Roman Legionary 58 BC-AD 69

The text is well written, and focuses on military history. (That might seem obvious, but some Osprey authors seem to ignore military history.) Cowan writes in a concise fashion, with well placed excerpts from the classical writers. The author doesn’t break much new ground, but this is an excellent synopsis of the Legionary during that time frame. If you’ve already read a lot about the legions, you probably won’t learn much. But if you have no books on the Legionary in this critical time frame, this is an excellent starting point, and a good reference book for your shelf.This 2003 title is an excellent synopsis of the life of a legionary during the end of the Republic and the height of the early empire. I think this is such a great one-book synopsis for starters, I have given it as a gift at least twice.The contents are:IntroductionChronologyThe Establishment of the Imperial LegionsOrganisation, Size and Command of the LegionEnlistmentTrainingLength of ServicePayLeadership and MoraleBelief and BelongingSacramentum, Decorations and PunishmentDress and AppearanceEquipmentDaily Life on Campaign.EquipmentBattleWebsitesGlossaryBibliographyColour Plate CommentaryIndexThe sections on Equipment and Battle together amount to just under half of the entire book.

Osprey Publishing has made a name for themselves by giving the reader a great deal of information in an enjoyable, well-illustrated and small package. Most of the time they do it very well. Warrior #71 - Roman Legionary 58 BC - AD 69 - hits the mark.Chapters include:The Establishment of the Imperial LegionsOrganization, Size and Command of the LegionEnlistmentTrainingLength of ServicePayLeadership and MoraleBelief and BelongingSacramentum, Decorations and PunishmentsDress and AppearanceEquipmentDaily Life on CampaignBattleWhat Osprey does is to give the reader an overview of the Roman Legionary of this period. Who was he? How did he become a legionary? How was he equipped? What did he eat, wear and how did he live?This is a good primer on the Roman army at the height of its power and strength when, often, the only worthy opponent was other Roman legions! Battle formations and tactics are covered well. Ross Cowan did a very good job of showing how Legionaries fought in battle - as opposed to in the movies.This volume is well illustrated with photos of memorials and statuary, showing how the Romans respresented themselves as well as photos of recovered artifacts showing the equipment they used that survived the centuries. Color artwork and plates are excellent.This is a very good and informative short primer on the Roman soldier and I give it five stars for doing so many things well in such a short volume.

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

Another well done book on a specific period of Roman legionary history. It is nice because they are able to concentrate only in this time frame. These boooks always have good text and is illustrated quite well. Good to use as a painting guide. I wish I had it when I was painting my Roman of this period.

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.

Nice book. I look forward to readying it

Not a great purchase, looks and feels like a booklet... Illustrations are few and content is very limited... Not what I was expecting.

