Roman army

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.

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 federated allied 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.

Tactics

The Romans generally followed the same basic methods in battle, although of course adjustments were made depending on the enemy, terrain, etc.

Weapons and Equipment

Personal Weapons

The pugio, a small dagger used by Roman soldiers.
The gladius, the short sword, 60 cm (24 inches) long, used by Roman legionaries from the 3rd century BC
The hasta a spear. Hastae were carried by early Roman Legionaries.
The pilum (plural pila) was a throwing spear commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times.

Additionally, in the army of the late empire, the gladius was often substitued 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)

Personal Armour

The lorica segmentata was a type of armour primarily used in the Roman Empire. The armour itself consist of broad ferrous (iron or steel) strips ('girth hoops') fastened to internal leather straps.
The Lorica Hamata is a type of Chainmail armour used during the Roman Republic at late periods as a standard-issue armour for the secondary troops (Auxilia).
The Lorica squamata is a type of scale armour used by ancient Roman military during the Roman Republic and at later periods
Scutum is the Latin word for shield, although it has in modern times come to be associated with the standard semi-cylindrical type carried by Roman legionaries

Artillery weapons

Ballista and Repeating Ballista
Onager

Ranks

High level ranks

Legatus Legionis: 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 5 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.
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.

Mid Level ranks

Primus Pilus/Primus Pilum: The "First File" or "First Spear" was the commanding centurion of the first cohort and the senior centurion of the entire Legion. Service in this position also allowed entry into the equestrian social class upon retirement.
Primi Ordines - The 5 Centurions of the First Cohort, included the Primus Pilus.
The centurions: Each Legion had 59 or 60 centurions, one to command each centuria of the 10 cohorts. 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. The cohorts were ranked from the First to the Tenth and the Centuria within each cohort ranked from 1 to 6, with only 5 Centuria in the First Cohort (For a total of 59 Centuria and the Primus Pilus). The Centuria that each Centurion commanded was a direct reflection of his rank. (Command of the First Centuria of the First Cohort was the highest and the 6th Centuria of the 10th Cohort was the lowest).
Signifer: Each Centuria had a Signifer (59). 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.
Optio:One for each Centurion (59), they were appointed by the Centurion from within the ranks to act as his second in command.
Tesserarius: (Guard Commander) Again there were 59 of these, or one for each Centuria. They acted in similar roles to the Optios.
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.

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 recruit. A Tirones could take up to 6 months before becoming a full Milites

Training

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 month a legionary had to do an 18 mile route march with 60 pounds of equipment and 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 lb.s of equipement 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.

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.

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.

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.

Campaigns

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.

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.

Branches

Notes

References

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Davies, Roy W. "Service in the Roman Army", Columbia University Press, New York, 1989

External links