Foreign policy often involved nothing more than the decision whom to make war upon.

The way to a landowner's heart was to tax gently.

The cornerstone of the Roman legionnaires' astonishing fighting spirit can be attributed to their training.

The factor that made him so powerful was also his greatest liability.

With ancient history writers most immediately in view, the author indicates "tendency to look to the virtues and vices of individuals when seeking causes.

He was a stylist, not a thinker. He spent time trying to say things in as complicated a way as possible.

Author describes one monarch's impressive table but conveys a contemporary's observation, "the weightiest thing at dinner was the conversation".

Never base motivation or fear, entirely.

Reality confounds image.