The Complete Roman Army: Book Review

The Complete Roman Army: Book Review Kayeron Denise Bell University of North Texas Senior The Complete Roman Army: Book Review In Adrian Goldsworthy’s The Complete Roman Army, he expatiates on precise details about the Roman military and government from their establishment of the renown Republican system into the final system implemented before their fall—the Principate/Imperial system. Goldsworthy highlights the radical changes that the institutions of the Roman Army underwent that provided them the resources to become a great empire. Moreover, Goldsworthy notes that there are limited sources available; therefore, there exists an abundance of inconclusive information that is important to comprehending Roman culture and more importantly their military mentality as well as that of their opponent. The book is broken down into five sections: The Republican Army, The Professional Army, The Life of a Roman Soldier, The Army at War, and The Army of Late Antiquity. Each part goes into detail about the specified topic and how it relates to the alterations that the Romans made to their government, military formation, war tactics, equipment, etc., to adapt to their changing environment and gain the upper hand over their opponent. Goldsworthy is as detailed as sources allow him about various forms of military life from the layout of the camps and their rations of food to the changing appearance of the belts worn by the soldiers. In this review, I will analyze Goldsworthy’s “The Complete Roman Army” based on the notion that the Roman military evolved from the rise to the fall of their dominion. Furthermore, I will discuss the wider issues in the interpretation of ancient Roman history based on the inconclusive information made from limited sources. Adrian Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army (New York: Thames & Hudson Inc, 2003), 6-17. Before going into discussion about the book, it is necessary to provide a brief biography of the writer in order to state his experience with this particular topic. Adrian Goldsworthy is a Welsh Historian born in 1969 in the city of Cardiff. He studied at Westbourne House School Penarth. Then, he went to St. John’s College at Oxford where he studied both ancient and modern history. Afterwards, he received his doctorates of philosophy in ancient military history at Oxford University in 1994. For two years, he worked as a junior academic researcher at Cardiff University. He taught for a short period of time at King’s College in London. Then he worked as an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame. He is an expert in ancient Roman history and has guest starred on documentaries produced by the History Channel as well as on Time Commanders. Despite his teaching background, he is now a full-time writer. He recently started a historic fiction series based in the era of Napoleon. “Adrian Goldsworthy.” Adrian Keith Goldsworthy, accessed June 11, 2014, http://en.icecrown-cms.net/Adrian_Keith_Goldsworthy.html#Biography Goldsworthy begins his description of the Roman army with the conversion of hoplite phalanx warfare to the ‘Polybian’ legion within the period of the Republic. He begins this section of the book by quoting Polybius, a prominent historian of the 2nd century that was witness to Rome’s rise to greatness, who proclaims Rome’s ability to overpower most of the “inhabited world to their sole government.” This is discernibly due to the evolution of the Roman Army which caused inevitable changes to their system of government and social life. Polybius accredited Rome’s success to the stability of their constitution and their unique adaptable tactics of warfare. Based on the information provided by the book, the Roman army initially started as a citizen militia comprised of landowners, mostly farmers, who served in the army as loyal citizens of the community and returned to their farmland after service. It is important to note that this duty is not paid by the state by any means. The militia was even required to provide their own equipment. At this point the Romans were utilizing the hoplite phalanx, which had been, at some point, adopted from Greek colonists. According to Goldsworthy, the transition to the hoplite phalanx happened around the 6th century. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army 19-43. Initially, before the use of the hoplite phalanx, heroic warfare was practiced which consisted of an aristocrat and his warrior band or followers. One of the aforementioned evolutionary changes was the shift from the Aristocratic war band riding heroically into battle to a citizen militia of farmers, who were able to afford equipment, serving to protect the land in which they lived. There was not any formal training; however, there was an alteration in the way warfare was conducted. On a social level, this signifies that a great amount of people owned land and therefore there was a notable growth in Rome’s population at the time the phalanx was introduced. Adrian Goldsworthy. Roman Warfare (London: Cassell & Co, 2000), 30-45 In hoplite warfare, the hoplites, without any specific skill, formed a close knit formation in which the front ranks came in contact with the enemy and the ranks towards the back kept the phalanx stabilized. This formation was meant for fighting in a large group against another large group in an open space. