War and Society in the Roman World

"War and Society in the Roman World" focuses mainly on the shifting relationship between warfare and the Roman citizen body. The dominant role of war in the Republic is first examined, together with the related issues of Roman expansion and the consequences both for the Romans and for those they conquered. Under the Principate, expansions largely came to a halt, and the inhabitants of the empire enjoyed life in peacetime, all the while protected by a professional army. A number of chapters focus on these changes, explaining how they came about, analyzing their effect on attitudes toward war, and probing the extent to which the peace was a reality. The final chapters discuss the Late Roman Empire, documenting the rise of warlords and, in the west, the final disappearance of the Roman army.