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Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Marcus Mummius - 11-24-2006
Salve omnes,
Can someone tell me what kind of book this is?:
Roman Army: Wars of the Empire by Graham Sumner, Tim Newark (Editor), Graham Turner (Illustrator)
What are the positive points of this book, what the negative? I never had the posibility to browse this book...
Thanks in advance,
Vale,
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Virilis - 11-24-2006
Well, I bought this book for 100 dollars :wink: ! In amazon.co.uk/com they said that it will be "´delivered usually within 4-6 weeks" and I waited in vain for 1 1/2 years without a response! It is definitely OUT OF PRINT!
So I lost my temper and ordered it as a used book from amazon.com for 100 dollars because it had become an obsession for me. The good points:
-large size
-illustrations by Graham Turner which are the best I have seen on roman equipment plus coulour photographs of the reconstructed equipment
-also lots of accurate black & white illustrations about original roman gear
-lots of custom made gear photographs
The bad:
-really nothing new on the subject (I mean post 1997)
-overprized
-this is a thing I really hate; reconstructions of the swords are too often shown inside the scabbards (meaning they won`t show the swordblades!)
-if you have Daniel Peterson`s "Roman Legions Recreated In Colour Photographs", don`t spend 100 dollars like I used ti, unless you are a bibliofile :wink: ...
Hope this helps!
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Robert Vermaat - 11-25-2006
Quote:-if you have Daniel Peterson`s "Roman Legions Recreated In Colour Photographs", don`t spend 100 dollars like I used ti, unless you are a bibliofile :wink: ...Nah, I value this one over Peterson's book.
So, does that mean you won't go after Dan Shadrake's Barbarian Warriors?
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Virilis - 11-25-2006
Quote:Nah, I value this one over Peterson's book.
So, does that mean you won't go after Dan Shadrake's Barbarian Warriors?
Robert, I forgot to mention that of course Sumner`s book has a superior content compared to Peterson`s book, I was thinking about the pictures, mainly :oops: ...
Secondly, I have also Dan Shadrake`s "Barbarian Warriors" which I also bought as a used book for 100 dollars. For a late roman enthusiast it is a must!
In short, both are great books but very difficult to get at reasonable prices...
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Marcus Mummius - 11-25-2006
Thanks for the help guys!
Are most the pictures of the reconstructed gear in Sumner's book the same as those in Peterson's book?
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Tarbicus - 11-25-2006
Quote:Thanks for the help guys!They're of the Ermine Street Guard and (I think) Quinta. Nothing to do with Peterson's title afaik.
Are most the pictures of the reconstructed gear in Sumner's book the same as those in Peterson's book?
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - john m roberts - 11-25-2006
I have it. On p. 66, the lower left photo shows a reconstruction of the IG type B helmet from Kupa. This is the only IG type B repro I've ever seen, and for my money it's one hell of a good-looking helmet, very compact, more graceful in form than the type A, and without the exagerrations of the later helmets. Maybe we could get Deepeeka to bring this one out.
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Uwe Bahr - 11-27-2006
Hello all,
I got mine years ago new for about 70,- DM (around 35,00 Euro) and I am surprised how much it rose in price, seems to be out of print.
One very positive argument in my opinion: Graham Sumner has a little essay about the development of Roman armor in movies and he brings it in relation with the story of the finds. In some cases he could answer old questions of mine - where did they (the movie makers) get their inspiration for the equipment from.
Greets - Uwe
PS: Graham, who You are member of that forum, I would appreciate it very much if You made an new book about this topic. And I think - as many of us are not only Roman Army aficionados but also collectors of movies about that theme - there would be a good market. Osprey would be fine but I am afraid they wouldn't do that because they never made a volume about (filmic) fiction up to now, AFAIK.
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Virilis - 11-27-2006
Uwe, check this out:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gladiator-Histo ... F8&s=books
Book - Graham Sumner - 11-28-2006
Quote:Well, I bought this book for 100 dollars ! In amazon.co.uk/com they said that it will be "´delivered usually within 4-6 weeks" and I waited in vain for 1 1/2 years without a response! It is definitely OUT OF PRINT!
