Ancient Rome (History of Weapons and Warfare) PDF

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the History of Weapons and Warfare

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the History of
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Weapons and Warfare
ANCIENT
Rome
Ancient
Other books in this series include:
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Greece
The Civil War
The Middle Ages
The Native Americans
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Ancient
Rome Don Nardo
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Nardo, Don, 1947-

Ancient Rome / by Don Nardo.
p. cm. — (The history of weapons and warfare)
Summary: Discusses the weapons used by the ancient Romans and their different means of
warfare.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-59018-067-4
1. —Army—Juvenile literature. Rome— History, Military—Juvenile literature.
Rome 2. 3.
Military art —Juvenile literature. Military weapons— Rome—Juvenile

and science— Rome 4.
literature. Rome —Army. Rome— History,

[1. 2. Military art and science— Rome.
Military. 3. 4.
Military weapons — Rome.] I. Title. II. Series.

U35.N37 2003
355'.00937— dc21
2002006601
Printed in the U.S.A.

Contents
Foreword 8
Introduction 10
Rome's Unique Approach to Warfare
Chapter One 14
The Early Roman Army
Chapter Two 28
The Development of Manipular Tactics
Chapter Three 43
The Professional Imperial Military Forces
Chapter Four 60
Fortifications and Siege Warfare
Chapter Five 75
Naval Weapons and Tactics
Chapter Six 88
The Decline and Fall of Rome's Military
Legions of the Early Empire 102

