Gladius: Living, Fighting and Dying in the Roman Army by Guy de la Bédoyère

A short introduction to my forthcoming book Gladius, which is about what it was like to be a soldier in Rome's army. The book draws on all sorts of evidence to focus as much as possible about the individual experience. The book was written a short distance from a road built by the Legio VIIII Hispana between 2018 and 2019. At the time of this video the book was in advanced production ready for publication on 5 November 2020 in the UK (Little, Brown) and US (University of Chicago Press; the US title is Gladius: the World of the Roman Soldier).

The Roman army was the greatest fighting machine the ancient world produced. The Roman Empire depended on soldiers not only to win its wars, defend its frontiers and control the seas but also to act as the engine of the state. Roman legionaries and auxiliaries came from across the Roman world and beyond. They served as tax collectors, policemen, surveyors, civil engineers and, if they survived, in retirement as civic worthies, craftsmen and politicians. Some even rose to become emperors.

Gladius takes the reader right into the heart of what it meant to be a part of the Roman army through the words of Roman historians, and those of the men themselves through their religious dedications, tombstones, and even private letters and graffiti. Gladius throws open a window on how the men, their wives and their children lived, from bleak frontier garrisons to guarding the emperor in Rome, enjoying a ringside seat to history fighting the emperors’ wars, mutinying over pay, marching in triumphs, throwing their weight around in city streets, and enjoying esteem in honourable retirement.

UPDATE: AS OF 5 NOVEMBER 2020 THIS BOOK IS NOW PUBLISHED IN THE UK, WITH THE USE TO FOLLOW SHORTLY. IT MAY BE ORDERED ON AMAZON.

Chapters:
1. INTRODUCTION – The Army of the Emperors
2. STRENGTH AND HONOUR – Signing on in Caesar’s army
3. GLORIA EXERCITUS – Making soldiers
4. GOLD AND SILVER – Pay, Handouts and Bequests
5. A SOLDIER’S LIFE – Garrisoning the Empire
6. LIVING OFF THE LAND – The Roman Army and the Environment
7. IGNOMINY AND DEFEAT – the Roman Army’s Darkest Days
8. I CAME, I SAW, I CONQUERED – The Roman War Machine Victorious
9. LIVING BY THE SWORD – Violence and Atrocities
10. QUINQUIREMES AND TRIREMES – The Roman Army at Sea
11. MUTINEERS AND REBELS – King-Makers for Sale
12. PEACETIME DUTIES – Jacks of all Trades
13. LEISURE AND LEAVE – Hunting Wild Boar and other Diversions
14. WIVES AND LOVERS – Family Life on the Frontier
15. VETERANS – The Emperor’s Die-Hards

Regrettably, I have had to turn off the Comments facility. YouTube now requires 2-step verification for YouTube channel users like myself. This is incredibly tedious, largely because I have constantly to monitor the comments for the small number of viewers who abuse/misuse the facility by making inappropriate or personal comments, try to contact me about issues unrelated to the video in question sometimes in a completely unacceptable way, and there are also the robots that inject obscene or other unsuitable content. Each of these has laboriously to be deleted which means constant 2-step verification every time. So, Comments on my videos will now be permanently disabled. Sorry.
16. JUPITER’S MEN – Religion and Superstition
EPILOGUE

Видео Gladius: Living, Fighting and Dying in the Roman Army by Guy de la Bédoyère канала Classical and Ancient Civilization