The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: From the First Century CE to the Third, Revised and Updated Edition

Edward N. Luttwak

Feb 2024 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Nigel Patterson

About this audiobook

At the height of its power, the Roman Empire encompassed the entire Mediterranean basin. Rome prospered for centuries while successfully resisting attack, fending off everything from overnight robbery raids to full-scale invasion attempts by entire nations on the move. How were troops able to defend the Empire's vast territories from constant attacks? And how did they do so at such moderate cost that their treasury could pay for an immensity of highways, aqueducts, amphitheaters, city baths, and magnificent temples? In The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, seasoned defense analyst Edward N. Luttwak reveals how the Romans were able to combine military strength, diplomacy, and fortifications to effectively respond to changing threats. Rome's secret was not ceaseless fighting, but comprehensive strategies that unified force, diplomacy, and an immense infrastructure of roads, forts, walls, and barriers. Finally, as barbarians began to penetrate the empire, Rome filed large armies in a strategy of "defense-in-depth," allowing invaders to pierce Rome's borders. This updated edition has been extensively revised to incorporate recent scholarship and archeological findings. This illuminating book remains essential to both ancient historians and students of modern strategy.

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.

British audiobook narrator and AudioFile Earphones Award winner Nigel Patterson has many credits as a stage, screen, and voice-over actor that influence his powerful characterization across a broad range of genres. A graduate of the University of Oxford, he is fluent in French and Spanish.