonies on the Ionian coast of Asia Minor began with Cyrus I and continued for some 200 years until the Empire was destroyed by Alexander's Macedonians. This book looks at the arms, equipment and organization of these forces.