Gladius
Living, Fighting and Dying in the Roman Army

The author sets out his book's shortcomings quite openly in his preface. The text is neither a history of the Roman army nor a guide to Roman military organisation and battle tactics. It is not really a book to be read cover to cover but rather to dip into subject by subject. The author points out t......more

This book is clearly meticulously researched and very interesting. Fascinating insights into the Roman army and makes you re-evaluate what it was...in fact, even its definition of being an ‘army’ when it was also bodyguard, police force, civil engineer, military engineer, explorer...the list goes on......more

Gladius is an extensive, thematically organized look at the life of the Roman soldier, focusing on the long era Republican conquests around the Carthaginian Wars and the Christianization of the empire under Constantine. Bédoyére draws from historical documents, archeological evidence, and primarily t......more

A huge topic covered very well by this book. It is easy to read and very informative. It would make a first rate primer for learning about the Roman Army. I have filed it under the reference section in my library, being quite sure I will be diving in and out of it over time.......more