- Paperback: 296 pages
- Publisher: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing (May 15 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0972872604
- ISBN-13: 978-0972872607
- Product Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.5 x 0.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #579,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Legion is a stunning recreation of the life of Roman soldiers at a fort on the Gallic frontier in the late First Century B.C. Centurion Quintus Flavius Rufio returns to Gaul near the Rhine to finish his career with the Twenty-fifth Legion. An invasion by the Germans is imminent, and the veteran Rufio takes command of a century with many recruits whom he must train on the eve of the German onslaught. Rufio's return to Gaul has a wider significance as well. Twenty years earlier, he accidentally killed a young Gallic woman in battle. Still haunted by this, he is confronted by her daughter, orphaned as an infant and now an adult, and his search for redemption takes an unexpected turn in his relationship with her. Legion climaxes with the outnumbered Romans attacking the Germans in a savage battle as the barbarians storm into Gaul in a war of annihilation.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Legion,
By Mark Stewart "mlstolive" (Lausanne, Vaude Switzerland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Legion: A Novel of the Army of Rome (Paperback)
Here Altimari, captures a Rome that at its core pivots on the virtues of a few. That he captures this in a profound way shows his understanding of both the military and the culture of those times. He introduces several key charachters who in Rufio one witnesses an experience and a face of life with all its barbs, turmoils and victories, which could easily be caste in another time to depict similar qualities. The work is sound and the style is such that once picked up it is not easily put down as the pace of the writing moves one quickly through a great read. Highly recommended.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A challenger to Pressfield,
By
This review is from: Legion: A Novel of the Army of Rome (Paperback)
Legion is subperb.The author draws the reader into a bloody battle between Romans and Celts versus German invaders in a manner that, at some points, raises the hair on the back of the neck. Some may find the love story a bit too "Hollywood" or predictable for their liking, but the protagonist is such an admirable character that you may find yourself smiling at the end.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing work on an intriguing premise,
By
This review is from: Legion: A Novel of the Army of Rome (Paperback)
William Altimari's Legion has the perfect groundwork on which to build an epic novel of the Roman Empire. The monumental clash of Germania and Rome, of civilization and barbarism, and, as Altimari portrays it, good vs evil. Unfortunately, the work is far too brief and far too short on character development to inspire any emotional attachment to the story. As an ancient military historian myself, pursuing a Ph.D. on the topic, I found this portrayal of the complicated politics of the relationship between the Roman Empire, and the Gallic and German tribes to be overly simplistic. Clearly, Altimari has done his homework on the military traditions of Rome and does a respectable job in painting a picture of how the Roman armies were equipped and fought. If the book were kept strictly in this fashion, which seems to be his strength, then I may have been more favorable in the review. But then if I wanted a clear understanding on the Roman military I would have purchased any of a number of nonfiction works on the topic.To the detriment of the book though, there is dialogue in Legion. The prose is supposed to be epic and inspiring, but comes across as incredibly corny and cringe-inducing. Perhaps there was a slight bias here because I had just finished the phenomenal Shogun before reading Legion, and Clavell's work had such wonderful dialogue. Regardless, the lines in Legion are barely worthy of a bad TV epic (a la the Spartacus remake on USA, Attila, etc.). Exchanges between the characters are so short that the book feels abridged at times; conversations rarely last more than a page or two. As a result, there is little if any attachment to the characters. The best way to convey how Altimari portrays Rufio (the protagonist) is to think of him as the 1st century B.C. equivalent of John Wayne. If you find John Wayne characters to be believeable then maybe Legion will appeal to you. With stronger dialogue and more time for the characters to develop, this novel could have been much better, but as it is it all feels too rushed. I won't ruin the ending for those that still have yet to read the book, but Altimari leaves little doubt as to who will emerge victorious by the time you get to that point. For those reading the novel simply for the depiction of ancient warfare, skip this book and read Pressfield's Gates of Fire or Tides of War for a vastly superior portrayal. So what are we left with? A novel that provides a brief overview of the Roman army that can be better found elsewhere, and dialogue that so cheesy it would make Roland Emmerich blush. My true star rating would be 1.5 but I rounded down to reflect my personal tilt.
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