Well I got my copy for free but it took about the same amount of time to get it! :wink:
Quote:One very positive argument in my opinion: Graham Sumner has a little essay about the development of Roman armor in movies and he brings it in relation with the story of the finds. In some cases he could answer old questions of mine - where did they (the movie makers) get their inspiration for the equipment from.
Greets - Uwe
PS: Graham, who You are member of that forum, I would appreciate it very much if You made an new book about this topic. And I think - as many of us are not only Roman Army aficionados but also collectors of movies about that theme - there would be a good market. Osprey would be fine but I am afraid they wouldn't do that because they never made a volume about (filmic) fiction up to now, AFAIK.
I would certainly like to explore the subject in more depth. However my experience with the Brassey's book is that the cost of reproducing scenes from films would require a lottery win beforehand! It is certainly possible nowadays to screen-cap scenes from films showing the exact things you want to illustrate such as the rare occasions when someone in a movie actually does get something right!
This explains why the chapter in the book on the armour in the movies had very few pictures from films in it. One sadly omitted picture was of the helmet classed as Auxiliary 'C' which appears in the early scenes of Spartacus worn by the 'captain' of the Libya mines. He also wears a leather cover over his mail shirt. I tracked down and paid for slides from The British Film Institute which showed this and then had to find out myself who now owned the copyright. In the event it was still Universal studios who owned the right but they wanted over $200 for the reproduction of the image and that was back in 1996.
Quote:this is a thing I really hate; reconstructions of the swords are too often shown inside the scabbards (meaning they won`t show the sword blades!)
I am sure like many books there is a reflection of the author's interests and dislikes. To me a sword blade is a sword blade and pretty uninteresting at that. The scabbard is visually far more impressive it still gives an idea of the sword blade size and shape and there are far more varieties to illustrate. Sorry about that!
Brassey's were taken over soon after the publication of the series but I do know a paperback edition was published later although I never saw any myself.
Quote:Are most the pictures of the reconstructed gear in Sumner's book the same as those in Peterson's book?
Certainly not. Most of the pictures feature the Ermine Street Guard but there are also other pictures featuring the Gemina Project, Quinta and Marcus Junkelmann's Augustan and Cavalry reconstructions which illustrated aspects of military equipment not covereed by the ESG.
The book only covers the period up to Aurelianus but back in 1996 there were not many late Roman groups available to photograph and Dan Shadrake of Britannia covered his group in the Barbarian's book.
Graham.
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Niedel - 11-28-2006
Uwe, you might also be interested in Jon Solomon's "The Ancient World in the Cinema" (which was republished one or two years ago in a very affordable paperback version, with additional info on "newer" movies like Gladiator etc.) and Markus Junkelmann's "Hollywoods Traum von Rom". While Solomon doesn't focus on military aspects/armor and the likes, it's a very enjoyable book. Junkelmann's book is pricey, but focusses more on armour etc.
Re: Roman Army: Wars of the Empire - Narukami - 11-29-2006
There are several good books out that deal with Hollywood Rome.
However...
What would be "fun" is a book that deals specifically with the uniforms and equipment of Hollywood Rome vs. Ancient Rome.
We have talked about this, and the prohibitive costs, is other threads and its appearance here serves to reinforce my belief that this is a book whose time has come.
Maybe...
I remain optimistic.
:wink:
Narukami
Want this book - Caius Valens - 11-30-2006
Hi Caius here , I use to have this book long story short I lent it out never got it back, is there any chance this book could go into reprint or is there a chance to get a 2nd hand copy. Thanks Caius/thomas
book - Graham Sumner - 11-30-2006
Hello Caius
There are copies available at both Abe Books and Amazon but it appears they are selling for around $100-150 !
If I see anything cheaper I will let you know.
Graham.
Re: book - Marcus Mummius - 12-03-2006
Quote:Hello Caius
There are copies available at both Abe Books and Amazon but it appears they are selling for around $100-150 !
If I see anything cheaper I will let you know.
Graham.
Thanks Graham!