1.) Get Bishop & Coulston
Roman Military Equipment 2006, ISBN 1842171593. Get it any way you can. :!:
2.) There are a number of books on the Roman Army, but Archeology and History are taught by several different schools of thought. Europeans have a monopoly on original source and Americans have to play second string to opinion when it comes to "hands on" on actual sites and artifacts.
( I am not trying to start any argument ... its the plain logistical truth.) 8) This may not even be a conscious or logical process. The American "school" of archaeological theory (post-processualism) is descended from the "Systems Theory" approach, so you will probably be more comfortable with Le Bohec
The Imperial Roman Army 1989, (eng. trls. 1986) ISBN 0-7818-0259-8. It does not address equipment well as well as the rest of the Army system. Others will disagree with me, or Le Bohec, or both, and will suggest a number of respected sources. (see below).
3.) If you get six historians and/or archaeologist in the same room you will nine different opinions. :twisted: There are no hard and fast answers to many simple questions. This often starts debates (professional term for arguments) among almost everyone, almost all of the time. This is frustrating for the newcomer who is bewildered because he cant get a straight answer to " What helmet is the best and where do I get one? Cheap."
hock: But the debate is half the fun. :o
4.) Read the threads here. Read a lot of threads. :!: Most questions are answered somewhere around here. But someone will help you, if you ask. RAT is usually quite friendly to new comers, although there is the expected bickering that will occur as with any academic subject. It is much less here than at the University I went to. I got out of archeology to be a cop because it was a less stressful environment.
5.) Do not ask about tunic colors... just dont... take my word for it. Read the threads.
Gaius Decius Aquilius
(Ralph Izard)
who rarely uses emoticons