Augustus at War (Paperback)
The Struggle for the Pax Augusta
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Pages: 496
Illustrations: 32 illustrations
ISBN: 9781399023368
Published: 9th December 2022
Peer reviews and podcasts
Podcast: Listen to Lindsay Powell chatting with Dan Snow about Augustus for the History Hit podcast. Download the podcast here.
'A superb analysis of the military power that underpinned Augustus’ rise to power, his conquests, and his ability to sustain his rule. Powell’s achievement is to demonstrate just how much Augustus deserved his name of ‘Imperator’.'
– Tom Holland, presenter of BBC Radio 4 Making History. Author of Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar.
'In this book, Powell meticulously details and analyzes the composition, deployment, and actions of this army and provides a much needed resource of information that has no parallel in astute comprehensiveness. His superb treatment shows Imperator Caesar Augustus in action and helps us understand the military Augustus and his times more clearly.'
– Karl Galinsky, Floyd A. Cailloux Centennial Professor of Classics, University of Texas at Austin. Author of Augustus: Introduction to the Life of an Emperor.
'Lindsay Powell provides us with valuable insights into an under-appreciated aspect of Augustus' reign, and does so in his usual highly competent and readable style.'
– Philip Matyszak Author of The Sons of Caesar: Imperial Rome's First Dynasty.
'Concise yet insightful, well-written and page-turning, this is a 'must buy' for every fan of ancient history. Powell is rapidly establishing himself as one of the leading authors of Roman nonfiction.'
- Ben Kane Author of Eagles in the Storm (Eagles of Rome series).
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| Other formats available | Price |
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| Augustus at War ePub (7.4 MB) Add to Basket | £6.99 |
A new and penetrating assessment of Augustus as ancient Rome's military commander-in-chief by an author rapidly establishing himself as one of the leading historians of the period.
The words Pax Augusta – or Pax Romana – evoke a period of uninterrupted peace across the vast Roman Empire. Lindsay Powell exposes this as a fallacy. Almost every year between 31 BC and AD 14 the Roman Army was in action somewhere, either fighting enemies beyond the frontier in punitive raids or for outright conquest; or suppressing banditry or rebellions within the borders.
Remarkably over the same period Augustus succeeded in nearly doubling the size of the Empire. How did this second-rate field commander, known to become physically ill before and during battle, achieve such extraordinary success? Did he, in fact, have a grand strategy?
Powell reveals Augustus as a brilliant strategist and manager of war. As commander-in-chief (imperator) he made changes to the political and military institutions to keep the empire together, and to hold on to power himself. His genius was to build a team of loyal but semi-autonomous deputies (legati) to ensure internal security and to fight his wars for him, while claiming their achievements as his own. The book profiles more than 90 of these men as well as the military units under their command, and the campaigns they fought.
The book is lavishly illustrated with 23 maps, 42 colour plates, 13 black and white figures and 5 order of battle schematics. With a foreword by Karl Galinsky, this book breaks new ground in explaining the extraordinary achievement of Caesar Augustus.
Lucidly written by the author of the acclaimed biographies "Marcus Agrippa" and "Germanicus", and drawing upon archaeology, art, coins, inscriptions and documents of the period, Lindsay Powell with "Augustus at War: The Struggle for the Pax Augusta" presents a new and provocative assessment of the men and events shaping a crucial period in world history, which still reverberates down to our own time. Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of informative illustrations, military symbols, tables, a section of color plates, four appendices, sixty-one pages of Notes, a 30 page Bibliography, and a twenty-six page Index, "Augustus at War: The Struggle for the Pax Augusta" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community and academic library Ancient Roman History collections.
Midwest Book Review
Read the full review here
As featured in
The Bookseller
August 2022
Featured in
HiMA 8, 2019
A key period of great interest in the history of the Roman Empire.
Miniaturas JM
Read the full Spanish review here
From the author of acclaimed biographies of important Romans, an original study of Augustus. This new book explodes the myths of peace that have been attached to the rule of Augustus – Most Highly Recommended.
Firetrench
Read the full review here
This fascinating book about Augustus teaches us that the so called Pax Romana under his reign never, in fact, existed. Much of what you will read in this most scholarly work is contrary to what we thought we knew about probably the greatest Roman Emperor of all time.
Books Monthly
This is an different approach to the period, mixing a good political history of Augustus’s reign with a year-by-year account of the almost constant wars of his reign. The result is a book that clearly establishes just how important the Army was to Augustus’s success throughout his reign.
History of War
Read the full review here
Lindsay Powell is particularly careful in giving orders of the most precise battles possible as well as regular information on the geographical deployment of the legions.
VaeVictis, November/December 2018
For any students of the period it's a valuable resource.
The Armourer, December 2018
Concise yet insightful, well-written and page-turning, this is a 'must buy' for every fan of ancient history. Powell is rapidly establishing himself as one of the leading authors of Roman non-fiction.
Ben Kane Author of Eagles in the Storm (Eagles of Rome series)
Lindsay Powell provides us with valuable insights into an under-appreciated aspect of Augustus' reign, and does so in his usual highly competent and readable style.
Philip Matyszak Author of The Sons of Caesar: Imperial Rome's First Dynasty
In this book, Powell meticulously details and analyzes the composition, deployment, and actions of this army and provides a much needed resource of information that has no parallel in astute comprehensiveness. His superb treatment shows Imperator Caesar Augustus in action and helps us understand the military Augustus and his times more clearly.
Karl Galinsky, Floyd A. Cailloux Centennial Professor of Classics, University of Texas at Austin. Author of Augustus: Introduction to the Life of an Emperor
A superb analysis of the military power that underpinned Augustus’ rise to power, his conquests, and his ability to sustain his rule. Powell’s achievement is to demonstrate just how much Augustus deserved his name of ‘Imperator’.
Tom Holland, Presenter of BBC Radio 4 Making History. Author of Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar
Listen to the new podcast, Army for an Empire: Augustus’ new Roman army, online here!
The History Network.org (History Podcast Specialists)
Author article: 'AN ARMY FIT FOR AN EMPIRE as featured in
Ancient Warfare magazine, volume XII, issue 1
About Lindsay Powell
Lindsay Powell is a historian and writer who has a passion for the history of the Roman Empire. He is news editor of Ancient History and Ancient Warfare magazines. His appearances include BBC Radio, Dan Snow’s HistoryHit, and History Channel. He is the author of AUGUSTUS AT WAR, EAGER FOR GLORY, GERMANICUS and MARCUS AGRIPPA from Pen and Sword Books. A graduate of the University of Aston in Birmingham, he is a veteran of The Ermine Street Guard re-enactment society. He divides his time between Austin, Texas and Wokingham, England.
Publius Quinctilius Varus The Man Who Lost Three Roman Legions in the Teutoburg Disaster (Hardback)
Publius Quinctilius Varus is famous as the incompetent commander duped into an ambush that wiped out three legions in one of the most humiliating defeats in Roman history. Yet this is the first full length biography of the man. Dr Joanne Ball revisits the ancient sources alongside the most recent archaeological evidence from the Teutoburg battlefield in Germany, where she has been personally involved in excavations. The result is a fresh, detailed new analysis of this significant battle and a reappraisal of the Roman commander. Examination of his earlier career reveals that Varus, who had married…
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