The Legions

Rome's Army from the Early Republic to the Fall of the West

James Coverley · 2022 · 440 pages

For seven centuries, the Roman legion was the most effective fighting force in the Western world. It conquered Gaul and Britain, held back the Germanic tribes, and crushed a dozen major rebellions across three continents. Then, over the course of a single century, it stopped working.

This book tells the complete story of the legion from its origins in the early Republic to its final collapse in the fifth century. It covers tactics, equipment, and leadership but is fundamentally concerned with the human beings who served: the career soldiers from the provinces, the officers from the equestrian class, and the commanders whose decisions shaped the fate of an empire.

Based on the latest scholarship and enriched by the author's visits to every major site from Hadrian's Wall to the Danube frontier.

The Cych Press