Osprey military
2 total works
The Germanic warrior was perhaps the most important player in the process of evolution from classical to feudal society. By no means a united people, a shared language root was perhaps all that these diverse tribes had in common. Even so, it is unlikely that a Frank living by the Rhine could have been understood by a Goth on the Dniester. This volume offers an overview of the motivations, lifestyles and evolution of these people, looking at how individual soldiers lived and fought. It focuses particularly on the men who made up the retinues of the Germanic warlords who carved kingdoms out of the carcass of the West Roman Empire.
The pedes, who remained the backbone of the Roman army until well into the 5th century, was different from the legionary who preceded him. Perhaps he was not as well disciplined, but in many ways he was more flexible -- ready for deployment to trouble spots, and for fighting both as a skirmisher and a heavy infantryman. Simon MacDowall explores the changing nature of the Roman infantryman between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, covering such topics as recruitment, training and armor, and providing an excellent evaluation of Roman infantry tactics.