At the height of its power, the Roman Empire encompassed the entire Mediterranean basin, extending much beyond it from Britain to Mesopotamia, from the Rhine to the Black Sea. Rome prospered for centuries while successfully resisting attack, fending off everything from overnight robbery raids to full-scale invasion attempts by entire nations on the move. How were troops able to defend the Empire's vast territories from constant attacks? And how did they do so at such moderate cost that their treasury could pay for an immensity of highways, aqueducts, amphitheaters, city baths, and magnificent temples?
In The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, seasoned defense analyst Edward N. Luttwak reveals how the Romans were able to combine military strength, diplomacy, and fortifications to effectively respond to changing threats. Rome's secret was not ceaseless fighting, but comprehensive strategies that unified force, diplomacy, and an immense infrastructure of roads, forts, walls, and barriers. Initially relying on client states to buffer attacks, Rome moved to a permanent frontier defense around 117 CE. Finally, as barbarians began to penetrate the empire, Rome filed large armies in a strategy of ""defense-in-depth,"" allowing invaders to pierce Rome's borders.
This updated edition has been extensively revised to incorporate recent scholarship and archeological findings. A new preface explores Roman imperial statecraft. This illuminating book remains essential to both ancient historians and students of modern strategy.
List of Maps, Figures, and Tables Preface to the 2016 Edition Preface to the First Edition Acknowledgment Introduction 1. The Julio-Claudian System The System in Outline The Client States The Management of the Clients The Tactical Organization of the Army The Strategic Deployment of Forces Conclusion 2. From the Flavians to the Severi The System in Outline Border Defense Border Defense The Decline of the Client System The Army and the System Conclusion 3. Defense-in-Depth The System in Outline The Changing Threat The New Borders of the Empire Walled Towns and Hard-Point Defenses Border Troops Provincial Forces Central Field Armies Conclusion Epilogue. The Three Systems Appendix. Power and Force Notes Bibliography Index
""Avec un retentissement exceptionnel pour un ouvrage +¬crit par quelqu'un qui n'+¬tait ni historien professionnel, ni sp+¬cialiste de l'Antiquit+¬, le livre d'Edward Luttwak sur la grande strat+¬gie de l'empire romain occupe une place +á part dans l'historiographie depuis sa publication en 1976. +Ç le relire on reste impressionn+¬ par l'ampleur des questions abord+¬es, la concision, la clart+¬ et l'audace de la synth+¿se, mais aussi par nombre d'observations. Au lendemain de la d+¬faite du Vietnam,""
