Armies of the Germanic Peoples, 200 BC-AD 500

Gabriele Esposito presents an overview of the military history of the Germanic peoples of this period and describes in detail the weapons and tactics they employed on the battlefield. He starts by showing how, from very early on, the Germanic communities were heavily influenced by Celtic culture. He then moves on to describe the major military events, starting with the first major encounter between the Germanic tribes and the Romans: the invasion by the Cimbri and Teutones.

Julius Caesar's campaigns against German groups seeking to enter Gaul are described in detail as is the pivotal Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, which effectively halted Roman expansion into Germany and for centuries fixed the Rhine as the border between the Roman and Germanic civilizations. Escalating pressure of Germanic raids and invasions was a major factor in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

The author's analysis explains how Germanic warriors were able to crush the Roman military forces on several occasions, gradually transformed the Roman Army itself from the inside and, after the fall of the Empire, created new Romano-Germanic Kingdoms across Europe. The evolution of Germanic weapons, equipment and tactics is examined and brought to life through dozens of colour photos of replica equipment in use.

80 colour and b/w illustrations

About the Author

Gabriele Esposito is a military historian who works as a freelance author and researcher for some of the most important publishing houses in the military history sector. In particular, he is an expert specializing in uniformology: his interests and expertise range from the ancient civilizations to modern postcolonial conflicts. During recent years he has conducted and published several researches on the military history of the Latin American countries, with special attention on the War of the Triple Alliance and the War of the Pacific. He is among the leading experts on the military history of the Italian Wars of Unification and the Spanish Carlist Wars.

Gabriele's books and essays are published on a regular basis by important publishing houses and he is also the author of numerous military history articles appearing in specialised magazines like Ancient Warfare, Medieval Warfare, The Armourer, History of War, Guerres et Histoire, Focus Storia and Focus Storia Wars. His many previous works include Armies of Early Colonial North America 1607-1713 and Armies of the Late Roman Empire AD 284-476, Armies of the Hellenistic States 323 BC - AD 30, Armies of Celtic Europe 700 BC - AD 106 , Armies of Ancient Greece circa 500 - 338 BC, Armies of Ancient Italy 753 - 218 BC and Armies of the Vikings, 793-1066.