Introduction
Michael Paul Speidel (born May 25, 1937) is a German-born American military historian and archaeologist who specializes in the study of the Roman army and ancient warfare. He is considered one of the world's foremost experts on ancient warfare.
Biography
Michael Paul Speidel was born in Pforzheim, Germany on May 25, 1937. His nephew Michael Alexander Speidel is also a historian.
Speidel received his Ph.D. in ancient history from the University of Freiburg in 1962. His Ph.D. thesis was on the Praetorian Guard. He then went to the United States to lecture ancient history. In 1970 Speidel was appointed Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has since been promoted to Full Professor at the University, where he teaches the history of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, the ancient Near East, the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire, and world cultures. He is a member of the German Archaeological Institute.
Speidel specializes in the study of the Roman army, particularly its epigraphy, on which he has written a number of books. In recent years, Speidel has conducted extensive archaeological research on the warfare of ancient Eurasia. He is considered one of the world's foremost experts on ancient warfare.
Selected works
- Die Equites singulares Augusti, 1965
- Guards of the Roman Armies, 1978
- Iuppiter Dolichenus, 1980
- Roman Army Studies, 1982-1992
- Die Denkmäler der Kaiserreiter: Equites singulares Augusti, 1994
- Riding for Caesar: The Roman Emperors’ Horse Guards, 1994
- Ancient Germanic Warriors: Warrior Styles from Trajan’s Column to Icelandic Sagas, 2004
- Emperor Hadrian’s speeches to the African Army: A New Text, 2007
- Dawn of Japan. Emperor, Gods, and Warriors on Jimmu’s Mirror, 2010