Customer Reviews

Roman Legionary 58 BC-AD 69

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Scottish academic Dr. Ross Cowan has put together an impressive summary of the Augustan-era legionary in Osprey's Warrior #71, entitled Roman Legionary 58BC - AD 69. Unlike previous Osprey titles on the Roman Army that tend to recycle old information, Dr. Cowan has been able to benefit from the recent discovery of the site of the Teutoberg Forest battlefield in Germany and subsequent archeological discoveries. Furthermore, while Cowan relies heavily on the standard literary sources - Caesar, Tacitus, Polybius and Josephus - he is able to incorporate some less-used sources as well (e.g. Velleius Paterculus). Overall, this is a fine summary for a young scholar and one that is able to add value to existing collections on the Roman military.

Roman Legionary 58BC - AD 69 consists of a short introduction/chronology, a detailed chart of the 28 Augustan legions, and short sections on the organization/size/command of the legion; enlistment; training; length of service; pay; leadership and morale; belief and belonging; decorations and punishments; dress and appearance; equipment; and daily life on campaign. The section on battle is 12-pages long and discusses more tactical issues. The author also includes a list of relevant websites (thank you!), a glossary of Roman terms (some of which are rather uncommon) and a bibliography. The eight color plates by Angus McBride are excellent and depict: a veteran legionary of Legio XII in 32 BC; a Roman press-gang in Ostia; a Roman squad on the march; four legionary fighting techniques; camp construction; the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in AD 9; a century in battle order; and a legionary in AD 43. The text is also supported by a number of photographs of Roman military artifacts recently excavated in Germany since 1999.

Dr. Cowan does a fine job describing the path of the Roman recruit from enlistment, through training and assignment to a legion. One aspect of the Roman soldier that I had not seen emphasized before was the importance of the balteus (belt) and caligae (military boots). Cowan notes that, "the removal of the balteus stripped a soldier of his military identity; it was confiscated if a soldier was dishonorably discharged." Another interesting distinction that often goes unnoticed is that some Roman troops fought "expediti" without armor while the majority remained armored. Cowan notes that Roman commanders usually preferred to have some troops outfitted as expediti, particularly on route marches where they served as mobile flankers to protect the columns.

In the section on Battle, Cowan notes Roman preference for the "triplex acies" or triple line formation with cohorts deployed in 4-3-3 order. Indeed, much of the modern tactical preference for "two up, one back" harkens back to Caesar's tactical formulae. Cowan's characterizations of Roman battle tactics and formations are heavily influenced by modern research on the subject, such as by Keppie and Goldsworthy. However, the author's assertion that the "century was the primary tactical units of the legion," rather than the cohort, is unsupportable. Cowan's hypothesis, borrowed from an earlier researcher in 1994, is based upon the evidence that the cohort lacked its own commander or standard. This is exceedingly thin evidence for such a controversial hypothesis that controverts Caesar and Tacitus, and demonstrates the danger of modern researchers who "think things to death". No military man from any time in the past 2,000 years would believe that an 80 man, company-size unit would be the primary tactical unit rather than a 300-600 man cohort or battalion size unit. First, a century could not perform independent tactical missions, but a cohort with six cohorts could operate independently and we have the accounts to prove this. Second, Roman military doctrine was based upon the timely use of reserves; a century lacked the size to employ a reserve on a significant enough scale to influence a battle, but a cohort could commit two centuries as a reserve. There is little doubt that the century was the building block for the larger cohorts and legions, but it was not an end unto itself. If Cowan was right and the cohort was merely an administrative entity, then try to imagine the Legion commander controlling 60 centuries on the battlefield without an intermediate level of command - this defies military logic. Nevertheless, this is an excellent summary of the Roman legionary in this period.

Great book. Plenty of facts that I was unaware of before. E.g. gladius doesn't actually mean short sword; most legionaries were conscripts rather than volunteers; all three legionary eagles captured in the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9 were eventually recovered. The Battle section is excellent - really makes you understand what happened in an ancient battle. And the plates are good too.

This Osprey book on the Roman legions proves to be a well written introduction to the subject matter. Written primary for beginners, any beginning reader can get a pretty clear understanding of how the Roman legion works, operates and function as a military unit. The author describes the tactics, weaponary, armor and other elements of the legion clearly and without blogging down the reader with too much details. The author also get on the personal level as he describes the recuitment, training, pay and other individual elements of being a legionaire. All that information for 63 pages. As an introductionary material, this book does an excellent job of a quick read and understanding.

I do agreed with one previous reviewer that there's a singular flaw in this book where the author claims that the century was the primary tactical unit of the legion. I too, totally disagreed with that assertion. That reviewer made an excellent case for why a century wasn't the primary tactical unit so I won't be redundant here.

But overall, the author provided a well researched book that should encouraged most beginning reader on the subject to read more and deeper.

