Legions of Rome: The definitive history of every Roman legion Author: Stephen Dando-Collins | Language: English | ISBN:
B007C4FWY6 | Format: EPUB
Legions of Rome: The definitive history of every Roman legion Description
No book on Roman history has attempted to do what Stephen Dando-Collins does in Legions of Rome: to provide a complete history of every Imperial Roman legion and what it achieved as a fighting force. The author has spent the last thirty years collecting every scrap of available evidence from numerous sources: stone and bronze inscriptions, coins, papyrus and literary accounts in a remarkable feat of historical detective work. The book is divided into three parts: Part 1 provides a detailed account of what the legionaries wore and ate, what camp life was like, what they were paid and how they were motivated and punished. The section also contains numerous personal histories of individual soldiers. Part 2 offers brief unit histories of all the legions that served Rome for 300 years from 30BC. Part 3 is a sweeping chronological survey of the campaigns in which the armies were involved, told from the point of view of particular legions. Lavish, authoritative and beautifully produced, Legions of Rome will appeal to ancient history enthusiasts and military history buffs alike.
- File Size: 3344 KB
- Print Length: 604 pages
- Publisher: Quercus (March 29, 2012)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B007C4FWY6
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,891 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #31
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Ancient > Rome - #40
in Books > History > Ancient > Rome
- #31
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Ancient > Rome - #40
in Books > History > Ancient > Rome
This is a massive study of the Roman Legions. The author covers all aspects, enlistment,pay, training, officers, organization, training, camp life etc. He then goes on to describe the history of each legion, and also the Praetorian Guard, the Equites Singularies etc.. The author is not afraid to take on theories long held by many historians on Legionary origins, such as Mommsen's opinion that Legion 10 Fretensis is not Caesar's famous 10th Legion, the author believes Mommsen is wrong and that it is indeed Caesar's 10th. He also has what is sure to be controversial ideas on Legionary shield emblems, that certainly don't match ideas long held by other historians. Ditto Trajan's Column, the author belives that historians have been mislead by what is on the column as to shield emblems and other aspects of Legion equipment. The last part of the book is an in depth study of the battles that the Legions took part in, it is an excellent military history of the Roman Legions. The book is excellent, and will surely spark a new look at the Roman Legions by historians.
By ZVON
I purchased this book expecting to increase my knowledge base. Unfortunately, with the exception of the brief sketches for each Legion's basic history I was somewhat disappointed.
While the author makes several interesting statements, such as one indicating that the Legions transitioned from leather to canvas tents, there are generally no foot notes for the source, which can be frustrating.
There are also some areas wherein the author appears to have made minor mistakes in the equipment and nomenclatures of Legionary weapons and armor. (Not adding to the shield blazon issue already discussed in previous reviews.)
I will agree however, if you are new to the subject, this is a SUPERB BASIC START, as long as it is followed by further reading on the subject by authors such as Keppie, Le Bohec, Goldsworthy, Webster, Watson, and even Parker.
So overall, I would say a three star book, especially in a subject area which is seeing and has seen much more work in the last decade or so due to a resurgence of interest in "things Roman".
GySgt Red MIllis USMC (ret) Curator, Marine Corps Legacy Museum
By GySgt Red Millis USMC (ret)
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