LINKS & RESOURCES
This page is devoted to the books, groups and web sites that we recommend, have found incredibly useful or admire. Like our interests, the recommendations span the historical record.
Web Links
FECTIO - FECTIO is a Dutch Late Roman re-enactment society, run by Robert Vermaat. Lots of information, links and articles.
Roman Army Talk- Online forum for Roman historians, re-enactors, writers and artists. RomanLegions.info - Fantastic online resource for Roman coins, sculpture and Roman military artefacts. Florentivs.com - A 1st century Roman re-enactor provides advice of kit and weaponry. Legio XX - The standard for all 1st century Roman re-enactors, full of great information! Britannia - The largest (and one of the oldest) re-enactment groups in the UK portraying the late Roman period. Letavia- A Breton group, who show the 5th century from the point of view of the Seguntienses, a Late Roman unit from North Wales, transferred to Gaul. Armamentaria - A great source of Roman armour, weaponry and equipment in the UK. Le Prevo Leather - If you're buying leather or leather-working materials in the UK, Le Prevo is highly recommended. They have a first class mail order system. Len Morgan - Len Morgan produces high quality, intensively researched and meticulously detailed recreations of Roman artefacts. Ryedale Folk Museum - An outdoor folk and country museum up in North Yorkshire, full of historical buildings from the Iron Age, Medieval times, the Tudor period and the 19th and 20th century. Members of Earlyworks regularly visit Ryedale as volunteer re-enactors in the spring and summer. |
Roman-Britain.org - An exceptional site, compiling maps, inscriptions and reports to produce a wonderfully complete database of sites from Roman Britain. Always go here first when looking for site information. The link takes you directly to the site's military page.
Paul Binns - Renowned for good quality swords and other blades for a decade.
Murton Park is the home of the Yorkshire Museum of Farming and Danelaw a recreated Dark Age village, but it is also the site of a small scale replica of a Roman fort used by school parties to 'train as a Roman legionary'. Earlyworks members have attended several events here, both Viking and Roman.
Paul Binns - Renowned for good quality swords and other blades for a decade.
Murton Park is the home of the Yorkshire Museum of Farming and Danelaw a recreated Dark Age village, but it is also the site of a small scale replica of a Roman fort used by school parties to 'train as a Roman legionary'. Earlyworks members have attended several events here, both Viking and Roman.
Recommended Books/ ROMAN
Roman Military Equipment, Bishop & Coulston, 2006
The Last Legionary, Paul Elliott, 2007
Warrior Cults, Paul Elliott, Blandford Press, 1995
The Late Roman Army, Southern & Dixon, 1996
Weapons of the Romans, Feugere, 2002
Chronicle of the Roman Emperors, Scarre, 1995
The Roman Army 31BC - AD337 A Sourcebook, B. Campbell, Routledge, 1994
Excavations at Dura Europos: Final Report, Simon James, 2004
Conquest: The Roman Invasion of Britain, John Peddie, 1998
Cooking Apicius, Sally Grainger, 2006
Roman Military Dress, Graham Sumner, 2009
Roman Clothing and Fashion, Alex Croom, 2002
Roman Army: Wars of the Empire, Graham Sumner, 1997
Warfare in Roman Europe AD305-425, Hugh Elton, 1996
For first hand historical sources, we also recommend looking at Caesar's Gallic Wars, Vegetius and his description of the Roman army in 400 AD, and Maurice's Strategikon, a manual for the Roman army of 500AD. Amminaus Marcellinus, meanwhile, writes vividly of his experiences in the 300's as a cavalry commander with many gory battle scenes!
The Last Legionary, Paul Elliott, 2007
Warrior Cults, Paul Elliott, Blandford Press, 1995
The Late Roman Army, Southern & Dixon, 1996
Weapons of the Romans, Feugere, 2002
Chronicle of the Roman Emperors, Scarre, 1995
The Roman Army 31BC - AD337 A Sourcebook, B. Campbell, Routledge, 1994
Excavations at Dura Europos: Final Report, Simon James, 2004
Conquest: The Roman Invasion of Britain, John Peddie, 1998
Cooking Apicius, Sally Grainger, 2006
Roman Military Dress, Graham Sumner, 2009
Roman Clothing and Fashion, Alex Croom, 2002
Roman Army: Wars of the Empire, Graham Sumner, 1997
Warfare in Roman Europe AD305-425, Hugh Elton, 1996
For first hand historical sources, we also recommend looking at Caesar's Gallic Wars, Vegetius and his description of the Roman army in 400 AD, and Maurice's Strategikon, a manual for the Roman army of 500AD. Amminaus Marcellinus, meanwhile, writes vividly of his experiences in the 300's as a cavalry commander with many gory battle scenes!
