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Osprey Men at Arms #291
Republican Roman Army 200–104 BC
The principal source of information on the Roman Republican Army is the sixth book of the Histories of the Greek historian Polybius, written a little before 150BC. This engaging text by Nicholas Sekunda draws heavily on this vital source to outline the equipment and organisation of the Roman Republican Army from 200–104 BC – a time when Rome was growing from a regional to a world power. With plenty of photographs and illustrations, including eight vivid full page colour plates by Angus McBride, this fascinating volume examines such topics as the Roman shield, helmets, the cuirass, greaves, the pilum, legion organisation, the principales and the tactics they employed.
48 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 1996
39 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Sekunda
57 books6 followersDr. Nicholas Victor Sekunda was born in 1953. After studying Ancient History and Archaeology at Manchester University, he went on to take his Ph.D. in 1981. He has taken part in archaeological excavations in Poland, Iran and Greece, participated in a research project on ancient Persian warfare for the British institute of Persian Studies. He has published numerous books and academic articles, and is currently he is Head of the Department of Mediterranean Archaeology at Gdansk University, Poland, and is co-director of excavations at Negotino, Republic of Macedonia.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 7, 2024
REPUBLICAN ROMAN ARMY 200 - 104 BC, being rated at merely entertainment value, is only getting a 3 star rating. For those who are really interested in the subject it would rate at least 4 stars. Unfortunately I am not rounding up from 3.5 to 4.
The information is there, highly researched, but by the same token some of that made me sleepy eyed, and I found myself reading the same paragraphs over and over.
As the author stated, this information is hard to come by as everybody's interest seems in the later Imperial Age.
There is a nice, if brief, write up on that signature Roman weapon, the pilum. You have probably seen it in pictures and not known the significance of it, so let me explain. Most of the shaft is wooden like any other spear. About two thirds of the way up there is a metal sheath encasing it that is attached with studs. At the end of this sheath is a cone shaped device and protruding out of this is a long, thin iron shaft ending in a barbed point. That cone is a weighted device and sometimes an iron ball is attached as well.
So what happens in battle is that the Roman soldier throws his pilum at the enemy, draws his sword and charges. Sometimes he throws two if he has them. That pilum sails through the air, and if his aim is true, it impales the enemy. Now if the enemy holds up his shield for protection, and the pilum penetrates it, the enemy finds that his shield is now useless, for he has this long spear sticking in it making it heavy and hard to handle. He can't pull it out as the barbed tip is stuck. He can't cut it off as the part closest to him is made of iron. What's more, the metal may bend making it even more awkward to handle. If the Roman is lucky, two overlapping shields may be penetrated taking them both out. It is possible that the pilum may pass through the shield and still impale the enemy. Even if it is just a minor wound, the enemy is out of the fight as he has this pilum with the barbed point pinning his shield to his body. That pilum was terrible but extremely effective.
I am keeping this book in my collection. As with other books in the series, there are plenty of illustrations and fine color plates by Angus McBride.
The information is there, highly researched, but by the same token some of that made me sleepy eyed, and I found myself reading the same paragraphs over and over.
As the author stated, this information is hard to come by as everybody's interest seems in the later Imperial Age.
There is a nice, if brief, write up on that signature Roman weapon, the pilum. You have probably seen it in pictures and not known the significance of it, so let me explain. Most of the shaft is wooden like any other spear. About two thirds of the way up there is a metal sheath encasing it that is attached with studs. At the end of this sheath is a cone shaped device and protruding out of this is a long, thin iron shaft ending in a barbed point. That cone is a weighted device and sometimes an iron ball is attached as well.
So what happens in battle is that the Roman soldier throws his pilum at the enemy, draws his sword and charges. Sometimes he throws two if he has them. That pilum sails through the air, and if his aim is true, it impales the enemy. Now if the enemy holds up his shield for protection, and the pilum penetrates it, the enemy finds that his shield is now useless, for he has this long spear sticking in it making it heavy and hard to handle. He can't pull it out as the barbed tip is stuck. He can't cut it off as the part closest to him is made of iron. What's more, the metal may bend making it even more awkward to handle. If the Roman is lucky, two overlapping shields may be penetrated taking them both out. It is possible that the pilum may pass through the shield and still impale the enemy. Even if it is just a minor wound, the enemy is out of the fight as he has this pilum with the barbed point pinning his shield to his body. That pilum was terrible but extremely effective.
I am keeping this book in my collection. As with other books in the series, there are plenty of illustrations and fine color plates by Angus McBride.
November 21, 2022
Eschews the historical context/allusions to the lack of reliable sources of the Early Roman Army’s book but provides a fairly exhaustive account of the nature of Roman armies of the period. Impressive level of detail for a book of its size.
September 22, 2020
Basic unit configuration and armament of the Roman Army during the time period it moved from being (essentially) a city-state and to becoming Imperial Rome.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews