Roman Army - pocket dictionary
by Abdy, Richard
pub. British Museum Press, London - 2008/,     isbn 978-07141-3126-9 - - - - 48 p.
This is a short book on the organization and workings of the Roman Army, mostly set in the time period then the Romans occupied Britain. (about 117 AD). Each page conveys a different topic and includes pictures.
It is a nice introduction to the Roman Army. For instance the smallet groupings of men were the 8 man contubernium. Ten of these made up a century. Interesting that a Centurian actually headed 80 men plus a few staff officers.
Six centuries made a cohort, A Legion being made up 9 Cohorts of480 men to a total of 5300 men. During Emperor Hadrians time the army consisted of 30 Legions.
The regular soldiers were Roman citizens. They were supported by a lagre number of non-Roman troops which were largely made up of specialists (Auxiliaries) such as archers, cavalry, and light infantry. After 25 years of service these who survived were given Roman citizenship and a pension.
There is a section on arms and tactics.
This is a good short read, very straightforward.

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