Caesar's Legion

The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome

By: Stephen Dando-Collins

Narrated by: Stuart Langton

Stephen Dando-Collins paints a vivid and definitive portrait of daily life in the Tenth Legion as he follows Caesar and his men along the blood-soaked fringes of the Empire. This unprecedented regimental history reveals countless previously unknown details about Roman military practices, Caesar's conduct as a commander and his relationships with officers and legionnaires, and the daily routine and discipline of the Legion.

From penetrating insights into the mind of history's greatest general to a grunt's-eye view of the gruesome realities of war in the Classical Age, this unique and riveting true account sets a new standard of excellence and detail to which all authors of ancient military history will now aspire.

©2002 Stephen Dando-Collins (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Written in a readable, popular style, this book is a must for military buffs and anyone interested in Roman history at a critical point in European civilization." (T.R. Fehrenbach, author of Lone Star)

Crastinus

This book does a good job of balancing the big events with the little details that the historical record provides, such as the side-plot involving the life of Crastinus.

Gripping

This book provides an introduction to life in the Roman Empire by focusing specifically on the history of the Tenth Legion -- an elite fighting force of Spaniards that was raised by Julius Caesar and continued on for more than a hundred years after his death. By focusing on the lives of soldiers in ancient Rome, we learn a lot about the lives of the common people, rather than just the aristocracy. The Tenth played a part at most all of the significant battles of the time, including in the conquest of Gaul, the Civil Wars, and the destruction of Jerusalem, so the book is rich in Roman military history. The author is careful to counter the self serving and exaggerated claims of glory that Caesar himself reports in his book "The Conquest of Gaul" with the reports from other historical sources, which tempers Caesar's hyperpole and likely paints a more accurate portrayal of events. It helps if you have some overall knowledge of the history of the death of the Roman Republic and the birth of the Empire, but this is not essential. This book is an excellent read!

Amazing read

As someone who is extremely intrigued by Roman history this book just became my #1 alongside SPQR by Mary Beard.

Narrated wonderfully and non stop action and interest all the way through. Even kept my attention while I was on my runs to were I didn’t even realize the miles going by.

Highly recommend.

The REAL story of Caesar's Legions...

If you liked the HBO mini-series Rome, you will probably love this audiobook, and never watch the HBO series again. This is the accurate and detailed story of the Caesar and his 10th Legion, with enough detail and drama--as it actually happened--in an easy to understand narrative. One of the five best books on the Roman Civil War that led to the destruction of the Republic and rise of the Empire.

I hated when this audiobook ended!

Fascinating and Exciting

Love every second if this. Gave you the details of the 10th Legion and the overall background. Follows Caser through each battle and gives you the feeling of the men of this legion.

solid

Interesting perspective on standard history with a focus on several legions and commanders. If you're well versed in Roman history you'll still learn a few new things!

Focused and tightly scoped

If you like Roman history, especially the era of the Civil War and have ever wondered about the puncturing of a typical Roman Legion, this is a great read. I have listened to this four times now listening, and I picked up new details every listen. The story is not a story, as much as a focused account of all legions that were created during Caesar’s era. The account seems to drift into generalization after the sacking of Jerusalem. There is little more than stats about the legions for the last 200 years of the Western empire, but the details during the early decades / centuries of the Empire are many and interesting. Great listen for Roman history buffs.

Compiles primary sources into a coherent story

Where does Caesar's Legion rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book was well written, well researched, and well narrated but it runs the risk of fictionalizing history for some purists. The author does a masterful job of placing evidence from various primary sources into a well-designed chronological story but it is hard to tell when he is quoting and when he is imagining how history might have happened. For the scholar, be wary of any dialogue that seem to come too easy but it is still very much worthwhile. For the casual historian, this is the way to read Caesar!

Not what I expected

I thought I was getting something Roman legionary fictional like the Artorian Chronicles when I got this. Literally thought to myself, this preface of Caesar is really in depth for the first 20 minutes! Fortunately I love a good history lesson and this was a good one that goes hundreds of years past the death of Julius Caesar until the end of the Roman Empire.

Well worth it

Awesome

Great book, followed the mighty Legio X from beginning with Gaius Julius Caesar all the way through the first Jewish war until it’s end. A lot of detail and history. I loved it..