Roman Warfare

Adrian Goldsworthy's Roman Warfare is an excellent introduction to how the Romans used their soldiers to become a world power. It also covers techniques and the organization of the legions.

Rome's military was different from that of other contemporary powers in that it was more adaptable and could absorb conquered peoples. When Rome decided it wanted a fleet of quinqueremes, it copied a Carthaginian quinquereme that was left stranded in Roman territory. When it realized that even with the same ships, Rome's native inexperience at naval battles made it unsuccessful in the ramming and boarding techniques at which the Greeks and Carthaginians excelled, Rome devised a long hooking piece called a corvus. The corvus caught onto enemy vessels, allowing the Romans to mount the enemy vessel in order to engage in the type of combat at which the Romans had an advantage.

In the composition of the military, Rome enlisted soldiers from its recent conquests not only to fight in its auxiliary units, but to instill with Roman values. After the 25-years in imperial military service was ended, the auxiliary soldiers were given citizenship, which meant that when young men back in the city of Rome no longer wished to enlist, Rome still had a plentiful supply. In addition, the foreign soldiers were skilled in techniques in which the native Romans were not, like archery, or could provide expensive services, like cavalry, cheaper than the Romans.

Despite the excellence of its military, Rome stopped expanding, growing little after the death of Augustus. Goldsworthy explains this as the result of the emperor's fear of letting others gain enough prestige to challenge his position.

Roman Warfare is a tight, compact book that covers the basics on the Roman military. It has excellent ancient source references, further references, charts, tables, and a glossary.