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**Robert Vermaat** · 03-07-2005, 06:02 PM

Hi all, 
 
I was bugging Osprey for that 3rd volume of their Roman Legionary series (may I suggest that you all support me in this?), using [url=http://www.ospreypublishing.com/feedback.php" target="top]this link[/url] (choose Editorial), 
Osprey told me this: 
 
----------------------------------------------- 
Dear Drs R.M. Vermaat, 
 
Thank you for your email regarding future books on the Roman Legionary. 
Unfortunately at this time we have no plans to publish a third book in the series. Our next Warrior title focusing on Rome is 'Roman Auxiliary Cavalryman', due to be published in January, 2006. 
I am sorry to disappoint you, but I shall pass on your suggestion to our commissioning editors for their consideration. 
 
Best wishes, 
Julie 
 
Julie Frederick 
Editorial Assistant 
 
Osprey Publishing Ltd 
Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 0PH 
Tel. +44 (0)1865 727022 
Direct Line: +44 (0)1865 811310 
Fax: +44 (0)1865 727017 
-------------------------------------------------- 
 
Valete, 
Valerius/Robert 
[url=http://www.fectio.org.uk/" target="top]fectienses seniores[/url]Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=vortigernstudies>Vortigern Studies</A> at: 3/7/05 7:04 pm

Theodosius the Great · 03-07-2005, 09:39 PM

Message sent . 
 
I bugged them for that recently released "The Walls of Constantinople" (Fortress series) for over a year.

03-07-2005, 10:20 PM

Theodosius the Great · 03-08-2005, 09:32 AM

Valerius, 
 
I got the same response you did just now from Julie in my email box. 
 
I hope at least the other late Romans take the time to email Osprey. 
 
Vale. 
-Theo

03-08-2005, 11:33 AM

Will you never be satisfied!? 
 
What about their Late Roman Infantryman book? Doesn't that cover it? 
 
Anyway, whatever happened to their promised book on Legionary Fortresses? 
 
Homo Homini Lupus Every Man is a Wolf to Another Man

03-08-2005, 01:10 PM

Carus, 
 
MacDowall's Late Roman Infantryman & Cavalryman are OK as a basic introduction but not much else. 
 
Duncan Campbell is working on the legionary fortress volume.

Uwe Bahr · 03-08-2005, 02:19 PM

I sent my message, too. At least, it's good news that we can expect a Warrior 'Roman Auxiliary Cavalryman' - maybe even written / painted by Mr. McBride and You, Ross? 
 
Uwe

**Robert Vermaat** · 03-08-2005, 02:41 PM

Carus, 
 
Of course I'm not an author like Ross, but I think MacDowall's book was outaded years ago. For novices it's OK to 'smell' the subject but it fails to convince after that. Too many mistakes need to be retified. 
Take plumbatae (my pet subject): apparently they were just 20 cm long, whereas elsewhere he's used the (much later an much larger) single find from Olympia as a model, next to what can only be described as a ballista bolt, ignoring the dozens of plumbatae found and published at the time. 
 
I could go on, but I won't. Let's say that a 3rd volume in a more thorough series would fit the development that re-enactment has seen over the last years. Valete, 
Valerius/Robert 
[url=http://www.fectio.org.uk/" target="top]fectienses seniores[/url]

03-08-2005, 03:28 PM

Hi Uwe & Robert, 
 
I don't know who is working on the Aux. Cav. book. 
 
When I finished Legionary 2 I was asked by the then Warrior editor to submit proposals for more Legionary titles. The proposal for 'Late Roman Legionary' was looked on most favourably for possible publication in 2005/6, while bizarrely a bridging volume for the period AD 70-161 was rejected for fear of overlap! However, the passage of time, change of editors, and perhaps low sales of bks 1 and 2, means that my proposed volume covering the period from Diocletian to Heraclius will probably not be commissioned. Some of the themes I hoped to explore in 'Late Roman Legionary' featured in my recent Military Illustrated article (and thanks again to Robert and Fectio).

Theodosius the Great · 03-09-2005, 12:13 AM

Wow, the great man himself who wrote the first two books is a member of RAT . 
 
I wonder if Osprey perceives its readership of their Late Roman books as too much of a niche crowd.

