Roman army
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This article is part of the series on: Military of ancient Rome (Portal) |
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| Structural history | |||
| Roman army (unit types and ranks, legions, generals) |
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| Roman navy (fleets, admirals) | |||
| Campaign history | |||
| Lists of Wars and Battles | |||
| Decorations and Punishments | |||
| Technological history | |||
| Military engineering (castra, siege engines, arches, roads) |
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| Personal equipment | |||
| Political history | |||
| Strategy and tactics | |||
| Infantry tactics | |||
| Frontiers and fortifications (Limes, Hadrian's Wall) |
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The Roman army is the set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and later Roman Empire as part of the Roman military. For its main infantry constituent for much of its history, see Roman legion. For its naval counterpart, see Roman Navy.
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[edit] Members in the Roman Army
Membership into the Roman Legions changed as Rome changed. In the early Roman Republic only land-owning Roman citizens were allowed to join and they had to provide their own equipment in the Greek Hoplite manner. The average time of service or enlistment was 6 years. Part of the Gracchi reforms was to make the state responsible for supplying the equipment and forbidding the enlistment of youths under 17. In the later Republic other peoples joined the Auxiliaries.
[edit] Roman Legionary
In Roman times the age of enlistment was 16. Although some families were extremely poor, a 17-year-old boy would no longer be a burden on his family. The maximum age of enlistment was 46 years old. Years of enlistment varied from 20 or just campaigns. A veteran could rejoin or be an evocati.
[edit] Army size and statistics
It is estimated by Edward Gibbon that the maximum size of the Roman army was around 375,000 troops. However, Antonio Santosuosso argues that if one includes all the allied Foederati troops fighting on behalf of and in the name of the Roman Empire, then the size of the army in the late Roman Empire was closer to 650,000 - 700,000 men.
[edit] Tactics
The Romans generally followed the same basic methods in battle, although adjustments were made depending on the enemy, terrain, etc.
[edit] Defense
The most common defense a Roman would use was a Tortoise. They called it a 'Tortoise' of shields. They would group together to make a semi circle which looked like a Tortoise shell. They also used the 'Tortoise' for approaching fortified places. Soldiers would make a rectangle, with their shields protecting their sides, and heads. In Roman times, this 'Tortoise' was known as a 'testudo.'
[edit] Weapons and Equipment
[edit] A Roman Soldier's Main Armor
A set of Roman armor would include one of a variety of body armor types (usually designed to be flexible but strong; a centurion's body armor differs from that of the legionary), a shield (with a special design/decoration for each legion), leggings or greaves, an apron (for decoration and protecting the groin, mostly made of metal), marching sandals (with studs on the sole), a coarse woolen tunic, a belt (showing a soldier's position/rank in the army), and lastly a helmet (with cheek, ear and neck protection). A helmet may also hold a crest.
[edit] Personal Weapons
- The Pugio, a small dagger.
- The Gladius, the short sword, 60 cm (24 inches) long, used by Roman legionaries from the 3rd century BC until the late Roman Empire.
- The Hasta a spear used by Hastasti in the times of the early empire.
- The Pilum (plural pila), a specialized javelin.
Additionally, in the army of the late empire, the gladius was often substituted by a spatha (longsword), up to 1m long, the rectangular scutum was dropped in favour of an oval shield, the earlier pilum had evolved into a differently shaped javelin - lighter and with a greater range - and new weapon types such as thrown darts (plumbatae) were introduced. (Santosuosso, A., Soldiers, Emperors and Civilians in the Roman Empire, Westview, 2001, p. 190)
[edit] Personal Armor
- The lorica segmentata was a type of armor primarily used in the Roman Empire. The armor itself consist of broad ferrous (iron or steel) strips ('girth hoops') fastened to internal leather straps.
- The lorica hamata is a type of chainmail armor used during the Roman Republic as a standard-issue armor for the secondary troops (Auxilia).
- The lorica squamata is a type of scale armor used during the Republic and at later periods.
- Scutum, (Latin for shield), although it has in modern times come to be associated with the standard semi-cylindrical type carried by Roman legionaries.
- The cingulum was a military belt worn at all times, even without the rest of the armor.
They at least held about 30kg of weaponry around with them.
they also used daggers in close combat
[edit] Artillery weapons
[edit] Ranks
- Further information: Roman legion officers
[edit] High level ranks
- Legatus Legionis/Primus Pilus: The overall Legionary commander. This post was generally appointed by the emperor, was a former Tribune and held command for 3 or 4 years, although could serve for a much longer period. In a province with only one legion, the Legatus was also the provincial governor and in provinces with multiple legions, each legion has a Legatus and the provincial governor has overall command of them all.
- The Quaestor: Served as a type of quartermaster general, in charge of purchasing, finance, the collection and distribution of booty, etc. Again, these might perform similar functions on the civilian side.
- The Legati: senior commanders under the supremo. Generally they were of senatorial rank and were commissioned by the Senate.
- Tribunus Laticlavius: Named for the broad striped toga worn by men of senatorial rank. This tribune was appointed by the Emperor or the Senate. Though generally quite young and less experienced than the Tribuni Angusticlavii, he served as second in command of the legion, behind the Legate.
- Praefectus Castrorum: The camp Prefect. Generally he was a long serving veteran who had been promoted through the ranks of the centurions and was 3rd in overall command.
- Tribuni Angusticlavii: Each legion had 6 military tribunes of equestrian (knight) class citizens. They were in many cases career officers and served many of the important administrative tasks of the Legion, but still served in a full tactical command function during engagements.
[edit] Mid Level ranks
- Primi Ordines - The main five centurions of the First Cohort.
