Product Description

The story of the Claudian Conquest of Britain was only partly recorded by ancient historians. Tacitus' Annals breaks off at the death of Tiberius, while the narrative of Cassius Dio survives only as a collection of selected pieces. Much of this missing knowledge has been recaptured by archaeological research. As a result, we have a better understanding of the tribal society which then existed in Britain, and this can help us to appreciate the courses of military action open to Aulus Plautius, the commanding Roman general. There are other important military factors which would have affected Plautius' choice of options: logistical, geographical, political. In this innovative and much acclaimed study John Peddie argues that the organisation and supply problems of a task force of some 40,000 men and several thousand animals would broadly have dictated Roman tactics. He discusses what these may have been, examines the reason's for Vespasian's seemingly isolated foray into the West Country, and suggests that Caratacus' guerilla campaign (AD 43-52) denied the Romans their hope of a speedy conquest

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105943 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

About the Author
John Peddie was a retired regular infantry officer, who also wrote 'Hannibal's War', 'The Roman War Machine' and 'Alfred: Warrior King.

Customer Reviews

They came, they saw and certainly conquered
Until I recently sat an Archaeology A level, I gave only a passing thought about the Roman period other than dates and the physical remains they left behind.

'Conquest' certainly brings the age to life. The descriptions of the conditions endured by the natives and the Roman soldiers are nothing less than vivid.

As the book unfolds, it illustrates how close the Roman army came to not invading at all.

Not only does the book cover written accounts or simply hypothesise, Mr Peddie, a former soldier, goes all out to prove how the Roman war machine functioned, going so far as to demonstrate how long it would have taken to build roads from the Kent coast to London, using a combination of equations and a team of willing volunteers and re-enactors to prove his findings.

Not only are the movements of fighting men covered but the minute details of logistics,artillery and siege tactics along with how they were employed.

The story of the invasion of Britain has everything, action, adventure and even romance, all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster. (Is George Lucas interested)

Even as a general read this book works well and is accessible to anyone with a passing interest in the period. Overall this book thoroughly deserves it's five stars.

Conquest: The Roman Invasion of Britain
Not a novel and not a detailed accademic book but an extremely good interesting and accurate book providing comparative details of some aspects of the invasion and its cost (in manpower etc.)