The Roman in the Street

In his introduction to this largely overlooked gem, the late Prof. Knap (Emeritus, UC Berkeley) reminds us that most of what we know about ancient Greece and Rome – and pretty much every other pre-modern culture, is about the elites, but that it is possible with due diligence to find evidence about the lives of the vast majority of the ordinary people.

While Knapp is remarkably good at ferreting out evidence about “Prostitutes, Outlaws, Slaves, Gladiators, Ordinary Men and Women . . . The Romans That History Forgot,” as the subtitle to the original British edition puts it, for our readers three chapters are likely to be of particular interest.

Knapp’s sixth chapter is titled, “A Living at Arms: Soldiers.” In it he examines the background, life, and career path of the ordinary Roman soldier. Saying relatively little about battle, training, and weapons, Knapp addresses such matters as family background and ties, daily routine, health and medical care, marriage and less formal unions, retirement, and later life. We see, for example, that many soldiers maintained a lively correspondence with their families, despite almost always being posted far from their native provinces. And while many soldiers retired in the province of their final posting, usually quite near their old base, many others returned to their original homes, in both cases usually as honored citizens, prospering and often holding public office. Knapp also gives us some admittedly estimated figures for the annual recruiting requirements of the Roman Army, probable “normal” loss of personnel, and estimates as to the number of retired soldiers living in the Empire at any particular time. Oddly, he only barely hints at the role of these veterans in furthering the Romanization of their communities.

The two other chapters likely to be of interest to our readers are “”Fame and Death: Gladiators” and “Beyond the Law: Bandits and Pirates.”

Invisible Romans is a useful read for those with an interest in the Roman soldier, or the ordinary people of the Roman world.

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Note: Invisible Romans is also available in hardcover.

StrategyPage reviews are published in cooperation with The New York Military Affairs Symposium

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