The Indispensable booklist

[PunkReaper]

Has anybody read this book:
Caesars Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome by Stephen Dando-Collins

[Triarius]

Has anybody read this book:
Caesars Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome by Stephen Dando-Collins

Yes. Parts are interesting. Much conjecture and "stretching" in places. Some downright inaccuracies or poor research. It reads like a WWII unit history, with considerable effort made to glorify the Tenth. The title pretty much gives you the idea of where the book is going, with "Epic," and "Saga," and "Elite." Not to take anything away from the long-dead men of that legion, but this is gilding a lily that doesn't need it.

The inaccuracies were substantial enough to make me question the veracity when the author managed to tell me something I didn't know. I've read almost all of Caesar's works, in the original Latin. I can't help wondering whether this author read them in translation…or is the problem the editor sensationalizing the content to make the book sell? Hard to say, but it's a good guess that the editor has never read Caesar in any form.

[PunkReaper]

Thank you for the review, I'll put on my maybe list. Getting to be quite a long list, books seem to get added faster than I can read them.

[PhilusEstilius]

A book that should be on this list is "On the Trail of the Legions" by Ramond Selkirk. First published in 1995 ISBN 1-897874-08-1 The late Mr Selkirk did wonderfull work, and in this book he has re written the Roman history of Brittania.

[Triarius]

Getting to be quite a long list, books seem to get added faster than I can read them.

I resemble that remark—to an exponential degree! hock: :oops: :lol:

°°°°°°°°°°

Brian, could you give us a little more detail on that book?

[PhilusEstilius]

YES Ross. The info on publisher is.......Anglia publishing,WattsHouse, Capel St Mary,Ipswich, Suffolk. IP9 2JB UK....Tel....01473311138...Fax....01473311131....UK price £27-50 around 55 dollars...The late Raymond Selkirk was a good friend of mine, we were in the RAF together. I became a member of his Northern Archaeology Group. The group used to fly around finding Roman Forts and roads all over the north of England, the most spectacular situation that Raymond found was that apart from Hadrians' Wall. There are two frontiers together where one crosses Hadrians' Wall at an oblique angle, this other frontier begins above Segadunum in the east and hits the west coast way below Bowness at Maryport in Cumbria. The details of it are in this book, he called it the 255 line for that is the heading it takes from east to west. It is another line with forts every roman mile, so all Hadrian did was copy it as it must pre date Hadrians' Wall.

[Triarius]

I think I'll try the library… hock:

Raymond Selkirk…I've heard that name before… what else has he done/been noted for?

[PhilusEstilius]

There is his other book "The Piercebridge Formula" Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1983 ISBN 0-85059-621-1 Reprinting with minor revisions. Anglia Publishing. 1995 Raymond was very much into the logistics of Roman supply, what he did prove in many situations was that the Roman supply systems were caried out on waterways. This was done by useing local rivers or canals with dams on the rivers, infact he did an awful lot of work at Piercebridge proving just that hence his book. He also went on to show that there is still today a substantial portion of a Roman dam with its pound lock on the river Tyne at Bywell just 5 miles from Corbridge. This has been decried by archaeologists some of whom don't know their arms from their elbow, two of these people even claimed it to be a Medeival fish trap.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I hope it is still in publication, Brian, as i keep forgetting to look for it! :roll:

[PhilusEstilius]

I don't know for sure but I think it may have had a limited edition, if I should see one I'll grab hold of it for you Byron. I don't know but I have felt like instigating some kind of excavations along this other frontier he found, for believe me it most certainly is there.

[D B Campbell]

I hope it is still in publication, Brian, as i keep forgetting to look for it! :roll:

Doesn't look like it, Byron.

And judging by the prices, it seems to have acquired a rarity value.

Maybe you could get it through your local library?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

@ Brian, thanks that would be great if you can.

@ Duncan, Thanks for the information. I will look, but they have a limited selection of books on Roman subjects.

[Francois]

May I add some French books ?

First, I think that Jacques Harmand's "L’armée et le soldat à Rome de 107 à 50 avant notre ère" is still an important book for the study of the Republican army. Unfortunately, you will only find it in libraries...

About the navy, I would recommend Michel Reddé's "Mare Nostrum, les infrastructures, le dispositif et l’histoire de la marine militaire sous l’Empire romain", published by the French School in Rome in 1986.

Others could come to my mind and I could digg further if anyone is interested...

[Flaminio]

I highly recommend the two volumes (there's a third one about the late roman army in preparation I think) of Giuseppe Cascarino's "L'esercito romano". I discovered it by chance in an italian book shop in a sumer trip. Unfortunately this excellent work has not been translated from italian as far as I know. Anyway is richly illustrated an in my modest opinion, and I have read almost all the books you talk about here, is among the best general views on the Roman Army.

[zakhx150]

Firstly apologies if this has been covered, or isn't in keeping with the thread but a cursory look through this thread didn't show anything on Religion in the Roman military. This is an aspect which, I heartily belive, should appear on any Roman Military reading list

Heres a few select choices:

Davies, J, 2004, Rome’s Religious History: Livy, Tacitus and Ammianus on their Gods, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Hassall, W.M.C., 1980, “Altars, Curses and other Epigraphic Evidence” in Rodwell, W. (ed.), Temples, Churches and Religion: Recent Research in Roman Britain, BAR British Series 77(i)

Henig, M., 1984, Religion in Roman Britain, London: BT Batsford LTD

Irby-Massie, G., 1999, Military Religion in Roman Britain, Leiden, Boston, Koln: Brill
Mattingly, D., 2004, “Being Roman: Expressing Identity in a provincial setting”, Journal of Roman Archaeology Vol. 17, pp 5-26

Mattingly, D., 2006, Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire, 54BC – AD 409, London: Penguin Books

North, J., 1990, “Diviners and Divination at Rome” in Beard. M. and North, J. (eds.), Pagan Priests, London: Duckworth, pp49-73

Warrior, V.M., 2006, Roman Religion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Webster, G., 1986, The British Celts and Their Gods Under Rome, London: B.T. Batsford LTD

Zoll, A., 1994, “Patterns of Worship in Roman Britain: double named deities in context”, in Cottom, S., Dungworth, D., Scott, S., and Taylor J. (eds.) TRAC 94, Oxford: Oxbow Books


also the RIB and CSIR are invaluable in this respect:

Collingwood, R.G. and Wright, R.P., 1965, Roman Inscriptions of Britain: I Inscriptions on stone, Oxford: Claredon Press

Coulston, J.C., and Phillips, E.J., 1988, Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani (Corpus of Sculpture in the Roman World): Great Britain Vol. 1 Fascicule 6 – Hadrian’s Wall West of the North Tyne and Carlise, Oxford: Oxford University Press