Bloomsbury (2016) p/b 168pp £14.99 (ISBN 9781474227155)
This little book is a gem. It draws together from all available sources a concise picture of the Roman army through the ages. As always, B. writes with pellucid clarity. His book is a pleasure to read.
In summary, his narrative is as follows. The Roman army was not (as many people imagine) a fixed entity comprising this number of legions, that number of cohorts and so many hundred cavalry units. It was an evolving military force, which was constantly being adapted to meet new threats or to exploit new opportunities. Rome’s army originally comprised units modelled on Greek phalanxes. During the late 3rd C BC there were 16 legions which, after a life-and-death struggle, managed to defeat Carthage. Rome ultimately won the Punic Wars because of rigorous military training and the tactical brilliance of Scipio Africanus. In the 2nd C BC the number of legions was reduced and tribunes played a vital role in the command structure. In the early 1st C BC, Marius established the structure which most people think of as ‘the Roman army’, namely one legion = 10 cohorts, each comprising six centuries with 80 men per century. By now the legions were permanent fighting units, rather than farmers who enrolled at the beginning of each campaigning season.
In the late 1st C, after two horrendous civil wars, Augustus remodelled the army. He reduced the number of legions to 26 or 27 and placed them around the Empire, mainly inside troublesome provinces. He also re-organised the auxiliary troops, which Rome recruited from conquered tribes. These were either infantry or cavalry units and usually 500 strong. The auxiliaries brought with them their own native skills—bowmen from Palmyra, slingers from Crete, cavalry from Germany and so forth. Augustus established the Praetorian Guard to protect the emperor, as well as the Urban Cohorts to police the city of Rome.
Later emperors re-structured the army to meet new circumstances, such as the conquest and administration of Britain. When provinces were peaceful, legions and auxiliary units were usually moved towards the frontiers. The next big event in Roman military history was the reform programme of Diocletian (AD 284–305) and Constantine (AD 306–337). Those two Emperors created (i) frontier forces (for example, units along the coasts of southern Britain and northern Gaul commanded by the ‘Count of the Saxon Shore’) and (ii) mobile field armies, based inside provinces. Many of the soldiers were by then living in towns rather than forts or fortresses. Constantine disbanded the Praetorian Guard.
Important resources for the historian are of course the ancient authors such as Livy, Polybius, Tacitus and Ammianus Marcellinus. But pre-eminent in this particular area is a 4th C official called Vegetius, who wrote The Epitome of Military Science. Fortunately, Vegetius did not approve of modernity (i.e. the late fourth century) and many of his descriptions hark back to earlier years.
B. makes full use of the available materials—archaeological finds have yielded a vast haul of military fitments and paraphernalia—and he is careful to explain what his sources are. Like Vegetius, he also deals with all aspects of military life, including the layout of overnight camps and the details of military training. He describes weapons, armour, battle formations and tactics.
Finally, the Roman army was much more than just a killing machine. It supplied the builders, engineers, surveyors, manufacturers, craftsmen and administrators, who collectively created and maintained the empire. B. provides an accurate description of all the activities which the Roman military undertook, when not actually fighting.
This book is to be warmly recommended to everyone with an interest in Roman history or military history generally.
Rupert Jackson