Reader’s Recommendation: Gladius, by Guy de la Bédoyère

Gladius is a lengthy book with a novel and serious approach; focus expressly on archaeological findings rather than accounts or speculation to show life in a Roman legion. Encouragement is given to approach what are essentially a collection of grand, overlapping chapters regarding different aspects of life. It’s about lifestyle and practicality, because in both a physical profession and in keeping with the science of archaeology, facts are found simply in what can be dug up, observed, recovered and catalogued.

Gladius is a book I would recommend for appreciators of Roman history, there are shades of information about the Republic’s army but more of the early Roman Empire is covered due to the findings noted. This is an interesting approach to what can be a little dry, for someone less immersed in reading history, a reader has an appreciable novelty.

Just as I would recommend a book about bodybuilding by a bodybuilding champion there is a great deal of inspiration for settings, and speculation about holiday tours and the nature of life and leisure by feeling a little of the experience of a military institution that lasted so many centuries. From Egypt to Hadrian’s Wall, the threads of a complex lifestyle, the interplay of how climates have preserved surprising and remarkable hints for a former time is very enjoyable. A person’s boxing gloves, letters to their family, and requisitions for repair tell a story through items and physicality, which we can see in our own minds, wonder about and accept and research further with it in mind.

More than equipment, what I appreciated most are the epigraphs that are recorded in this book. The real iteration of “what we do in life echoes in eternity”; in many ways it is more sobering and inspirational to read the commissioned last words of those who came to the end of life early and late, and this book certainly will keep you occupied for a good few hours pondering the lives of ancient individuals who walked, ate, joked, sought pay, and planned for adventure or settling down in the same way we are right now.

Use of evidence, especially epigraphs and dedications on historic items put together an interesting story of several individuals, how they attended their profession and the connection to family and the legion. It’s a well-researched, very informative way of showing something more direct than purely speculative, and it’s a wealth of inspiration for questions and considering what life was like. Highly recommended.