Nic FieldsRezensionen

CUPRINS

1. INTRODUCERE - pag. 7
2. Originile revoltei - pag. 10
3. Primul razboi al sclavilor (135 - 132 i. Hr) - pag. 10
4. Al doiulea razboi al scalvilor (104 - 100 i. Hr) - pag. 13

5. CRONOLOGIE - pag. 17

6. RANDUIALA SOCIALA A ROMANILOR - pag. 20
7. Sistemul sclavagist - pag. 21
8. Piraterie si comert cu sclavi - pag. 31
9. Gladiatori - oameni ai sabiei - pag. 32
10. Vorbitori de osca - pag. 40

11. COMANDANTI ADVERSI - pag. 43
12. Spartacus tracul - pag. 43
13. Marcus Licinius Crassus - pag. 49

14. ARMATE IN CONFLICT - pag. 56
15. Armata sclavilor - pag. 56
16. Armata romana - pag. 70

17. PLANURI OPUSE - pag. 82
18. Planul lui Spartacus - pag. 85
19. Planul roman - pag. 88

20. CAMPANIA - pag. 91
21. Infrangerea armatelor pretoriene, 73 i. Hr - pag. 92
22. Infrangerea armatelor consulare, 72 i Hr. - pag. 95
23. Razboiul lui Crassus, 71 i. Hr. - pag. 102
24. Capcana se inchide: raul Silarus, 71 i. Hr. - pag. 109

25. CONSECINTE - pag. 116
25. Crucificarea - pag. 116
26. Intoarcerea la ordine - pag. 120

27. MOSTENIREA LUI SPARTACUS - pag. 124

28. Ghid al surselor primare - pag. 132
29. Glosar si abrevieri - pag. 139
30. Bibliografie - pag. 141
31. Indice - pag. 142

The real charm of this particular booklet in this series are the fascinating reconstructions of the citadels in question. Beyond that, this also works as an introduction to the Late Bronze Age collapse that ended the culture that created these fortresses.½

I think the author here makes a game effort to try to bring order out of chaos, the chaos that was the aftermath of the murder of Julius Caesar. He partially succeeds, but it takes a great deal of effort to try to figure out what, exactly, is going on, a problem that is not entirely the author's fault. As is usual with this series, the illustrations are excellent. I think this is recommended for Roman history buffs, but if you aren't one, you may find the going rough.½

A good little overview. It makes use of basic tables, maps and interesting illustration. If you knew nothing about the topic, it would be a good starter.

Sorry I have been remiss on book reporting duties, but I’ve been busy keeping my house from collapsing and haven’t had much time to spare. Today, however, I’m at a Starbucks® hiding out from rampaging Trick-or-Treaters, so I might as well catch up a little.


Bronze Age War Chariots is a typical Osprey/New Vanguard book; mostly intended for modelers or miniatures gamers, lots of pretty pictures, minimal but adequate text, not cheap. The black and white illustrations provide a useful reference for more scholarly books on chariot warfare; the color plates are highly detailed – perhaps overly so, with more things shown than the archaeological record actually justifies. There’s one egregious error; in a plate supposedly depicting action at the battle of Kadesh, Hittite charioteers overrun an Egyptian infantry unit. The Egyptians are all shown wearing the nmsh headdress; this is the cloth head covering with shoulder lappets that’s ubiquitous in cartoons and popular illustrations of ancient Egyptians. Unfortunately for the illustrator, the nmsh is restricted to Pharaoh; it’s essentially yet another Egyptian royal crown and no one else ever wears one. Actual Egyptian infantry head covering at this time would have been a heavy wig, thoroughly greased so weapon strikes had a better chance of glancing off. An Egyptian infantry platoon must have had an interesting odor after a day’s heavy fighting.


Possibly useful for a very quick background on chariot fighting, or if you want to model them.

