Adrian Keith Goldsworthy (; born 1969) is a British historian and novelist who specialises in ancient Roman history.

Education

Adrian Goldsworthy attended Westbourne School, Penarth. He then read Ancient and Modern History at St John's College, Oxford, completing a D.Phil. in ancient military history from the University of Oxford in 1994. That dissertation laid the foundation of his first book, The Roman Army at War 100 BC – AD 200.

Career

Goldsworthy was appointed a Junior Research Fellow at Cardiff University for two years, taught briefly at King's College London and was an assistant professor on the University of Notre Dame's London programme for six years. His expertise is in Roman history, but he has also taught a course on the military history of the Second World War.

Goldsworthy has appeared on History Channel documentaries and the television game show Time Commanders, His first novel, True Soldier Gentlemen, was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2011 and was followed by Beat the Drums Slowly and Send Me Safely Back Again. The titles of each of his novels are taken from the lyrics of popular military songs of the period.

Asked about his philosophy of life, Goldsworthy responded that he was "English, so obviously do not have a philosophy. I am a Christian, though, if you want to know about important beliefs." Goldsworthy lives in South Wales.

  • Caesar's Civil War: 49–44 BC (2002), Osprey Publishing
  • In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire (Orion, 2003)
  • The Complete Roman Army (Thames & Hudson, 2003)
  • Caesar, Life of a Colossus, (Yale University Press, 2006)
  • The Fall of the West: The Slow Death of the Roman Superpower (Orion 2009)
  • U.S. title: How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower, (Yale University Press, 2009)
  • Antony and Cleopatra (2010); Yale University Press
  • Augustus: First Emperor of Rome, (Yale University Press, 2014)
  • Pax Romana: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World, (Orion Publishing Co, 2016) 528 p
  • Beat the Drums Slowly (2011)
  • Send Me Safely Back Again (2012)
  • All in Scarlet Uniform (2013)
  • Run Them Ashore (2014)
  • Whose Business is to Die (2015)
  • Roman Britain Series
  • Vindolanda (Head of Zeus, 2017)
  • The Encircling Sea (Head of Zeus, 2018)
  • Brigantia (Head of Zeus, 2019)
  • The Fort (Head of Zeus, 2021)
  • The City (Head of Zeus, 2022)
  • The Wall (Head of Zeus, 2023)

References

  • Adrian Goldsworthy's website
  • Audio interview with Goldsworthy at National Review Online
  • Audio podcast of talk in 2013 by Adrian Goldsworthy on Roman Warfare at The New York Military Affairs Symposium [http://nymas.org/] in NYC.