Since the dawn of history mankind recorded the exploits of heroes and military leaders. The Gilgamesh-Epic describes the military deeds of the political leader of Uruk. Many cuneiform-documents from as early as the third millenium BC tell the tale of different dynasties and their military campaigns throughout Mesopotamia. The constant struggle for water and arable land influenced the developments of military strategy and tactics. Warfare played a major role in the genesis of the ancient Near Eastern kingships. Since the very beginning of Egyptian history it was one of Pharao's foremost duties to smite Egypt's enemies. All ancient Near Eastern people were repeatedly marshalled to supply the required military units and the economy was harnessed to support the troops. The artists depicted abhorrent scenes of slain enemies and poets sang of the military deeds of their kings. With the advent of the vast Empires of the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians the development of military organisation reached its pinnacle. The royal dynasties of these Near Eastern empires commanded the entire human and material resources for their military goals.

Homer's great Iliad and Odyssey are books on wars and war heroes. The history of the Greek city states was governed by bellicose rivalry and constant warfare. Even the development of democracy in the Greek world depended on and evolved 'pari passu' with new styles of warfare. Athens, for instance, at the time of its cultural and political climax during the 5th and 4th centuries BC spent two years at war for every year of peace. The two most important Greek history books were written in this time: Herodotos' book on the Persian wars and Thukydides' 'Peloponnesian War'. The standards they set were valid far beyond antiquity. With superior armies and battle field tactics Alexander the Great conquered and explored the East from Asia Minor and Egypt to the Indus river, thereby preparing the grounds for his generals and veterans to spread the Greek language, Greek urban culture and traditions. Alexander's campaigns continued to inspire the imagination of generations for centuries to come and shaped the history and culture of a great many nations.

Rome, while still a republic, was at war for most of its existence. Its armies and generals united the greater part of Europe, Asia Minor, the Near East and North Africa to a single Empire and thus created the foundations for a common European heritage. The Roman army played an important political, social, cultural and economic role in this Empire. As a professional force under the supreme command of the emperors it ensured unusually long periods of peace and participated in the ruling and running of the empire, as well as in its administration and integration. Roman army veterans settled in remote corners of the Empire, spreading their traditions and ways of life, while young men from almost all parts of the vast Empire joined the Roman army to enjoy the advantages of military service. Generals and commanding officers were senators and knights and thus political leaders often with ambitions of their own, some even willing to unleash terrible civil wars. Rome's army underwent numerous changes and reorganizations in order to keep up with the military requirements of its time. Thereby it both adapted to and brought about changes in the political system. Ensuring the Empire's survival in the Byzantine East until AD 1453, the Roman army was not only the most successful military, but indeed the most long-lived human organization ever to exist.