01-06-2013, 07:39 AM
I got the book for 19 Euro, and it to make a long story short: it is a lot bang for the buck.
However, it works as an art-book, not as an encyclopedia, because there are so many factual errors and, especially for late antiquity, extremely outdated views on the Roman army. Also a big lot of captions are plain wrong. The archer instructor from 476 on p.152 wears perfect 3rd century outfit and gear, but would be totally wrong for 476 e.g.
The artworks themselves are, as noted already, simply based on other artworks with absolutely no independent research going into them. They are all slavishly copied in terms of equipment, clothing etc. As such, they are as good or bad as their basis.
On the positive side one has to acknowledge how many of these artworks are presented in the book. And quite a lot of them are darn nice to look at. It is a pleasure to browse through the pages, and thereby browsing through Roman military history.
So in the end, while I strongly advise against using it for research of any kind, it is good eye-candy for very little money, although I often prefer the originals. (Not always though: I cannot stand the fantasy style of Christos Giannopoulos and therefore I am glad his figures are more realistically drawn).
I think this book is going to make a fine gift for children, or maybe people mildly interested in Roman military history.
However, it works as an art-book, not as an encyclopedia, because there are so many factual errors and, especially for late antiquity, extremely outdated views on the Roman army. Also a big lot of captions are plain wrong. The archer instructor from 476 on p.152 wears perfect 3rd century outfit and gear, but would be totally wrong for 476 e.g.
The artworks themselves are, as noted already, simply based on other artworks with absolutely no independent research going into them. They are all slavishly copied in terms of equipment, clothing etc. As such, they are as good or bad as their basis.
On the positive side one has to acknowledge how many of these artworks are presented in the book. And quite a lot of them are darn nice to look at. It is a pleasure to browse through the pages, and thereby browsing through Roman military history.
So in the end, while I strongly advise against using it for research of any kind, it is good eye-candy for very little money, although I often prefer the originals. (Not always though: I cannot stand the fantasy style of Christos Giannopoulos and therefore I am glad his figures are more realistically drawn).
I think this book is going to make a fine gift for children, or maybe people mildly interested in Roman military history.
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![[Image: regnumhesperium.png]](http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/3673/regnumhesperium.png)
