Customer Reviews

The Roman Legions Recreated In Color Photographs (Europa Militaria)

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Superb collection of well annotated color photos displaying the equipage of various Roman Legionary and Auxiliary reenactment groups worldwide. The accompanying text provides concise yet rich details on how the equipment presented was developed and used throughout Roman History. In addition to the expected coverage of the classical First thru early Third century Imperial legionary, the volume includes some superb, rarely seen views of Legionary's from both the early and late Republic. Other bonuses include some nice photos of Legionary Standards, Auxiliary cavalry troopers, and a reconstructed Roman fort. Definitely a worthwhile addition to anyone's Ancient Military History library.

If the movie "Gladiator" shows Roman troops in all their glory on the big screen, "The Roman Legions: Recreated in Colour Photographs" captures all this glory in a book. The photos contained in this book are the marching Roman recreations you see on The Learning Channel, PBS, Discovery, and other educational TV shows. The author, Daniel Peterson, is a military historian and a museum curator and is also the organizer for the largest and most accurate recreations of the Roman military life. He's a member of the world's only authentically reconstructed Roman Calvary unit and in his personifying role has lived, marched, and ridden hundreds of miles across what was once the Roman Empire. His unit is authentically armored and equipped and prepares and eats authentic rations during their outings as Roman Legions. It goes without saying that his book is just as he envisioned it down to the last detail.

Suffice to say, the photos are absolutely stunning! There is hardly any drawings, paintings, or "historical art" in this book; that is all photos of Roman gear and equipment are real replicas and are worn by real humans. Front and back views are presented of Legionnaires, Calvary, Standard Bearers, Centurions, and auxiliary infantrymen. There are plenty of close-ups and detail shots of daggers, helmets, chain main, link plate, shields, and siege engines. Best of all, there are photos showing Legions marching, in formation, defending, and setting up defenses. There are no enemy actors in the photos so someone looking of battle scenes or how Rome's enemies look like will have to use other books.

This book has a brief history of the Roman Empire and also shows gear worn by early (BC) and later (300AD) Romans troops. However, the main focus of this book is showing Roman soldiers at the height of the Roman Empire: 1AD-200AD, or the traditional Legionary and Centurion with the red tunic and chrome plate body armor we often remember.

What makes this book so worthwhile? First off, the page layout is superb. Mr. Peterson succeeded in cramming in lots of photos and text onto each page with the precision, appeal, and organization of a museum display. On a single page, the reader doesn't just learn about one thing, but many things without getting "information overload." The captions are paragraph size and very informative, providing yet more information to the photo shown. Secondly, the photos are just unrivaled. Brilliant and in its entire splendor, the photos don't just provide information, color, and detail, but actually convey a sense of "Roman power" to the reader. One can see how colorful and fearsome the Roman Legions must have appeared as they march in formation towards the photographer in full battle dress. Third, the recreations are not skimpy either. They are extravagant and very serious as if dozens of Romans were teleported to present day. Similar to a well-funded TV show, all actors wear and carry the same gear and weapons. No actor shown is "shorted or cheated" into carrying a rubber toy sword or wearing armor made from aluminum foil. No shield is painted in a lighter shade of blue because the storage room ran out of Royal Blue paint to finish the job. This greatly helps the modeler for the modeler knows what he or she is seeing is accurate and consistent. Fourth, there is a LOT of text. This isn't just a picture book where the photos speak for themselves. The author explains why something is this or that way so the Roman figure modeler doesn't have to shrug his shoulders when asked (at a contest for example) and lamely reply, "I don't know." Finally, the photos show the actors behaving like ancient Romans. The poses are real as are the replica settings, props, food, procedures, and structures. So if a modeler wishes to convert or sculpt a Roman Legionnaire figure in a battle pose or show what a Roman campfire looks like, this book has lots of photos to choose from. Hands-down, not only do you see photos of reconstructed Roman troops and ways of life, but you learn about them as well.

As with all reconstructions, a lot of guesswork is created and Mr. Peterson admits what and where guesses were used. He mixes chain mail with plate armor worn in formations and shows Legions composed of various colors and dress. As the expert he is, Mr. Peterson still strives for complete accuracy despite his guesswork. This book is as accurate as one can get-with photos!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to model Roman Empire figures or is interested in the Roman Legionary.

This is a very good source of detailed information of the Roman Legions and their armour, weapons, tools, etc. Of particular interest is the study of the Cavalry and Centurions. Like all books in this series, the best reenactment units are used to illustrate the legionary from the Republic to the Christian Empire but with emphasis on the imperial period from Augustus through Marcus Aurelius. I wish Hollywood would pay more attention to this book.

Interested in what the Roman military looked like? Kind of an obscure issue, I thought, when I took a look at a review by an Amazon Friend. However, I got hooked on the concept and ordered the book. I'm glad that I did, although it's certainly not something I would have thought of picking up.

The purpose of the book is straightforward (Page 4): "This small book is the first attempt to make a fairly comprehensive examination of the development of the Roman legionary solely through the employment of actual full scale reconstructions." The first thing we find is a basic chronology of the Roman Republic and the Empire, giving the reader a sense of what happened when.

The first substantive section is entitled "Legionaries," and provides us a sense of what the Roman military was like--and how it evolved early on, in terms of the "foot soldiers" themselves. The early forces featured several classes, with the better born, the first class, armed in the style of the Greek hoplites and the fifth class equipped with slings (very lightly armed and without armor, as far as I can tell). There is a photo of one of the "re-enactors" in the first class garb on page 7. The use of these re-enactors makes this a most interesting volume, as the reader can get a visual sense of exactly what Roman forces looked like and how they were armed.

Thereafter, brief sections examine Imperial Legionaries (under Augustus), swords (the famous gladius) and daggers, helmets, centurions, and so on. One of my favorite sections is "Legionary Cavalry" (pages 78-83). As the book notes (page 78): ". . .service in the cavalry was the prerogative of the Roman upper class. . . ." The pages with photographs of cavalry re-enactors is fascinating.

On page 90, we learn that there are a number of re-enactor groups, trying, through trial and error and re-enactment of troop movements, to better establish how the Roman military functioned and what their gear was like.

So, a quirky book--but absolutely intriguing! If Roman history and its military has any interest for a reader, then this could be a useful resource for you.

Probably the best book out there if you want pictures of reproduced Roman Legionairre kit. Good stuff, I'd highly recommend this to any re-enactor.

One of my interests for awhile has been Roman legionaries; part of this is from reading Under the Eagle: A Tale of Military Adventure and Reckless Heroism with the Roman Legions, part of this is from painting some 28mm Roman legionaries from Warlord Games. After looking over several different books showing Roman legionaries, I decided to get this book. I'll open by saying Wow. For wargamers, modelers, or re-enacters this is a must have. While the text is light, the photos are outstanding (each of the photos have a nice textual description but there's only a page or two on each of the subject matters. I'd love to have had a more complete description of Roman legions.). Many details are brought out in greater detail than drawings can often bring out. While the pictures are of re-enactors, these re-enactors have done good research on their uniforms and done the best job possible recreating their kits. For me this is 4.5 star book only because the text is a little thinner than I'd have liked and because the section on auxila was a little thin but rises to five stars for what I need it for, painting legionaries.

A must have for everyone interested in historic recreation of roman armies. Excellent photos. Interesting contacts and some (few) facts.

This book is all color pictures of uniforms. There are no sketches or drawings here.