D'Amato Raffaele, Negin Andrey Evgenevich. Decorated Roman Armour: From the Age of the Kings to the Death of Justinian the Great

Pen & Sword, 2017. — 256 p.In Decorated Roman Armour: From the Age of the Kings to the Death of Justinian the Great, Raffaele D’Amato and Andrey Evgenevich Negin provide a chronological and typological analysis of Roman army equipment, especially focusing on "the evolution of decorated armour throughout the history of ancient Rome". Raffaelle D’Amato has published extensively on the subject of the Roman military. Andrey Negin is a scholar based in Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod (Russia). He has published extensively on the subjects of Roman armour through a variety of publishers and academic journals, both in English and Russian. Simply put, both authors have the necessary background and qualifications for publishing a book on Roman armour.The book is divided into five chapters, distinguished by time period and with one chapter expanding on the archaeological context from 27 BCE – 284 CE (753-509 BCE; 509-27 BCE; 27 BCE – 284 CE; and 284-565 CE). To analyze armor in these time periods, they focus on three aspects: individual pieces, iconography (such as artwork with images of Roman soldiers), and representation in written sources. Moreover, each chapter contains engaging and vivid illustrations. Illustrations include both pictures of artifacts and drawings of artifacts by Andrey Evgenevich Negin. They are thorough and comprehensive, engaging with how other scholars interpret Roman armor and disagreeing, agreeing, or supplementing new information when necessary.