The Roman Empire depended on the power of its armies to defend and
extend the imperial borders, enabling it to dominate much of Europe, Northern
Africa and the Middle
East. Success was, in large part, founded on well-trained,
well-disciplined soldiers who were equipped with the most advanced arms and
armour available at that time. This is the story of the production of that
armour. Roman Imperial Armour presents an examination of the metals the armour
was made from, of how the ores containing those metals were extracted from the
earth and transformed into workable metal and of how that raw product was made
into the armour of the Roman army. The policing and protecting of such a huge
empire required a large and well-organised force and the book goes on to
consider the organisation of the army, its size, composition, the logistics
involved in its deployment and provisioning and the training, remuneration and
benefits offered to its men at arms.
