This engrossing and original book looks at the growth and eventual demise of Rome from the viewpoint of the peoples who fought against it.

Here is the reality behind legends such as Spartacus the gladiator, and the stories of Shapur the conqueror, Viriathus the guerrilla leader and Mithridates the connoisseur of poisons.

Some enemies of Rome were noble heroes, others were murdering villains, but each has a unique and fascinating story.

Defying the might of Rome was a dangerous business, and few of the men and women described in these pages died in their beds. Some, like Vercingetorix and Jugurtha, were captured, exhibited in triumph and then, while their conquerors sat down to a festive dinner, killed in the dungeons below. Rather than face such an end, some of Rome's greatest adversaries, including Hannibal, Boudicca and Cleopatra, killed themselves.

'A highly readable gallop through a number of major military crises in Roman history ... good, clear, old-fashioned narrative style'