Search results for ""Author Jeff Champion""

This is the story of one of the most important classical cities, Syracuse, and its struggles (both internal and external) for freedom and survival. Situated at the heart of the mediterranean, Syracuse was caught in the middle as Carthage, Pyrrhus of Epirus, Athens and then Rome battled to gain control of Sicily. The threat of expansionist enemies on all sides made for a tumultuous situation within the city, resulting in repeated coups that threw up a series of remarkable tyrants, such as Gelon, Timoleon and Dionysius. In this second volume, Jeff Champion follows the course of the city' s wars from the death of Dionysius II down to the final epic siege of the city in 213-211 BC. This ended with the final capture of the city by the Romans, despite the heroic and resourceful resistance of the Syracusans and the ingenious inventions of Archimedes. It is a story full of dramatic battles and epic sieges, heroism and skullduggery.

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Plutarch described Antigonus the One Eyed (382-301 BC) 'as 'the oldest and greatest of Alexander's successors.' Antigonus loyally served both Philip II and Alexander the Great as they converted his native Macedonia into an empire stretching from India to Greece. After Alexander's death, Antigonus, then governor of the obscure province of Phrygia, seemed one of the least likely of his commanders to seize the dead king's inheritance. Yet within eight years of the king's passing, through a combination of military skill and political shrewdness, he had conquered the Asian portion of the empire. His success caused those who controlled the European and Egyptian parts of the empire to unite against him. For another fourteen years he would wage war against a coalition of the other Successors: Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Seleucus and Cassander. In 301 BC he would meet defeat and death in the Battle of Ipsus. The ancient writers saw Antigonus' life as a cautionary tale about the dangers of hubris and vaulting ambition. Despite his apparent defeat, his descendants would continue to rule as kings and create a dynasty that would rule Macedonia for over a century. Jeff Champion narrates the career of this titanic figure with the focus squarely on the military aspects.

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