Velites
The Velites (singular: veles , German: skirmishers) were a formation in the Roman Republic . Before the first meeting, they stood in loose formation in front of the Hastati and began the battle with a skirmish . Usually their task was to displace the opposing skirmishers, to disrupt the opposing formation with javelin throws, to retreat behind their own lines in time and to let the heavily armored Hastati do the close combat. Due to their mobility and range, they also proved to be particularly effective in repelling war elephants and chariots .
The Velites consisted of about 1,200 men who were added to a legion and assigned to the individual maniples in the order of battle . They were the youngest and poorest soldiers in the Legion who could barely afford the equipment they needed. Their armament consisted of a number (usually seven) javelins ( hastae velitares ), a small round shield ( parma ), a cap made of leather or skins (especially wolf skins ) and a Spanish short sword ( gladius hispanicum ). Titus Livius reports that the formation of the Velites began in 211 BC. Took the place of the older Rorarii during the siege of Capua in the Second Punic War . After the new army order by Marius at the end of the 2nd century BC It disappeared again.
Under Emperor Napoleon I , the French Imperial Guard comprised several battalions, known as "Velites" (or Vélites), made up of non-veteran soldiers who could only receive full guard status after training in these units .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pat Southern: The Roman Army. A Social and Institutional History. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 9780195328783 . P. 92.
- ^ Phillip Sabin, Hans Wees, Michael Whitby: The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare. Volume 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, ISBN 0521782732 . P. 513.
literature
- Georg Friedrich Franz Ruperti: Handbook of Roman antiquities. Volume 2. Hahn, Hannover 1843. P. 92 f.