The Romans: The Rise & Fall of the Greatest Warriors of the Ancient World

The Roman army was unequaled in success, counting its Byzantine offspring over two millennia. The backbone were its superbly trained legions, with excellent equipment, training and motivation. They used to be conscripted citizens in the Republic proper, but became long-serving professionals by Casaer's day, when he achieved the ultimate triumph over the long-rival cents by conquering Gaul. They were however accompanied by a comparable number of 'auxiliaries', troop recruited from conquered people without citizenship, paid half and given the dirty jobs, but eager to win the status of full Roman. Under the Empire, the army gradually evolved, including weapons and recruitment. The Germanic tries proved the ultimate challenge, their forest homelands impossible to conquer by established Riman tactics, Varrus even incurred an unprecedented defeat. Ultimately they and other 'barbarians', having learned a lot from Rome, would overrun it.