Scottish academic Dr. Ross Cowan has put together an impressive summary of the Augustan-era legionary in Osprey's Warrior #71, entitled Roman Legionary 58BC - AD 69. Unlike previous Osprey titles on the Roman Army that tend to recycle old information, Dr. Cowan has been able to benefit from the recent discovery of the site of the Teutoberg Forest battlefield in Germany and subsequent archeological discoveries. Furthermore, while Cowan relies heavily on the standard literary sources - Caesar, Tacitus, Polybius and Josephus - he is able to incorporate some less-used sources as well (e.g. Velleius Paterculus). Overall, this is a fine summary for a young scholar and one that is able to add value to existing collections on the Roman military.

Roman Legionary 58BC - AD 69 consists of a short introduction/chronology, a detailed chart of the 28 Augustan legions, and short sections on the organization/size/command of the legion; enlistment; training; length of service; pay; leadership and morale; belief and belonging; decorations and punishments; dress and appearance; equipment; and daily life on campaign. The section on battle is 12-pages long and discusses more tactical issues. The author also includes a list of relevant websites (thank you!), a glossary of Roman terms (some of which are rather uncommon) and a bibliography. The eight color plates by Angus McBride are excellent and depict: a veteran legionary of Legio XII in 32 BC; a Roman press-gang in Ostia; a Roman squad on the march; four legionary fighting techniques; camp construction; the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in AD 9; a century in battle order; and a legionary in AD 43. The text is also supported by a number of photographs of Roman military artifacts recently excavated in Germany since 1999.

Dr. Cowan does a fine job describing the path of the Roman recruit from enlistment, through training and assignment to a legion. One aspect of the Roman soldier that I had not seen emphasized before was the importance of the balteus (belt) and caligae (military boots). Cowan notes that, "the removal of the balteus stripped a soldier of his military identity; it was confiscated if a soldier was dishonorably discharged." Another interesting distinction that often goes unnoticed is that some Roman troops fought "expediti" without armor while the majority remained armored. Cowan notes that Roman commanders usually preferred to have some troops outfitted as expediti, particularly on route marches where they served as mobile flankers to protect the columns.

In the section on Battle, Cowan notes Roman preference for the "triplex acies" or triple line formation with cohorts deployed in 4-3-3 order. Indeed, much of the modern tactical preference for "two up, one back" harkens back to Caesar's tactical formulae. Cowan's characterizations of Roman battle tactics and formations are heavily influenced by modern research on the subject, such as by Keppie and Goldsworthy. However, the author's assertion that the "century was the primary tactical units of the legion," rather than the cohort, is unsupportable. Cowan's hypothesis, borrowed from an earlier researcher in 1994, is based upon the evidence that the cohort lacked its own commander or standard. This is exceedingly thin evidence for such a controversial hypothesis that controverts Caesar and Tacitus, and demonstrates the danger of modern researchers who "think things to death". No military man from any time in the past 2,000 years would believe that an 80 man, company-size unit would be the primary tactical unit rather than a 300-600 man cohort or battalion size unit. First, a century could not perform independent tactical missions, but a cohort with six cohorts could operate independently and we have the accounts to prove this. Second, Roman military doctrine was based upon the timely use of reserves; a century lacked the size to employ a reserve on a significant enough scale to influence a battle, but a cohort could commit two centuries as a reserve. There is little doubt that the century was the building block for the larger cohorts and legions, but it was not an end unto itself. If Cowan was right and the cohort was merely an administrative entity, then try to imagine the Legion commander controlling 60 centuries on the battlefield without an intermediate level of command - this defies military logic. Nevertheless, this is an excellent summary of the Roman legionary in this period.

This is an excellent introduction the experiences, weaponry, and tactics of the Roman soldiery of the late Republic and early Empire, from the beginning of Julius Caesar's Gallic War to the death of Galba and Otho in 69. For a more experienced student of the Roman Army, it contains basic information but includes some new material-like the little known fact that many legionaries were forced into service-and makes some argumentable claims, like that the cohort did not have a commander. For anyone, this book is a worthy visual source; as with most Osprey books, the color plates by Angus McBride have only one problem-you only get eight of them!
This title would be best read with the other two Osprey titles by Cowan, Imperial Roman Legionary AD 161-284, and Roman Battle Tactics 101 BC-AD 313.

The Bad Season Michael In Hell

I bought the book to use as research for a novel I'm writing. The book had great illustrations and was very informative on legion tactics and weapons. I was also amazed by how many times the legions fought each other and how the weapons and uniforms changed over the years. I really enjoyed this book.

