The Late Roman Army, by Gabrielle Esposito, Art by Giuseppe - a Review

[Longovicium]

This book arrived this afternoon and I eagerly sat down to read it. I am still grappling with my frustration. If you are interested, my review is here on Amazon.uk. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews...tBy=recent

[Nathan Ross]

I am still grappling with my frustration.

I'm not surprised. It sounds very weird, and for 20 quid very disappointing!

One of the reviews mentions that Colour Plate B ('Guard Units') shows a 'guardsman of Germani Corporis Custodes', together with an 'officer of Classis Germanica'. Is the first figure intended to date from the Principiate? And what's the 'guard' relevance of the second one?

What's the original source of the Rava illustrations, do you know, if some of them are years old?

[ValentinianVictrix]

I was not expecting much from this book when I saw the cover art and I'm afraid to say it met my expectations.

Whilst the artwork is quite colourful, it contains some suspect interpretations of Late Roman styles, arms & armour.

My main gripe is the same as others, large type face (ok for us nearly 60 year olds but insulting to our younger readers), flimsy paper and unnecessary section on the Notitia shield patterns (why not just write the link to the most popular internet site that discusses the Notitia and the shield designs?).

I found the referencing to be woeful, too much reliance on wiki. It smacks of the author lacking the knowledge to actually do the book justice.

I cannot recommend the book to anyone other than a complete novice but even then I would ask them to look at purchasing the Southern & Dixon Late Roman book at the very least.

[Longovicium]

I am still grappling with my frustration.

"I'm not surprised. It sounds very weird, and for 20 quid very disappointing!

One of the reviews mentions that Colour Plate B ('Guard Units') shows a 'guardsman of Germani Corporis Custodes', together with an 'officer of Classis Germanica'. Is the first figure intended to date from the Principiate? And what's the 'guard' relevance of the second one?

What's the original source of the Rava illustrations, do you know, if some of them are years old?"

The figure of the guardsman of the Germani Corporis Custodes is from 400AD. A description on page 39-40 states that the unit was reformed in the 3rd century and 'continued to protect emperors until the fall of the Empire in the west.' In terms of his relation to a naval officer of the Rhine flotilla, I am at a loss. One is a supposed elite guardsman, the other a naval commander on the frontier. Make of that what you will!

Rava's illustrations go back a long way - to 2002. I get the feeling that the author has simply 'hovered' up any Rava illustration regardless of quality and stuck them in the book. The main plates seem new but - I am sorry to say - suspiciously echo various Osprey illustrations. It is disingenuous of one reviewer (who smacks of being a sock-puppet, by the way) to write that they are similar because the source material used was the same! I didn't realise such accurate and detailed source illustrations and images survived . . .

[Flavivs Aetivs]

The figure of the guardsman of the Germani Corporis Custodes is from 400AD. A description on page 39-40 states that the unit was reformed in the 3rd century and 'continued to protect emperors until the fall of the Empire in the west.'

As an expert on the 5th Century Western Roman military, I can tell you this was probably taken straight from the original Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion description.

[Nathan Ross]

I can tell you this was probably taken straight from the original Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion description.

Oh dear, I think you might be right!

[Longovicium]

I think that sums this book up, alas.

[Graham Sumner]

It is interesting that the reviews on Amazon range from 5 stars to 1! It seems to have been very cheaply produced and yet sells at a high price for such a work.

Graham.

[ValentinianVictrix]

What astonishes me is that the author appears to have made no reference at all to the works of Julian, Ammianus or Zosimus, the first two of which are essential when describing 4th century battle formations, tactics as well as the arms & armour of the troops. The authors would have realised that both Ammianus and Julian had seen Clibanarii in person and gave detailed descriptions which differ markedly from the cover artwork.
The author seems to have overly relied upon Prof Richard Abels (?) and wiki for the book's text and it suffers grievously as a result.

I really do feel I wasted my money on this purchase as I would have been better off just printing off the wiki articles and Abels work its based on!

[Nathan Ross]

The author seems to have overly relied upon Prof Richard Abels (?) and wiki for the book's text and it suffers grievously as a result.

It does seem extraordinary. Putting together a bibliography out of wikipedia links and a text based on computer games is just taking the piss. Anyone interested enough in the subject to pay £20 for a book about it has surely moved beyond the basics!

Maybe there's more here than meets the eye? Perhaps somebody commissioned some original artwork from Mr Rava and then found they didn't have the budget to commission the accompanying text or pay for decent reproductions, so flung together the text as quickly as possible?

[ValentinianVictrix]

It is clear the author was also blissfully unaware of the pen & ink drawings of the Column of Theodosius and the Column of Arcadius or he would surely have referenced them in the book. Similarly I can't find a reference to the Arch of Constantine and other monumental works, or Late Roman mosaics etc.

It's a very rum do and no mistake!

[Graham Sumner]

Also if you complain on Amazon about the artwork, you get a personal rebuke from the artist! I might try that sometime.

Graham.

[Longovicium]

Oh dear - that's a shame! Rava's work deserves a better presentation than this shoddy book.

[ValentinianVictrix]

I saw that Graham, I thought it a tad unfair as generally artists are commissioned to create pieces based on what the author tells them what they want.

[Giuseppe Rava]