--- product_id: 8066724 title: "The Complete Roman Army (The Complete Series)" price: "225.52 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/8066724-the-complete-roman-army-the-complete-series store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # The Complete Roman Army (The Complete Series) **Price:** 225.52 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Complete Roman Army (The Complete Series) - **How much does it cost?** 225.52 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/8066724-the-complete-roman-army-the-complete-series) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description “An outstanding general study of the Roman military system. . . . The best one-volume treatment of the subject now in existence.”― Historian The Roman army was one of the most successful fighting forces in history. Its organization and tactics were highly advanced and were unequaled until the modern era. Spectacular monuments to its perseverance and engineering skill are still visible today, most notably Hadrian’s Wall and the siegeworks around the fortress of Masada. This book is the first to examine in detail not just the early imperial army but also the citizens’ militia of the Republic and the army of the later Empire. The unprecedented scope and longevity of Roman military success is placed in the context of ordinary soldiers’ daily lives, whether spent in the quiet routine of a peaceful garrison or in arduous campaign and violent combat. Key battles and tactics are described, and there are brief biographies of the great commanders. Drawing on archaeology, ancient art, and original documentary sources, this book presents the most convincing history ever published of the Roman army. 107 full-color and 147 black-and-white illustrations Review: Best One-Volume Work on the Subject Available - My first impression on receiving this book was that at 214 pages it was far too short to be considered a "complete" history of the Roman Army. However, Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy is one of the finest Roman-era historians writing today and he packs a considerable amount of detail into this slim volume. Although the volume is primarily a synthesis of other existing works, Goldsworthy has taken the best materials - including recent archaeological research from Kalkriese in Germany - to provide a very balanced portrait of this subject. Furthermore, The Complete Roman Army has a very high graphic quality, with beautiful color photographs of uniforms, reconstructed and ruined fortifications, weapons and locations. Indeed, this book is easily the best one-volume work available on the Roman Army today. The Complete Roman Army consists of five major sections: the Republican Army (25 pages), the professional army (29 pages), the life of a Roman soldier (87 pages), the army at war (35 pages) and the army of late antiquity (14 pages). Goldsworthy covers numerous topics, including recruitment, daily routines, rewards and punishments, religion, retirement, equipment, rank structure and off-duty behavior. In essence, this represents a "handbook" on the Roman army. The author also includes order of battle data on the Roman Army, maps of garrison locations, layouts of camps and sidebars on major battles like Pharsalus and the defeat of Boudicca. Although some readers might wish greater detail than Goldsworthy can provide on some subjects, the author's extensive bibliography does point to other sources for expanded information. All in all, Goldsworthy's synthesis and condensation of so much information into such a small space is impressive. Goldsworthy's discussion of Roman battle tactics follows in the tracks of his earlier works on the subject and I do find some gaps in his otherwise superb analysis. Goldsworthy never really explains how the Romans were so often victorious in the close battle; in previous books, Goldsworthy suggested that it was a handful of "extra-aggressive" soldiers who "broke into the enemy line" but in this book he leaves it more vague. While Goldsworthy notes the importance of the reserve in a Roman army, he doesn't discuss how it was used to win battles. Furthermore, he uses literary evidence from Caesar's commentaries to suggest that Roman soldiers charged at their enemies, hurling their pilum at 10-15 meters and then crashed into their line. The idea that a soldier could run with armor and scutum, throw a javelin, then draw his sword while maintaining linear order with the soldiers on his right and left in the space of perhaps 6-10 seconds is absurd. Indeed, the idea of running with a large rectangular shield like the scutum seems pretty absurd. Given the Roman emphasis on tight discipline and the need to use the shields to cover the front rank, I think it far more like that Roman infantry advanced methodically. In the final section, Goldsworthy spends little effort discussing the role of the army in Rome's decline and fall. While the author does mention the army's role in causing political instability in the empire and the difficulty its smaller units had in defeating Barbarian invasions, he dismisses the "Barbarization" theory and delves no further into examining the decline. Yet it is clear from the sources