Need a book for quick Roman history or term paper, this book works real well.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this is a good and up to date summary of the Roman legionary up to AD 69 and the accession of Vespasian.The book's structure is the standard one. First you have a short but interesting background piece on the establishment of the imperial legions by Augustus, with a nice table borrowed from Keppie (the Making of the Roman Army, 1984) that traces the supposed origins of each of the legions. This is followed by the now usual pieces on organization, size and command, enlistment, training, length of service, pay, leadership and morale, belief and belonging, sacramentum, decorations and punishments, dress and equipment, daily life on campaign and battle.The contents are much more focused on the legionary's morale and sense of belonging than what you could find in Osprey publications some 15 years ago with three sections (leadership and morale, belief and belonging, sacramentum, decorations and punishments) making up some 10 pages altogether. This reflects Keegan's influence and a shift of emphasis on the rank and file's point of view and psychology rather than the traditional focus on the general or the army's organisation. It is, of course, perfectly apt for a little volume of the Warrior Series dealing with the "Roman Legionary", not the Roman Legion.The section on equipment is also good with a nice description of the evolutions of swords (the several types of so-called "gladius"), helmets and armour in particular. The emphasis put on the huge burden that the legionary had to carry around. It is not for nothing that the legionaries were called "Marius' Mules" after he reformed the army and cut down on baggage. As this book shows very well, this was still the case under the Julio-Claudians and continued well after them.The section on battle also emphasizes the "human side" of combat, including the war cry to give yourself courage and demoralize the enemy and the importance that experience in battle could have when one side was mainly made up of veterans but not the other. Nice touch was to mention lulls during battle, because there are probably few activities as taxing as hand-to-hand fighting and such fighting probably could not last more than 15-20 minutes before both sides got exhausted. Another realistic element, which you also find in other Osprey publications on the Romans, is the mention of plundering and booty, which Roman legionaries indulged in just like any other warrior during Antiquity, the Middle Ages or well after.Finally, there are the superb plates from Angus McBride. Several are quite gorgeous, such as the legionary press gangs and the "warm welcome" which they receive from the population, or the conturbernium (a mess tent of 8) on the march, suitably overburdened with all their equipment and followed by a couple of servants with pack mules. My favourite of all, however, is that of centurion Marcus Caelius' last stand during the battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The grim determination that you can see on his face as he assaults the Cherusci warriors that are stabbing one of his men tells it all...There are however two glitches that prevent this volume from being excellent. This is a pity because both glitches could have been easily avoided.One relates to the period covered by this volume. While there are in the text quite a few mentions and quotes from Caesar, there is almost nothing about his campaigns, presumably because they are covered in other Osprey volumes. However, none of the plates show legionaries in the time of Caesar. The book itself starts after the victory of Octavius over Marc-Antony and Cleopatra, as the victor reorganizes the army and demobilizes more than half of the Civil War legions. Somehow, there is a bit of a disconnection between these contents, which mainly focus on the period after 31 BC, and this volume's title which is supposed to start in 58 BC.The second glitch has already been mentioned by a couple of other reviewers on Amazon.com. I was, just like them, very much surprised to find the author picking up Isaac's somewhat contentious view, first mentioned in 1994, that the century, not the cohort, was the main tactical unit of the Roman legion. This is explicitly contradicted by both Caesar and Tacitus, to mention just these two. While the second was perhaps a bit of an armchair general (although even this is unfair because he did see some active service), Julius Caesar was certainly not. He could be somewhat expected to know what he was talking about and does not seem to have had any point to make when emphasizing the legion's cohorts rather than their centuries as the main tactical unit. At a minimum, this somewhat controversial statement would have warranted a much more thorough discussion that simply mentioning that "the cohort could not function as a tactical unit because it had no commander or obvious standard of its own." In other terms, this was too much or too little, especially since this rather controversial view flies in the face of the mainstream view and the written sources.Because of this, it is worth four stars, but not five...

First rate book about the life of Roman Legionaries. An easily read book that contains a wealth of information. Illustrations are very good, like the front cover!

Good stuff from Osprey I want to collect these books. My only grumble is the faces of the Legionaries in the colour drawings are all the same and they look like thugs.

Another great little title from Osprey packed full of details and wonderful images. This book starts at the beginning before the legions became professional to when Octavian (Augustus) formed them into full time soldiers and formed permanent armies. The Osprey books are great but short and quite expensive for what you get length wise, especially compared to a novel for example but your paying for the content, research, art, historical accuracy etc etc. Shop around and you will find good deals.Highly recommended if you are merely interested in the topic or want specific details about the subject for research or something more, fantastic little books!

The book is exactly what you would expect from Osprey, a very good overview of the subject with informative art work and interesting archaeological artifact photos. Unfortunately I had to pay for it twice.My original order arrived as an empty unsealed envelope. The expected book is probably laying on the floor of a warehouse or delivery van somewhere. After contacting Amazon and ordering a promptly delivered replacement I began receiving messages to return the original item with the warning that I would be charged if it was not received by the expected date. I informed Amazon that it is impossible to return a purchase that wasn't received in the first place (as noted in my replacement request) and thought the problem was dealt with.They charged me again anyway. Sometimes the convenience of Amazon simply isn't worth it. The automated bureaucracy the company runs on can be a real pain.