Roman Army

  • The Roman Army was founded under the Kings of Rome (753-510 BCE), underwent reforms during the Roman Republic (509-27 BCE) and reached its peak under the Roman Empire (27 BCE-476 CE).
  • The main component of the Roman Army was the Legion and its success was due to its tactics and organisation. The battles, tactics and Generals of the Roman Army are still studied today.

Evolution of the Roman Army

  • Phalanx System (5th century-315 BCE)
    • In use by the Early Roman Republic it was a single large massed army, copied from the Greeks.
  • Maniple System (315-107 BCE)
    • Adopted from the Samnites by the Roman Republic, it was a more flexible system composed of individual maniples.
  • Cohort System (107 BCE-284 CE)
    • Early Roman Empire.
      • This was the most successful and enduring organisation, introduced by the Marian Reforms (107-101 BCE).
  • Comitatenses (260 CE)
      • The Comitatenses was a Roman Cavalry Regiment created by the Roman Emperor, Gallienus in 260 CE.
      • They were units of cavalry taken from the Legions and based at Milan, who could travel to any Frontier in the Roman Empire at short notice. The units were listed as still existing in the Notitia Dignitatum (c.400 CE).
  • Late Roman Empire (285-474 CE)
    • Diocletian (285-305 CE)
      • Diocletian restructured the Legions, Cavalry Alae and Cohorts into smaller units.
    • Constantine I (307-337 CE)
      • The Legions were again reformed by Constantine I into:
        • Palatini. Elite units, under the Magister Militum.
        • Limitanei or Ripenses. Fort garrisons on the Frontier.

Standing Army: The Augustan Legacy of 28-33 Permanent Legions (29 BCE-284 CE)

  • Augustus created an all year round Standing Professional Army of 28 Legions, which later rose to 33. This included Auxiliary Alpine and Desert Regiments, but it was not the world’s first professional army.
  • The Akkadian Empire, Sparta, the Western Zhou in China and the Mahajanapadas in India had all had all year round Standing Armies.
  • A List of all the Legions was made in 145 CE.
  • The last time the Legions were documented was in c.400 CE in the Notitia Dignitatum. After this no record exists for the Roman Armies in the Western Roman Empire, which fell in 476 CE.

The Roman Legion (107-290 CE)

  • Legion
    • Total men: varied between 5,300-6,000.
    • Consisted of 10 Cohorts of 4,800 men, (excluding officers) plus one Cavalry Unit Equites of 120 men. Commanded by a Legatus Legionis or a Legatus Augusti pro praetor.

 

Roman Army A-Z:

Alpine Regiments

  • Roman Alpine Regiments
    • The Alps, which had been occupied by very warlike tribes who were hostile to Rome, were finally invaded by Augustus between 25-14 BCE.
    • The Maritime Alps, Switzerland, Southern Germany and Austria, all became Provinces in the Roman Empire. For the next two hundred years or more, they then supplied 20 to 26 Regiments who operated on the Roman Frontiers.

Auxiliaries

  • Roman Auxiliaries: ‘Auxilia’ means ‘Supports’/
    • Six out of every ten Roman Soldiers were Auxiliaries.
    • They had Oval Shields instead of the Rectangular Legionary Shield.
    • The Roman Cavalry was almost entirely supplied by the Auxilia. The Alaris , a cavalry soldier, earned a 20% higher salary than the Auxiliary or Legionary foot soldier.
    • The Auxiliaries were not Conscripts but almost all Volunteers, like the Roman Legionaries.
    • They were Peregrini, free Provincial Subjects who did not have Roman Citizenship. 90% of the Population of the Empire were Peregrini.
    • The Auxiliary received Roman Citizenship at the end of his Term.

Battles and Wars

Cavalry

Client Kingdom Armies

  • Roman Provinces usually started as Roman Client Kingdom using the Roman Client King’s Armies.
  • They were later annexed into Provinces.