and evidence we have available that the Roman Army did decline in quality toward the end and that it was up against tougher opposition (Goldsworthy never mentions the Goths, Ostrogoths, Vandals or Huns). The Roman military system was based on a high level of tactical organization, skill and discipline - all of which apparently declined over time and contributed to their eventual defeat. Review: Complete coverage - Adrian Goldworthy's The Complete Roman Army gives a pretty complete coverage of the Roman legions during their heydays during the late Republican and early Imperial periods. It reflects on the gradual evolution of the Roman army as it developed from a semi-professional civilian army of the Senate to a permanent professional forces under the Caesars. The book gives a pretty complete coverage of this army. The information given is clear and written with clarity. There's enough to provide the needed information and no more. It refreshing that there is no overkill of information that will only result in clutter for a book like this. The balance of the information given is just right. The book comes loaded with well drawn illustrations, nice photos, maps and diagrams that gives a clear and understandable images to accompanied the text. As one previous reviewer wrote, it truly is one of the best single volume reference book on the Roman legions during its heydays. And that is what this book is, a reference guide to the Roman legions. Anyone seeking a quick answer to any questions on the Roman legions, this is the book to touch on. I have loan out this book to people who are not historically minded but like to read Roman historical fictions like Simon Scarrow's Cato/Macros series for example. For readers of such series, this book is almost tailor made for them. On the down side, this book is pretty expensive for a casual reader to buy and it doesn't go into much detail during the decline of Rome. But I don't think that was the real intent of the author. Overall, an excellent effort by Adrian Goldworthy who wrote a really accessible reference book on the Roman legions during its heydays and make it interesting and informative enough that even veteran readers like myself or a novice who is only interested in fictional history, can both enjoy this book. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #192,907 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #87 in Military History Pictorials #264 in Ancient Roman History (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 314 Reviews | ## Images ![The Complete Roman Army (The Complete Series) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/710ZVXOUJ6L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best One-Volume Work on the Subject Available *by R***U on February 21, 2005* My first impression on receiving this book was that at 214 pages it was far too short to be considered a "complete" history of the Roman Army. However, Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy is one of the finest Roman-era historians writing today and he packs a considerable amount of detail into this slim volume. Although the volume is primarily a synthesis of other existing works, Goldsworthy has taken the best materials - including recent archaeological research from Kalkriese in Germany - to provide a very balanced portrait of this subject. Furthermore, The Complete Roman Army has a very high graphic quality, with beautiful color photographs of uniforms, reconstructed and ruined fortifications, weapons and locations. Indeed, this book is easily the best one-volume work available on the Roman Army today. The Complete Roman Army consists of five major sections: the Republican Army (25 pages), the professional army (29 pages), the life of a Roman soldier (87 pages), the army at war (35 pages) and the army of late antiquity (14 pages). Goldsworthy covers numerous topics, including recruitment, daily routines, rewards and punishments, religion, retirement, equipment, rank structure and off-duty behavior. In essence, this represents a "handbook" on the Roman army. The author also includes order of battle data on the Roman Army, maps of garrison locations, layouts of camps and sidebars on major battles like Pharsalus and the defeat of Boudicca. Although some readers might wish greater detail than Goldsworthy can provide on some subjects, the author's extensive bibliography does point to other sources for expanded information. All in all, Goldsworthy's synthesis and condensation of so much information into such a small space is impressive. Goldsworthy's discussion of Roman battle tactics follows in the tracks of his earlier works on the subject and I do find some gaps in his otherwise superb analysis. Goldsworthy never really explains how the Romans were so often victorious in the close battle; in previous books, Goldsworthy suggested that it was a handful of "extra-aggressive" soldiers who "broke into the enemy line" but in this book he leaves it more vague. While Goldsworthy notes the importance of the reserve in a Roman army, he doesn't discuss how it was used to win battles. Furthermore, he uses literary evidence from Caesar's commentaries to suggest that Roman soldiers charged at their