The Roman Empire, originating in the expansionist Republic, outlasted its contemporaries in India and China in history’s Age of Empires. Its afterlife, especially in the west, resembled the Mauryans’ more than that of the Han, in that its lasting influence would be as a lost ideal of unity carried forward in cultural memory rather than as an institutional foundation on which rebuilding could take place. Even in the east, transformation and restriction more than balanced continuity in the later history of what would become known as the Byzantine Empire. Despite successors such as the Holy Roman Empire (which some historians have said was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire), the Roman empire never returned.
This should not obscure the remarkable achievements of the Roman state over the course of the more than eight centuries covered by this chapter. The Roman army was at the heart of that achievement and represents one of the two high points, alongside the armies of Qin and Han China, of military organization in the ancient world. There is a reason that the “grandeur that was Rome” continues to hold a prominent place in modern Western images of military history.
Campbell, Brian. “The Roman Empire.” In K. Raaflaub and N. Rosenstein, War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. A short, readable synthesis of imperial Roman military development by a leading expert in the field. See also his The Roman Army, 31 bc—ad 337: A Sourcebook (London: Routledge, 1994), a valuable collection of primary sources.
Cornell, Timothy. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 B.C.). London: Routledge, 1995. An important reassessment of the early stages of Roman expansionism.
Goldsworthy, Adrian. The Roman Army at War, 100 bc-ad 200. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. A thorough and insightful examination of Roman military practices, from organization to logistics to battle, with an emphasis on actual performance. See also his excellent The Punic Wars (London: Cassell, 2001), a detailed history of these pivotal conflicts, and his other books on Caesar, Cannae, and Roman warfare generally.
Harris, William. War and Imperialism in Republican Rome, 327—70 b.c. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979. A foundational study of the interrelationship of society and military in early Roman expansion.
Kagan, Kimberly. “Redefining Roman Grand Strategy.” Journal of Military History 70 (2006): 333-62. An effective summary of the main ideas in Edward Luttwak’s The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976), the critical responses that work drew from classicists, and a reasonable middle ground defining Roman grand strategy in Roman terms.
Lendon, J. E. Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005. An intriguing analysis of Greek and Roman battle that stresses the creative tension between discipline and individual heroism in Roman combat.
Rich, John, and Graham Shipley, eds. War and Society in the Roman World. London: Routledge, 1995. An essential collection of articles on various aspects of Roman warfare; especially strong on the changing relationship of army and society in Roman history.
Rosenstein, Nathan. “Republican Rome.” In Raaflaub and Rosenstein, War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. A clear, concise overview of republican Roman military development.
Speidel, Michael. Riding for Caesar. The Roman Emperors’ Horse Guards. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994. A useful examination of the elite cavalry units of the imperial army.
Webster, Graham. The Roman Imperial Army of the First and Second Centuries A.D. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985. A standard survey, now a bit dated and traditional in its interpretations, but still useful.