By 120 AD, the Roman Empire had reached its peak and had marched deep into the alien conditions of Mesopotamia and Arabia. This is a rare part of Roman history in that it is rarely considered by historians, even though it is one of the most interesting periods. – Very Highly Recommended
NAME: Roman Conquests, Mesopotamia & Arabia FILE: R3336 AUTHOR: Lee Fratantuono PUBLISHER: Pen and Sword BINDING: hard back PRICE: £19.99 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: Roman Empire, Roman Legions, hostile terrain, Persia, India, Middle East, Arabs, apex of empire, tactics, weapons, equipment, Mesopotamia, Arabia ISBN: 1-47388-326-1 PAGES: 176, 8 pages of full colour images in a photo-plate section IMAGE: B3336.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/yw38ws7x LINKS: DESCRIPTION: By 120 AD, the Roman Empire had reached its peak and had marched deep into the alien conditions of Mesopotamia and Arabia. This is a rare part of Roman history in that it is rarely considered by historians, even though it is one of the most interesting periods. – Very Highly Recommended
The history of Rome is one of endless expansion through the Republic and then the Empire. As with most empires, Rome needed to continue to expand into neighbouring countries to prevent them expanding into Rome. The campaigns in Gaul, Batavia and Germania received good coverage from contemporary historians and have continued to receive attention from modern historians. The campaign in the British Isles have been less consistently covered, leaving many readers with the impression that Rome never progressed further North than Hadrian’s Wall, when the Romans built roads and forts in the Scottish borders, up to the Antonine Wall that ran between the Clyde and the Forth, and then built roads and forts in the North West of Scotland. The Legions contracted back to Hadrian’s Wall because Scotland was simply uneconomic.
The campaigns in Mesopotamia and Arabia were even more interesting but also even less well covered by historians. The author has made a good start at putting this neglect to right. He describes how the Romans adapted to a difficult and alien terrain and adapted their weapons and tactics to match their opponents. He has also not neglected to examine how the Persians and Arabians adapted to match the Romans. A very interesting study.