Battles BCEpisodes Guide

Hannibal's merciless attacks on Roman soil dealt a near-fatal blow to the soon-to-be Empire. Sworn by his father to a blood oath against the Romans, Hannibal of Carthage does the unthinkable... he marches 40 war elephants and a massive army over the Alps to gain an element of surprise. In three key battles--Hannibal uses terrain, intimidation, and his iron will to annihilate the Roman Legions, killing every Roman soldier that he possibly can.

It's 1000 BC and the Israelites are battling the Philistines. After wresting control of the throne of Israel in a bloody civil war, David moves quickly to exterminate his enemies. He crucifies anyone who challenges his right to the throne and then turns his sword on his political enemies. Finally, David sets his sites on a new target--the beautiful Bathsheba, but she is already married. For someone like David, this is a minor impediment.

Jericho: the bloody first battle of the conquest of the Promised Land. The walls of Jericho are believed to be impenetrable. But Joshua sends in spies who find a defector in Jericho named Rahab. As Joshua's army parades around the walled city for six days, the Israelites sneak special ops forces into Rahab's house. Once they amass forty soldiers inside, Joshua and his army outside the city blow their horns and attack. The forty troops inside catch the city completely unaware.

It's 52 BC, and the great Roman Commander Julius Caesar is butchering is way through Gaul. Thanks in large part to the iron will of Caesar, the Romans complete their long quest for total Mediterranean dominance, defeating the Gauls in the final battle of the Gallic Wars. For a period of time, though, Gallic victory seemed possible. Out-numbering the Romans five to one, they held the high ground, on the hilltop fortress city of Alesia. Caesar besieges Alesia, however, and builds a wall around the city, cutting it off from all possible supply lines. When Gallic reinforcements arrive to break the blockade, Caesar puts a startling twist on his strategy by constructing a second wall between his army and the reinforcements. It is siege upon siege, but Caesar knows the Romans, although fewer in numbers, are better supplied.

Most consider the Israelite Exodus out of Egypt an act of Divine intervention. Whether inspired by God or not, the Exodus is not merely a migration of slaves, but a military maneuver by a group of combat-hardened mercenaries. An enraged Pharaoh releases his army to hunt the Israelites down after they sack an Egyptian town as they make their exit. But Moses's sharp military mind and intimate knowledge of the terrain prove more than the massive, heavily armed Egyptian army can handle. While the Israelites perform a complicated night water crossing, Moses lures the Egyptians to a watery grave in the Sea of Reeds.

In 327 BC, Greece goes head-to-head with India in Alexander the Great's final campaign. As Alexander leads his armies into India, he faces one of the most challenging tactical challenges any ground commander can confront--a forced river-crossing, a raging thunderstorm, and a vicious enemy. Alexander is able to deceive the Indian General Porus into believing that they would not attempt a crossing; instead, he maneuvers his infantry across the river at night--catching the Indian Legions unaware. Victory is at hand, thanks to this strategic brilliance.

This program explains the transformation of Ancient Egypt from a peaceful kingdom into a warring empire which leads to the Battle of Kadesh between the Egyptians under Ramses II and the Hittites lead by Muwatalli-II. In this conflict, technology, as well as tactics, plays a significant role, and Ramses barely survives to claim victory.

The mighty Persian empire under Darius I is ready to avenge past wrongs done to it by the tiny city-state of Athens. Darius sends an overwhelming force commanded by Datis to destroy Athens. But, a former Persian conscript, Miltiades, persuades the Athenians to do battle with the Persians and resists their onslaught. After the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C, the Persians return home with yet another insult from Athens.