I worked with the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment in the 1990s. For all the fuss made back then about an emerging Revolution in Military Affairs – long range precision strike capabilities and information dominance – many of us believed that the truly important core competence of the US armed forces was (and would remain)…

The military explanation for the fall of Rome is a familiar one, and it remains popular. It goes something like this: by the third century barbarians began to outnumber native Roman citizens in the ranks of the army; cavalry units eclipsed the traditional foundation of Roman strength found in the infantry legions; frontier units became…

Every so often I pick a general topic I want to better educate myself about. This year, I’ve focused on explaining the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, a timeless debate that never seems to lose its relevance, literally argued, refuted, and refined continuously from the time of the Declaration of Independence to the…

It is impossible to pinpoint the high watermark of the Roman Empire, but one could make a strong argument for the reign of Hadrian (117-138 AD). His long, sober and steady leadership was a conscious emulation of Augustus, the first and arguably greatest Caesar – modest, congenial and wise. Just as Hadrian was a worthy,…

The history of Rome is, in many ways, the history of the frontier – how it expanded and was governed and secured. Edward Luttwak, a professor of strategic studies, brings a unique perspective to a topic that has long remained, for better or worse, the realm of classical scholars. The overarching theme is that the…