Military History of the Roman State
This is a listing of works relevant to particular campaigns and battles in Roman history (753 BC - AD 476). For a study of aspects of the Roman Army, see the main bibliography on Roman Warfare. I have added some annotations of my own to the individual items. This is not an attempt to list all work known, but rather what I consider to be up-to-date and useful. This page is still under construction, but is being worked on slowly. I have included a separate list of Abbreviations.
Last update was 8th January 2002.
Military History
This is subdivided into smaller periods.
753-509 Regal Rome
509-300 Rome and Italy
300-264 Pyrrhus
264-202 The First and Second Punic Wars
202-146 Third Punic War, Macedonian Wars
146-90 War in Spain, Jugurthine War
90-49 Julius Caesar in Gaul
49-31 Civil Wars
31 BC - AD 14 Augustan Expansion
14-68 Julio-Claudian Expansion
66-74 Jewish Revolt
69 Year of the Four Emperors
70-96 Flavian Consolidation
96-161 Trajanic Aggression, Hadrianic Consolidation
161-235 Marcomannic Wars
235-284 The Third Century Crisis
284-305 The Tetrarchy
305-337 Constantine the Great
337-375 Alamannic Wars
375-423 Adrianople and Aftermath
423-455 Hunnic Challenges
455-476 Vandalic Threat and Western Disintegration
753-509
509-300
Cornell, T.J., The Beginnings of Rome (London, 1995)
not specifically military, but a good starting point
Saulnier, C., L'armée et la guerre dans le monde étrusco-romain (VIIIe-IVe s) (Paris, 1980)
Saulnier, C., L'armée et la guerre chez les peuples samnites (VIIe-IVe s) (Paris, 1983)
300-264
Cornell, T.J., The Beginnings of Rome (London, 1995)
not specifically military, but a good starting point
Dyson, S., The Creation of the Roman Frontier (Princeton, 1985)
Harris, W.V., Rome in Etruria and Umbria (Oxford, 1971)
Salmon, E.T., Samnium and the Samnites (Cambridge, 1967)
Salmon, E.T., The Making of Roman Italy (London, 1982)
264-202
Badian, E., 'Notes on Roman Policy in Illyria', PBSR 20 (1952), 72-93
Bagnall, N., The Punic Wars (London, 1990)
Cornell, T. et al., eds., The Second Punic War: A Reappraisal (BICS 67) (London, 1996)
Devijver, H. and Lipinski, E., eds., Punic Wars (Louvain, 1989)
proceedings of conference in Antwerp, 23-26 November, 1988
Dorey, T.A. and Dudley, D.R., Rome against Carthage (London, 1971)
Goldsworthy, A., The Punic Wars (London 2000)
Hammond, N.G.L., 'Illyris, Rome and Macedon, in 229-205 BC', JRS 58 (1968), 1-21
Hammond, N.G.L., 'The Illyrian Atintani, the Epirotic Atintanes and the Roman Protectorate', JRS 79 (1989), 11-25
Hoyos, B.D., 'Hannibal: what kind of genius?', G+R 30 (1983), 171-180
Lazenby, J., Hannibal's War (Warminster, 1978)
Lazenby, J.F., The First Punic War: a Military History (Stanford, 1996)
Le Bohec, Y., Histoire militaire des guerres puniques (Monaco, 1996)
Scullard, H.H., Scipio Africanus, Soldier and Politician (London, 1970)
Shean, J.F., 'Hannibal's Mules: The Logistical Limitations of Hannibal's Army and the Battle of Cannae, 216 BC', Historia 45 (1996), 159-187
Tipps, G.K., 'The Battle of Ecnomus', Historia 34 (1985), 432-
Toynbee, A.J., Hannibal's Legacy (Oxford, 1965)
202-146
For the Third Punic War, see also 264-202 BC.
