The Complete Roman Army [Hardcover]

Adrian Goldsworthy (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Complete Series | Publication Date: October 27, 2003

“An outstanding general study of the Roman military system. . . . The best one-volume treatment of the subject now in existence.”—Historian

The Roman army was one of the most successful fighting forces in history. Its organization and tactics were highly advanced and were unequaled until the modern era. Spectacular monuments to its perseverance and engineering skill are still visible today, most notably Hadrian’s Wall and the siegeworks around the fortress of Masada.

This book is the first to examine in detail not just the early imperial army but also the citizens’ militia of the Republic and the army of the later Empire. The unprecedented scope and longevity of Roman military success is placed in the context of ordinary soldiers’ daily lives, whether spent in the quiet routine of a peaceful garrison or in arduous campaign and violent combat. Key battles and tactics are described, and there are brief biographies of the great commanders.

Drawing on archaeology, ancient art, and original documentary sources, this book presents the most convincing history ever published of the Roman army. 245 illustrations, 107 in color

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Adrian Goldsworthy is an English historian whose publications include The Roman Army at War: 100 BC-AD 200, The Complete Roman Army, Roman Warfare, The Punic Wars, and Cannae.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (October 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500051240
• ISBN-13: 978-0500051245
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > History > Military > Pictorials
  • #90 in Books > History > Military > Life & Institutions

More About the Author

Adrian Goldsworthy was born in 1969 in Cardiff. He was educated in Penarth and then read Ancient and Modern History at St. John's College, Oxford, where he subsequently completed his doctorate in ancient history. His D.Phil. Thesis was the basis for his first book, The Roman Army At War 100 BC - AD 200, which looked at how the Roman army actually operated on campaign and in battle.

For several years he taught in a number of universities, and began to write for a wider audience. A succession of books followed dealing with aspects of ancient military history, including Roman Warfare, The Punic Wars (which was later re-issued as the Fall of Carthage), Cannae, In the Name of Rome and the Complete Roman Army. More recently he has looked at wider themes, combining the military focus with discussion of politics and society in a biography of Caesar, and a study of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, titled How Rome Fell (although released in the UK as The Fall of the West). His latest book is a paired biography of Antony and Cleopatra.

He is now a full time writer, and no longer teaches, although he is currently a Visiting Fellow at the University of Newcastle. However, he frequently gives one off lectures and talks both to universities and other groups in the UK, USA, Canada, and Europe. In the last couple of years audiences have included local history societies, graduates and undergraduates in a range of countries, the cadets of VMI, and the distinguished cast of a new production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. He frequently appears as a talking head or presenter in TV documentaries and has acted as consultant on both documentaries and dramas. He will appear in six of the eight episodes of the forthcoming When Rome ruled series for National Geographic. He often appears on radio.

More information can be found on his website - www.adriangoldsworthy.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best One-Volume Work on the Subject Available, February 21, 2005

By 

R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Complete Roman Army (Hardcover)

My first impression on receiving this book was that at 214 pages it was far too short to be considered a "complete" history of the Roman Army. However, Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy is one of the finest Roman-era historians writing today and he packs a considerable amount of detail into this slim volume. Although the volume is primarily a synthesis of other existing works, Goldsworthy has taken the best materials - including recent archaeological research from Kalkriese in Germany - to provide a very balanced portrait of this subject. Furthermore, The Complete Roman Army has a very high graphic quality, with beautiful color photographs of uniforms, reconstructed and ruined fortifications, weapons and locations. Indeed, this book is easily the best one-volume work available on the Roman Army today.

The Complete Roman Army consists of five major sections: the Republican Army (25 pages), the professional army (29 pages), the life of a Roman soldier (87 pages), the army at war (35 pages) and the army of late antiquity (14 pages). Goldsworthy covers numerous topics, including recruitment, daily routines, rewards and punishments, religion, retirement, equipment, rank structure and off-duty behavior. In essence, this represents a "handbook" on the Roman army. The author also includes order of battle data on the Roman Army, maps of garrison locations, layouts of camps and sidebars on major battles like Pharsalus and the defeat of Boudicca. Although some readers might wish greater detail than Goldsworthy can provide on some subjects, the author's extensive bibliography does point to other sources for expanded information. All in all, Goldsworthy's synthesis and condensation of so much information into such a small space is impressive.

Goldsworthy's discussion of Roman battle tactics follows in the tracks of his earlier works on the subject and I do find some gaps in his otherwise superb analysis. Goldsworthy never really explains how the Romans were so often victorious in the close battle; in previous books, Goldsworthy suggested that it was a handful of "extra-aggressive" soldiers who "broke into the enemy line" but in this book he leaves it more vague. While Goldsworthy notes the importance of the reserve in a Roman army, he doesn't discuss how it was used to win battles. Furthermore, he uses literary evidence from Caesar's commentaries to suggest that Roman soldiers charged at their enemies, hurling their pilum at 10-15 meters and then crashed into their line. The idea that a soldier could run with armor and scutum, throw a javelin, then draw his sword while maintaining linear order with the soldiers on his right and left in the space of perhaps 6-10 seconds is absurd. Indeed, the idea of running with a large rectangular shield like the scutum seems pretty absurd. Given the Roman emphasis on tight discipline and the need to use the shields to cover the front rank, I think it far more like that Roman infantry advanced methodically.

In the final section, Goldsworthy spends little effort discussing the role of the army in Rome's decline and fall. While the author does mention the army's role in causing political instability in the empire and the difficulty its smaller units had in defeating Barbarian invasions, he dismisses the "Barbarization" theory and delves no further into examining the decline. Yet it is clear from the sources and evidence we have available that the Roman Army did decline in quality toward the end and that it was up against tougher opposition (Goldsworthy never mentions the Goths, Ostrogoths, Vandals or Huns). The Roman military system was based on a high level of tactical organization, skill and discipline - all of which apparently declined over time and contributed to their eventual defeat.

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Survey of Roman Army 750 B.C. to 400 A.D., October 13, 2003

By 

10th Legion "10th Legion" (Central Texas, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Roman Army (Hardcover)

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!

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the money, December 15, 2006

By 

Kimball O'Hara "all men dream, but not equally" (California, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Roman Army (Hardcover)

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.