Biography
Septimius Severus, the African Emperor (193–211) I
Septimius Severus and his men contemplating the corpse of his rival for the throne – after the first victory in the Battle of Lugdunum. When Julianus was killed on 1 June 193, Septimius Severus was still some 80 kilometres from Rome. Nine days later his army flooded into the city in triumph having put the Senate and the Praetorians firmly…
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Ernst von Mansfeld
Count Ernst von Mansfeld (1580-1626), a German military commander, was the most famous mercenary leader of the early period of the Thirty Years’ War. In Mansfeld’s case the lack of an inheritance likewise led him into a career as a soldier of fortune, and although he was brought up a…
Theodoric the Great (c. 451 or 453/454–526)
Theodoric entering Rome. Theoderic’s empire at the height of its power in 523, with territory marked in pink ruled directly by Theoderic and stippled areas under his hegemony. One of the greatest of the barbarian kings and the greatest of the Gothic kings, Theodoric the Great, or the Amal as…
Darius III
There are times when normally competent military commanders are truly outmatched by the opponents they encounter. There is no doubt that this is the case for Darius III, who was soundly defeated at the hands of the military prodigy, Alexander of Macedon. His defeat sounded the end of Persia as…
Stirling B-Beer
Short Stirling Heavy Bomber: picture of 7 squadron Stirlings at RAF Oakington Stirling Mk III LJ514 B – Beer, with nose art (a bear holding a beer bottle painted on the nose ; the mission symbols carried by B – Beer were small foaming beer mugs) Bomber Command was stood…
Henry I and Louis VI
Henry I of England – Reading Between The Lines Theatre Company’s modern history play. A 1916 painting depicting the burial of King Henry I. Stephen of Blois wears the crown. By the time of his death, William the Bastard had claimed his father’s duchy and conquered a kingdom. He had…
Tamerlane and the Golden Horde
TAMERLANE (1336–1405). Turkic chieftain and conqueror. He was not Mongol, but sought to trace Mongol connections through his wife’s ancestors. His English name is a corruption of the Persian TimĂĽr-i Leng, “lame TimĂĽr.” Tamerlane is important not only for his conquests, but for his role in definitively ending the Mongol…