Distribution of the Legions a.d. 23 to 138 105
Notes 107
Glossary 110
For Further Reading 114
Major Works Consulted 115
Additional Works Consulted 119
Index 121
Picture Credits 127
About the Author 128
Foreword
earliest battle about which any de- Even after humans became "civilized,"
The
tailed information has survived took with and organized religion,
cities, writing,
when
place in 1274 B.C. at Kadesh, in Syria, war was widely accepted.
the necessity of
the armies of the Egyptian and Hittite em- Most people saw it as the most natural
pires clashed. For this reason, modern his- means of defending territory, maintaining
torians devote a good deal of attention to security, or settling disputes. A character in
Kadesh. They know that this -battle and the a dialogue by the fourth-century B.C. Greek
war of which it was a part were not the first thinker Plato declares:
fought by the Egyptians and their neigh-
bors. Many other earlier conflicts are men- All men are always at war with one
tioned in ancient inscriptions found another. . . . For what men in gen-
throughout the Near East and other regions, eral term peace is only a name; in
as from the dawn of recorded history city- reality, every city is in a natural state
states fought one another for political or of war with every other, not indeed
economic dominance. proclaimed by heralds, but everlast-
Moreover, it is likely that warfare long ing. ... No possessions or institu-
predated city-states and written records. tions are of any value to him who is
Some scholars go so far as to suggest that defeated in battle; for all the good
the Cro-Magnons, the direct ancestors of things of the conquered pass into
modern humans, wiped out another early the hands of the conquerors.
—
human group the Neanderthals in a —
prolonged and fateful conflict in the dim Considering the thousands of conflicts that
past. Even if this did not happen, it is have raged across the world since Plato's
likely that even the earliest humans en- time, it would seem that war is an in-
gaged in conflicts and battles over terri- evitable part of the human condition.
tory and other factors. "Warfare is almost War not only remains an ever-present re-
as old as man renowned
himself," writes ality, it has also had undeniably crucial and
military historian John Keegan, "and far-reaching effects on human society and
reaches into the most secret places of the its development. As Keegan puts it, "History
human heart, places where self dissolves lessons remind us that the states in which
rational purpose, where pride reigns, we live . . . have come to us through conflict,
where emotion is paramount, where in- often of the most bloodthirsty sort." Indeed,
stinct is king." the world's first and oldest nation-state,
—
Foreword
Egypt, was born out of a war between the An inevitable result of the conver-
two kingdoms that originally occupied the gence of two tendencies, fear of war
area; the modern nations of Europe rose and interest in the past, has seen a
from the wreckage of the sweeping barbar- more information about the
thirst for
ian invasions that destroyed the Roman Em- making of war in earlier times, not
pire; and the United States was established only in terms of tools, techniques,
by a bloody revolution between British and methods used in warfare, but
colonists and their mother country. also of the people by whom wars are
Victory in these and other wars resulted and have been fought and how men
from varying factors. Sometimes the side have set about the business of
that possessed overwhelming numbers or preparing for and fighting them.
the most persistence won; other times supe-
rior generalship and strategy played key These themes — the evolution of warfare
roles. In many cases, the side with the most and weapons and how it has affected vari-
advanced and deadly weapons was victorious human societies — lie at the core of the
ous. In fact, the invention of increasingly books in Lucent's History of Weapons and
lethal and devastating tools of war has Warfare series. Each book examines the
largely driven the evolution of warfare, warfare of a pivotal people or era in detail,
stimulating the development of new exploring the beliefs about and motivations
counter-weapons, strategies, and battlefield for war at the time, as well as specifics
tactics. Among the major advances in an- about weapons, strategies, battle forma-
cient times were the composite bow, the war tions, infantry, cavalry, sieges, naval tac-
chariot, and the stone castle. Another was tics, and the lives and experiences of both
the Greek phalanx, a mass of close-packed military leaders and ordinary soldiers.
spearmen marching forward as a unit, dev- Where possible, descriptions of actual
astating all before it. In medieval times, the campaigns and battles are provided to il-
stirrup made it easier for a rider to stay on lustrate how these various factors came to-
his horse, increasing the effectiveness of gether and decided the fate of a city, a
cavalry charges. And a progression of late nation, or a people. Frequent quotations by
medieval and modern weapons — including contemporary participants or observers, as
cannons, handguns, rifles, submarines, air- well as by noted modern military histori-
planes, missiles, and the atomic bomb ans, add depth and authenticity. Each vol-
made warfare deadlier than ever. ume features an extensive annotated
Each such technical advance made war bibliography to guide those readers inter-
more devastating and therefore more ested in further research to the most impor-
feared. And to some degree, people are tant and comprehensive works on warfare
drawn to and fascinated by what they fear, in the period in question. The series pro-
which accounts for the high level of inter- vides students and general readers with a
est in studies of warfare and the weapons useful means of understanding what is re-
used to wage it. Military historian John grettably one of the driving forces of hu-
Hackett writes: man history — violent human conflict.
Introduction
Rome's Unique
Approach to Warfare
civilizations go, that of ancient force of arms; a series of bloody civil wars
AsRome was unusually long-lived. From brought down the Republic; the early Em-
753 B.C., the traditional date for the pire expanded or maintained its borders
founding of the fledgling city, to a.d. 476, through warfare; and in its last century, the
when the last western Roman emperor realm underwent a contrasting shrinkage
stepped down from his throne —never to when the borders were threatened by in-
be replaced — 1,229 years elapsed. The vaders, whom the Roman military attempted
Roman government and realm were at butwas unable to repel.
first ruled by kings. But in 509 B.C. the Not surprisingly, then, the Roman
leading citizens dismantled the Monarchy army was an ever-present institution that
and established a representative system touched people on every level of society.
the Republic — controlled largely by the Whether one served in it; commanded it;
Senate. When the Republic fell in the late funded, fed, clothed, and housed it (a
first century B.C., the first emperor, Au- whopping 40 percent of the Empire's in-
gustus, took power; and his successors come went to maintaining it in the first
ruled for another five centuries. century a.d.); suffered its wrath; or sim-
ply enjoyed its protection, one was af-
Wara Driving Force in fected by the military. And in a world
Roman Affairs where almost all nations had armies (as
Throughout all these centuries and changing remains the case today), the Roman peo-
political situations, war remained a driving ple accepted their own as necessary for
and /or deciding force in Roman society and their survival in a hostile world.
affairs. During the Monarchy and Republic, Historians and other students of Ro-
the Roman state almost continuously ex- man history study the Roman military for
panded its borders and influence through the the many lessons such study can offer.
10
They try to determine how Rome waged and swords. The Romans also learned to
war (i.e., the weapons, strategies, and tac- build huge military camps to accommo-
tics it used); to speculate on how military date thousands of troops on the march and
customs and methods were a reflection of became masters of siege warfare. And
Roman social and political ideals, as well when necessity dictated, some Roman sol-
as existing material resources and technol- diers became sailors who seized and
ogy; and perhaps to learn something about maintained control of the Mediterranean
human nature in the process. seaways.
The evidence clearly shows that mili-
tary weapons, strategies, and tactics The Inspiration of Terror
changed and evolved over the long cen- As these and other aspects of Rome's mili-
turies of Rome's existence, sometimes tary continued to develop and evolve, two
markedly so. For example, the Romans realities of its overall approach to warfare re-
started out with a part-time citizen militia mained more or less constant. First, Rome's
similar to that employed by ancient Greek military was (except at the very beginning
cities; these early soldiers fought with and very end of its existence) extraordinarily
thrusting spears in a rigid battlefield for- well organized, well disciplined, and effi-
mation. Later, the Roman military insti- cient. These factors certainly contributed to
tuted drastic changes, totally reorganizing its reputation as a force to be feared. But
their army; it became more flexible and even more telling was its often systematic,
emphasized the use of throwing spears naked, and merciless brutality when on the
The Roman Empire in the First Century a.d.
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11
Ancient Rome
offensive. In a memorable passage, the cut in half and the dismembered