Astin, A.E., Scipio Aemilianus (Oxford, 1967)
Badian, E., 'Rome and Antiochus the Great: A Study in Cold War', CP 54 (1959), 81-99
Hammond, N.G.L., 'The Battle of Cynoscephalae', JHS 108 (1988), 60-82
Hammond, N.G.L., 'The Battle of Pydna', JHS 104 (1984), 31-47
MacDonald, A.H., 'The Roman Conquest of Cisalpine Gaul (201-191 BC)', Antichthon 8 (1974), 44-53
Reiter, W., Aemilius Paullus, Conqueror of Greece (London, 1988)
Richardson, J.S., Hispaniae: Spain and the Development of Roman Imperialism 218-82 BC (Cambridge, 1986)
reviewed in JRS 78 (1988), 212-214
Simon, H., Roms Kriege in Spanien, 154-133 n Chr. (Frankfurt, 1962)
Walbank, F.W., Philip V of Macedon (Hamden, 1967)
146-91
Carney, T.F., A Biography of G. Marius (Chicago, 1970)
Gabba, E., Republican Rome, the Army and the Allies (Oxford, 1977)
Morgan, M.G., 'Lucius Cotta and Metellus: Roman campaigns in Illyria during the Late Second Century', Athenaeum 49 (1971), 271-301
Richardson, J.S., Hispaniae: Spain and the Development of Roman Imperialism 218-82 BC (Cambridge, 1986)
reviewed in JRS 78 (1988), 212-214
90-49
Berresford Ellis, P., Caesar's Invasion of Britain (London, 1978)
Brunt, P.A., 'Italian Aims at the Time of the Social War', The Fall of the Roman Republic (Oxford, 1990), 93-143
expanded and revised version of JRS 55 (1965), 90-115
Cuff, P.J., 'Caesar the Soldier', G+R 2:4 (1957), 29-35
Harmand, J., Une campagne cesarienne: Alesia (Paris, 1967)
Hillman, T.P. 'Cinna, Strabo's army, and Strabo's death in 87 BC', AC 65 (1996), 81-89
Keaveney, A., Rome and the Unification of Italy (London, 1987)
reviewed JRS 78 (1988), 202-205
McGing, B.C., The Foreign Policy of Mithradates Eupator, King of Pontus (Leiden, 1986)
Pelling, C.B.R., 'Caesar's battle descriptions and the defeat of Ariovistus', Latomus 40 (1981), 741-766
Walser, G., Bellum Helveticum: Studien zum Beginn der caesarischen Eroberung von Gallien (Stuttgart, 1998)
49-31 BC
Carter, J., The Battle of Actium (London, 1970)
Pelling, C.B., 'Pharsalus', Historia 22 (1973), 249-259
31 BC - AD 14
Berger, F. et al., 'Archaeologische Quellen zur Varusschlacht?', Antike Welt 22 (1991), 221-234
Burstein, S.M., 'Cornelius Gallus and Aethiopia', AHB 2 (1988), 16-20
Jameson, S., 'Chronology of the campaigns of Aelius Gallus and C. Petronius', JRS 58 (1968), 71-84
Jones, R.F.J., 'The Roman Military Occupation of North-West Spain', JRS 66 (1976), 45-66
Franzius, G. 'Die roemischen Funde aus Kalkriese 1987-95 und ihre Bedeutung fuer die Interpretation und Datierung militaerischer Fundplaetze der augusteischen Zeit im nordwesteuropaeischen Raum', Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies 6 (1995), 69-88
concerning the site of the Varan disaster
Universität Osnabrück student project on the site
Schlueter, W., 'Archaeologische Zeugnisse zur Varusschlacht? Die Untersuchungen in der Kalkrieser-Niewedder Senke bei Osnabrueck', Germania 70 (1992), 307 ff
Schlueter, W., Kalkriese - Roemer im Osnabruecker Land, Archaeologische Forschungen zur Varusschlacht (Bramsche 1994)
Schön, F., Der Beginn der römischen Herrschaft in Rätien (Sigmaringen, 1986)
reviewed in JRS 78 (1988), 228-229
