Best books on the Roman Legions?

[Virgil61]

I'm just wondering what might be the principal written works on the Roman Legions, in your opinion..

 

If you wish a companion book then try:

 

The Roman army, 31 BC-AD 337: a sourcebook By J. B. Campbell

 

Good resource, eye-opening inscriptions from all over the empire all in one volume; papyrri remains, etc., in the soldier's own words.

 

On some levels soldiering remains the same; morning formations, work details, discharges, importance of date of enlistment/rank, spending one's career in several different units (legions here) and so on. Good stuff.

 

...here some book reviews we did on military over the last 7 years...

 

The Roman Soldier by G. R. Watson

 

Caesar: A History of the Art of War by T. A. Dodge

 

The Roman Army At War by A. Goldsworthy

 

The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy

 

The Late Roman Army by Pat Southern and Karen R. Dixon

 

Greek & Roman Warfare by John Drogo Montagu

 

The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History by Pat Southern

 

Legionary: The Roman Soldier's Manual by Philip Matyszak

 

Great list. I own all but the Watson and Maty works. The last is in my Amazon cart for triple points for when I make my come-from-behind Amazon challenge move. The Roman Army at War is a necessary read, mistakes and all, in my opinion. Its logical sequence is the standard for this type of thing, it does need is a good updating.

 

For years I've had an aversion to the Osprey series as being only as good for bathroom reading. I've come to like the Essential History series, it has some good stuff on things like the Punic War, Caesar's Gallic War, etc. and Osprey in general has some decent biographies (I have the Hannibal & Caesar volumes, they are excellent for a serious beginner) along with stuff on tactics and sieges.

 

The Theodore Dodge books on Hannibal and Caesar are still readable and written with the eye of a soldier, they're free online & great for an ebook reader like a Kindle.