This is a very good introductory volume, covering the period form Julius Caesar to the end of the `Augustan' dynasty. It looks in more detail than usual for an Osprey at all aspects of the subject, as you can see from the contents -
P04: Introduction
P05: Chronology
P07: The establishment of the Imperial Legions; Organization, Size and Command of the Legion
.The legion; Centuries and centurions; Senior officers; The century as the primary tactical unit.
P09: Enlistment
P11: Training
P12: Length of Service
P13: Pay; Leadership and Morale
P16: Belief and Belonging
.Unit identity; Group identity
P19: Sacramentum, Decorations and Punishments
.The military oath; Rewards and decorations; Punishments; Bravado and initiative.
P23: Dress and Appearance
P25: Equipment
.Pilum; Shield; Sword; Dagger; Armour; Helmet; The burden of equipment.
[P33-40: Colour Plates]
P44: Daily Life on Campaign
.Building camp; Meals and entertainment; Camp followers; Striking camp
P46: Battle
.Formations and depth of lines; Non-continuous battle lines; Centurions, standard-bearers and optiones in battle; Centurions and standard-bearers; Optiones; The importance of experience in battle; The war cry; The charge and collision; Lulls during battle; After the battle.
P58: Websites; Glossary
P59: Bibliography
P60: Colour Plate Commentary
P64: Index

The section on `The century as the primary tactical unit' and `Formations and depth of lines' are particularly interesting, and are more informative on the subject than the two Osprey volumes on Roman Battle Tactics. He quotes French and German authors in his bibliography, which may be why he has more to say in a small space then most writers on the subject in entire books: "The cohort is traditionally viewed as the primary tactical unit of the legion. This is certainly the impression given by Caesar and Tacitus, who tell of formations and tactics based around the cohort. However, it has been suggested that the cohort could not function as a tactical unit because it had no commander or obvious standard of its own, leaving the century as the primary tactical unit (Isaac 1994). The centurion, therefore, was the crucial professional officer in the legion; there was no permanent commander of a sub-unit of the legion greater in size than the century between him and the legate, whose tenure of command might be limited to only three years or so. The centuries were the primary tactical units of the legion, which was itself a mass administrative unit. When Caesar and Tacitus speak of cohorts moving in battle we should view them as groupings of centuries fighting in support of each other."

The author is also very clear in `Formations and depth of lines' and `Non-continuous battle lines' as to how the troops deployed and fought, and what the light infantry were up to after they had withdrawn from skirmishing, again unlike many other writers on the subject with entire volumes to play with.

The colour plates are not as exciting as the other volumes on the Roman Army that I have read recently, though this is an older book, and Osprey may have taken note of readers' feedback. However, they do the job of illustrating the legionary at work and, err, work.
A: Veteran of legio XII Antiqua, 32-31 BC. This shows a legionary standing there displaying his equipment; shield and pila leaning against the wall, helmet upended to show the inside, accompanied by sketches of various bits.
B: Legionary press-gang in Ostia, port of Rome, AD 6-9. This shows an unarmoured but armed group of soldiers at work in the back alleys.
C: Contubernium on the march, post-AD 14. This shows the eight-strong mess-group of legionaries marching with their equipment and servants.
D: legionary fighting techniques. Four figures in various combat poses - though in is noted that these are disputed.
E: Marching camp, 1st century AD. Camp under construction.
F: Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Germany, autumn AD 9. Three main legionary figures in the foreground, two behind, fighting Germans, with more shadowy detail in the background
G: Prior century in battle, 1st century AD. This shows the right side of the century as deployed for battle against Germanic-looking opponents, showing the poses and positioning of various members of the unit.
H: Legionary of II Augusta, Britain AD 43. This shows a legionary standing and displaying his equipment, holding his shield and pilum, accompanied by sketches of various bits.

Further reading:
The Roman Army of the Principate 27 BC-AD 117 (Battle Orders)
The Roman Army: The Civil Wars 88-31 BC (Battle Orders)
Roman Battle Tactics 390110 BC (Elite)
Roman Centurions 75331 BC (Men-at-arms)
Early Roman Armies (Men-at-arms)
Roman Republican Legionary 298-105 BC (Warrior)

Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome (Hellenistic Culture and Society)
Andrea Palladio and the Architecture of Battle with the Unpublished Edition of Polybius' Histories
The Crisis of Rome
New Perspectives on Ancient Warfare (History of Warfare (Brill))

Great source for weapons, armour, tactics, and more! The color plates inside alone are worth the reason to buy this...But it is also filled with great info and more!

As with all of this series it is well done and with great illustrations

Whether you're a hobbyist (like myself), a college student writing a research paper, or just plain interested in military literature, you really can't go wrong with Osprey. I have ten of their books now, and I will continue to collect them as long as I can find them. The illustrations are top notch and the research is excellent. I know this sounds like an advertisement, but in all honesty, as far as historical research goes, Osprey is a great place to start. My only complaint is the price. A bit high, in my opinion, but not to the point of irrationality.

Cheers