second-century B.C. Greek historian Poly- limbs of other animals, and on this
bius,who wrote extensively about the Roman occasion the carnage was especially
army, recalled an assault on an enemy town frightful because of the large size of
in Spain. When the Roman commander felt the population.
1
enough of his men had entered the town, he

Many other examples of Roman use of
let loose the majority of them against extreme violence to instill terror can be
the inhabitants, according to the Ro- cited. To name only a few: condemning
man custom; their orders were to deserters to be eaten by half-starved
exterminate every form of life they beasts or trampled by elephants; behead-
encountered, sparing none, but not ing all the leaders of a rebellious town
to start pillaging until the word was and selling the rest of the population into
given to do so. This practice is slavery;and worse, completely obliterat-
adopted to inspire terror, and so ing two enemy cities Corinth and —
when cities are taken by the Romans —
Carthage in the same year (146 B.C.) as
you may often see not only the an object lesson to others who might con-
corpses of human beings, but dogs template opposing Rome.
The Roman army could be merciless and brutal when commanders felt the situation warranted it.
This engraving shows Roman soldiers devastating an enemy town.
12
Leniency for the Defeated with a talent for patient political

Such brutality in wartime, by itself, was not reasonableness that was unique in
unique to the Romans. History is in fact re- the ancient world. ... On the
plete with others who did so, from the As- whole, Rome found it advisable,
syrians in the early first millennium B.C., to and was encouraged by its reli-
the Huns in the fourth century a.d., to the gion, to keep its bargains with its
Japanese in World War II. What made the allies, displaying a self-restraint, a
Romans quite different than the others was readiness to compromise, and a
how they usually followed up their victories. calculated generosity that the
In short, the Romans possessed a gift, per- world had never seen. And so the
haps even a genius, for political conciliation allies, too, had little temptation to
2
and organization. With rare exceptions, once feel misused.
Rome had won a war, it was lenient with its
former enemies. More often, Roman leaders This powerful combination of strength
opted for the wiser and more fruitful ap- and conciliation served Rome well and
proach of making treaties with the defeated made its long life possible. As long as Ro-
and granting them Roman citizenship and man armies were able to win most of the
legal privileges. They also initiated the habit wars they entered and afterward make
of introducing the Latin language, as well as constructive alliances with the defeated,
Roman ideas, laws, and customs, to non- the Roman state survived. When, in the
Latin peoples, in a sense "Romanizing" fourth and fifth centuries, this process
them. "What made the Romans so remark- weakened and finally broke down (thanks
able," comments noted classical scholar to the decline of both the army and the
Michael Grant, was the combination of their quality of the political leadership), the old
cruelty during wartime Roman world was doomed.
13
Chapter One
The Early
Roman Army
The nature and details of Rome's first calling themselves Latins moved into the
military efforts are lost in the mists of fertile plain of Latium, situated in west-
time, as are the exact origins of the Ro- central Italy between the Mediterranean
mans themselves. Regarding the latter, Sea and the rugged Apennine Mountains.
perhaps about 1000 B.C. tribal peoples Primitive farmers, some of them estab-
Rome began as and always remained mainly an agricultural society. The stone-lined well in the
foreground and nearby stone huts were typical sights on Roman farms and country estates.
14
The Influential Etruscans

