This book was unbelievable and informative!!! Very easy to read, three strands of narrative are woven together to give you the complete picture of the Roman soldier in Britannia in the late Roman Empire. First, there was straight nonfiction information. Secondly, narration included the representative experiences of a fictional 'Everyman' Roman common soldier, Gaius. The book covers Gaius's whole military career: from enlistment through honorable discharge and beyond. Thirdly, the author brings in his own experiences in a re-enactment group of which he was a member, to illustrate some point he discusses in the book. All aspects of military life as limitanei [frontier guards], as opposed to comitatensis [regular field army], are discussed, in palatable, easy to remember form. The author's information has come from archaeology and from ancient military writers, such as Ammianus Marcellinus, Vegetius, and the 6th century Byzantine emperor and military strategist: Maurice's Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy. Gaius and his contubernium ; other army personnel; and wife and son are all presented realistically. The soldiers' religions were presented: Roman paganism; Christianity; and Mithraism. The soldiers were dressed very unlike the classical Roman army of centuries before--Plate I.

Everything from weapons to clothing [many elaborately decorated] to foods to military life in the fort, on the march, and in skirmishes and battles was examined. Though most of the food sounded horrible [to my modern taste, at least], out of curiosity and as an experiment, I did cook one dish the soldiers ate--fried parsnips with salt, pepper, and cumin seeds. It was surprisingly tasty, rather like something Indian or Pakistani.

I especially liked the sections on life on the march; setting up temporary camps; the departure of troops from Britannia on Stilicho's orders and the march through Gaul to Mediolanum. The Battle of Pollentia [402 AD] against the Goths was very vividly described.

Finally, there were a few pp. about the fall of the Western Roman Empire and what you can see today of Gaius's world [locations mentioned in the book]. The bibliography was excellent, as well as annotated footnotes and index. There was also a section of black and white plates and many line drawings. This book is a fantastic reference and most highly recommended! Small quibbles, but the print was tiny and the illustrations were not in color. ( )

This book explores the world of the Roman soldier, from recruitment to weaponry, marriage to wages, warfare to religion, through the eyes of one man, posted to a British garrison at the edge of the empire facing the imminent collapse of Roman rule. The author follows the soldier's life through training and battle, marriage and business dealings, finally following him south as he leaves Britain for good in defence of Rome. Elliot adds factual explanation to each chapter drawing on his re-enactment expertise with Comitatus and Quinta including many experiments to discover how military equipment in this period was made, used and worn. ( )