sets out to examine the degree to which Keegan's findings apply to the Roman army. So analyses of the Roman army which exaggerate the rigidity of its organization and discipline are likely to distort the way in which the individual soldiers conducted themselves during a battle or campaign. (1976) showed that in practice armies do not behave as they are supposed in theory to do. However, John Keegan's groundbreaking study They have seen this as its major strength. notes that both academics and general writers have approached the Roman army as an institution dominated by rigid ideas about discipline and organization. The 'Introduction' (1-11) spells out the author's distinctive approach. All the preliminary signs of a careful Oxford thesis are in place. After the table of contents (ix-x), and lists of figures, maps and tables (xi-xii), there are lists of abbreviations used in the book and of translations of ancient sources (xiii-xiv). opens with 'Acknowledgements' (vii-viii), in which he describes his boyhood interest in the Roman army and his early awareness that 'classical writers are far more concerned with the behaviour and morale of soldiers than the technical aspects of warfare which have been the main interest of modern scholars' (vii). The thesis is argued competently, and is certainly more aware of the vagaries of the evidence than earlier studies which make broad and misleading generalizations, concentrate unacceptably on the army in peacetime, and do not give credit to its powers of adaptation, preferring instead to describe an inflexible military machine. His basic thesis is that the army was able to adapt to any type of warfare and that this flexibility gave it consistent advantages over most opponents. Nonetheless, G., who stresses his civilian status (vii), has produced a stimulating analysis of the way in which the Roman army's organization affected its behaviour during a campaign. It seems on first reading an adventurous aim for a book of around 300 pages.
New book, based (like others in the series) on the author's Oxford doctoral thesis, sets out to give a 'detailed examination of the way in which the Roman army operated during a war and how it fought a battle' (dustjacket). xiv + 311ĭepartment of Classics and Ancient History,
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