THE LAST LEGIONARY by Paul Elliott
I wrote this book back in 2005-2006 and it covers a later period of Roman history, that of Constantine and the later empires - the Late Roman Empire. This book covers all aspects of Late Roman military life, from recruitment to weaponry, marriage to wages, warfare to religion.
It explores the world of the Roman soldier, through the eyes of one man, posted to a British garrison at the edge of the empire facing the imminent collapse of Roman rule. In an evocative and highly comprehensive text, I try to follow the soldier's life through training and battle, marriage and business dealings, finally following him south as he leaves Britain for good in defence of Rome, thereby tying together the many social and historical threads that would have made up the career of such a soldier, one of the last legionaries. In order to create a text that is as accurate and detailed as possible, I've used my re-enactment experience and conducted many experiments to discover how military equipment in this period was made, used and worn. My results and observations add a depth and immediacy to the subject. This is a book that will fascinate and intrigue all those interested in the Late Roman period.
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BEHIND THE EAGLES by Paul Elliott
Kindle Only £3.70 BUY HERE
AD 363. The Roman emperor Julian leads a huge army into Iraq – home to the unassailable Persians. Only a tiny fraction of the army will ever reach home again …
Caught up in this awful disaster is Dionysus, a new recruit to the legions, who by degrees is drawn into a plot against the emperor Julian. The book swoops right in to the ground level bringing to the reader the heat and dust, the blood and flies of the desert war. With it too comes the burning fear of death, but also of discovery. On the march and in the battles his mind is torn by his love for a girl left behind at his last billet, and his hatred for a squad member who brags of taking his girl by force before they left for war. Dionysus’ longing for home and hatred for the emperor who he blames for the war, fuel his determination to win out against the odds... |
Amazon Review: "What makes this novel so refreshing however is both the period and locations. Elliott moves us into the harsh Taurus mountains and then out into the deserts and plains to the east and by doing so exposes a reader to the real horror of war - that day to day grind and fear which all soldiers suffer down in the ranks, cut-off from a larger view of the battlefield or an invasion. This is the spine of the novel - it eschews heroics in favour of a much more rough and realistic day to day grind of what it is like in the legions." Francis Hagan - read the full review HERE.
Recommended Books/ OTHER PERIODS
Most of the books in this list are full of plans and maps and details and illustrations of artefacts, books like these are crucial when getting together kit, equipment and clothing for a re-enactment 'impression'.
Late Celtic Britain and Ireland 400-1200AD, Lloyd Laing, 1977
Iron Age Communities in Britain, Barry Cunliffe, 1975
The Age of Stonehenge, Colin Burgess, 1980
Arthur's Britain, Leslie Alcock, 1971
The Gods of the Celts, Miranda Green, 1993
Iron Age Britain, Barry Cunliffe, English Heritage, 1995
Celtic Warriors, WF and JNG Ritchie, Shire Books, 1997
Pictish Warrior AD297-841, Paul Wagner, Osprey, 2002
Celtic Warrior, Stephen Allen, Osprey, 2001
Germanic Warrior, Simon MacDowell, Osprey, 1996
Wild Food, Ray Mears, 2007
Late Celtic Britain and Ireland 400-1200AD, Lloyd Laing, 1977
Iron Age Communities in Britain, Barry Cunliffe, 1975
The Age of Stonehenge, Colin Burgess, 1980
Arthur's Britain, Leslie Alcock, 1971
The Gods of the Celts, Miranda Green, 1993
Iron Age Britain, Barry Cunliffe, English Heritage, 1995
Celtic Warriors, WF and JNG Ritchie, Shire Books, 1997
Pictish Warrior AD297-841, Paul Wagner, Osprey, 2002
Celtic Warrior, Stephen Allen, Osprey, 2001
Germanic Warrior, Simon MacDowell, Osprey, 1996
Wild Food, Ray Mears, 2007