The Etruscans, who inhabited Etruria (the venient grid patterns. Most of what is known
region Lying north of Rome) during the about them comes from excavations of their
Monarchy and early Republic, fought the Ro- tombs, which began in earnest in the nine-
mans at intervals over a span of several cen- teenth century. In one area alone —
Tarquinii
turies. All the while, especially at times when (a few miles northwest of Rome) —
archaeol-
relations between the two peoples were cor- ogists found over five thousand Etruscan
dial, the inhabitants of Rome felt the cul- tombs in the 1960s. Many of those explored
tural influence of these more culturally have revealed beautiful wall paintings,
advanced neighbors. The Etruscans were an sculptures, weapons, pottery, and other
energetic, talented, highly civilized people grave goods, all providing evidence of a cul-
who lived in well-fortified cities often feature that both impressed and inspired the
turing paved streets laid out in logical, con- Romans.
lished villages on seven low hills near a cient historians suggest that the earliest
bend in the Tiber River; and in time, prob- Roman army was a militia. Like the colo-
ably in the eighth or seventh century B.C., nial militiamen who fought the British
these villages came together to form the during the American Revolution, the Ro-
city ofRome. man militia consisted of a group of non-
More accurately, early Rome was a professionals called into service during an
small city-state, composed of a modest ur- emergency or when otherwise needed and
ban center (with dirt roads and buildings then disbanded after a short campaign.
made of wood and thatch) surrounded by As might be expected, the earlyRoman
a few dozen (eventually a few hundred) army was under the direct command of the
square miles of farmland and some rural king; but as it grew larger, he needed offi-
villages. War and peace, as well as other cers to help him control it. The first such
crucial decisions of government, were the unit commanders were three tribunes. The
province of the local kings; although they Latin word tribunus means "tribal officer,"
increasingly came to listen and respond to and each tribune appropriately commanded
the demands of a small group of well-to- 1,000 men, all landowners, from one of
do landowners — the patricians —who met Rome's three traditional native tribes. The
in the Senate, at first an advisory board to total force of 3,000 infantrymen (foot sol-
the Monarchy. diers) was called a legion (from the word le-
When a Roman king and his advisers gio, meaning "the levying"). Each of the
decided to go to war, they did not have a various subdivisions of a tribe supplied 100
class of full-time professional soldiers to men, a basic became known as a
unit that
draw on, as became the case much later in century. The was supported by about
legion
Rome's history. The writings of later an- 300 cavalry (horse soldiers), drawn from
15
Ancient Rome
During the early years of

the Republic, Roman sol-
diers resembled this Greek-

style hoplite, who relied on
his spear and shield.
the ranks of a well-to-do social class known century B.C. at the latest, they had
as the equites, or "knights," among the few adopted many of the same fighting meth-
who could afford to keep horses. ods practiced by the Greek cities that had
grown up in southern Italy in the eighth
Armor and Weapons and seventh centuries B.C.; and also from
The exact way these part-time soldiers the Etruscans, the people who inhabited
fought is uncertain. But by the early sixth Etruria, the region directly north of
16
Rome. (The Etruscans had themselves al- The Greek system the Romans both
ready adopted Greek military methods.) adopted and adapted was built around ho-
In copying the Greek military system, the plites —armored infantry soldiers. Evi-
early Romans demonstrated one of their dence shows that these soldiers wore
hallmarks, which was apparently well es- cuirasses (breastplates), helmets, and
tablished by that time. This was a strong greaves (lower-leg protectors) fashioned of
sense of practicality coupled with their beaten bronze, an alloy of copper and tin.
talent for imitating others, an ability to Many of the earliest Roman hoplite hel-
borrow the best attributes of foreign cul- mets were Villanovan in style —shaped
tures and to adapt these to their own spe- like a deep bowl turned upside down and
cial needs. sporting a tall, pointed metal crest at the
Early Roman Helmets

The helmets worn by the first Roman sol-
diers, like those of the neighboring Etruscans
and other early Italian groups, were Vil-
lanovan style (named after an early Italian
people). To date, the remains of about thirty
such helmets have been discovered in Italy. As
military historian Peter Connolly explains in
this excerpt from Greece and Rome at War:
More than half of these are of the metal

crested type. This was an exaggerated
It was made
form of a central European type.
in two pieces joined along the edge of the
crest. This was done by making one half
slightly larger than the other and folding the
surplus metal over the smaller half to hold it
in position. The lower edges of the cap at the

front and the back also overlapped and were
riveted together. The joint was reinforced by
two rectangular plates which were riveted
on. These helmets, like all other armor of the
period, were decorated with bosses [small
studs or other raised ornaments]. Most . . .
of these helmets and the later Roman hel-

