Gladius: The World of the Roman Soldier

Gladius is an extensive, thematically organized look at the life of the Roman soldier, focusing on the long era Republican conquests around the Carthaginian Wars and the Christianization of the empire under Constantine.

Bédoyére draws from historical documents, archeological evidence, and primarily tomb inscriptions to depict a military world that was central to Roman society. After the Marian reforms, legionnaires were core parts of the administration of the empire, manning posts from lonely borders to dense trade hubs and doing everything that needed doing, not merely war.

The legions were both strongly standardized in terms of size, structure, and camp size, and also idiosyncratic in naming, command, and the attachment of auxiliary show more units of archers and cavalry. While centurions were veterans promoted from the ranks on the basis of experience, high officers were often inexperienced military tribunes drawn from the young men of the senatorial class.

This is a popular work (the author is a TV presenter, rather than a professor), which has the advantage of the writing being actually good. The thematic organization is well done. I particularly enjoyed the defeat-victory-atrocity triad of chapters, as well as looks at under appreciated elements, like the Roman navy, retirement, and side jobs. show less

Bédoyère, Guy de la. Gladius: The World of the Roman Soldier. E-book ed., University of Chicago Press, 2020.
Gladius was originally published in England by Little, Brown and seems to have three different subtitles.
Guy de la Bédoyère seems to be a man with research passions. His book is at its best when he indulges his passions and tells fascinating and horrifying stories of life as a sword-slinger in the Roman army. He is especially well-versed in the archeological discoveries around Hadrian’s Wall. His detail, especially his descriptions of military campaigns, occasionally obscures his thesis, which seems to be that the Roman army’s nascent bureaucracy was never quite as efficient as it needed to be. I enjoyed it, but I am not show more sure how much of the detail will stick with me. Four stars. show less

Wie de Britse tv-series Time Team heeft bekeken, kent Guy De La Bédoyère als de expert in Romeinse munten en aardewerk. Maar de man schreef meerdere boeken die getuigen van zijn brede kennis en expertise over de Romeinse samenleving. Met Gladius brengt hij een erg gedegen en gedetailleerd werk over het Romeinse leger in al zijn facetten van de vroege republiek tot keizer Constantius I, van Vindolanda tegen Schotland tot Dura Europos bij de Eufraat. Samenstelling, bewapening, gloria en schande, oorlogen en taken in vredestijd, ontspanning en religie, alles komt aan bod aan de hand van korte persoonlijke vignetten van soldaten die vooral gehaald worden van gedenk- en grafstenen die voor hen werden opgericht. Ik adviseer om "Het Romeinse show more Rijk in infographics" (https://www.librarything.com/work/27189728/book/208388290) bij de hand te houden voor een nog fijnere leeservaring. show less