Table of Contents

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

Promotional Information

A newly updated edition of this classic, hugely influential account of how the Romans defended their vast empire.

About the Author

Edward N. Luttwak is a senior associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A longtime strategic and security consultant to US government departments, the armed services, and friendly governments, he is the author of The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire, among other books.

Reviews

Avec un retentissement exceptionnel pour un ouvrage écrit par quelqu’un qui n’était ni historien professionnel, ni spécialiste de l’Antiquité, le livre d’Edward Luttwak sur la grande stratégie de l’empire romain occupe une place à part dans l’historiographie depuis sa publication en 1976. À le relire on reste impressionné par l’ampleur des questions abordées, la concision, la clarté et l’audace de la synthèse, mais aussi par nombre d’observations. Au lendemain de la défaite du Vietnam,
—Revue des Etudes Anciennes