224
pages, Thames & Hudson, ISBN-13: 978-050005124
The Complete Roman
Army purports to
be a resource to anyone seeking a better understanding of the Roman Army. The
book examines everything from weapons, tactics, daily life of the soldier, and
the surrounding political environment. It has a nice array of artist
illustrations, photographs of murals and sculptures, and tactical battle maps. I
was, however, disappointed that the book gave very little attention to the Roman
Army of the later Empire, and instead focused mostly on the consular armies of
the Republic and the professional army of the Principate. The author provides a
very generic and cursory view of the 4th to 5th Centuries,
dismisses the idea that barbarization led to the army's decline and basically
says while there were some minor changes in weapons and tactics, the army
pretty much operated the same way it did under the Principate.
This
is very frustrating. The author does not address the effect of billeting troops
in the city during the 4th to 5th Centuries. He does not
take into account the massive influx of barbarian federates serving under their
own leaders, in contrast to the allies of the republican era serving under
Roman officers. The author does not discuss whether the change in armor/weapons
in the late 3rd century affected tactics or the effectiveness of the army. This
is notable because the renderings of a late 3rd Century soldier look
awfully similar to the auxilla of the former periods. He does not address the
increasing necessity to rely on conscripts and recently defeated barbarians en
masse or the “upgrading” of border troops to serve along with the regular field
army. He does not discuss why the army reverted to fighting with spears in what
was basically an old Greek phalanx formation.
All-in-all
this book has the feel of a compilation of several smaller works, but is really
not a great primer on the Roman Army as a whole. Greater detail can be found in
various older works.
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