Digital Maps of the Ancient World

General Roman Army

Dive into the formidable world of the Roman army with our comprehensive reading list, meticulously curated to provide a deep understanding of one of history’s most legendary military forces.

From its humble beginnings as a citizen militia to its evolution into a professional and disciplined fighting machine, the Roman army shaped the destiny of the ancient world. Explore the organizational structure, tactics, and weaponry that made the legions the envy of their adversaries, and delve into the daily lives of soldiers stationed at the empire’s frontiers. Uncover the strategies employed by renowned generals such as Julius Caesar and Scipio Africanus, and examine the role of the army in maintaining Roman dominance across vast territories. Whether you’re interested in the conquests of the early republic, the engineering feats of the imperial legions, or the cultural impact of military service on Roman society, our reading list offers a wealth of scholarly insights into every aspect of the Roman army’s storied history.

General

• Campbell, B., The Roman Army 31 BC – AD 337. A Sourcebook, Routledge, London, 1994.
• Goldsworthy, A., The Roman Army at War, 100BC-AD200, Oxford, 1996.
• Goldsworthy, A., The Complete Roman Army, London: Thames & Hudson, 2015.
• Keppie, L., The Making of the Roman Army from Republic to Empire, London, 1984.
• McNab, C. (ed.), The Roman Army, Oxford, 2012.

Further Reading

• Alston, R., Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt, London, 1995.
• Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman Military Equipment from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome, London, 2^nd edition, Oxford, 2006.
• Campbell, B., The Emperor and the Roman Army, 31 BC-AD 235, Oxford, 1984.
• Campbell, B., Warfare and Society in Imperial Rome, c. 31 B.C. – A.D. 230, London, 2002. 
• Campbell, D.B., The Rise of Imperial Rome, AD 14-193, Oxford, 2013.
• Connolly, P., Greece and Rome at War, London, 1981.
• Coulston, J.C.N. (ed.), Military Equipment and the Identity of Roman Soldiers. Proceedings of the Fourth Roman Military Equipment Conference, BAR Int. Ser. 394, Oxford, 1988.
• Coulston, J.C.N., ‘How to arm a Roman soldier’, in M. Austin, J. Harries and C. Smith (ed.), Modus Operandi. Essays in Honour of Geoffrey Rickman, London, 1998, 167-90.
• Coulston, J.C.N., ‘Imperial Roman Warfare’, in P. De Souza (ed.), The Ancient World at War, London, 182-201.
• Davies, R., Service in the Roman Army, Edinburgh, 1989.
• Erdkamp, P., Hunger and the Sword: Warfare and Food Supply in the Roman Republican Wars, (264-30 BC), Amsterdam, 1998.
• Erdkamp, P. (ed.), Blackwell Companion to the Roman Army, Oxford, 2007.
• Fields, N., The Roman Army of the Punic Wars: 264-146 BC, Oxford, 2007.
• Fields, N., The Roman Army : the Civil Wars 88-31 BC, Oxford, 2008.
• Fields, N., The Roman Army of the Principate: 27 BC-Ad 117, Oxford, 2009.
• Gabba, E., Republican Rome, the Army and the Allies, Oxford, 1976.
• Gilliver, C.M., The Roman Art of War, London, 1999.
• Goldsworthy, A. & Haynes, I. (ed.), The Roman Army as a Community, Portsmouth RI, 1999.
• Goldsworthy, A., Gilliver, K. & Whitby, M., Rome at War: Caesar and his Legacy, Oxford, 2005.
• Hackett, J., Warfare in the Ancient World, London, 1989.
• Holder, P.A., The Roman Army in Britain, London, 1982.
• Kennedy, D. (ed.), The Roman Army in the East, Ann Arbor, 1996.
• Keppie, L., ‘The army and the navy’, Cambridge Ancient History 10, ed.2, Cambridge, 1996, 371-96.
• Künzl, E., Unter den goldenen Adlern. Der Waffenschmuck des römischen Imperiums, Mainz, 2008.
• Maxfield, V., The Military Decorations of the Roman Army, London, 1981.
• Pollard, N., ‘The Roman army as ‘total institution’ in the Near East? Dura-Europos as a case study’, in D.L. Kennedy (ed.), The Roman Army in the East, Ann Arbor, 1996, 211-27.
• Rich, J. & Shipley, G. (ed.), War and Society in the Roman World, London, 1993.
• Roth, J.P., The Logistics of the Roman Army at War, (264 BC – AD 235), Leiden, 1999.
• Sabin, P., Wees, H. van, and Whitby, M. (ed.), The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare, Cambridge, 2007.
• Sekunda, N., Republican Roman Army: 200-104 BC, Oxford, 1996.
• Sekunda, N. & Northwood, S., Early Roman Armies, Oxford, 1995.
• Sidebottom, H., Ancient Warfare. A Very Short Introduction, Short Introductions, Oxford, 2004.
• Simkins, M., The Roman Army from Hadrian to Constantine, Oxford, 1979.
• Simkins M., The Roman Army from Caesar to Trajan, Oxford, 1984.
• Smith, R.E., Service in the Post-Marian Roman Army, Manchester, 1958.
• Southern, P., The Roman Army. A Social and Institutional History, Oxford, 2007.
• Wacher, J. (ed.), The Roman World, London, 1987.
• Watson, G.R., The Roman Soldier, London, 1969.
• Webster, G., The Roman Imperial Army of the first and second centuries A.D, London, 1979.
• Whitby, M., Rome at War: AD 293-696, Oxford, 2002.