Introduction
The Roman army was perhaps one of the most influential and enduring human institutions of the ancient Mediterranean world: its history spans over a millennium, from its origins as a community muster to an imperial force deployed across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The army was the sine qua non of Rome’s empire, and it generated enormous cultural, social, religious, and economic interactions within this imperial configuration. Archaeology provides critical insights to how the Roman army operated both as a combat force and as a community. Archaeological research has the capacity to (1) supplement, clarify, and at times correct information provided by textual sources, (2) recover physical specimens of Roman arms and armor, (3) provide visual representations of soldiers’ clothing and equipment, (4) reveal the daily life of Roman soldiers in garrison, (5) excavate fortifications and camps, (6) identify the location of battles and sieges, and (7) recover new texts, such as...
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Taylor, M.J. (2018). Roman Army, Archaeology of. In: Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_3113-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_3113-1
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