Throughout modern history, snipers have had a prominent role as the forward observers and marksmen of any army. They are trained to camouflage themselves, shoot a high-ranking enemy soldier, and extract themselves from the area without the enemy ever knowing they were there. Snipers have a unique mindset in that they are highly solitary, must stay in the same position for hours, and must be able to kill an enemy without even giving them a chance. For these reasons, snipers have earned their fair share of medals and recognition.

Sargon the Great is the founder of the Mesopotamian Empire and the First Great Conqueror. He conquered the entire known world (Mesopotomia and the surrounding areas) using a combined military force and innovative ruling strategies. Yet another interesting history tidbit from Military History Podcast: Sargon the Great (the earliest event in military history) and Saddam Hussein (the most recent event in military history) have probably stood on the exact same spot of ground, four-thousand years later.

Ever since 326BC, the Romans have been conducting gladiatorial fights, originally for funerals, and later for pure entertainment. Gladiators are highly disciplined slaves trained at ludi. At one point, their excellent fighting ability posed a threat to Rome itself. There were various types of gladiators including the essedari (charioteers) and retiarii ("the fisherman") that fought animals or each other. Sometimes, these gladiators were loaded on to two boats and naval battles were conducted. Although the practice died down by 500AD, gladiatorial combat kept the Roman people happy and is a staple of Roman society.

Throughout history, there have been dozens of unique warriors that have each contributed something new to military history. This episode of Military History Podcast concisely profiles 11 of these unique warriors and explains what made them superior. Samurai, Ninjas, Peltasts, Hoplites, Praetorian Guards, War Elephants, Mongol Mangudai, Chariots, Cataphracts, Berserkers, and Amazons are all featured in this episode. If you can think of any unique warriors that you would like to know more about, email me at geo47@graffiti.net military history military history

In 1944, Allied airmen interned at Stalag Luft III (the supposedly escape-proof POW camp run by the Luftwaffe) performed the greatest prison escape in history. Masterminded by Roger Bushell of the RAF, the prisoners used everything at their disposal to mask their escape operations. In the end, they created a tunnel 30 feet deep, 336 feet long, and 87 prisoners managed to escape. Eventually, all but 3 escapees were recaptured or murdered by the Gestapo at Hitler's orders. A few dozen prisoners and history books are all that remains of this great escape from Stalag Luft III.

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Hannibal Barca, commander-in-chief of Carthage during the Second Punic War, is famous for crossing the Alps with his entire army (which included War Elephants) in an attempt to invade Rome from the north. He also displayed military genius countless times by outsmarting and slaughtering the greatest soldiers in the world, the Roman legions, at the Battles of Cannae, Trebbia, and Ticino. Later in the Second Punic War, Hannibal was recalled back to Carthage where he fought the Battle of Zama against Scipio of the Romans. Although he lost the battle and ended his life in shame, Hannibal was still respected in the Roman World (hence the phrase "Hannibal is at the Gates", which was used by mothers as a threat against misbehaving children).