Roman Battle Tactics 390-110 BC Contributor(s): Fields, Nic (Author), Embleton, Gerry (Illustrator), Embleton, Samuel (Illustrator) |
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ISBN: 1846033829 ISBN-13: 9781846033827 Publisher: Osprey Publishing (UK) OUR PRICE: $18.90 Product Type: Paperback Published: February 2010 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Military - Strategy - History | Ancient - Rome |
Dewey: 355.409 |
Series: Elite |
Physical Information: 0.25" H x 7.25" W x 9.75" (0.45 lbs) 64 pages |
Themes: - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) - Cultural Region - Italy |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: By 390 BC, the organization of the Roman army was in need of change. Fighting in the Greek-style with a heavy infantry was proving increasingly outdated and inflexible, resulting in the Roman's defeat at the hands of the Gauls at the battle of Allia. Following on from this catastrophe and in the next fifty years of warfare against Gallic and Italian tribes, a military revolution was born: the legion. This was a new unit of organization made up of three flexible lines of maniples consisting of troops of both heavy and light infantry. However, at the end of the 3rd century BC, Rome's prestige was shattered once more by the genius of Hannibal of Carthage, causing Roman battle tactics to be revised again. The legendary general Scipio Africanus achieved this, finally destroying the Carthaginian army at the climactic victory of Zama. A wholly new kind of soldier had been invented, and the whole Mediterranean world was now at Rome's feet. This book reveals these two defining moments in Roman military history and the revolution in battle tactics that was the result, examining how the Roman army eventually became all-conquering and all-powerful. |
Contributor Bio(s): Embleton, Gerry: - Gerry Embleton has been a leading illustrator and researcher of historical costume since the 1970s, and has illustrated and written Osprey titles on a wide range of subjects for more than 20 years. He is an internationally respected authority on 15th and 18th century costumes in particular. He lives in Switzerland, where since 1988 he has also become well known for designing and creating life-size historical figures for museums. |