Clothing and Armour

Comitatenses: Late Empire Cavalry (260-400 CE)

Commanders

Communications

  • Cursus Publicus
    • This was a Postal System using fast horses and vehicles to transmit messages between Rome and the Provinces.
    • There were Roman Maps of this road system, such as the Peutinger Table.
  • Roman Carrier Pigeons
    • These is known to have been used during the GGallic Wars.
  • Roman Signalling
    • Messages could be transmitted by line of sight with great speed by means of semaphore or fire systems.

Cult of the Emperor

Decorations and Medals

  • Roman Army Decorations were given to Roman Legionaries and their officers for gallantry. With the Auxiliaries however, only the officers received decorations. If an Auxiliary Unit was successful, the whole unit would receive an award or Roman Citizenship. The tradition dates back to 361 BCE, when the Romans copied the decorations worn by the Celts.
    • Phalerae: Sculpted discs of gold, silver or bronze, worn on the breastplate during parades.
    • Torc: gold necklet.
    • Armillae: gold armbands.
    • Hasta pura: ceremonial silver spear.
    • Miniature Silver flag (Vexillum)
    • A cup: for single handed combat.
    • Horse trappings: for single handed combat.

Discharge Diploma

  • Roman Military Discharge Diploma or ‘Missio’:
  • Discharge Bonus: the Premia:
    • The Premia was the Discharge Bonus (Lump Sum) 3,800 Denartii (8,500 Denarii by the third century CE)
    • Praetorian Legionary received 5,000 Denarii and a Land donation which was the traditional pension.

Discipline

  • Roman Army Discipline
    • Penalties and Punishments were more severe during the Roman Republic, probably because the soldiers were part-time and less disciplined.
    • Under the Roman Empire, the legionaries were professional full-time soldiers
  • Decimation
    • Decimation was a punishment for soldiers in the Roman Legion, where one in ten soldiers were ordered to be killed by their own men.
    • There are nine known occasions on record in the Roman Army when the order for Decimation was given.

Engineers

  • The Engineers attached to the Roman Legions built all the infrastructure of the Roman Provinces:
    • The Forts, Roads, Ports, Bridges, Public Buildings, Towns, Canals, Aqueducts, Viaducts and Dams
    • The engineers were called ‘Immunes’ (ie immune from regular soldiers duties)
    • Their officers were ‘Architecti’.
  • Vitruvius
    • He was a Roman military engineer, and his 10 Books, De Architectura, cover everything from building aqueducts, bridges, ports and cities to siege machines.

Forts

  • The Roman Fort Plan:
    • Playing card shape with two main roads crossing it.
  • The Prefabricated Fort:
    • Lunt Roman Fort is an example where the Timber sections were cut and prepared in Gaul, then shipped over and assembled on the site in Britannia.
  • Legionary Fortresses of the Roman Empire

Frontiers

Frumentarii

Hospitals

  • Valetudinarium
    • This was a hospital building located inside the Legionary Fortress and manned by medics known as ‘medici’ or ‘medicus’.

Lost Legions

  • Lost Roman Legions
    • Usually a Legion was able to replace its losses, but occasionally the Legion was discontinued after a military disaster.

Marching Camp

  • The construction and defense of the Roman Marching Camp was so successful, that none were ever overrun. The Roman Legions could march 20 miles (32km) in a day, whereas their Barbarian enemies could only manage half that distance.
  • This meant the Roman Army could quickly arrive to assist beleaguered units or quickly depart if overwhelmed by the enemy, buying time to fight again later on ground of their own choosing.

Marian Reforms (107-101 BCE)

Medals

Military Oath of Allegiance

  • The Sacramentum Militare was the Military Oath made to the Roman Emperor.
  • It was first taken by the new Legionaries and eventually was taken every year by all the Legions and Auxiliaries..

Motto

  • The Roman Army Motto may have been ‘Gloria Exercitus’ meaning ‘Glory of the Army’.
  • Constantine I minted coins between 330-340 CE using this inscription.

Moving the Legions

  • Moving the Roman Legions. The Legions were highly mobile, and carried their own supplies without a huge wagon train of supplies.
  • They marched in a matter of days along the network of Roman Roads, in order to quell uprisings or repel an invasion.

