Adrian Keith Goldsworthy

"The relationship between the Roman Empire and its rival, the Parthian-Persian Empire, has long been viewed as bloody, hostile, and destructive. In fact, the truth is more complex. For more than seven hundred years, the Romans lived side by side by their eastern neighbors, sometimes at war, more often at peace, almost always trading with each other to their mutual benefit. The Roman Empire was wealthier and larger than the Persian Empire and its predecessor,...

Stretching eighty miles from coast to coast across northern England, Hadrian's Wall is the largest Roman artifact known today. It is commonly viewed as a defiant barrier, the end of the empire, a place where civilization stopped and barbarism began. In fact, the massive structure remains shrouded in mystery. Was the wall intended to keep out the Picts, who inhabited the North? Or was it merely a symbol of Roman power and wealth? What was life like...

"Alexander the Great's conquests staggered the world. He led his army across thousands of miles, from northern Greece to modern Pakistan, overthrowing the greatest empires of his time and building a new one in their place. He led from the front and was often wounded. He claimed to be the son of a god, but he was actually the son of Philip II. In Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors, classical historian Adrian Goldsworthy argues that without...