Life of a Roman Soldier (Way People Live)

Rating:
Summary: Full of Useful Information
Review: For anyone looking to find out more about ancient warfare, but particularly about the ancient Roman army, this book is a really good place to start. It tells about the history of the Roman army, and how young Roman men enlisted, and their lives in the army camps, and their weapons, and how they lined up and fought on the battlefield, and even how the Roman army went downhill and eventually fell apart after too many barabarians joined the ranks. Also in the book are some nice diagrams of important battles and also one of a typical army camp. Best of all, the author tells the names of all the important books aver written on the subject! (in a list in the back) The whole thing was very well done.

Rating:
Summary: Very Fine Work
Review: More detailed works exist on the Roman military, of course. But these are scholarly and are difficult for students and gneral readers with no background in Roman history. Don Nardo has done a tremendous job here of distilling the main points of the subject in a compact volume for beginners. His explanations of Roman battle tactics are extremely well informed and easy to understand, and several useful diagrams of battle formations and specific battles help make this treatment one of the best existing ones, despite its brevity. As a Roman buff, I recommend it highly.