They served as tax collectors, policemen, surveyors, civil engineers and, if they survived, in retirement as civic worthies, craftsmen and politicians. Roman legionaries and auxiliaries came from across the Roman world and beyond. The Roman Empire depended on soldiers not just to win its wars, defend its frontiers and control the seas but also to act as the engine of the state. Wives and Lovers – Family Life on the Frontierġ6.The Roman army was the greatest fighting machine the ancient world produced. Leisure and Leave – Hunting Wild Boar and other Diversionsġ4. Peacetime Duties – Jacks-of-all-Tradesġ3. Mutineers and Rebels – King-Makers for Saleġ2. Quinqueremes and Triremes – The Roman Army at Seaġ1. Living by the Sword – Violence and Atrocitiesġ0. I Came, I Saw, I Conquered – The Roman War Machine Victoriousĩ. Ignominy and Defeat – The Roman Army’s Darkest DaysĨ. Living Off the Land – The Roman Army and the Environmentħ. A Soldier’s Life – Garrisoning the EmpireĦ. Gold and Silver – Pay, Handouts and Bequestsĥ.

Strength and Honour – Signing on in Caesar’s ArmyĤ. Introduction – The Army of the EmperorsĢ. 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.īy 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.ġ. 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. 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. In Gladius, Guy de la Bédoyère takes us straight to the heart of what it meant to be a part of the Roman army. 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. 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 army was the greatest fighting machine in the ancient world.

Gladius guy de la bedoyere