mets are considerably oversize and it seems In addition to Villanovan helmets, some
very likely that they all had a thick padded early Roman soldiers wore the Chalcidian
undercap, probably made of felt.
shown
style, here.
17
Ancient Rome
top. (The Villanovans were an Italian cul- Also for defense, the early Roman ho-
ture who predated and influenced the Etr- plite carried a round shield made of wood
uscans in the region north of Rome.) As or wicker covered by either several layers
time went on, other types of helmet be- of ox hide or, for those soldiers who
came common, among them the Greek could afford it, a layer of bronze. About
Chalcidian style, with wide cheek pieces three feet in diameter, it had a single cen-
and a thin strip covering the nose; and the tral handgrip, which made holding the
Negau type (named after a village in what shield in the upright defensive position
is now Yugoslavia, where archaeologists for longer than a few minutes quite diffi-
discovered several specimens), which was cult. Some evidence suggests that the Ro-
conical in shape and often topped by a mans eventually adopted a distinctive and
crest made of horsehair. much more efficient gripping system pio-
The remains of Greek bronze

sword blades illustrate only part
of the wide range of sizes and
types used by early Mediter-
ranean hoplites, including Ro-
man ones.
18
This excellent modern illus-
shows some of the ar-

tration
mor and weapons typical of
central Italy in the sixth cen-
tury B.C., including bronze
greaves and both round and
oblong shields. The man in
the middle wears a "pot"

helmet, which was common
at that time.
neered by the Greeks. In the center of the a sword, usually of bronze but occasion-
inside of the shield was a bronze strip ally of iron, which he used if he lost or
with a loop, through which the hoplite broke his spear. Some of the early Roman
passed his left forearm; and on the rim swords had long blades suitable for slash-
was a leather handle,which he grasped ing and hacking, while others bore
with his left hand. Because this system al- shorter, pointed blades effective for stab-
lowed the shield to rest on the hoplite's bing and poking.
arm, it helped to relieve the burden of the A full array of such armor and weapons
shield's considerable weight; also, if need was very expensive. The ores containing
be, he could let go of the handle and hold the metals had to be mined and trans-
a spare weapon in his left hand without ported; and separating the metals from the
losing his shield. ores, as well as shaping the separated met-
The Roman hoplite's main weapon was als, was laborious and required specially
a thrusting spear, which he jabbed over- trained workers. "All the bronze weapons
hand at an enemy soldier. He also carried were cast from molten [melted] metal,"
Ancient Rome
says noted military historian Peter Con- ies. The weapons carried by these early
nolly. "Iron weapons had to be beaten into support troops included spears, javelins
shape as it was impossible to obtain suffi- (throwing spears), swords, daggers, axes,
cient temperature for the casting of iron. and, in the case of the poorest of the lot,
In fact, beaten weapons were far stronger probably sickles and other farm imple-
3
than cast ones." Because the hoplite's ar- ments.
mor and weapons were so expensive,
most, if not all, Roman hoplites were The Roman Phalanx
members of the well-to-do classes. It is not completely clear how early Roman
The rest of the troops, who accompa- commanders organized and utilized their
nied and supported the core group of ho- hoplites and support troops. But it was
plites, were poorer folk whose costumes likely at least similar to the way the Greeks
and weapons varied according to their in- organized and utilized these units. Greek
dividual circumstances. Most wore no ar- hoplites stood in ranks (lines), one behind
mor, although some probably had metal the other, creating a formidable battlefield
helmets. For defense, many apparently formation called a phalanx. A depth of
carried an oval or oblong wooden shield eight ranks was most common. But on oc-
one or two feet longer than a hoplite's, casion there might be considerably more
with a small copper or bronze plate at- than eight or as few as three or four ranks.
tached to the front. This was the direct an- In forming the phalanx, they created a ver-
cestor of the scutum, the rectangular itable wall of upright shields and forward-
version wielded by later Roman legionar- pointing spears; and when they marched
The Roman Phalanx

