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Hibera in terra miles
#1
I just found this very interesting book about the conquest of Hispania by the Roman Republic :
François Cadiou, Hibera in terra miles, Les armées romaines et la conquête de l'Hispanie sous la République (218-45 av. J.-C.), Casa de Velazquez, Madrid, 2008. ISSN 0213-9758

This French book is based on the thesis of the author, which I had the opportunity to read, with some changes of course. I didn't read it entirely yet (I just checked the parts I needed for my own researchs) but it seems to be very complete.
I quote the summary to give you some idea of its content :
Quote:First of all, the book stresses the fact that the strategic and tactical conceptions of the Roman armies, partly shared with those of the Hellenistic warfare, furnished them with the means of waging war overseas more effectively than has been supposed, particularly given that Rome was not immersed in a single, long war in successive phases, but rather conducted repeated but distinct ad hoc campaigns which pursued widely varying goals.
[...]
The book's second conclusion is that the conquering armies were not conceived as an instrument for the control of the conquered regions, and nor did their role gradually change to that of garrison troops.
[...]
And finally, it is important to note that these troops maintained links with Rome and Italy throughout the conquest.
[...]
Thus, the issues that the Hispanic wars raise are more general questions questions relating to the army and the conquest in the republican period: did the conquest and conservation of vast overseas territories necessarily call, as some believe, for the development of an army based on a different conception - i.e. a standing army? In other words, since the imperial Republic never acquired such a standing army, does that mean that it therfore (and hence almost by definition) stood in contradiction, in terms of its military infrastructure, to the demands raised by the enterprise of conquest? This book suggests not. Far from demonstrating the inadequacy of the Republic's military organisation and inability to adapt to the new scale of its wars of expansion, the sources relating to Hispania tend rather to point to the system's flexibility and a genuine capacity to adapt. It even seems that the constraints peculiar to the Iberian Peninsula rather contributed to a search for solutions which tended to reinforce this flexibility.
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#2
Sounds like a very interesting book and thesis. Do you have any information as to whether it's been translated into English, or if not yet then at what time in the future?
Multi viri et feminae philosophiam antiquam conservant.

James S.
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#3
It has not been translated yet and I don't know if it will... Maybe you could check directly the Casa de Velazquez and ask them...
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