Erik Hildinger

Erik Hildinger received his B.A. in Latin from the University of Michigan in 1979 and his J.D. from Tulane University in 1982, after which he practiced law for about 15 years. However, he remained interested in classics and history. He translated from Latin Friar Giovanni di Plano Carpini’s account of his journey during the thirteenth century to visit the Mongol Khan at Karakorum, and it is available from Branden Books as The Story of the Mongols Whom We Call the Tartars. He then began teaching technical communications at the Engineering College of the University of Michigan and continued to write.

In 1997 his Warriors of the Steppe, a history of steppe-style warfare, was published to positive reviews, and it remains in print today. Hildinger’s expertise about Attila and the Huns derives from his work on this book, which required extensive research and wide reading of the major secondary sources in English and French, and also of primary sources in Latin and translation.

He followed Warriors of the Steppe with Swords Against the Senate, a history of the later days of the Roman Republic. Both books are available from Hachette.

He has also published numerous magazine articles on military history in Military History and Combat magazines. Two of his articles were chosen as cover articles for Military History: one about the Mongol invasion of Europe and one about the Byzantine general Belisarius’s defense of Rome against the Ostrogoths during the sixth century.

He was a featured speaker at the International Horse Archery Festival when it was held at Fort Dodge, Iowa several years ago and has been consulted by a far eastern television network in connection with a project involving Roman history.

His Website is:

erikhildinger.com