Roman Legionary AD 69–161 (Warrior)

Excellent book on all facets of the Roman Legions. The book covers recruitment,training, length of service, pay, uniforms and organization. The author provides a rich list of references for further reading. My only disappointment was some of the excellent art work does not present will on a Kindle.

I got this book not expecting to get much out of it, since I know quite a lot about the legions already. However, this book is full of lesser known aspects of legionary warfare from this time.It has some especially illuminating parts on auxiliaries and the role they played in warfare (not always the role traditionally thought of) as well as in-depth examinations of where centurions/optios stood in the battle line and what their different roles were (or weren't, in some cases.)

The author does a fine job of using non-written sources to augment what little is written about life in the legions. Interesting read.

Good informative book as most all Osprey books.

The excellent illustrations and photos of ancient relics of the Roman Army make this a perfect reference for the time of military operations in the ancient world.

Nice pictures. The writer knows his subject but is not the best at putting that knowledge down in writing. A lot of references that probably had the information on the Roman Legionary I was looking for, but he just didn't have the room to get it into the book. Too much like the Osprey Titles which don't actually cover the subject. Example: Churchill Crocodile Tank. Half the book is on follow-on vehicles and doesn't cover the subject at all. Or US Artillery where it claims in the preface to cover all aspects of observation, fire control, and artillery doctrine and the weapons but only covers the weapons. Purchase if you need the pictures and photos for painting reference, but the book on Roman tactics in the same period is a better use of your money.

Quality door stop at a good price, exactly what I needed. Met all expectations, and was very easy to install

After so many books on the Roman legions and legionaries, including a number of titles from Osprey, I was a bit concerned that this one might be a "rehash" of previous titles. It is not. While Osprey titles are necessarily limited in size and the materials contained can generally be found scattered throughout the more specialized literature, this title does a good job in presenting the Roman legionary from the beginning of Vespasian's reign to that of Marcus Aurelius.All the sections I was expecting to find are included: chronology, recruitment and terms of service, training, tactical organization, equipment, campaign, battle and its aftermath. The contents of these sections are also mostly what I was expecting. However, there were also numerous useful elements that are often not found in similar titles, or at least not explained as well. One example is the section on the formation and destruction of Roman legions, showing that, for all their vaulted invincibility, many legions suffered heavy losses and a number were destroyed over the period, sometimes entirely.The contents of this booklet also include a number of other interesting (and often little-known) features. One example is the terms of service where the minimum age for enlisting and the ordinary term of service were exceeded, sometimes considerably, with 14-year old recruits or veterans with more than forty years of service. While the author makes good use of the information obtained from the tombstones of legionaries who served and died during this period, it is however not possible to ascertain to what extent these were common practices or exceptions.More generally, Ross Cowan's book has two merits. One is to challenge wildly accepted assumptions made by previous historians on a number of "technical" points - statements that the senior centurion in a cohort had overall command of this cohort or that the auxiliary cohorts did most of the hard fighting while the legionaries were kept in reserve and preserved. Another is to show to what extent the legions and their subunits became a way of life, a society and a family for legionaries. This can largely explain both the troops' high morale and the fact that some of them served well beyond their normal terms of service.The illustrations and plates are also rather good, even if perhaps not the best that I have ever seen in Osprey titles.There are holwever a couple of limits. I was a bit uneasy with some of the author's extrapolations, particularly when he uses 4th to 6th century authors of military treaties (Vegetius and Maurice's Strategikon) to infer that certain legionary practices existed already during the 1st and 2sd century AD. This was a bit unfortunate especially since the author spends quite a few pages in showing that similar assumptions but made by other authors are questionable and it does give the impression that he somehow does not entirely practice what he preaches. A related feature is that I almost couldn't help wondering how much we really know about the Roman legionary of the 1st and 2sd centuries, as opposed to his immediate predecessors and successors.A third but minor point is that I would have preferred if the author had provided us with as much explanations as possible instead of quoting written sources, as he tends to do in the first half of the title.Nevertheless, this was a good one and it was worth a solid four stars.

After so many books on the Roman legions and legionaries, including a number of titles from Osprey, I was a bit concerned that this one might be a "rehash" of previous titles. It is not. While Osprey titles are necessarily limited in size and the materials contained can generally be found scattered throughout the more specialized literature, this title does a good job in presenting the Roman legionary from the beginning of Vespasian's reign to that of Marcus Aurelius.All the sections I was expecting to find are included: chronology, recruitment and terms of service, training, tactical organization, equipment, campaign, battle and its aftermath. The contents of these sections are also mostly what I was expecting. However, there were also numerous useful elements that are often not found in similar titles, or at least not explained as well. One example is the section on the formation and destruction of Roman legions, showing that, for all their vaulted invincibility, many legions suffered heavy losses and a number were destroyed over the period, sometimes entirely.The contents of this booklet also include a number of other interesting (and often little-known) features. One example is the terms of service where the minimum age for enlisting and the ordinary term of service were exceeded, sometimes considerably, with 14-year old recruits or veterans with more than forty years of service. While the author makes good use of the information obtained from the tombstones of legionaries who served and died during this period, it is however not possible to ascertain to what extent these were common practices or exceptions.More generally, Ross Cowan's book has two merits. One is to challenge wildly accepted assumptions made by previous historians on a number of "technical" points - statements that the senior centurion in a cohort had overall command of this cohort or that the auxiliary cohorts did most of the hard fighting while the legionaries were kept in reserve and preserved. Another is to show to what extent the legions and their subunits became a way of life, a society and a family for legionaries. This can largely explain both the troops' high morale and the fact that some of them served well beyond their normal terms of service.The illustrations and plates are also rather good, even if perhaps not the best that I have ever seen in Osprey titles.There are holwever a couple of limits. I was a bit uneasy with some of the author's extrapolations, particularly when he uses 4th to 6th century authors of military treaties (Vegetius and Maurice's Strategikon) to infer that certain legionary practices existed already during the 1st and 2sd century AD. This was a bit unfortunate especially since the author spends quite a few pages in showing that similar assumptions but made by other authors are questionable and it does give the impression that he somehow does not entirely practice what he preaches. A related feature is that I almost couldn't help wondering how much we really know about the Roman legionary of the 1st and 2sd centuries, as opposed to his immediate predecessors and successors.A third but minor point is that I would have preferred if the author had provided us with as much explanations as possible instead of quoting written sources, as he tends to do in the first half of the title.Nevertheless, this was a good one and it was worth a solid four stars.

Lots of relevant, very interesting info. in this slim book, no doubts there. However, writing style is dull, almost reminiscent of old school text books! Hence reason for 3 rather than 4 stars.

A very good book on the roman army and worth the reading.also very good service from the seller thank you.

enjoyed and informative

good