The Complete Roman Army. By A.K. Goldsworthy. Thames and Hudson, London, 2003. Pp. 224, illus 245. Price: £24.95. ISBN 0 500 05124 0 (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Army of the Early Roman Republic: A fresh approach
This short article takes a fresh approach to untangle Livy's two 'snapshots' of the early Roman Republican army supposedly c.550 BC; and 340 BC and resolves interpretation of 'rorarii' and 'accensi' in the latter and points to anachronisms in the former as described by Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Review article discussing: The Late Roman Army, by P Southern & K R Dixon (1996); Unit Sizes in the Late Roman Army, by T Coello (1996); Warfare in Roman Europe AD 350-425, by H Elton (1996).
Journal of Military History, 1997
Review of Adrian Goldsworthy's The Roman Amry at War, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1996
Addressing Criticisms of the Late Roman Army -Expansion and Equipment
This short essay aims to address common popular and academic commentary on the state of the Late Roman Army - particularly the idea that the lack of expansion in the Late Roman army was a sign of martial weakness or inferiority, and the idea that the equipment used by the army in the late period was somehow inferior to that of earlier centuries
Y. LE BOHEC (ed.), with G. BRIZZI, E. DESCHLER-ERB, G. GREATREX, B. RANKOV and M. REDDÉ, The Encyclopedia of the Roman Army (Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, E. Sussex/Malden, MA, 2015).
Romans at War: Soldiers, Citizens, and Society in the Roman Republic, 2019
The study of the Roman army is almost as old as the genre of Roman history itself. Polybius, writing in the middle of the second century, offered the first-and still one of the most important-studies of the Roman army of any period. Taking up 24 chapters (19-42) within Book 6 of his Histories, his description and analysis of the army of the Republic both set the stage for, and helped to shape the trajectory of, the field of Roman military studies which came after him. He is, arguably, the father of the discipline as it exists today. 1 The bulk of Polybius' discussion focuses on military praxis, organization, and equipment. He offered detailed descriptions of recruitment, marching orders, camp construction, and tactical arrangements. These topics were expanded upon in other sections, including his famous comparison of the Roman legion and Macedonian phalanx (18.28-32). His "nuts and bolts" approach to the army reveals both his familiarity with the practical details of military systems-Polybius having served as a hipparchus for the Achaean league in 170/169-and his appreciation for organization and command structures. Polybius offered an educated officer's view of the Roman military system, which presented the army as a rational and practical tool of power-a set of systems and institutions designed to maximize the effectiveness of both the armed force and the power and influence of Rome's military elite. Accordingly, his analysis has long resonated with later aristocrats and military officers-turned-authors, both from antiquity and modernity. His detailed and precise descriptions of Rome's military order offered a paradigm for well-organized operations to which later generals could both compare and aspire. His description of the army did not include the sumptuous and dramatic individual moral exempla found in an author like Livyalthough it did contain moral aspects-but represented a deeply practical and informed expression of military structures. Polybius' work did not focus on the ideal heroic warrior, but rather on the ideal army. * The authors thank Brahm Kleinman, whose suggestions improved this introduction. All dates are BC unless otherwise noted. 1 For an overview of Polybius as military historian more generally, see Marsden (1974, 295), who concluded, "…at the very least, he began the breakthrough into more advanced, even modern, military history."