Reading Group--Caesar's Legion

[mmadsen]

How would you guys rate the book overall ?

5 - A must buy
4 - Worthwhile/Good
3 - OK
2 - For Roman Fanatics only
1 - Forget it

I have definitely enjoyed the book, and I wasn't a diehard "fan" of ancient Rome going in, so it deserves more than a 1 or 2. The fact that I want to tell everyone I meet some little anecdote from the book is a good sign -- and so's the fact that everyone seems to enjoy the anecdotes as well.

As Maldur points out though, it struggles through some dry spells in the middle, with "this legion went here, this legion went there" and fewer colorful passages. Also, it makes an awkward transition from a book about Caesar's Legio X to a book summarizing Caesar's death and its aftermath.

I give it four smiley faces (out of five possible):

 

[mmadsen]

Still there are some great images to be found amoung these lists. ( mmadsen finds most of them!)

Thank you, Maldur. I try!

All in all a great read! If you like roman (or SHARKS valladorian) Legions it's a must read.

Agreed.

I think SHARK can use several ideas from the last chapters ( the sieges of Jerusalem and Masala) in his defense of the mountain fortress.

When you get to the sections on Jerusalem and Masala, you quickly see where the word "zealot" comes from. Wow.

The writer has done research on several different "individual" legions. It might be interesting to see what the other legions have been up to, even though a lot of legions are described in this book.

Agreed.

But what be more interesting are other thing he might be able to tell us about the roman military machine. Techniques, teactics, Equipment, etc all with a backdrop of anecdotes and example stories

Ooh, that could be good!

 

[optimizer]

Howdy!

How would you guys rate the book overall ?

5 - A must buy
4 - Worthwhile/Good
3 - OK
2 - For Roman Fanatics only
1 - Forget it

I would rate this as a 4 if you enjoy history or a 5 if you really like Roman military history. It presents the material in a new way (at least to me) by concentrating on 1 legion and its place in Roman history. I would have prefered some more maps of the battles and some more material on the equiping of the legions and how they changed over time, but I think there are other works that cover that material.

I have enjoyed reading the book and would be interested in reading some more works by this author.

Mike

 

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Chapter XI: The Battle of Pharsalus

"What hopes for victory, Gaius Crastinus? What grounds for encouragement?"

said Caesar to the Centurion. The hardened, veteran centurion answered--

"You will conquer gloriously today."

This I can see--almost like Patton talking to his men as he advances to the front of the battlefield. Caesar, for all of his glory, his arrogance, and his immense personal power and authority, seems to maintain a warm, friendly, even fatherly relationship with his soldiers. At the end of the day, they are largely fanatically loyal to him, and it becomes apparent why. The centurion marches onward! The Centurions are so critically important to the entire Roman Legion--indeed, they are the very spine, the very glue that forges it together.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[Rashak Mani]

I think he is more like napoleon... cultivating his image and their loyalty. They are more like loyal dogs to him I would say...

 

[Maldur]

Ill have to agree with Rashak Mani on this one SHARK. I know he is one of your Heroes, but Ceasar has ( or had) his faults.

To rate the book I would say a 4 or a 5 if your really into romans.

I did do some quick searches but I cant find any other books by this author. Does anyone know?

 

[mmadsen]

Chapter X -- A Taste of Defeat

This sounds like a D&D adventure:

In February, Pompey's Admiral Libo made a daring dash across the Adriatic to Brindisi, where he landed a commando force of marines from fifty warships. They sank a number of ships and captured several more, initially causing great panic in the Italian city. But the raiders were soon driven off by Mark Antony's second-wave troops, who were still waiting in the embarkation camp to cross the Adriatic, and withdrew with their limited spoils.

 

[Rashak Mani]

Only with Cesar would someone call a FIFTY warship excursion a "Commando Force of Marines."

 

[Maldur]

"Commando raid from 50 ships"

Thats about 50x50= 2500 men, thats only half a legion
(and I use the low , only 50 men from each ship estimate)
When your using 10's of legions at a time thats only a small expedition.

But I wont call it a commando raid. More a search and destoy mission ( find the ships and torch them). You can also call it massive beach landing.

Again the scale is staggering. Besides I still find the concept of civil war, very strange! Romans fighting romans, Odd!

 

[Rashak Mani]

Maldur Barbarians are Barbarians... the real power struggle was in Rome... never in the frontiers. The frontiers were minor to Romes power grubbing culture.

Romans fighting Romans wasnt as unusual as one might think... they woudnt be called civil wars thou always.

The 2500 "commando raid" does sound like a massive beach landing...