The Roman Army from Hadrian to Constantine (Men at Arms Series, 93)

This is one of Osprey's oldest Men-at-Arms books, and is in dire need of replacement. The book never addresses its topic--the soldiers of the late imperial legions. The first half of the book covers Hadrian's Wall. The rest of the book discusses the archeological remains of armor, helmets, and swords. This book contains no discussion of the actual soldiers, battle formations, campaigns, tactics, historical antecdotes, or anything along the lines of what has become standard for the Men-at-Arms series. "The Rebuplican Roman Army, 200-104 BC" is hands down one of the best Men-at-Arms titles I've ever read, this book however is one of the worst, and I think a new one should be commissioned more along the lines of the former. For a better discussion of the soldiers of this period (and much better full-color plates), I recommend "Greece and Rome at War" by Peter Connonlly.

The later Imperial Roman period has always been fascinating to me, but it is hard to find very detailed information on uniforms, armor, etc. This is one of several Osprey books that remedy this problem excellently.

This book deserves 10 stars! Osprey books are noted for their accurate representations of period aromour and fine illustrations. As a student of Roman history , I have read several books by Michael Simkins and have yet to be disappointed.

The product arrived in good condition and pretty quickly at that.

The book's title is slightly misleading; although the central color plates illustrate representative images from the full range of dates indicated by the reigns cited therein, the text leans the discussion heavily toward the earlier part of the period and Hadrian's Wall in particular. Also, a disclaimer is included stating that much background material (including, presumably, definitions of some military terms used) is to be found in the companion volume, "The Roman Army from Caesar to Trajan."
Relating to the comparatively extensive discussion of helmets, the illustrations are scattered widely and inconveniently throughout the book (sometimes pages after the discussion of their object without any indication an illustration is included, frustrating especially after reading a detailed description) and references are again made to the companion volume. This and other subsections on equipment collectively dwarf other topics such as religion and diet of soldiers.
The author includes some unhelpfully amateurish drawings of his own besides much better photographs of his equipment reconstructions and the illustrator's plates.
The end of this period is treated more fully in Osprey's "Late Roman Infantryman" and "Late Roman Cavalryman," the balance handled in "Imperial Roman Legionary," which I have not seen.