The Roman Army of the Punic Wars 264-146 BC

by FIELDS, NIC

• ISBN13: 9781846031458
• ISBN10: 1846031451
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2007-05-22
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

Long before the Second Punic War (218 - 201 BC), Rome's influence extended no further than the Alps, and the wars that it fought consisted of small-scale raids and cattle rustling, with perhaps the occasional battle between armies. Nevertheless, within a century the seeds of an empire had been sown in Iberia, Africa, and the Greek east, and the Roman Republican army became the most successful of its day, establishing standards of discipline, organization, and efficiency that set a bench mark for the later armies of Rome. With the evolution of the Roman Republic came the adoption of the Manipular legion, a formation taken from the hoplite phalanx and first used in mass deployment against the North African nation of Carthage, during the Punic Wars. In this book Nic Fields examines the evolution of the Roman army from its defeat at Cannae through to their final success at Zama which saw a small city-based force evolve into a Mediterranean powerhouse, demonstrating how and why it became the most highly organized, sophisticated force in the ancient world.

Author Biography

Dr Nic Fields started his career as a biochemist before joining the Royal Marines. Having left the military, he went back to University and completed a BA and PhD in Ancient History at the University of Newcastle. He was Assistant Director at the British School at Athens, Greece, and then a lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Edinburgh. Nic is now a freelance author and researcher. The author lives in France.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 4
Conquest of Italy
First Punic War
Roman military organization	p. 16
The Livian legion
The Polybian legion
Maniple
Light infantry
Cavalry
Citizen-militia
Socii military organization	p. 28
Ala
Cohors
Cavalry
Command and control	p. 31
Legion command
Centuriate
Junior officers
Command and control in action
Roman Army in battle	p. 41
Roman tactical doctrine and practice
Legion
Socii
Light troops
Cavalry
Engineering	p. 52
Marching camps
Roads
Siegecraft
Second Punic War	p. 57
Hannibal's revenge
Hannibal's aims
The long struggle
The Trebbia, genius at work
Lake Trasimene, the perfect ambush
Cannae, a lesson in annihilation
The Metaurus, the beginning of the end
Ilipa, Iberia lost
Zama, a lesson learnt
Military superpower	p. 86
Chronology	p. 88
Ancient authors	p. 91
Appian (b. AD 95)
Cassius Dio (b. AD 164)
Diodorus Siculus (b. c.80 BC)
Bibliography	p. 93
Glossary	p. 94
Index	p. 95
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