Ferentarii
The Ferentarii ( Latin ) were a class of service in the army of the Roman Empire .
Task and tactics
The Ferentarii were throwers and formed a kind of light troops. Usually they were used in the order of battle on the wings and had to open the battle with their throwing guns (such as bows, slingshots , plumbata or spear throwers ). Sometimes, however, like the Rorarii , they also stood between the ranks of the heavily armed in order to alarm the enemy. They supported the Velites, who were already in the army, in the battle . Like these, the Ferentarii had no metal armor, as they had to be fast enough to do their job of evading enemy heavy infantry and shooting in the back.
The generals used them to blow up the enemy formation with a hail of bullets. Ferentarii consisted of both resident mercenaries and Roman citizens who were too poor to procure hastati armor . This unit was mainly recruited in emergency situations, as in the Punic wars and later with the collapse of the Roman Empire .
See also
literature
- Peter Connolly , Hazel Dodge : The Ancient City. Life in Athens & Rome. Könemann, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-8290-1104-0 .