- Centurions: They were the backbone of the professional army and were the career soldiers who ran the day to day life of the soldiers as well as issuing commands in the field. They were generally moved up from the ranks, but in some cases could be direct appointments from the Emperor or other higher ranking officials. There were 64 centurions in each legion (10 in the first cohort and 6 in the rest), one to command each centuria of the 10 cohorts.
- Aquilifer: A single position within the Legion. The aquilifer was the Legion's Standard or Eagle bearer and was an enormously important and prestigious position. The next step up would be a post as a centurion.
- Optio: One for each centurion (therefore, there were 64 in a legion), they were appointed by the centurion from within the ranks to act as his second in command.
- Tesserarius: (Guard Commander) Again there were 64 of these, or one for each centuria. They acted in similar roles to the optios.
- Signifer: Each centuria had a signifer (therefore, there were 64 in a legion). He was responsible for the men's pay and savings, and the standard bearer for the Centurial Signum, a spear shaft decorated with medallions and often topped with an open hand to signify the oath of loyalty taken by the soldiers. It was this banner that the men from each individual centuria would rally around. A soldier could also gain the position of Discentes signiferorum, or standard bearer in training.
- Cornicen: (Horn blower) They worked hand in hand with the signifer drawing the attention of the men to the Centurial Signum and issuing the audible commands of the officers.
- Imaginifer: Carried the Standard bearing the image of the Emperor as a constant reminder of the troop's loyalty to him.
[edit] Low level ranks
- Immunes: These were trained specialists, such as surgeons, engineers, surveyors, and architects, as well as craftsmen. They were exempt from camp and hard labor duties due to the nature of their work, and would generally earn slightly more pay than the Milites.
- Discens: Milites in training for an immunes position.
- Milites Gregarius: The basic private-level foot soldier.
- Tirones: The basic new private recruit. A Tirones could take up to 6 months before becoming a full Milites.
[edit] Training
[edit] Fitness
The main pre-requisite for a member of the Roman Army was fitness, given the long distances they were expected to march. They commonly trained by running, chopping down trees and doing obstacle courses. Every 3 times a month a legionary had to do an 18 mile route march with 60 pounds of equipment,armour and weapons to carry. It was common practice for a legion being readied for deployment to spend the previous weeks in long field training drills, some of which required that they build three field camps a day. Requirements for non-legionary troops were not as severe. Roman Legions in Imperial Rome were known to march with 66-100 lbs of equipment per legionary at an average pace of at least 4.5 miles/hour for 5 hours and then building a fort for the night, next morning they would take it down and start all over again and even possibly fighting in the same day. Sometimes they played football. This was a grueling,violent sport that sometimes broke bones.
[edit] Group Training
Every day the whole of the legion would practice swimming, running, jumping, fencing and javelin throwing. But, before that happened newcomers would do two sessions of military drill and give their oath of loyalty to their Commander and Emperor.
[edit] Drill and weapons training
Both legionary and auxilia troops also did drill training, from fundamentals such as learning military step and the exact formation of ranks, to practicing tactical maneuvers. Roman tactics also required the soldier to be able to respond instantly to commands to change the shape of his formation, not simply to fight as a brave individual, as in barbarian armies. This required extensive training and discipline. Weapons training covered how to handle a sword, both to become accustomed to the weight and balance, and also how to deliver injurious blows to an enemy without exposing the soldier's own body to enemy strikes. Roman sword-fighting as talk was in fact fairly restrained and measured - primarily, the sword was to be used to make short stabbing strokes from behind the protection of the scutum with minimal risk of the soldier receiving counter-strokes. This is in contrast to the rather looser style of slashing blows favoured by many barbarian peoples. The soldier was taught not to engage in wild sword-fights with opponents and especially not to lay himself open to his antagonist while aiming his stroke at him. A favoured tactic taught was to knock one's opponents off their feet with a ram of the scutum (shield), and then to dispatch him with one or more swift downward stabs whilst he was vulnerable on the ground, all the while remaining protected himself by the scutum, which was to remained raised. They also trained in the use of the thrown javelin and pilum.
[edit] Times of training
In the Roman times training was usually an all day thing, it started at 6am and didn't end until midnight, sometimes they would have to work two days in a row with no break.
[edit] Common skills
As a minimum, it was expected that all troops would be at least minimally competent at swimming, so as to be able to ford any rivers where it was necessary to cross without the aid of a bridge and also some of them would have to swim in their armour so they could continue fighting.
[edit] Special skills
In an army as organizationally complex as the Roman army, physical conditioning, while stressed, was not sufficient. The most intelligent were trained in the special skills needed by the army, and would become officers or immunes in areas such as engineering.
[edit] Campaigns
- Further information: List of Roman battles
[edit] History of the Roman army
From a few score men defending a small hill town in Italy, through a citizen militia consisting of citizen-farmers raised annually for a short campaign before returning to harvest their fields, the Roman army grew to be a professional standing army of several hundred thousand men. Roman historian Edward Gibbon estimates in his book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire that the peak size of the Roman army in the late imperial period was in the order of 375,000 men.
[edit] Roman military engineering
The Roman army was a prolific and highly competent engineering force. Specialist engineers attached to legionary and other forces would use labour from within the bulk of the army to achieve impressive engineering feats. The Roman army would frequently construct forts, bridges and roads as a routine part of their military culture. However, certain impressive extra-ordinary structures were also built in times of need, including a massive earthen ramp in order to top the walls of the city of Masada in the Jewish Revolt.
[edit] Branches
- Further information: Roman military structure
[edit] References
[edit] Secondary Sources
- Davies, Roy W. "Service in the Roman Army", Columbia University Press, New York, 1989
[edit] See also
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