Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt: A Social History

by Richard Alston

The province of Egypt provides unique archaeological and documentary evidence for the study of the Roman army. In this fascinating social history Richard Alston examines the economic, cultural, social and legal aspects of a military career, illuminating the life and role of the individual soldier in the army.
Soldier and Society in Roman Eygpt provides a complete reassessment of the impact of the Roman army on local societies, and convincingly challenges the orthodox picture. The soldiers are seen not as an isolated elite living in fear of the local populations, but as relatively well-integrated into local communities. The unsuspected scale of the army's involvement in these communities offers a new insight into both Roman rule in Egypt and Roman imperialism more generally.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ancient History, History, Egypt

272 pages, Hardcover

First published December 19, 1995

About the author

Professor of Roman History, Royal Holloway. Richard has worked extensively on social and economic history of the Roman imperial period. His work is at the interface of ancient history and modern social theory. His interest in reception is in the history of urbanism and in political philosophy.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good source for the more 'down-to-earth' military historian. Alston's main argument is that the soldier in Roman Egypt was not an isolated caste of elites, but rather was quite integrated with the community. Some chapters are a bit dense (with lots of papyrological evidence). Good appendices and bibliography.

[Drianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I totally appreciate what Alston was trying to do here, but mainly I wanted *more*. It felt like many of the topics were simply not addressed as thoroughly as the evidence (or conclusions) warranted.