An Osprey box, #22 in their Fortress series. There are not enough reconstructed illustrations, but there are cost considerations. It is a pretty ordinary Osprey, but it does have an Aegean Sea map with the fortresses on it. The text is best on the Sites section, and the cultural section is extremely limited, but there are those drawings. It's not worth the $18.95, but I got mine second hand.½

A good look at the Early Roman soldiers and warriors. Writing flows nicely and isnt dry, the author takes time to show the differences between a soldier and a warrior, as well as how agriculture and booty shaped a large part of early conflicts. The writing style and artwork are very good.

I am a great fan of the Osprey books and this is certainly one of the best. Much has been written about the armies and wars of the New Kingdom, particularly the campaigns of Ramses II, but this is one of the only books I know dealing with the earlier Egyptian period in a form accessible to the layman. Full of detail and statistics, but also giving a good picture of life as a soldier in the 2nd millenium BC. A worthwhile read for military buffs and those with a casual interst in ancient history alike.

This is a decent overview of the state-of-affairs of the archaeological reality of Troy as opposed to the City of Myth. It introduces the local variant of the Bronze Age, provides a sober account of Schliemann's exploits and discusses the architecture and the culture of the nine successive archaeological stages (albeit briefly) before going into detail about the construction and the continuous restoration of the fortifications of Troy VI. Many sections are supported by clear illustrations and reconstructive drawings, which make up one of the main assets of this booklet (practically all of the photographs were taken by Fields himself). I also liked the chapter on what the "historical reality" of the Trojan Horse might have been.

Fields does have a tendency to insert references to Homer whenever the Iliad can be cited to back up a point -- windy area! fast-flowing waters! -- and once the main points have been made there follow a couple of sections where he connects features from geographic reality with events from the Iliad (e.g. the Trojans attacking the Achaean rampart) without justification outside the poem. But these criticisms are aesthetic only; overall I liked this book. It's clear, concise, and it's well-written by somebody who clearly knows what they're talking about.½

Up to the usual high standards and excellent illustrations, this volume is a bit different as information about the Civil Wars. In this volume the principals take a back seat to the equipment, tactics, and battle orders during the Civil War period. This provides more of a unique perspective on the critical period leading to the Principate.

This is a terrific small volume with valuable illustrations and a helpful text.

The paintings by Steve Noon alone are worth getting this volume.

This is a review of early Roman tactics which would make an excellent volume to combine with a more in-depth work and a the later tactics volume in the Osprey series. This volume is up to the usual high Osprey standards.

Most of the work, along with the usual outstanding Osprey illustrations, concern later Rome and the defensive wars of the second and third centuries of the Common Era. Yet, Fields does survey the entire history of Rome thus the early walls are included as well. Many of the pictures are the author's personal work, which includes the contemporary graffiti on the walls.

This is Osprey at its best, in that Fields gives you a clear and concise picture of how the Roman army of the period functioned at the tactical level, and places this in the context of the ever-expanding Roman polity, the strategic basis of the wars with the Carthaginians, and the assorted field forces that were deployed.

The illustrations are really helpful in this volume. Most accounts of Hannibal and the Punic Wars are text based but in these excellent short Osprey series they supplement the sound text studies with accompanying views of the troops and specific battles. The pictures also focus on the period and offer valuable visual evidence of the period.

About 25% of the black and white images are out of focus. They seem to have been taken with a 0.3 mega-pixel mobile-phone camera. Were Osprey's editors asleep or drunk? Or is this another example of finance and deadlines coming before editorial standards?

This is book is rather poor, and achieves the remarkable task of devaluing the already crap Osprey brandmark. It must surely rate among the worst Osprey volumes ever produced! Most of the black and white images are irrelevant (endless images of Roman emperors, Scythian and even Carolingian warriors, but very little actually Hunnic) and Christa Hook's colour artwork is so impressionistic and the detail so generic you can hardly make out any detail of Hunnic dress or equipment. The only redeeming grace is the text which is at least written in complete sentences. Otherwise, disappointing in the extreme! A complete waste of money.½

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