jjares reviewed on 3/7/2024 + 3414 more book reviews

I was surprised to see how engaging this book was. Usually, my eyes glaze over after a few pages of wall-to-wall fighting. However, this book was more interesting than most. It described the methods of the Roman soldiers, mentioning that they were the only professional, year-round army in the world at the time. Then, they compared them to the Gauls. What the Gauls lacked in professional training, they made up for with fierceness, some great generals, and an understanding and knowledge of the terrain.

Fortunately, Caesar was a great note-taker and publisher of his campaigns. Of course, he probably overstated how many soldiers his Romans slew, but the explanations and analysis were compelling. This is a great overview of the Gauls (many tribes but not a national army) and their fights with the Romans.

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