THE CLAUDIO-NERONIAN LEGIONARY

From the hoplite-like levy of Archaic Rome to the limita- nei and comitatenses of Late Antiquity, the equipment of the Roman army never stopped evolving. Nowhere is this process of evolution more evident than during the first century AD thanks to a wealth of archaeological material.

By M.C. Bishop

Our understanding of the evolution of the Roman army – a continuous process throughout Roman history – peaks during the first century AD, when the archaeological and representational source data is at its richest. The assembly of legions to form the new British army, the exerci- tus Britannicus, for the invasion of Britain in AD 43 caused a knock-on effect across Germany and the Balkans as legions were relocated. When legions moved, they invariably buried what they could not take with them, and that included surplus equipment, providing an invaluable snapshot of what was in use or being discarded at the time. The nuances in the available information are sufficient to be able to detect both the similarities and differences between the army under Augustus (AW Special Issue 2009) and…

You're reading a preview of

Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVI.5

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.