Sidebotham, S.E., 'Aelius Gallus and Arabia', Latomus 45 (1986), 590-602
Syme, R., 'The Northern Frontiers under Augustus', Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 10, (Cambridge, 1934), 340-381
Wells, C.M., The German Policy of Augustus (Oxford, 1972)
AD 14-68
Barrett, A., 'The Date of Claudius' British Campaign', CQ 48 (1998), 574-577
Bird, D.G., 'The Claudian Invasion Campaign reconsidered', OJA 19 (2000), 91-104
Black, E.W., 'Sentius Saturninus and the Roman Invasion of Britain', Britannia 31 (2000), 1-10
Brunt, P.A., 'The Revolt of Vindex and the Fall of Nero', Roman Imperial Themes (Oxford, 1990), 9-32
Conole, P. and Milns, R.D., 'Neronian Frontier Policy in the Balkans', Historia 32 (1983), 183-200
Davies, R., 'The "Abortive invasion" of Britain by Gaius', Historia 15 (1966), 124-128
Frere, S.S. and Fulford, M., 'The Roman Invasion of AD 43', Britannia 32 (2001), 45-56
Hassall, M., 'Batavians and the Roman Conquest of Britain', Britannia 1 (1970), 131-136
Hind, J.G.F., 'The Invasion of Britain in AD 43: an alternative strategy for Aulus Plautius', Britannia 20 (1989), 1-21
Webster, G., The Roman Invasion of Britain (London, 1980)
Webster, G., Rome against Caratacus (London, 1993)
Woods, D., 'Caligula's seashells', Greece and Rome 47 (2000), 81-87
Jewish Revolt, 66-74
Bar-Kochva, B., 'Seron and Cestius Gallus at Beith Horon', Palestine Exploration Quarterly 108 (1976), 13-21
Gichon, M., 'Cestius Gallus' Campaign in Judaea', Palestine Exploration Quarterly 113 (1981), 39-62
Price, J., Jerusalem Under Siege: The Collapse of the Jewish State 66 - 70 CE (Leiden, 1992)
Richmond, I., 'The Roman Siege Works of Masada', JRS 52 (1962), 142-155
Safrai, Z., 'The Roman Army in the Galilee', The Galilee in Late Antiquity, ed. Levine, L.J., (Cambridge, MA, 1992), 104-115
69
Brunt, P.A., 'Tacitus on the Batavian Revolt', Roman Imperial Themes (Oxford, 1990), 33-52
Chilver, G.E.F., 'The Army in Politics, AD 68-70', JRS 47 (1957), 29-35
Wellesley, K., The Long Year AD 69 (London, 1976)
Wellesley, K., 'A Major Crux in Tacitus, Histories 2.40', JRS 61 (1971), 28-52
70-96
Berard, F. 'Bretagne, Germanie, Danube: mouvements de troupes et priorites strategiques sous le regne de Domitien', Pallas 40 (1994), 221-240
Breeze, D., 'The Logistics of Agricola's Final Campaign', Talanta 18-19 (1986-1987), 7-28
Gilliver, C.M., 'Mons Graupius and the Role of Auxiliaries in Battle', G+R 43 (1996) 54-67
Hanson, W.S., Agricola and the Conquest of the North (London, 1987)
Jones, B.W., Domitian (London, 1992)
Maxwell, G.S., A Battle Lost: Romans and Caledonians at Mons Graupius (Edinburgh, 1989)
Strobel, K., Die Donaukriege Domitians (Bonn, 1989)
96-161
Blyth, P.H., 'Apollodorus of Damascus and the Poliorcetica', GRBS 33 (1992), 127-158
Eck, W., 'The Bar Kokhba revolt: the Roman point of view', JRS 89 (1999), 76-89
Frere, S.S. and Lepper, F.A., Trajan's Column (Gloucester, 1988)
Invernizzi, A., 'Traiano a Hatra?', Mesopotamia 21 (1986), 21-50
Isaac, B. and Oppenheimer, A., 'The Revolt of Bar Kokhba: Ideology and Modern Scholarship', JJS 36 (1985), 33-60
Lepper, F.A., Trajan's Parthian War (Oxford, 1948)
