Inside the Roman Legions

Inside the Roman Legions aims to tell the story of the Roman soldier through a holistic, empathetic examination of what the experience of military service in the Middle Republic was really like. It traces real examples of soldiers described in the ancient sources to reveal how they travelled, how they were organized and what campaign objectives they faced. Specifically, the author follows the ordinary soldier Spurius Ligustinus, whose life is related by the historian Livy, as an example, detailing the experiences of his career. The book begins by discussing the young future soldier's background and what military values were conveyed to him through the prevailing culture of the time. It then follows him through a range of potential experiences, examining camp conditions and training with various types of weapons and armour, and proceeds to take the reader through the experience of fighting in a pitched battle step by step. It also addresses experiences that only some soldiers would have had, such as escaping a total defeat, deserting, or being subject to unusual punishments. Throughout, the focus of the book is on how the individual might be shaped by the experiences as they are described. AUTHOR: Dr Kathryn Milne was born and raised in Scotland but studied in the USA. She earned her PhD in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and was a Postdoctoral Associate in Military History at Cornell University. She taught ancient history for eight years at Wofford College in South Carolina. She has previously published work in various academic journals and contributed to scholarly edited volumes in her area of speciality, the military of the Roman Republic.