Army reforms of various emperors

[Praefectusclassis]

Hi all!
I'm looking for literature on the army reforms of the emperors from Vespasian until Aurelian. Any pointers?

(here's a chance to show your expertise and perhaps win a Corona Vallaris)

[D B Campbell]

Alfred Neumann might be a good place to start.
How about his paper on "Das augusteisch-hadrianische Armeereglement und Vegetius" (in Classical Philology 31, 1936, pp. 1-10)? Or "Das römische Heeresreglement" (Classical Philology 41, 1946, 217-225)?

I'm sure there must be a relevant entry in R.E. (probably by Neumann) or DKP. (I'm afraid I don't have access to these at the moment.)

[Praefectusclassis]

Thanks!

[FlaviusCrispus]

"Hadrian: The Restless Emperor" by Antony Birley has a couple chapters dealing with this ruler's many army reforms. You can get it at the library and via amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/041522 ... oding=UTF8

By the way, don't believe all the negative reviews on the Amazon page-- it's actually an excellent book.

Another great book about a Roman military reformer is "Gallienus: A study in reformist and sexual politics," by John Bray. There's one left on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/186254 ... e&n=283155

[Praefectusclassis]

Thank you David.

[Jona Lendering]

Although a bit too early, probably Chris Thomas, "Claudius and the Roman Army Reforms" may be useful (Historia 53 [204] 424ff). He argues that Claudius was a very important reformer, and if he is correct, that may change our vision on Vespasian.

As to the end of the period, if you include strategical changes in "army reforms", please note the Gallic Empire, where the system of defense in depth was developed. The evidence is conveniently summed up in Danny Lamarcq & Marc Rogge, De taalgrens (1996 Leuven), a book that deserves the highest laudes.

[Praefectusclassis]

Hi Jona,
Thanks. I already had that article by Thomas. It seemed very convincing to me. I'm not sure I'll take things as far forward as the mid 3rd C, but thanks for the reference anyways.

[D B Campbell]

article by Thomas ... seemed very convincing to me.

Hmmm ... I'm not sure about his "reform of all military equipment under Claudius". It looks more like a gradual development to me.

And the section on artillery (pp. 450-452) is unconvincing (imho ).

[Praefectusclassis]

I have to say that I read it with organisational changes in mind, where Claudius does seem to have been influential. Equipment and artillery is not my biggest forte. :oops: