Barbarian Warrior vs Roman Legionary

Marcomannic Wars AD 165–180

Barbarian Warrior vs Roman Legionary cover

Description

This engrossing book pits the legionaries of Imperial Rome against their Germanic and Sarmatian opponents in the 2nd century AD.

Shortly after Marcus Aurelius came to power in AD 161, the Roman Empire was racked by a series of military crises. While unrest in Britain and a new war with Parthia were swiftly dealt with, the invasion of Roman territory by the Chatti and Chauci peoples heralded a resurgent threat from the empire's European neighbours. Soon the Marcomanni and the Quadi, as well as the Dacians and the Sarmatian Iazyges, would attack the Romans in a series of savage conflicts that continued until AD 175 and would see the first invasion of Roman Italy since the beginning of the 1st century BC.

In this book, the two sides' objectives, weapons and equipment and fighting styles are assessed and compared in the context of three featured battles: Carnuntum (170), where a Roman legion was vanquished and Italy invaded; the 'Battle on the Ice' (172), where the Romans fought their lighter-armed Iazyges opponents on the frozen Danube; and the so-called 'Miracle of the Rain' (174), during which a trapped Roman force facing annihilation was able to defeat numerically superior Germanic forces. Photographs, specially commissioned artwork plates and mapping complement the authoritative text in this engrossing study of Imperial Rome at war.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Opposing Sides
Carnuntum, AD 170
The Battle on the Ice, AD 172
The Miracle of the Rain, AD 174
Analysis
Aftermath
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published Jan 16 2024
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 80
ISBN 9781472858061
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations Colour artwork plates and maps; black & white and colour photographs and illustrations.
Dimensions 248 x 184 mm
Series Combat
Short code CBT 76
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Murray Dahm

Murray Dahm is a freelance historian and the autho…

Illustrator

Giuseppe Rava

Giuseppe Rava was born in Faenza in 1963, and took…

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