The Romans were, without a doubt, the most dominant force in the Western Mediterranean throughout most of their history. However, these titans still had their share of catastrophic defeats. The four most notable being: * Battle of Lake Trasimene (217BC): Hannibal, being pursued by Flaminius of Rome, hides in the forests to the north of Lake Trasimene. He then ambushes Flaminius, surrounds him, and easily defeats him. * Battle of Cannae (216BC): Hannibal proves that superior tactics can make up for inferior numbers. Hannibal, using a pincer motion, surrounds the slow Roman forces and slaughters them. * Battle of Arausio (105BC): Boiorix of the Cimbri takes advantage of the two un-cooperative Roman commanders and easily defeats them. * Battle of Teutoberg Forest (9AD): Ariminus of the Germans conducts many hit-and-run attacks on the Romans until every single one of their 24,000 man force is dead. To learn more, read Extreme War by Terrence Poulos Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

The Battle of Chaldiran was fought in northwestern Persia in 1514. It was fought between the Ottomans (dominant Sunni Muslims from Turkey) and the Safavids (inexperienced Shiite Muslims from Persia). The Ottomans, who had both a numerical advantage and a technological advantage, easily won the battle. However, they chose not to continue the campaign into the Safavid capital. After this battle, the Ottomans experienced a short period of growth, followed by centuries of decline. They were eventually defeated in WWI. As for the Safavids, they experienced a long period of growth until they too were finally overcome by Afghan clans in 1722. For more information, read Worlds Together, Worlds Apart by Robert Tignor et. al. Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

The Gulf War (lasting from 1990-1991) began when Iraq invaded its neighbor Kuwait. This was the second invasion launched by Iraq in the past decade, with the first being the Iran-Iraq War. It can be divided into four phases: * Desert Shield: Buildup of US and coalition troops in Saudi Arabia * Desert Storm: Incredibly successful air strike on key Iraqi missile installations and SCUD missile launchers. The Smart Bomb became a keynote image of this phase. * Desert Sabre: A tank charge through Kuwait and into Iraq. The US M1A2 Abrams tanks encountered little opposition. * Desert Farewell: A withdrawal of coalition troops after securing the independence of Kuwait. Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

Cyrus the Great, though he did not found the First Persian Empire, did conduct four expeditions which made it the sole power in the Middle East and Anatolia. His empire would last for the next 200 years until the coming of Alexander the Great. The four campaigns were: 1. Conquering Media: With the help of Harpagus, Cyrus invaded Media currently ruled by Astyages. Astyages was his grandfather and his attempted-murderer. 2. Conquering Lydia: Cyrus conquers Sardis, the capital of the Lydian Empire (under the rule of Croesus). After the Lydian Empire fell, Croesus became an adviser to Cyrus. 3. Conquering Assyrians: Cyrus conquered Babylon, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. He entered the city via draining the Euphrates River. 4. Conquering the Massegatai: Cyrus attempted to conquer Queen Tomyris of the Massegatai (a Scythian Tribe), but was tragically killed by a volley of arrows For more information, read The Histories by Herodotus Military History Podcast is sponspored by Armchair General Magazine