Guy de la Bédoyère's gripping narrative history gives a sense of what it was like to be a soldier in the army that brought the Romans their empire

'A remarkably precise picture of life in the Roman army - how the men were armed and billeted, what they ate, drank, wore, how they were promoted or punished, how they built their great, straight roads, what they did for sexual relief' Telegraph

The Roman army was the greatest fighting machine the ancient world produced. The Roman Empire depended on soldiers not just to win its wars, defend its frontiers and control the seas but also to act as the engine of the state.

Gladius takes the reader right into the heart of what it meant to be a part of the Roman army, throwing open a window on how the men, their wives and their children lived, from bleak frontier garrisons to guarding the emperor in Rome, enjoying a ringside seat to history fighting the emperors' wars, mutinying over pay, marching in triumphs, throwing their weight around in city streets, and enjoying esteem in honorable retirement.

This is vital, exciting history, told by the men who lived it.