The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: From the First Century A.D. to the Third

by Edward N. Luttwak

Book Overview

A newly updated edition of this classic, hugely influential account of how the Romans defended their vast empire.At the height of its power, the Roman Empire encompassed the entire Mediterranean... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801821584
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Great explanation how a world empire defended its citizens

I do not agree that this book is only for specialists. I am of the opinion that it is a book for history lovers. And, moreover, it is for any person who wishes to understand how a highly developed society managed to defend its way of living. It most valuable because it depicts the success of the Roman system in the first two centuries of our era. The Third Century depicts the problem of a World power which has began its decline. Reading the book you understand the Roman system, and you learn how a society must be prepared for selfdefense, and even for attack, if it wants to survive. If you translate this book into the idiom of the early XXIst Century, you realize how our declining Western Civilization must behave in order to protect itself, and its inhabitants, from its external -and even internal- threats.

Eye-opening analysis

This book is a very interesting analysis for everybody who wants to know more about the strategy of the Roman Empire. While also very accessible to non-experts, even experts or people who have read a lot about Rome will learn a lot and see things a new way. Mr. Luttwak splits the time of the roman empire into time periods of same strategy. This strategy changed a few times through the centuries. One of the most interesting points is that the Roman Empire did have trouble expanding its Empire beyond the size of Augustus Principate because the roman army could not apply its full military force in the border areas because of the evironment there. The roman army's core was the heavy infanterie and with this the legions were strong and hard to stop or defeat but they were also slow. Therefore in areas where enemies had something to defend (cities, fields, etc), the power of the roman army (also using their siege capabilities) was very high and therefore it could apply this potential military might either in direct military success or into political power which then helped the romans to create client states around their empire which served as buffer states against any potential enemy attack. But the forested middle Europe, the desert areas of Arabia and North Africa and the plains of Iran and Ukraine were wide and the people who lived there did not depend on a city structure which they needed to defend. Therefore they could avoid a direct confrontation with the Romans (which was their main strength) and apply their way of fighting to the Romans. The Roman army could still penetrate these areas, but only under above average costs and had trouble keeping this area under their control. Examples of this are the losses of Crassus against the Parthians and the losses of 3 legions against the Cherusci in the Teutoburg Forest. Very good book!

Intriguing

Edward Luttwak is the premiere scholar of contemporary grand strategy. In this book he brings his unique talents to the problem of Imperial Roman grand strategy. Luttwak has put together a fine and scholarly analysis of how the Romans kept their empire secure, and, how, ultimately, they failed to do so.The book is divided into three chronological sections. In the first Luttwak discusses the system under the early empire (or principate) from Augustus to Nero. He describes this system as being the "Republican Imperial system," by which he means that the system of empire used here was the old hegemonic system employed by the expanding Republic. Luttwak clearly praises this system for getting the most security at the lowest cost.Part two deals with the system from Vespasian to Marcus Aurelius. Luttwak describes the system in this period as being fundamentally different from that of the first. This system reflects the changed nature of the Empire from a hegemonic power to a state power. The chief object was no longer to defend Rome and Italy, but to provide complete security for every province of the Empire.The third part is focused on the military (and general) crisis of the third century. In this section Luttwak looks at the cost of maintaining a defensive system in relation to the benefits of doing so. Ultimately, he argues, the Roman Empire had to collapse because the benefits the provinces associated with being a memeber of a larger state were not worth the cost.It has been argued that Luttwak ascribes too much clarity of thought and purpose to the systems he describes. Other scholars have said that there is no evidence to support the thesis that the Roman Imperial machine ever sat down and planned a defensive system. Of course this is true, and does not counter what Luttwak is saying. Indeed, Luttwak himself says that the system was not necessarily planned as a whole, but evolved from responses to specific crises. He says, actually, that the lack of a "grand strategy" actually led to the collapse of the imperial system in the west. The primary evidence for this, as Luttwak argues, is that in the third period, whenever possible, the Romans reverted to the defensive strategy of the second period despite the fact that it was clearly outdated. Others have argued against Luttwak's analysis by claiming that the tactics used in one part of the Empire were dissimilar to those used in another. He does not make a claim counter to this, though. In fact, one of the strengths of this book is that it provides much detail on the different ways that the overall concept of a particular strategy was employed in the different regions of the Empire.Finally, the language Luttwak uses here is concise and clear, and definitely understandable by people unfamiliar with the jargon of the military and historical communities. In addition to this astute and understandable analysis are lots and lots of excellent maps and diagrams. They alone are worth the

