Warriors of Rome: An Illustrated Military History of the Roman Legions

by Michael Simkins, James Field (Illustrator)

Places the reader in the thick of the merciless and invincible Roman hordes, masters of the crossbow, lance, and pickaxe, and describes their fighting technique, weapons, and armor

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Ancient History

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg]

A very oddly constructed book- but saved by its many colour plates. There's a decent short but effective history of Rome- with an emphasis on battles. But that peters out about 14AD. Then there's a chapter on the Claudian invasion of Britain. Then the Masada story. Then a good section on the actual Equipment used in all these campaigns- emphasis on Helmets. But that leaves out a HUGE amount of Roman history- especially the transition to Byzantium. With the prose so woefully incomplete, it is the many brilliant colour illustrations of Legionaries, Cavalry, and Auxiliaries that DO cover most of the Roman eras that saves this book and make it a good addition to the shelf.

Don't get me wrong- what's here is good. The history is well written- and the Invasion of England and the Masada story are interesting. Apparently Michael Simkins, the author is an expert on Roman Headgear- as his last chapters on the development of the Roman Helmet are quite detailed. But I was expecting to learn more about the later roman empire- and that is just not here. The colour pics however -do cover the later Empire- and those are just great.

With a little bit of adult themes- there are the Romans remember - and some frank injury discussion this is best for a Junior reader at least 10-11 on up. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast- its a mixed bag. The first two enthusiasms get those great colour pics- that do give you all three types of soldier over the various eras. But the Roman History student - will read this book and then probably want to use the excellent bibliography to go read more resources. But if you are a gamer - and you mainly use the pics- you can have this be almost the only resource you use to paint your armies- its that good. A qualified rec.

[Curtiss]

Clear descriptions, supplemented by detailed illustrations, to present a picture of the Roman way of war from the perspective of the individual foot soldier or cavalryman.