Nero's Killing Machine: The True Story of Rome's Remarkable 14th Legion

by Stephen Dando-Collins

The 14th Gemina Martia Victrix Legion was the most celebrated unit of the early Roman Empire–a force that had been wiped out under Julius Caesar, reformed, and almost wiped out again. After participating in the a.d. 43 invasion of Britain, the 14th Legion achieved its greatest glory when it put down the famous rebellion of the Britons under Boudicca. Numbering less than 10,000 men, the disciplined Roman killing machine defeated 230,000 rampaging rebels, slaughtering 80,000 with only 400 Roman losses–an accomplishment that led the emperor Nero to honor the legion with the title "Conqueror of Britain." In this gripping book, second in the author’s definitive histories of the legions of ancient Rome, Stephen Dando-Collins brings the 14th Legion to life, offering military history aficionados a unique soldier’s-eye view of their tactics, campaigns, and battles.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History, Ancient History, Roman History, Audiobook, Ancient

Hardcover

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Stephen Dando-Collins is the multi-award-winning author of 48 books. British reviewer, noted playwright Robin Hawdon, says that Dando-Collins is "the modern age's foremost dramatizer of Greek and Roman history," while American reviewer bestselling military author Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman has described Dando-Collins as "a literary giant." Considered an authority on the legions of ancient Rome, Dando-Collins has written ancient and modern history, children's novels, scientific nonfiction, and biographies. The bulk of his works deal with military history, ranging from Greek, Persian and Roman times to American, British and Australian 19th century history and World I and Word War II.
Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages including Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Russian, Albanian and Korean.
His most acclaimed book on the ancient military, 'LEGIONS OF ROME,' was the culmination of decades of research into Rome's imperial legions.
Dando-Collins aims to travel roads that others have not, unearthing new facts and opening new perspectives on often forgotten or overlooked people and aspects of history.
He has two new books in 2024: 'CAESAR VERSUS POMPEY: Determining Rome's Greatest General, Statesman & Nation-Builder,' (Turner, US), and 'THE BUNA SHOTS: The Amazing Story Behind Two Photographs that Changed the Course of World War Two,' (Australian Scholarly Publishing).

Reviews

[Paul (Life In The Slow Lane) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julius Caesar goes into a bar. "Hey bartender, make me a Martinus." (Bartender) "You mean Martini." (Caesar) "When I want two, I'll ask for them."

This book follows the history of the infamous/famous 14th Gemina Martia Victrix Legion, from about 58 BC when Big Julie (Julius Caesar) formed them, up to around 410 AD when things in Rome got flaky. The 14th didn't start off well. They got wiped out by a bunch of girl guides who were incensed at their cookie-selling being interrupted. (Exaggeration; but it was an inferior enemy.) This made Big Julie pretty mad at them. It was a loooong time before they made a name for themselves.

There's more drama, intrigue and back-stabbing than a whole season of Real Housewives of Hollywood. The best bit of this book, in my humble opinion, is the section relating to Boudicca. What a woman! I could have been happy just reading that, but Dando-Collins has a way of making the rest eminently readable. His level of detail is astounding, and boring in parts. I just skipped those little bits.

I highly recommend this book, and this author, if you have the least interest in Roman history and their society. Brutal as they were, Romans were so very clever, and so radically advanced for their day. They gave us modern government, water supply, baths, roads, sewerage, a law system plus a whole lot more. At least once in your life, it's worth reading about this interesting period of history.

[Nathan Trachta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently I’ve been trying to study up a little on the Roman Legions because I’ve been busy painting several cohorts of them. To further my learning about a particular legion I decided to pickup Mr. Dando-Collins book Nero’s Killing Machine: The True Story of Rome’s Remarkable 14th Legion.

For me this one is a solid 3 star book. While the book itself gave some interesting information, Mr. Dando-Collins writing style never really settled for me. I couldn’t decide if he was writing a direct historical reference piece that has a modern writer’s interpretation or a historical fiction writer’s perspective. I’ll also admit I was a little turned off by the mixed use of historical titles and names and their modern equivalent (Appendix B did an excellent job of this. If Mr. Dando-Collins had only referenced it in the book, it would have lent more authenticity seeing seeing Praetor rather than Major General. Btw, another appendix was needed for naval vessels). When merged with not telling the full story of the 14th Legion (sorry, this book tells us of its founding thru the Batavian Rebellion) I wasn’t viewing it as a strong candidate. Having said that though, the books greatest strengths are that Mr. Dando-Collins does bring us a remarkable story about a hard luck legion and how they gained eternal fame slaughtering Boudicca and her Briton warriors. Matter of fact, the chapters dealing with the legions tour in Britain and on the Rhine almost won me to ranking this as a 4 star book. In addition, there are some nice references in the back (the legions of Rome, Roman Ranks, the Praetorian Guard, and sources) making it a useful tool for wargamers; just not to the level I was interested in. Additional expansion on the full history of the 14th Legion, appendices dealing with Roman training, camp configuration, and other related information would have raised this one to 4 stars for me.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite book on Rome but an interesting one and one that I liked for the simple reason that following an individual Roman Legion through it's life cycle is a great concept. There isn't a unit in the entire history of the US Military that would have the longevity across time of a Roman Legion and so no matter which one you pick it's bound to be interesting to some extent. The writer gets kudos for that reason alone.

All of that said, it took me a very long time to finish this book because it just wasn't fantastic and there are so many great books out there that kept distracting me.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d heard of the glory of Rome but after reading this I now understand that there was no such thing; only enough slaughter, slavery, greed, assassination and suicide to shake you to the core. Such a horrible people in such horrible times!romans

This is a history of Rome’s XIIIIth legion (take note, not XIVth). Founded by no lesser celebrity than Julius Caesar in 58 BCE, we follow it through victory and defeat (but mostly terror and horror) for about 500 years until Rome finally gets its just desserts.

