Adrian Goldsworthy

• 1. Introduction

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  Adrian Goldsworthy, born in 1969, once summed up his outlook in a single blunt line. "English, so obviously do not have a philosophy. I am a Christian, though, if you want to know about important beliefs," he said. That same directness runs through a career built on two very different battlefields, ancient Rome and Napoleonic Europe. How does a historian trained in ancient warfare end up writing fiction about a different army entirely, and what shaped that path along the way?

• 2. From Penarth To Oxford

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  Westbourne School in Penarth gave Goldsworthy his early education before he moved on to Oxford. At St John's College, Oxford, he read Ancient and Modern History as an undergraduate. He stayed on for a doctorate, completing a D.Phil in ancient military history from the University of Oxford in 1994. That dissertation became the basis for his first book, The Roman Army at War 100 BC-AD 200. Published by Oxford University Press in 1996, it launched a career that soon carried him into university teaching posts across Britain.

• 3. From Cardiff To Notre Dame

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  Cardiff University appointed Goldsworthy a Junior Research Fellow for two years, his first post after Oxford. He then taught briefly at King's College London. His longest teaching post followed: six years as an assistant professor on the University of Notre Dame's London programme. Although his expertise lies in Roman history, Goldsworthy also taught a course on the military history of the Second World War. Those years in front of students would soon be matched by years in front of readers, as his list of published books began to grow.

• 4. Three Decades Of Nonfiction

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  Roman Warfare appeared in 2000 through Cassell. The same year brought The Punic Wars, later reissued as The Fall of Carthage: The Punic Wars 265-146 BC. Fields of Battle: Cannae followed in 2001, and Caesar's Civil War: 49-44 BC came from Osprey Publishing the next year. In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire appeared in 2003. The Complete Roman Army, published by Thames & Hudson, appeared the same year.

  Caesar, Life of a Colossus was published by Yale University Press in 2006. The Fall of the West: The Slow Death of the Roman Superpower followed in 2009. In the United States it was retitled How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower. Antony and Cleopatra, also published by Yale University Press, appeared in 2010. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome came out in 2014, also with Yale University Press. Pax Romana: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World followed in 2016, a 528-page account published by Orion. Hadrian's Wall, from Basic Books, appeared in 2018.

  Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors, published by Head of Zeus, arrived in 2020, moving his nonfiction beyond Rome for the first time. The Eagle and the Lion: Rome, Persia and an Unwinnable Conflict followed in 2023. Its American edition carries a different title, Rome and Persia: The Seven Hundred Year Rivalry. Athens and Sparta: The Rivalry That Shaped Ancient Greece, listed for Basic Books in 2026, extends his range to Greek history as well. That same expertise has also carried him beyond the page, onto television screens and in front of a theatre company on at least one occasion.

• 5. On Screen And Stage

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  History Channel documentaries have featured Goldsworthy discussing the ancient world for a broadcast audience. He also appeared on the television game show Time Commanders, serving as an expert on the battles that contestants were fighting. In 2010 he gave a speech about Roman history and politics to the cast of a Liverpool production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. That same year, 2010, marked the start of an entirely different project: his first venture into writing fiction.

• 6. Trading Legions For Redcoats

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  True Soldier Gentlemen introduced readers to Wellington's redcoat army, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2011. It was his first novel, part of a series set during the Napoleonic Wars rather than in Rome. Beat the Drums Slowly and Send Me Safely Back Again followed soon after, continuing the story of Wellington's soldiers. Each title in the series borrows its name from the lyrics of a popular military song of the period. All in Scarlet Uniform, Run Them Ashore, and Whose Business is to Die completed the six-book series between 2013 and 2015. Years after leaving Rome for Wellington's army, Goldsworthy would send his fiction back across the empire's northern frontier.

• 7. Back To Roman Britain

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  Vindolanda, published by Head of Zeus in 2017, launched a new series set on the Roman frontier in Britain. The Encircling Sea and Brigantia followed in 2018 and 2019, continuing the same world. The Fort, The City, and The Wall completed the six-book series, appearing between 2021 and 2023. Today, Adrian Goldsworthy lives in South Wales, still producing new titles on both sides of his career, ancient Rome and the age of Wellington.