In Praise of Grand Strategy

In a field that still remains open...and, in fact, in many ways, depends on the contributions of knowledgeable and dedicated amatures, Luttwak's work stands out as truly original contribution in the field of Roman military history. His thesis, that there was, in fact, a coherent, centrally controlled and over-arching and outwardly directed, military strategy that was actualised through an evolving empire-wide frontier policy that is both traceable in and understandable through, the archaeological record is a singularly original contribution that has potentialy major implications for our approach to and understanding of, roman socio-political, military, economic, and governance mechanisms. Luttwak has implicitly reinterpreted the conventional understanding of the roman world and in so doing he has opened the door to a broader, more coherent and,ultimately, more satisfying understanding of the functioning of the empire. It is the kind of contribution that perhaps only someone with the background and ability to apply a strategic vision and strategic frame of reference, could possibly make. As far as I know, it has never been done before in this field.Its now 25 years since Luttwak published Grand Strategy and the work continues to resonate in the field. Judging from the rate of continuing citations, it would appear to be virtually impossible to write on the subject of roman military history, frontier policy, or even imperial governance without dealing,in some way, with Luttwak. His contribution simply won't go away.Much time has passed since Luttwak wrote and, in the interim, Isaac has published his exhaustive, excessively detailed and, ultimately, convincing, refutation of Luttwak based on his review and analysis of the roman southeast frontier. But I don't think it matters...and besides, Isaac himself may be wrong...because what Luttwak has really achieved is to force a decisive shift in the frame of reference that we use to think about, analyse, and understand the Empire. Luttwak has reminded us, emphaticaly, that not withstanding the absence of a coherent body of written source material,we can and should think about the forest once in a while instead of endlessly pursuing counting and identifying only the trees that make it up. He shows us that such an approach can be highly rewarding.In my opinion this is NOT a dry work and, more than anything, it simply requires an interest in the roman empire and its functioning in order to be read and understood. Luttwak does not take the relentlessly scholarly approach that Isaac does but he does do his homework and he is familiar with his topic. Because he's not Isaac, he's infinitely more readable...and my copy, which I bought in soft cover about 5 years ago, had virtually all of its pages out of order...and I still got thru it!I

Authoritative study of the principles of Roman strategy

If you are interested in Roman history, this book is a MUST read. It was written 25 years ago and it still remains a reference point in Roman history - even historians who do not agree with Luttwak have to discuss his thesis (eg Ferrill). The problem with so many contemporary historians before this book was that they systematically ignored or misunderstood the forest, despite their detailed knowledge of the trees. For example, there was an incredible abundance of detailed studies of Roman fortifications in Great Britain, but barely anyone bothered asking the question of why the Romans gave up conquering the northern half of the island - a conquest that would have eliminated the need for such fortifications . This is an important question, because ignoring it implies ignoring the general principles guiding Roman expansion and defense across the empire. Luttwak's study provides an answer to this type of questions or, at the very least, poses the problem.Luttwak, an accomplished military strategist who has worked with the Pentagon in the past, ties together literary and archeological evidence from the Roman world, and adds his strategic insight to come up with a theory of the principles guifing the "grand strategy" of the Roman empire. Although one might doubt that these principles were consistently pursued at that time, Luttwak's analysis is fascinating. Moreover, his analysis of the role of the army in the early Roman empire (when an army of 250,000 men protected an empire stretching from the Rhine to the Euphrates) provides a wonderful analysis of the timeless principles of deterrence, and "power" as opposed to "force". There are only two faults to this book. First, that its author has always refused to be dragged into the polemic debate among historians that followed the book's publication - inevitably, this makes it impossible to write a 2nd edition. The second fault is that the book does not extend beyong the 3rd century; this is a real loss because it would be interesting to hear Luttwak's thoughts about the decline of the Empire.