Achieve The Roman Army: The Greatest War Machine Of The Ancient World Engineered By Chris McNab Ebook
utilitarian in its aspect, I was hoping for a little bit on the religious and social history of the Roman Legions, as well as more concise information on the Auxiliary later to be known as the Foederati corps of the legion, those foreign levies, mercenaries and specialist troops who fought just as hard as the citizen legionaries.
Chris McNab does however provide the reader with a wealth of information on the organization of the Roman Legions i, e. the various ranks and their functions, He also provides the reader with a description, replete with historical recreations and archaeological photos, of Roman military equipment, The photos/illustrations were a real deal breaker in my opinion, McNab also presents short histories of campaigns and individual military engagements, The text is divided into easy digest periods of Roman history from the early monarchical period surprisingly, I haven't seen a lot of books on this subject try to tackle that all the way through to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, albeit with a short foray into the early Byzantine period.
One of the best books on Roman military organization that I've ever read, It is aimed entirely at those interested in the minutiae of military orderofbattle, arms and equipment, TTPs Tactics, Techniques and Procedures, marching order, military administration and the other kinds of details that truly give you possession of the subject and an intimate understanding of what it
was like to fight for, or against, Rome.
The book even avoids tracking major campaigns or battles, and it cannot be faulted for this, The subject is so enormous that to try to encompass it all in a single volume would produce a book that could dwarf a Brandon Sanderson tome.
Because of this totally understandable choice, it's a bit less satisfying, as it sets up the military so brilliantly for the reader, who is left disappointed when the force they've just studied doesn't really go into action the way they'd like.
It is a book clearly aimed at wargamers, monographical deepdiving historians, and hooray current and former military service members who are looking to see the roots of their own organizations in the Rome of Romulus, the Republic, or the Emperors.
Well worth your time. A good portrayal of a once great empire! I am used to the brief Osprey volumes on military matters, This work, however, is much longer, featuringpages of text, It covers the time when the first evidence for the nature of the Roman Army is available the reign of Servius Tullus to the end of the Western Empire centuries later.
Even withpages, that leaves rather little time for great detail on any stage in the evolution of the Roman military, Nonetheless, a nicely written volume that provides a sense of the Roman Army as it evolved and came to its end, I learned about how Romans wrecked barbarians Chris McNab's latest title for Osprey follows the Roman Army from the first armed citizens of the early Republic through the glorious heights of the Imperial legions to the shameful defeats inflicted upon the late Roman army by the Goths and Huns.
Tracing the development of tactics, equipment and training through detailed text, illustrations, diagrams, and photographs, this book will give the reader an accessible yet detailed insight into the military force that enabled Rome to become the greatest empire the world has ever seen, to defeat its enemies, subdue its neighbors and control vast territories.
This book describes the organization of the forces, equipment and weaponry, uniforms, and development in tactics and warfare of the Roman Army, Each of the four historical sections will focus on the changes in the army, but will also look at the talented men who transformed and led the army, such as Scipio Africanus, Caesar and Marcus Aurelius, and the momentous battles fought, including Cannae, Pharsalus, and Adrianople.
The Roman Army: The Greatest War Machine of the Ancient World was a fantastic book for deeper understanding of the military that conquered the entire Mediterranean, This book gives a history of the Roman Army from the founding of the cityBCE to the Fall of the Western Roman EmpireCE, It discusses famous wars and battles, like the Punic Wars, Pharsalus, and the Massacre of the Teutoburg Forest, In addition, in goes into detail about the equipment of individual soldiers, as well as the tactics employed in battles and campaigns, I enjoyed this book because it provided both a bug picture and a closer look into the Roman Army, It had many helpful pictures, like fabulous maps of troop formations in important battles and diagrams of Roman forts, The book was particularly powerful when it discusses Hannibal's genius tactics in the Battle of Cannae, I recommend this book to fans of history and any who are interested in the Roman State or warfare in the ancient world, It is very useful on learning about these tactics, which can give us insight into the modern world, Excellent overview of the Roman Army from day one till end, Included are excellent maps, photos, and art from Osprey, Very nice read. Having read this work I felt that it did a decent job of explaining military structure of Roman legions and looking back through you develop a sense of the evolution of Roman military doctrine.
However I found myself at times rereading certain passages because I found them confusing and having a second set of eyes utilizing one example agreed to poor wording.
Another issue reading this work, I felt some terms were lacking explanation, If you are well versed in Roman history, then this book is too broad in it's subject matter and would not provide much insight to you, If you are looking to learn Roman history and have basic knowledge, then there is a sense of feeling lost, Who is the audience for this book then
Some illustrations were helpful, but there could have been illustrations to explain what the author describes in this work, as some illustrations though nice to learn, didn't connect with the passages.
I don't think I could recommend this work to anyone, I will look to other books on the subject, Dr Chris McNab has written over a hundred books in a career spanning over two decades, He is a historian with a specialisation in military history, .