The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy
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Book Reviews of The Complete Roman Army
Book Review: The Best Illustrated Reference to the Roman Legions
Summary: 5 Stars
Unlike other armies in antiquity, the Roman army evolved to be a formal institution with a distinctive military code, standard equipment, defined ranks and duties, as well as laws and procedures affecting the life and retirement of its soldiers. Although service was long (20 years/no family allowed) and discipline was strict (i.e. decimation), it was truly the first modern professional army with very specialized units ranging from doctors and cooks to sappers and siege engineers. Its men were led by leaders such as Lucullus, Pompey, and Caesar who took war as an empirical subject in which politics and well calculated strategies implemented with sound logistics and tactics were the decisive factors to victory. Because of such organization, no army would be as highly organized and trained until those of the late 19th century. Despite its defeats, the Roman army's training and efficiency tenaciously allowed it to overcome superior numbers under higher attrition. It made Rome the master of the Mediterranean world and most of modern Europe for over 1500 years (counting the Byzantine.)
This book by Adrian Goldsworthy is much better than his other one covering the political evolution of the Roman army. The list of items pertaining to the Roman army is exhaustive and, unlike with his other book, the illustrations and color photographs here are optimally suited to support the well written and edited summaries for each subject. This work far exceeds the information and detail found in the military section of Adkins & Adkins "A Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome." The book also has plenty of detail on auxilliary troops as well. One of the only problems with the work is that it offers little information on the Byzantines which is unfortunate. Despite this main drawback, the book is a valuable reference to the individual components of Western Rome's army in terms of its internal organization, composition, and evolution.
This book is far better than Goldsworthy's previous awkward illustrated attempt at presenting a sociological and political summary analysis on this subject. The information is thorough, organized, and the illustrations reinforce the subjects well. A good book for general readers, students, and scholars. A good companion to this book is G.R. Watson's 'The Roman Soldier' explaining the Roman army more from the perspective of the individual soldier.
Book Review: Complete coverage
Summary: 5 Stars
Adrian Goldworthy's The Complete Roman Army gives a pretty complete coverage of the Roman legions during their heydays during the late Republican and early Imperial periods. It reflects on the gradual evolution of the Roman army as it developed from a semi-professional civilian army of the Senate to a permanent professional forces under the Caesars.
The book gives a pretty complete coverage of this army. The information given is clear and written with clarity. There's enough to provide the needed information and no more. It refreshing that there is no overkill of information that will only result in clutter for a book like this. The balance of the information given is just right. The book comes loaded with well drawn illustrations, nice photos, maps and diagrams that gives a clear and understandable images to accompanied the text. As one previous reviewer wrote, it truly is one of the best single volume reference book on the Roman legions during its heydays.
And that is what this book is, a reference guide to the Roman legions. Anyone seeking a quick answer to any questions on the Roman legions, this is the book to touch on. I have loan out this book to people who are not historically minded but like to read Roman historical fictions like Simon Scarrow's Cato/Macros series for example. For readers of such series, this book is almost tailor made for them.
On the down side, this book is pretty expensive for a casual reader to buy and it doesn't go into much detail during the decline of Rome. But I don't think that was the real intent of the author.
Overall, an excellent effort by Adrian Goldworthy who wrote a really accessible reference book on the Roman legions during its heydays and make it interesting and informative enough that even veteran readers like myself or a novice who is only interested in fictional history, can both enjoy this book.
Book Review: Detailed guide to Roman Army operations
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is an excellent reference work on the structure and operations of the Roman Army, mostly covering the period of the Principate through Hadrian. What separates this book from others for me is that it does not focus merely on history or campaigns...I have plenty of other books that do that. This book on the other hand discusses in much detail things like:
- how a Roman fort is laid out
- what the officers and soldiers ate
- examples of duty rosters
- what training new recruits went through
- marriage and co-habitation
- pay scales including details like deductions for food and clothing
These are just examples of the detail that I have not seen compiled quite so well in one book.
Two negatives that I can think of and they are minor. Firstly, this is not a "scholarly" reference work and probably not suitable for graduate studies. Yet that may also be a virtue as it is the type of book that one can comfortably sit down and read straight through.
Secondly, the author is obviously British and a significant amount of his examples, charts, and photos relate specifically to Britannia. Now since a lot of very good archaeology comes from that province, that too is not a serious flaw and the author does make an effort to incorporate material from throughout the Empire.
A very worthy book for anyone interested in how the Roman Army actually worked!
Book Review: Comparatively slender volume, but packed with useful information
Summary: 5 Stars
The author is an expert in Roman military matters with several previous works to his credit, and even though he's an academic, his style is exceptionally readable without being oversimplified or talking down to the reader. He begins with the origins of the citizen army under the early Republic, made up of soldiers who volunteered as a matter of patriotism. This worked fine for several centuries, when Rome's sphere of influence was still relatively small and campaigns were limited in time. As conquests expanded, though, and continuous occupation became necessary, a full-time professional army became necessary, made up of career soldiers receiving pay. The ethnic make-up of the army also shifted, with a large percentage of non-Italians being accepted -- though they were still citizens, as the law required -- and with a much greater proportion of non-citizen auxiliaries added to the TO. Other sections of the book cover the many aspects of a soldier's life, both on garrison duty (which might be most of the time) and at war. Great attention is given to weapons and equipment, and the author is careful to note the many competing theories based on scarce evidence. The nearly 250 illustrations even include photos of modern reenactors, whose experiments and field trials have answered many scholarly questions. A lovely book, well written and edited, and very useful as a bridge between casual interest and academic study.Book Review: Best Survey of Roman Army 750 B.C. to 400 A.D.
Summary: 5 Stars
For serious scholars and interested amateur historians alike, this is the one "must have" survey book on the Roman Army. Goldsworthy provides a comprehensive, insightful survey in this lavishly illustrated book. Using the best of recent historical reseach on the Roman Army, Goldsworthy presents the material in a comprehensive and easily accessible style. Starting with his summary of available historical sources, he provides fresh analysis of what contemporary historians know, don't know, and what remains conjecture regarding the Roman Army. The core of the book deals with evolution of the Roman Army during the main thematic periods; the Republican Army, the Professional Army of the first and second centuries A.D., and finally the Army of Late Antiquity. There are also two sections dealing the Army at War and the Life of the Roman Soldier. The book ends with a very useful bibliography. This book is the benchmark for surveys of the Roman Army and is likely to remain so for a long time. Do not hesitate to buy this book, it is well worth it!