Gladius
University of Chicago Press (Verlag)
978-0-226-75023-1 (ISBN)
Empire.
The Roman army was the greatest fighting machine in the ancient world. More than that, it was the single largest organization in Western antiquity, taking in members from all classes, from senators to freed slaves. The Roman Empire depended on its army not just to win its wars, defend its frontiers, and control the seas, but to act as the very engine of the state.
In Gladius, Guy de la Bédoyère takes us straight to the heart of what it meant to be a part of the Roman army. Rather than a history of the army itself, or a guide to military organization and fighting methods, this book is a ground-level recreation of what it was like to be a soldier in the army that made the empire. Surveying numerous aspects of life in the Roman army between 264 BCE and 337 CE, Gladius—the Latin word for sword—draws not only on the words of famed Roman historians, but also those of the soldiers themselves, as recorded in their religious dedications, tombstones, and even private letters and graffiti. Gladius reveals the everyday life of these soldiers and their families, whether stationed in a bleak frontier garrison in Britain or North Africa, tasked with guarding the emperor in Rome, fighting on foreign battlefields, mutinying over pay, marching in triumph, throwing their weight around on city streets, or enjoying esteem in honorable retirement.
By illuminating the history of one organization that reflected all corners of the Roman world, Gladius gives us a portrait of an ancient society that is unprecedented in both its broad sweep and gritty intimacy.
Guy de la Bédoyère is the author of many books about the Roman world and was a longtime cohost of Channel 4’s Time Team.
Maps and plans
Foreword
1. Introduction—The Army of the Emperors
2. Strength and Honour—Signing On in Caesar’s Army
3. Gloria Exercitus—Making Soldiers
4. Gold and Silver—Pay, Handouts and Bequests
5. A Soldier’s Life—Garrisoning the Empire
6. Living Off the Land—The Roman Army and the Environment
7. Ignominy and Defeat—The Roman Army’s Darkest Days
8. I Came, I Saw, I Conquered—The Roman War Machine Victorious
9. Living by the Sword—Violence and Atrocities
10. Quinqueremes and Triremes—The Roman Army at Sea
11. Mutineers and Rebels—King-Makers for Sale
12. Peacetime Duties—Jacks-of-All-Trades
13. Leisure and Leave—Hunting Wild Boar and Other Diversions
14. Wives and Lovers—Family Life on the Frontier
15. Veterans—The Emperor’s Die-Hards
16. Jupiter’s Men—Religion and Superstition
Epilogue
Rome’s Principal Wars
Emperors from Augustus to Valentinian I and Valens
Tacitus and Dio on the Size of the Army
Roman Names
Glossary of Terms
Notes
Abbreviations and Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Index
Erscheinungsdatum | 06.11.2020 |
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Zusatzinfo | 34 color plates, 4 maps |
Sprache | englisch |
Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
Gewicht | 993 g |
Themenwelt | Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Vor- und Frühgeschichte |
Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Altertum / Antike | |
Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte | |
ISBN-10 | 0-226-75023-X / 022675023X |
ISBN-13 | 978-0-226-75023-1 / 9780226750231 |
Zustand | Neuware |
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