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 enlarge | Author: Adrian Goldsworthy
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $31.99
You Save: $7.96 (20%)
New (12) Used (6) Collectible (1) from $31.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 144498
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 10 x 7.6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0500051240
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.00937
EAN: 9780500051245
ASIN: 0500051240
Publication Date: October 27, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
Complete coverage April 30, 2007
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
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.
Detailed guide to Roman Army operations February 6, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
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!
Worth the money December 15, 2006
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
I don't usually like books with heavy glossy pages because many publishers use that device to throw together a book that is heavy on photos and short on content. This is NOT the case here. Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy put together a great book, heavy on detail, well written and organized into a small package.
He devotes more effort into discussing the practical and operational evolution of the army than he does with the politics of the army. If you want to understand the political evolution of the army, this work will leave you short. But then again, that's not what the book is about.
As the Empire collapsed at its "ending", the tactics of its enemies had improved while the Roman Army hadn't evolved fast enough to meet the threat effectively. It would have been nice if Dr. Goldsworthy had taken some time to discuss this at greater length. But the book still gets 5 stars from me.
The Complete Roman Army August 31, 2006
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
Adrian Goldsworthy has really produced a concise and at times detailed look at Roman warfare. This book compliments Caesar Against the Celts, Ceasar's Legion and Nero's Killing Machine. Great addition for historical wargamming.
 Great Book August 14, 2006
5 out of 11 found this review helpful
An excelnt edition, fully ilustrated.
An up to date investigation with the latest discovers and interpretations of the arqueological resources.
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