Historian Stephen Dando-Collins has taken a thousand years of the history of the Roman Legion and presented it here on 600 pages stuffed with meticulous research and engaging narrative. The author spent 30 years compiling the information here that describes everything from camp life and payments, motivations and punishments to the histories of the various legions that served Rome for 300 years beginning in 30 BC. In the last segment of the book, the writer provides a panoramic chronology of the various campaigns.

Here the author introduces his topic:

The Roman legion of the imperial era was a triumph of organization. Its basic structure was so effective that it continues to be used to this day, by armies whose squads platoons, companies and battalions reflect the contubernium, century, cohort and legion of old. The imperial legion created by Augustus was like a giant Lego set, with each component, from heavy infantry to cavalry, artillery to supporting auxiliary light infantry, fitting neatly together to form a solid, self-contained military machine.

Indeed, the Romans were masters of war, and this book outlines how that happened. Dozens of beautiful photographs of era-specific images are included: architecture, battle sites, weapons, et al.

If this type of history intrigues you and you didn't learn enough about the Romans in high school, Legions of Rome is for you. There are hundreds of names here along with a litany of geographic appellations, so you may need a scorecard to keep track of who's who. It is a terrifically structured condensation of a culture that created what would become the modern-day soldier.