FlaviusCrispus · 03-09-2005, 12:40 AM

Hon. Mr. Cowan: 
 
What is remarkable to me is that this new run of Osprey volumes on Roman legionaries completely miss the era represented by the most famous and most Roman military monument of all-- Trajan's Column! Here you have the Imperial Roman army at its very peak, arrayed in campaign order, with all of its elements-- legionaries, officers, auxiliaries, engineers, scouts, etc.-- rendered in extreme (if not always trustworthy) detail. Yet the dates of the Dacian campaigns and the monument's completion (estimated ca. AD 115-11 fall outside the dates of both Warrior 71 and 72. 
 
How about some sort of special publication, as in "Trajan's Army," or "The Legions of Trajan's Column," or some such, which would basically take the reliefs of Trajan's Column and turn them into modern, full-color artworks, with explanatory texts? I'd certainly buy a copy, as I'm sure would every other Roman reenactor. Of course, if sales of Warrior 71 and 72 are disappointing (and I'm having a hard time believing this is the case, given that everyone I know has bought them, but then again, I have to keep reminding myself I'm in a pretty narrowly specialized hobby...), it may be because they skip over this all-important era. 
 
T. Flavius Crispus 
Legio VI VPF 
CA, USA

03-09-2005, 09:27 AM

Quote:<hr>Of course, if sales of Warrior 71 and 72 are disappointing (and I'm having a hard time believing this is the case, given that everyone I know has bought them, but then again, I have to keep reminding myself I'm in a pretty narrowly specialized hobby...)<hr> 
 
Well they had loads of copies in Ottakers in Norwich and they pretty much all went. I can't believe they were all brought by re-enacters. Homo Homini Lupus Every Man is a Wolf to Another Man

Uwe Bahr · 03-09-2005, 11:31 AM

Quote:<hr>Take plumbatae (my pet subject): <hr> 
 
Robert, 
 
have a look in Your private mail-box. 
 
Uwe

03-09-2005, 12:18 PM

I wonder about sales because Osprey promised me that once the initial run of 'Roman Legionary, 58 BC-AD 69' sold out (c.5000 copies), it would be reprinted with corrections, including slight alterations that Angus McBride made to plate A (i.e. plain Delos-type belt plates and wedges for the pilum shank). As many of you have probably noticed, there are some horrendous typos. There were quite a few I had missed (I was writing up my thesis at the time and parts of the book were rushed), but the copy editor also failed to include any of the corrections I made to the proofs! Seeing as a corrected reprint has not appeared, I assume that the initial run has yet to sell out or Osprey has decided not to print a corrected version. 
 
Yes, the decision to avoid AD 70-161 is baffling, though Osprey might argue that Michael Simkin's Men at Arms books already cover this period, and perhaps the forthcoming auxiliary cavalryman volume will focus on it (e.g. Tiberius Claudius Maximus). Duncan Campbell's Roman Siege Warfare and Legionary Fortress books will also cover the period. 
 
I was recently in contact with the new Warrior editor to ask about if/when the corrected version of Legionary 1 would appear. She made no commitment. I also asked about the possibility of both Legionary books being printed as a single volume like 'Caesar's Legions', but with bridging material to cover AD 70-161. This doesn't look likely. 
 
Last year I proposed another possible title to Osprey on the theme of Roman infantry tactics (see the March poll on the Osprey website), but I am now under contract to Greenhill and unfortunately do not have the time to pursue the project. The Greenhill tome will be called 'The Roman Warrior' or something similar. I have an article appearing in the April issue of Military Illustrated called 'Head Hunters and Drinkers of Blood' which should give you a good idea of what the book will be about. 
 
Cheers, 
 
R.

Caius Fabius · 03-09-2005, 09:41 PM

I was showing Michael Simkins reprints of his books, which he had wanted to update and change. Osprey just reprinted the originals, with a new cover, and Michael hadn't even known they had been re-released. The latest owners of Osprey imprint seem to be out of touch with some members of their readership. I mean with the 150th anniversary of the Crimean War, why no Fortress Sevastopol? Why no books on Trojans, or why did they not release other Roman books, maybe we just don't buy enough to make it worthwhile? 
 
Better to publish another men at Arms of the Ukrainian Army of the early 20th century???????? hmmmmm 
 
"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance -- that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer

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