Pay

  • Legionary Pay. The Military ‘Bank’ for each Legion held a record of their Pay with all deductions.

Pensions

  • Roman Legionary Pensions were paid for from the Aerarium Militare (Military Treasury). This was a Fund founded by Augustus with a Prefect to run it.  The Funding of the Roman Legionary Pensions was by a 5% tax on inheritance and a 1% tax on Auctions.
  • The Premia was the Discharge Bonus (Lump Sum) 3,800 Denartii (8,500 Denarii by the third century CE)
  • The Praetorian Legionary received 5,000 Denarii and a Land donation which was the traditional pension.

Praetorian Guard

  • The Praetorian Guard was the personal Army of the Roman Emperor.
  • Augustus created the Praetorian Cohorts in 27 BCE, which were under his personal command.
  • They were an elite unit, received higher Pay than the other Roman Legions, and were senior to them.
  • The Praetorian Cohorts were based in the Castra Praetoria in Rome, and around Italia, to act as a police force.
  • The Praetorians had special guard duties within the sacred Pomerium of Rome.
  • They formed the Emperor’s personal bodyguard wherever he went, and guarded the Imperial Palaces.

Recruitment

  • Under the Roman Republic:
    • The Legionary had to be a landowner to qualify for entry into the Legion.
    • After the Marian Reforms of 107 BCE this requirement was dropped, making the Legion open to all who held Roman Citizenship.

Religion

Siege Machines

Signalling

  • Signalling depended on mixture of visual signals sent by semaphore and fire.
  • Audible commands in the Fortress and on the Battlefield were given by Bugle and other wind instruments.

Sources

  • Polybius is the main source for the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE).
  • Tacitus (c.56-c.117 CE) is the main source for the occupation of Britannia.
  • Vegetius (c. 390-450 CE) wrote a manual on military strategy, ‘De Re Militare’ (on military affairs) in the fifth century CE, which remained in use until the Medieval Period.

Standards

Standing Army

Strategy

  • Vegetius (c390-c.450 CE)
    • De Rei Militari
  • Frontinus (30-193 CE)
  • Aelian (second century CE)
    • ‘On tactical arrays of the Greeks’, in 53 chapters, dedicated to Hadrian.
  • Onasander (first century CE)
    • Strategikos, duties of a General.

Suppression of Uprisings

  • The Roman Strategy to suppress a Revolt in one Province, was to move troops from a Legion based in a distant Province.
  • This prevented the arriving soldiers from being tempted to join the Revolt.

Supplies

  • Each Legion had a Baggage train consisting of 640 mules, 1 mule for every 8 soldiers (Contubernium)
  • To help keep the Baggage train size small, each Legionary had to carry 25-30 kgs, consisting of his own armour, weapons and 15 days of rations. A cross stick enabled him to carry the load on his back, like a modern rucksack.
  • This meant the Baggage train could be left behind, giving the Legion huge mobility.

Tactics

  • The Roman Army used a variety of tactics against their enemies.

Tattoos

  • Vegetius (4th century CE) states that the new legionaries had to have a Tattoo.
  • He says the Tattoo was worn on the hand, but does not describe what it looked like.
  • It may have been the Legion’s number or it may have depicted an eagle.

Testudo

  • The Testudo was a defensive grouping of legionaries into a rectangle protected by a shield wall, on the front, the sides and on top. It was a protection against enemy volleys of arrows.
  • Cassius Dio wrote that the shield wall was so strong that it was used to fill a ravine and be crossed over by horses and carts.

Travelling Expenses (Viaticum)

  • The ‘Viaticum’ in Latin means ‘travel provisions’.
  • It was a travel allowance, in the form of money or supplies for the Legionary to journey to or from his Unit.

War Elephants

Weapons

  • The Roman Legionary always carried a standard selection of weapons.
  • These consisted of a shield with several darts, a javelin, a broadsword and a dagger.

 

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