Roman Army: Wars of the Empire (Brassey's History of Uniforms) [Hardcover]

Graham Sumner (Author), Graham Turner (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1997 | Series: Brassey's History of Uniforms

The Ancient Roman Army is often looked upon as a model of order and uniformity, but this book reveals that this classical ideal is a myth and that Ancient Roman warriors served in a wide variety of armour and equipment, ranging from coats of mail to the exotic garb of crocodile skin. Sometimes they clad themselves in loot from the battlefield, but more often than not they wore equipment heavily influenced by the land in which they served. The development of Roman arms and armour is a story of increasing influence of foreign methods of fighting on the Roman legionary, until in the end he differed little from the barbarians he fought against.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Brasseys Publications; 1st English ed edition (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857532120
• ISBN-13: 978-1857532128
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,423,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent illustrated discussion of Roman army equipage., November 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire (Brassey's History of Uniforms) (Hardcover)

The book is exactly what I have long sought, a complete discussion of the armor, clothing, weapons, and other equipage of the Roman Army. The only reservation that I might have is that the time period covered is that of the early and middle Empire and does not discuss the army at the time of the Punic Wars, the late Republic, from Gaius Marius to Jullius Caesar, or the late Empire of Diocletian on through the end. I do realize that this would have required a very much larger, and more expensive, book. In any case, I have found the book as it is to be accurate in its very detailed discussions and extensive illustrations. It is certainly one of the very best books on the subject that I have found to date.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A top of the list must for Roman reenactors, September 18, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (San Diego, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire (Brassey's History of Uniforms) (Hardcover)

Picks up where "Roman Legions Recreated in Colour Photos" leaves off. An excellent feature are the abundant line drawings of the sculpture and bas relief from which so much of the interpretation of recreated gear is derived. - Hibernicus, Leg IX His.