I found the book tedious at times, stuffed as it is with long lists of the bit players and the postings of the legions hither and thither across Europe. However, to contradict that assessment, I also found it fascinating that we know so much about them, right down to the bit players. The book is, I think, intended to entertain us, so we are not smothered in references but I expect that it is an honest rendering of what the sources say; of course the objectivity of the sources is probably suspect, many of them being Roman citizens. I found myself frequently disbelieving the metrics of how many participated in battles and how many were killed. I also couldn’t believe the constant assurances that the legionaries were keen to go to battle. One message I got from the suicides was that it was by far the least frightful way to die.

It engaged me enough to stick with it to the end and indeed to start me wondering what my next Roman history book will be.

[Jennifer Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. It's meticulously researched and, unlike a lot of military history that tends to be dry and written for those who are already experts, this is a very enjoyable read. You don't have to know too much about ancient Rome to get a lot back from this book. And in case you're wondering, the 14th Legion are the ones who took out Boudicca, aka Boadicea, after she'd taken out Colchester, London and Saint Albans.

I really admire this book, mainly because I spent a while researching an ancient Roman legion myself, and it’s difficult to pin down where they were in one particular decade, let alone anything more specific. The author has done a fantastic job here, and, despite what I imagine must be a niche audience, the book is never too academic. That is, it fulfils all the requirements of an academic book without every being what many academic books are – boring as all hell.

[Timothy Gretler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first learned of the 14th Legion while watching an episode of Battlefield Britain many years ago. The episode was about Boudicca's rebellion in 60-61 AD. This book by Stephen Dando-Collins is so much better. It details the 14th Legion's history from start to finish. Amazing history with names, personal histories of individual legionaries and their commanders and vivid battle descriptions. One thing I learned was how long lived some legionaries could be. First enlistments were 20 years and then many signed up for another hitch! They were being discharged in their late 50's and even after that they were seen as a reserve force in an emergency. I'm looking forward to reading more books on the Legions by Mr. Dando-Collins.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of Rome through the eyes of the 14th legion. The unit was wiped out in battle and later reconstituted. They spent over a hundred years trying to beat the idea that they were cursed. They overcame that reputation fighting, alone and unafraid, in Britain against an army that outnumbered them 23 to 1 and came out (somehow) victorious. Could of used a few more maps but otherwise very good.

[Tom Withers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fourteenth Legion (XIIII not XIV) and all of its infamous failures and glorious successes throughout the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. This scratched my Rome itch very well indeed!

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Stephen Dando-Collins second book covering the history of a Roman legion, this time he deals with the Fourteenth Legion (14th Gemina Martia Vietrix Legion). I thoroughly enjoyed this author's first book, "Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion", so I eagerly awaited the publication of this title. Again I must confess that I have no in-depth knowledge of this period, just a keen and general interest.

I found this book as good as the first, in fact, even better. The one criticism I have is the author's usage of modern military titles instead of those used by the Roman Empire. I had little or no knowledge of the 14th Legion but I found the story fascinating, from its decimation in 54 BC while campaign with Julius Caesar through it's campaign in Germany and latter in Britain where it achieved its immortal fame in putting down the rebellion led by Queen Boudicca.

The narrative is full of interesting accounts and information and the story flows along quite smoothly. There are no illustrations within the book and only a few maps which I think could have been of better quality but suffice to follow the story of the 14th legion.

Overall I think this book would be of interest to anyone who enjoys a decent account of the Roman Empire. It's more of a popular history, and not some stuffy dry text of military manoeuvres, tactics and famous commanders of antiquity but an account of the men who did the fighting and dying and who made the Roman Empire what is was.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 14th Roman Legion (14th GMV - Gemina Martia Victrix) was created by Julius Caesar in 58 BC. It was totally wiped out in its early campaigning in the European theater, and once reconstituted, it was almost wiped out again. Many years later (43 AD), it gained prominence in Britain when it confronted the uprising of the British tribes under Queen Boudicca. In that year the legion numbered 10,000 soldiers (including auxiliaries) and defeated an opposing force of 230,000 (odds 23 to 1) on the border of England and Wales, killing 80,000. The remaining tribes disbursed, but most were hunted down and executed. The Legion's renown thereafter was legendary. Nero dubbed it the "Conqueror of Britain." It served Rome in various theaters for almost 500 years and was finally vanquished with the fall of Rome during the 5th Century AD. The book was well researched.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second in a series of books by Dando-Collins, this book details the "biography" of the 14th legion - the Legio XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix, as it came to be known, or as D-C often calls it, the "14th G.M.V." A facinating story of creation, defeat, and disgrace under Julius Caesar only to rise to heroic status in the British uprisings under Nero.

[Simon McCrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkable book describing the history of the 14th Legion from its investiture to the fall of the western Roman Empire, over a period of 500years. The fact that so much detail and information is available 2000yrs later is extraordinary. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of a series. See my review for Cleopatra's Kidnappers for my take on all four books.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down

[Bob Groves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great storytelling, but very interesting story

[Kirk Sklenar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview of the 14th legion history. Since it covers such a large period in time, details of certain events are vague. BUt great book overall!!

[Francis Mulhern · Rating 4 out of 5]

A proper history book!!!
Loads of highly researched information.

[Steve Switzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent regimental history of this legion

[John Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like mr Collins books and this one about the 14 legion didn't disappoint me love the details and the story behind the legion very entertaining

[Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal read, details history of one of Rome's legions through the centuries along with their famous victories and defeats.