 For his "practical experience of the ways in which modern armies work," he was inspired in asking questions about organisation and methods of the Roman army.His expertise and work in this field served to make Birley the founder of the "Durham School" of archaeology having attractedseveral highly-talented and influential postgraduate students to the Department, whose research has … "epitomised, and to a large degree set the agenda for, British work on the Roman military for much of the twentieth century.