Customer Reviews

The Rise and Decline of the Late Roman Field Army

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book lacks any substance whatsoever. It is not original in any way, shape or form. It continually states the obvious and leaves one wondering why it was written. All the material can be gained by reading AHM Jones' "The Later Roman Empire" or any other of the books listed in the bibliography. This is a book that may be useful to undergratuates at best.

This is a very concise work. For once a historian has written a book that looks at the possible reasons why the Western Roman Empire didn't survive and the Eastern half did. Instead of brushing over the topic with the usual cliches Cromwell actually looks at the possibilities in depth. For too many years I've only been able to find brushovers on this time period. Cromwell takes it on directly and in doing so fills in a rather mysterious era. This is a short work, but it dosen't leave the reader feeling shorted.It belongs in all history buff's libraries be it Roman, military history or both.

(...)I found nothing compelling in the 51 pages of this book, no photos, no new bibliographic finds, no unusual insights, the footnotes are not bad. I was very disappointed in this work, and very happy I bought it at Amazon, where I didn't have to get angry at myself for paying full price for a book that may not even go in my library!
Yes, it is "concise"... 'nuff said!
Give this a miss and invest your research dollars elsewhere!

In my recommendations for books that cover the Late Roman Army I
included Cromwell's 'The Rise and Decline of the Late Roman Field
Army'. I've done a through read of this book, and of
Nicasie's 'Twilight of Empire' for comparison purposes. It is my
conclusion that 'The Rise and Decline of the Late Roman Field Army'
really is not worth buying. It contains only 54 pages of text, the
rest of the book taken up with discussion on references contained in
each of the meagre 6 chapters that comprise the book. There is very
little discussion on the equipment and arms of the Late Roman army,
its tactics and doctrine etc. The research appears to be at times
woefully out of date. For example, even at the time it was published
it was known that the division of the Empire between Valentinian I and
Valens did not create the 'Seniores' and 'Iuniores' division of units,
yet Crowell still cites this. It is also apparent that Cromwell may
well have not invested as much time and research as he might of done,
possible due to the fact that he must have known that Nicasie was also
due to have his book published at the same time as his book, which
also covered the same ground as 'The Rise and Decline of the Late
Roman Field Army', only in much greater detail.
In conclusion, my advice would be to invest your money in 'Twilight of
Empire', it's much more upto date research wise, covers the same
ground that Cromwell's book does, and contains better and more useful
information on the Late Roman army as a whole.
If you do insist on buying Cromwell's book, then for god's sake try
and find a copy that is not going to cost you nearly $100! (Thank the
god's I found a cheap copy for sale on Amazon.com is all I say, I
would would felt pig sick if I had paid the full price for a book of
such little worth).

A serious book that is detailed yet consise. A must read book for someone that is interested in Roman history!