Lighfoot, C., 'Trajan's Parthian War and the Fourth-Century Perspective', JRS 80 (1990), 115-126
Richmond, I., Trajan's Army on Trajan's Column (London, 1982)
revised version of PBSR 13 (1935), 1-40
Rossi, L., Trajan's Column and the Dacian Wars (London, 1971)
Rossi, L., 'A Historiographic Reassessment of the Metopes of the Tropaeum Traiani at Adamklissi', Archaeological Journal 129 (1972), 56-68
Speidel, M.P., 'The Captor of Decebalus', JRS 60 (1970), 142-153
Wylie, G., 'How did Trajan succeed in subduing Parthia where Mark Antony failed?', AHB 4 (1990), 37-43
161-235
Birley, A.R., Marcus Aurelius: A Biography, 2nd edition (London, 1987)
Birley, E., 'Septimius Severus and the Roman Army', Epigraphische Studien 8 (1969), 63-82
Campbell, D.B., 'What happened at Hatra? The problems of Severan Siege Operations', Defence in the Roman and Byzantine East, eds. P.W.M. Freeman and D.L. Kennedy (Oxford, 1986), 51-58
Kennedy, D.L., '"European" soldiers and the Severan Siege of Hatra', Defence in the Roman and Byzantine East, eds. P.W.M. Freeman and D.L. Kennedy (Oxford, 1986), 397-409
Rubin, Z., 'Dio, Herodian and Severus' Second Parthian war', Chiron 5 (1975), 419-441
Smith, R.E., 'The Army Reforms of Septimius Severus', Historia 12 (1972), 481-500
Speidel, M.P., 'Valerius Valerianus in Charge of Septimius Severus' Mesopotamian Campaign', CP 80 (1985), 321-26
235-284
Kettenhofen, E., Die römisch-persischen Kriegen des 3. Jhrhndrts n. Chr. (Wiesbaden, 1982)
Dodgeon, M.H. and Lieu, S.N.C., The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars, 226-363 (London, 1991)
A useful collection of source material in translation, including inscriptions; reviewd in JRS 84 (1994), 282-283
Millar, F., 'P. Herennius Dexippus, The Greek World and the Third-Century Invasions', JRS 59 (1969), 12-29
Saunders, R.T., 'Aurelian's Two Iuthungian Wars', Historia 41 (1992), 311-
Tyler, P., The Persian Wars of the Third Century AD and Roman Imperial Monetary Policy, AD 253-268 (Wiesbaden, 1975)
Winter, E., Die sasanidisch-römisch Friedensverträge des 3 Jhrhndrts. n. Chr. (Frankfurt, 1988)
284-305
Barnes, T.D., 'Imperial Campaigns, AD 285-311', Phoenix 30 (1976), 74-93
Castritius, H., 'Der Armenienkreig des Maximinus Daia', Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum 11 (1968), 94-103
Williams, S., Diocletian and the Roman Recovery (London, 1985)
Zuckerman, C., 'Les campagnes des tetrarques, 296-298. Notes de chronologie', AnTard 2 (1994) 65-70
305-337
Barnes, T.D., 'The Victories of Constantine', ZPE 20 (1976), 149-155
Michael DiMaio, M., Jörn, Z. and Natalia, N., 'Ambiguitas Constantiniana: the Caeleste Signum Dei of Constantine the Great', Byzantion 58 (1989), 333-
includes discussion of Milvian Bridge
Michael DiMaio, M., Jörn, Z. and Bethune, J., 'The Proelium Cibalense et Proelium Campi Ardiensis: The First Civil War of Constantine I and Licinius I', Ancient World 21 (1990), 87-
arguing for 314 as date of Cibalae
Ehrhardt, C., 'Monumental Evidence for the Date of Constantine's First War against Licinius', Ancient World 23 (1992) 87-94
Pohlsander, H.A., 'The Date of the Bellum Cibalense: A Reexamination', Ancient World 25 (1995), 89-101