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 20-24. Another important change to the Roman Army was accredited to Servius Tullius, the 6th king, with the Servian military reforms. There was a census of all male Roman citizens in which they were put into five classes based on property value. Subsequently, the classes were separated into centuries in which the wealthiest citizens made up Classes I – III and the least wealthy made up Classes IV and V. The wealthiest citizens had more of a say in government affairs therefore the centuries in Class I had the least amount of members. This shows an obvious interrelationship between landowners, property value, and one’s role in military affairs. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 24-25. The Servian reform acted as the foundation of the Comitia Centuriata which was a powerful voting assembly where consuls were elected during the Republic. Goldsworthy, Roman Warfare, 35 Goldsworthy then jumps from the Servian constitution or reforms to the Mid-Republic with the Manipular Legion or “The ‘Polybian’ Legion.” He considers the mid-Republic a period in which the Roman Army can be better explained on account of there being more sources available. At this time, the army is still a citizen militia; however, the formation is much more flexible. Rather than there being one close knit formation, now there exists a legion of maniples. The legions consisted of three lines of infantrymen: hastati, prinicipes, and the triarii. The front line is now inhabited by the young, strong, and healthy citizens or the hastati. The middle line consisted of the men, called prinicipes, who were considered to be in the “prime of life.” Lastly, the third line was made up of war veterans or the triarii. A standard legion equaled about 4,200 infantrymen and 300 cavalry, which was comprised of the wealthiest citizens. There were also skirmishers called velites that was made up of the poorest citizens. The equipment utilized by the Roman during the 2nd to late 3rd century BCE included an array of adoptions from various opponents including the Gauls and the Spanish. This description exemplifies Roman adaptability but also the formation of the society. Based on Goldsworthy’s claim one could conclude that the wealthiest citizens held high government and military positions which places the protection of the land in the hands of the least wealthy or poor citizens. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 28-29 Goldsworthy mentions the Roman Navy fleet which improved throughout their contract with Carthaginians during the 1st Punic War. This is another example that supports the adaptability claim because the Romans had to come up with a technique in order to defeat Carthage while at sea. Since they were fighters on land they constructed way to fight hand-to-hand by constructing the corvus which was only used in the 1st Punic War. Moreover, Goldsworthy goes into detail about the origins of the Roman navy, their invention of the corvus, their strategy, and the transformation from the trireme ramming ship to the quinqueremes, which was copied from the Carthaginians. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 34-43 In the next section entitled “The Professional Army,” Goldsworthy begins by describing the “Post-Marian Roman Army” which is another institutional alteration the Romans made to their military in order to adapt to their environment. In this section, Goldsworthy leaves behind the citizen militia and discusses in depth the professional army attributed to Caius Marius. The profession army (paid soldiers) broke the interrelationship between having property and serving in the military because at this time many of the enlistees were poor. This, of course, was not an abrupt change; it happened gradually. This particular legion system is based on a new type of grouping called the cohort which consisted of three maniples. Goldsworthy goes into profound detail about the new changes made by Marius. For example, the shift from the five standards to the standard silver eagle and the state issued armor, clothes, and weaponry. He also goes in to depth about the new profession officers and soldiers. The flexibility of the Post-Marian Roman Army was even better than the manipular legions as the cohorts acted as a large mechanism with movable units. There is a sub-section for “The Army of the Principate” which describes legions with assigned numbers, names, and titles. This is significant because it provides an identity to the soldier of the legion. Moreover, there are two more sub-sections entitled “Equestrian Officers under the Principate” and “Other Officers: The Centurionate and Below” which highlights the various positions of power held by the elite. Moreover, Goldsworthy examines these career paths by detailing their job description and some prerequisite requirements. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 44-73 The third section, “The Life of a Roman Soldier” is extremely detail oriented as Goldsworthy explains the process of enlistment, the soldiers’ day-to day routine, life in the barracks, service rewards, probable soldier wages, diet, discipline, religion, etc. This is the longest section and it is a bit monotonous because it is chalked full of information that is difficult to take in all at once. Despite this, Goldsworthy conveys the changes of the Roman Army through the intricate life of a soldier. As mentioned before, the Roman soldier began as a citizen militia and gradually became a professional soldier of the state (and after a while of the Emperor) in which he spends a great amount of his adult life serving in the army. The amalgam of weaponry and war equipment has altered along with the military adopting elements from their allies as well as their opponents. For example, the assortment of the Gladius: Mainz-type, Pompeii type, and the spatha type, which was initially adopted from the Celtic peoples of Spain. In addition to this, Goldsworthy also points out the adoption of various religions due to contact with outside cultures. Although, at this point, many of those within the Roman Army were members of conquered territories who still maintain their cultural heritage. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 74-161 In the fourth section “The Army at War,” Goldsworthy starts with the sub-section “On Campaign” which briefly overviews the types of Roman armies from the mid-Republic to the Principate – from the citizen militia to the professional army. Subsequently, Goldsworthy discusses the ‘types of war’ in which he explains that the conditions of the campaign influenced the Soldiers method of action and he specifies four basic categories. Furthermore, he expounds on the field soldiers and the size of the armies, field tactics, marching camps, and battle victories and loses. The next two sub-sections are dedicated to the details of “battle” and “siege” which reviews the intricate methods of warfare from the mid-Republic to the Principate. The “Battle” sub-section details deployment, when and where it was appropriate to fight, formation, the role of the commander, tactics, and types of combat. The “Siege” sub-sections details methods of detaining and/or subjugating the enemy. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 162-197 In the concluding section, “The Army of Late Antiquity,” Goldsworthy begins with the sub-section “Changes in the Late Roman Army,” which highlights the issues and alterations leading up to the fall of the empire. Goldsworthy expands on the significant distinctions between the later army and its precursor. He explains that the foundation of the early army was the politico-military relationship and as the empire grew and new institutions were implemented and altered the relationship was broken. Another important change, Goldsworthy notes, is that of the army units. Initially, there was one large formation or phalanx and over this evolved into units that actually maintained an identity. In the final sub-section, Goldsworthy reviews the terms of recruitment both inside and outside the empire. He talks about the introduction of Christianity into Roman society in which he concludes that Christianity did not cause radical changes in their methods of warfare. Moreover, he concludes the book with end of the empire. The Roman Empire ended in the late 5th century in the West; however, emperors were still in power in the east. The western empire was worn down by socio-economic issues as well as civil wars in which destroyed the political ability to sustain a successful army. In the end, the Romans Empire in the west gradually diminished. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 198-214 In each section of the book, save the third section “Life of a Roman Soldier,” Goldsworthy gives an overview of one or two battles fought under each system of government in which he briefly explains the conditions of the battle and provides information on the forces of both the Romans and their opponents, their war tactics, the casualties on both sides, and the results the battle. Throughout the book there are photographs of reenactments of Roman warfare, reconstructions of battle scenes, ancient inscriptions, archaeological sites, artifacts regarding anything from medical tools to swords, and a variety of artistic depictions of soldiers and magistrates. Furthermore, Goldsworthy provides detailed diagrams of the soldiers’ appearances from the legionaries of mid-Republic to Constantine’s soldiers of the Principate. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 18-214 Goldsworthy initially acknowledges the inconclusive information made from the limited available sources. This is reiterated throughout the book to convey how much about the Romans we actually do not know. Goldsworthy uses literature produced by ancient writers who are biased on some information being that they identify as Roman. However, he backs up the ancient texts/literature with archeological findings, epigraphy, fragments of ancient documents, and artistic depictions which provides a more well-rounded perspective. Given this, Goldsworthy does an extraordinary job putting together an extensively detail description of the evolution of the Roman Army. It gives the reader a good idea of what Roman civilization imparted to the Western world. Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 6-17 In Goldsworthy’s The Complete Roman Army he expatiates of the whole of the Roman Army by focusing on the changes and adaptions that made the empire great. Furthermore, he acknowledges that some information is unattainable to do limited sources. Given this, throughout the book he provides a sufficient amount of details throughout each system of government. In addition, he continuously refers to the evolution of the Roman Army until their fall. This book is extremely helpful when it comes to attempting to understand ancient Roman war tactics. It is an overall great addition to the ancient military history genre. Bell 6