The Last Legionary: Life as a Roman Soldier in Britain AD400

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The Last Legionary: Life as a Roman Soldier in Britain AD400 by Paul Elliott

Review by sonic

In ‘The Last Legionary’, Paul Elliott has attempted in an introduction, eight chapters and a ‘post-script’ to describe the routine daily life of a Roman legionary based in Britain in the twilight of the Roman Empire. After the short introduction, each of the chapters focuses primarily on a single aspect of army life, including ‘Joining Up’, ‘Training’, ‘Perks of the Job’, ‘The Fort and Work’, ‘On the March’, ‘Belief’, ‘On Campaign’, and ‘To War!’. At first the read is a little difficult: the author’s method of interspersing a fictional account of a Roman soldier in Britain with an overview of historical events coupled with archaeological evidence and his own experience of being a re-enactor takes a little getting used to. However, once the reader crosses this hurdle it is possible to settle down to an interesting narrative which sees Gaius, the ‘hero’ of the story, at work in northern Britain – more specifically Yorkshire – in the years up to AD 400...

 

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