Speidel, M.P., 'A Horse Guardsman in the War between Licinius and Constantine', Chiron 25 (1995) 83-87
337-375
Barnes, T.D., 'Imperial Chronology AD 337-350', Phoenix 34 (1980), 160-166
Blockley, R.C., 'Ammianus Marcellinus on the Battle of Strasbourg: Art and Analysis in the History', Phoenix 31 (1977), 218-231
Blockley, R.C., 'Ammianus Marcellinus on the Persian Invasion of AD 359', Phoenix 42 (1988), 244-260
Crump, G.A., 'Ammianus and the Late Roman Army', Historia 23 (1973), 91-103
Demandt, A., 'Die Feldzüge des älteren Theodosius', Hermes 100 (1972), 81-113
Ehling, K., 'Der Ausgang der Perserfeldzugs in der Munzpropaganda des Jovian', Klio 78 (1996) 186-191
Fornara, C.W., 'Julian's Persian Expedition in Ammianus and Zosimus', JHS 111 (1991), 1-15
Kaegi, W.E., 'Constantine's and Julian's Strategies of Strategic Surprise against the Persians', Athenaeum 69 (1981), 209-213
Lightfoot, C.S., 'Facts and Fiction - The Third Siege of Nisibis, AD 350', Historia 37 (1988), 105-125
Mosig-Walburg, K., 'Zur Schlacht bei Singara', Historia 48 (1999), 330-384
Portmann, W., 'Die 59. Rede des Libanios und das Datum der Schlacht von Singara', BZ 82 (1989), 1-18
Ridley, R.T., 'Notes on Julian's Persian Expedition (363)', Historia 22 (1973), 317-330
Rollinger, R., 'Zum Alemannenfeldzug Constantius' II. an Bodensee und Rhein im Jahre 355 n. Chr. und zu Julians erstem Aufenthalt in Italien. Uberlegungen zu Ammianus Marcellinus 15,4', Klio 80 (1998) 163-194
Seager, R., 'Perceptions of Eastern Frontier Policy in Ammianus, Libanius and Julian', CQ 47 (1997), 253-268
375-423
Bayless, W., 'The Visigothic Invasion of Italy in 401', CJ 72 (1976), 65-67
Burns, T.S., 'The Battle of Adrianople: A Reconsideration', Historia 23 (1973), 336-345
Burns, T.S., Barbarians within the Gates of Rome (Bloomington, 1994)
Cesa, M., Impero tardantico e barbari: la crisi militare da Adrianopoli al 418 (Como, 1994)
Cesa, M. and Sivan, H., 'Alaric in Italia: Pollenza e Verona', Historia 39 (1990), 361-374
Croke, B., 'Evidence for the Hun Invasion of Thrace in AD 422', GRBS 18 (1977), 347-367
Drinkwater, J.F., 'The Usurpers Constantine III (407-411) and Jovinus (411-413)', Britannia 29 (1998), 269-298
Errington, R.M., 'Theodosius and the Goths', Chiron 26 (1996), 1-27
Hall, J.B., 'Pollentia, Verona and the Chronology of Alaric's first invasion of Italy', Philologus 132 (1988), 245-257
Miller, M., 'Stilicho's Pictish War', Britannia 6 (1975), 141-145
Schrier, O.J., 'Syriac Evidence for the Roman-Persian War of 421-422', GRBS 33 (1992), 75-86
Speidel, M.P., 'Sebastian's Strike Force at Adrianople', Klio 78 (1996), 434-437
423-455
Elton, H.W., 'The Defence of Gaul', in Drinkwater, J.F. and Elton, H.W., eds., Fifth-Century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity (Cambridge, 1992), 167-176
Hohlfelder, R. L., 'Marcian's Gamble: A Reassessment of Eastern Imperial Policy towards Attila, AD 450-453', American Journal of Ancient History 9.1 (1984), 54-69
Scharf, R., 'Der Iuthungenfeldzug des Aetius', Tyche 9 (1994), 131-145
455-476
Clover, F. M., 'Geiseric and Attila', Historia 22 (1973), 104-17
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