enemies, hurling their pilum at 10-15 meters and then crashed into their line. The idea that a soldier could run with armor and scutum, throw a javelin, then draw his sword while maintaining linear order with the soldiers on his right and left in the space of perhaps 6-10 seconds is absurd. Indeed, the idea of running with a large rectangular shield like the scutum seems pretty absurd. Given the Roman emphasis on tight discipline and the need to use the shields to cover the front rank, I think it far more like that Roman infantry advanced methodically. In the final section, Goldsworthy spends little effort discussing the role of the army in Rome's decline and fall. While the author does mention the army's role in causing political instability in the empire and the difficulty its smaller units had in defeating Barbarian invasions, he dismisses the "Barbarization" theory and delves no further into examining the decline. Yet it is clear from the sources and evidence we have available that the Roman Army did decline in quality toward the end and that it was up against tougher opposition (Goldsworthy never mentions the Goths, Ostrogoths, Vandals or Huns). The Roman military system was based on a high level of tactical organization, skill and discipline - all of which apparently declined over time and contributed to their eventual defeat. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Complete coverage *by L***T on April 30, 2007* Adrian Goldworthy's The Complete Roman Army gives a pretty complete coverage of the Roman legions during their heydays during the late Republican and early Imperial periods. It reflects on the gradual evolution of the Roman army as it developed from a semi-professional civilian army of the Senate to a permanent professional forces under the Caesars. The book gives a pretty complete coverage of this army. The information given is clear and written with clarity. There's enough to provide the needed information and no more. It refreshing that there is no overkill of information that will only result in clutter for a book like this. The balance of the information given is just right. The book comes loaded with well drawn illustrations, nice photos, maps and diagrams that gives a clear and understandable images to accompanied the text. As one previous reviewer wrote, it truly is one of the best single volume reference book on the Roman legions during its heydays. And that is what this book is, a reference guide to the Roman legions. Anyone seeking a quick answer to any questions on the Roman legions, this is the book to touch on. I have loan out this book to people who are not historically minded but like to read Roman historical fictions like Simon Scarrow's Cato/Macros series for example. For readers of such series, this book is almost tailor made for them. On the down side, this book is pretty expensive for a casual reader to buy and it doesn't go into much detail during the decline of Rome. But I don't think that was the real intent of the author. Overall, an excellent effort by Adrian Goldworthy who wrote a really accessible reference book on the Roman legions during its heydays and make it interesting and informative enough that even veteran readers like myself or a novice who is only interested in fictional history, can both enjoy this book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Detailed guide to Roman Army operations *by S***S on February 6, 2007* This book is an excellent reference work on the structure and operations of the Roman Army, mostly covering the period of the Principate through Hadrian. What separates this book from others for me is that it does not focus merely on history or campaigns...I have plenty of other books that do that. This book on the other hand discusses in much detail things like: - how a Roman fort is laid out - what the officers and soldiers ate - examples of duty rosters - what training new recruits went through - marriage and co-habitation - pay scales including details like deductions for food and clothing These are just examples of the detail that I have not seen compiled quite so well in one book. Two negatives that I can think of and they are minor. Firstly, this is not a "scholarly" reference work and probably not suitable for graduate studies. Yet that may also be a virtue as it is the type of book that one can comfortably sit down and read straight through. Secondly, the author is obviously British and a significant amount of his examples, charts, and photos relate specifically to Britannia. Now since a lot of very good archaeology comes from that province, that too is not a serious flaw and the author does make an effort to incorporate material from throughout the Empire. A very worthy book for anyone interested in how the Roman Army actually worked! ## Frequently Bought Together - The Complete Roman Army: 0 - The Complete Roman Legions - The Roman Army: The Greatest War Machine of the Ancient World --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/8066724-the-complete-roman-army-the-complete-series](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/8066724-the-complete-roman-army-the-complete-series) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-06-02*