03-03-2016, 06:23 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-05-2016, 07:37 AM by Longovicium.)
I would align it strongly with Lightfoot's superb PhD work (which I would encourage anyone interested in this period to read) in that the former has a distinctly boots-on-the-ground archaeological understanding of the local geography more than the other two. Hassel's aim is to mainly rehabilitate Shapur II (and to a degree Constantius II) as the strategical winner in the larger geo-political theatre of operations. Julian comes across as a poor commander in relation to these two.
His grasp of the larger Roman and Persian (Sassanian) issues via a historical lens is less developed than 'Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity' or indeed 'The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars' but to be fair his focus is a specific one.
If you enjoy narrative history through a particular lens - and that lens in this case being a modern military focus on logistics and strategy - then this work is strong and confident. You may disagree with some of his conclusions (for example, the first acies in the three line battlefield fought with javelins while the second used the hasta - or that the elderly Shapur II used tactics he learned from the wars on his eastern borders to masterfully hold Julian in check) but they are presented carefully and in detail.
I would suggest that this work is certainly one of the stronger 'Pen and Sword' publications - less iconoclastic than Syvanne's work, for example! Personally, I value any publication which deepens my appreciation of Constantius II and his operations in the east as I have always felt his strategies and aims have been devalued for too long.
His grasp of the larger Roman and Persian (Sassanian) issues via a historical lens is less developed than 'Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity' or indeed 'The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars' but to be fair his focus is a specific one.
If you enjoy narrative history through a particular lens - and that lens in this case being a modern military focus on logistics and strategy - then this work is strong and confident. You may disagree with some of his conclusions (for example, the first acies in the three line battlefield fought with javelins while the second used the hasta - or that the elderly Shapur II used tactics he learned from the wars on his eastern borders to masterfully hold Julian in check) but they are presented carefully and in detail.
I would suggest that this work is certainly one of the stronger 'Pen and Sword' publications - less iconoclastic than Syvanne's work, for example! Personally, I value any publication which deepens my appreciation of Constantius II and his operations in the east as I have always felt his strategies and aims have been devalued for too long.
Francis Hagan
The Barcarii
The Barcarii
