The Origins of the "Classic" Roman Legion
This book provides to the general reader a good account of how the "classic" Roman legion came into being. As the authors illustrate, it was a very long process of change and adaptation. They make scholarly use of a wide range of literary and archaeological evidence to describe this process. It is a somewhat technical work due to the nature of the surviving evidence, and one should keep this in mind.
Roman historical writing began in 200 BC, and this book studies Roman warfare from 753 BC to 275 BC. For those not too familiar with Roman historiography, Livy is our chief literary source for this period, and he is not always trustworthy. Do not expect this account of Roman military history to flow like a typical narrative of Caesar's Gallic War.
The title of the book is slightly misleading. Italic warfare was dynamic, with a myriad of peoples in close interaction. The book also covers Latin, Etruscan and Samnite armies. This was necessary for the author to explain Rome's early armies, which borrowed a great deal of ideas and equipment from their enemies. This book is certainly not the first to argue this, nor to suggest that the Romans' borrowed their manipular tactics from the Samnites. This book should be read as a supplement to other works like Parker's "Roman Legions", Salmon's "Samnium and the Samnites", and especially Connolly's "Greece and Rome at War".
The book does not provide a conclusion, nor does it provide an adequate context to put Rome's early armies into. This may be due to the book's very short length. What the last part of the book describes is one of the most important military revolutions in European history: the creation of the Roman manipular legion, which allowed Rome to master Italy and then become master of the Mediterranean world.
Overall this a book worth buying. It studies an important topic in Roman history. Osprey's tradition of excellent color illustrations continues here and complements the excellent text.
First legionaries
Describes and illustrates not only the early armies of Rome, but of their Etruscan, Gaulish, Samnite, Latin, Venetian, and Pyrhhian enemies. The Epiran elephants and the Gauls are especially neat.
Rather Good.
For a book series like Osprey that is more devoted to regalia details and great color plates. This book was filled with a fine amount of historical details that have scarcely been mentioned in most military histories. The author proves his three main points. First, the legion came from the Etruscans, not the Greeks. Secondly, it was developed to meet the more formidable threat of the Samnites, rather than the Gauls. Lastly, he proves how resourceful and tenacious even the earliest of Roman armies were.
Whence the Roman legion?
This book revolutionized my understanding of the Roman legion. Everyone acknowledges that the legion somehow evolved out of the Greek phalanx, which had come to dominate warfare in the years between 500-350 BC to such an extent that we know it was used by peoples as diverse as the Carthiginians and the Etruscans. In fact, it was from the Etruscans that whom most commentators assume that the Romans learned it, while under the rule of Etruscan kings. Sometime between about 400 and 275 BC, however, two new formations came to dominate warfare, the Macedonian phalanx and the Roman legion. Sekunda argues for a very different interpretation of the development of the legion, arguing that it was done in response, not to the Celtic invasion of the early 4th century, but much later due to the defeats at the hands of the nimble samnites. His interpretation may be radical (and may dim the reputation of Camillus, its traditional inventor), but it makes sense. Anyone who wants to weigh in on the early development of the legion needs to at least take his arguments into account to do the topic justice.
Must-read
This book is one that is informative. It gives depth and detail about the early roman armies that Caesar used to expand his vast empire. I recommend this book to all interested in history, or even warfare. It will be an eye opener to all new to Rome. Great book.
