Handbook to Roman Legionary Fortresses

This is a reference guide to Roman legionary fortresses throughout the former Roman Empire, of which approximately eighty-five have been located and identified. With the expansion of the empire and the garrisoning of its army in frontier regions during the 1st century AD, Rome began to concentrate its legions in large permanent bases. Some have been explored in great detail, others are barely known, but this book brings together for the first time the legionary fortresses of the whole empire. An introductory section outlines the history of legionary bases and their key components. At the heart of the book is a referenced and illustrated catalog of the known bases, each with a specially prepared plan and an aerial photograph. A detailed bibliography provides up-to-date publication information. The book will be accompanied by a website providing online links to sites relevant to particular fortresses and a Google Earth file containing all of the known fortress locations. AUTHOR: Mike Bishop is one of the leading names in Roman military archaeology. An archaeologist and archaeological illustrator by training, he is the founder of the Roman Military Equipment Studies and of ROMEC. ILLUSTRATIONS: 85 photographs plus maps & line drawings

“"...for those with a passionate interest or a specialty in Roman military history, this work is an essential reference."”

The author of this impressive book, Dr Mike Bishop, is a respected freelance archaeologist, writer and publisher specialising in Roman militaria. The Handbook is a reference guide to 103 legionary fortresses scattered around the frontiers of the Roman Empire, 11 of them in Britain. The bulk of this minutely researched volume consists of detailed plans, measurements and geographical data of each fortress with literary references. A number of large colour photographs, mostly taken by the author and his collaborator Jonathon Coulston, complement the descriptions. There are informative appendices including a timeline of legionary movements, and an exhaustive bibliography, and the book is linked to a website containing further detailed information and maps. The Handbook would be an asset to any serious library of Roman studies. - The Friends of Fishbourne Roman Palace This is a reference guide to Roman legionary fortresses throughout the Roman Empire, of which approximately eighty-five have been located and identified. Some have been explored in great detail, others are barely known, but this book brings together for the first time the legionary fortresses of the whole empire.

Mike Bishop is a specialist on the Roman army, with many publications to his name including the acclaimed and widely used Roman Military Equipment (with J C N Coulston, 2006). The founding editor of Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies, he has also led several excavations of Roman sites.

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