Book Review: Rome and the Arabs Before the Rise of Islam

This is a kindle book I picked up on Amazon recently. Admittedly its not a very long book (138 pages) but it does give you a good overview of whats known about Arab relations with Rome from the 3rd Century through to the Islamic Conquest of the Roman East. It was interesting to read about how the administrative structures the Arabs developed because of this relationship may have aided the Islamic take over of these previously Roman or Roman influenced areas.
It was also interesting to read of the development of written Arabic and how that might of occurred (though, according to the book, there is no definitive proof for any theory) - poetry or the recording needed for administrating an area were suggested as quite plausible reasons for the development of a written form of Arabic.
For those interested in this period this is a book worth reading.
Full Title: Rome and the Arabs Before the Rise of Islam: A Brief Introduction
Author: Greg Fisher
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (3 Feb 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1482311453
ISBN-13: 978-1482311457
Price: £3.34(Kindle ebook) or £7.38 ("real" book)
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1:1 Scale 6mm Romans

These haven't been finished that recently but I thought that I ought to put the pictures up on my blog as they do illustrate the really good mass effect you get from 6mm.

First up we have half of a Roman Cohort (3 Centuries - note that they are modelled understrength as most of the data we do have for Roman unit strength returns suggest that most units were understrength though cavalry Ala do seem to be an exception to that):




Next up we have a cavalry squadron (latin Turma), this unit is at full strength (32 figures). I deliberately based these to try and give them a sense of movement:


And finally here's a close up of the cavalry:


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