Open Phalanx
5-6 feet Closed Phalanx
-<5 between
When maneuvering into battle
soldiers
the rear half of each file moves
forward to create a "shield wall"
"* with 2-3 feet between soldiers.
20
forward, the formation was extremely diffi- broke," historian John Warry explains,
cult to stop or defend against. "this advantage was lost; the army which
The ranks of hoplites within the pha- broke an enemy formation while preserv-
lanx were tightly organized into various ing its own had won a battle. Once its own
divisions and units for maximum fight- formation had been broken, an army usu-
4
ing efficiency. Such organization varied ally took to flight."
somewhat from one place to another, as Defeated hoplites who did choose to
city-states in Greece, Italy, and elsewhere make a run for it knew they could not
attempted to meet their own needs. But make it far burdened by their heavy armor.
scholars believe that all Greek and other And the shield was usually the first item to
Mediterranean phalanxes based on them, be discarded. Famous across the ancient
including that of the Romans, evolved Mediterranean world was a poem by a
from a basic prototype that developed in seventh-century B.C. Greek, Archilochus:
the early first millennium B.C. It proba- "Well, what if some barbaric Thracian
bly consisted of units of a hundred men, glories in the perfect shield I left under a
each called a lochos. (The Roman ver- bush? was sorry to leave it but I saved
I —
sion of the lochos was the hundred-man my skin. Does it matter? O hell, I'll buy a
5
century.) This so-called "archaic lochos" better one!"
may have broken down into smaller units The other factor that made the phalanx
of fifty and twenty-five men. Later, vari- so formidable was its tremendous and
ous city-states, including Rome, devel- lethal forward momentum. As the forma-
oped their own subdivisions for the tion made contact with the enemy lines,
formation; unfortunately, the exact size the hoplites in the front rank jabbed their
and look of the Roman versions are un- spears at their opponents, usually aiming
known. for the belly, groin, or legs; at the same
Whatever its local variations, the tradi- time, the hoplites in the rear ranks pushed
tional phalanx employed by the Greeks, at their comrades' backs, pressing them
Etruscans, Romans, and others was an ex- forward at the enemy.
tremely effective offensive unit in its hey- Meanwhile, there were various stan-
day (ca. 700-350 B.C.) for two reasons. dard pre-, mid-, and postbattle practices
First, it afforded its members a high de- undertaken by Greek and presumably Etr-
gree of protection. When assembled in uscan, Roman, and other Italian hoplites.
open order, they stood about five to six As they occurred in fairly rapid succes-
feet apart; but in close order —perhaps sion, these included: sacrificing a goat or
two to three feet apart, the mode most of- other animal just prior to battle to deter-
ten adopted when closing with an en- mine if the religious signs were favorable;
emy — their uplifted shields created a listening to a spirit-raising speech by the
formidable unbroken protective barrier. commanding general; singing a battle
Each shield protected its owner's left side, hymn (paean) to steel their nerves and in-
but also the right side and spear arm of the timidate the enemy; breaking into a run-
man standing on his left. "If the formation ning charge when nearing the enemy line;
21
Ancient Rome
Rome's First Conquest

According to Roman legend, most of Romulus assured the captured brides that
those who initially settled in Rome were they would be well treated and tried to talk
men who had difficulty obtaining brides. To them into accepting their new situation.
solve this problem, the founder, Romulus, Soon, however, the male Sabines attacked
came up with an audacious plan. He invited Rome in an effort to win back their women.
the residents of a number of neighboring Soldiers from the Sabine city of Cures, led by
towns, all inhabited by a Latin people their king, Titus Tatius, managed to surround
called the Sabines, to a great religious fes- Rome, and there ensued a great battle in
tival where athletic games and theatrical which many on both sides were killed. Sud-
performances would be staged. His real in- denly, the former Sabine women rushed out
tention, however, was not to foster friend- and demanded a truce. They could not simply
ship, but rather to steal the Sabine women. stand by, they declared, and watch their fa-
"On the appointed day," Livy wrote in his thers, brothers, and husbands slaughter one
famous history of Rome, "crowds flocked to another. The result was a treaty in which the
Rome. ... All the Sabines were there . . . two sides agreed to merge as one people,
with their wives and children. Then the
. . . with Romulus and Titus Tatius as joint rulers.
great moment came. ... At a given signal, Rome had made its first conquest and ab-
all the able-bodied [Roman] men burst sorption of neighboring people, opening the
through the crowd and seized the young way for the newly founded city's spectacular
women." rise to greatness.
screaming the war cry during the charge; the enemy army was composed of a mass
and if they were victorious, erecting on of lightly armored or unarmored troops
the battlefield a trophy, a wooden frame- rather than hoplites, the Roman skirmish-
work displaying captured enemy arms, to ers likely chased down and killed or cap-
give thanks to the gods. tured the enemy soldiers after the phalanx
The armored and unarmored
lightly had defeated them. These early Roman
soldiers (skirmishers) and cavalrymen skirmishers probably played a more di-
who supported the Roman hoplites took rect and independent role in hilly terrain;
part in most of these same activities. The there, they could move faster and maneu-
nature of the support they provided dur- ver more easily than the heavily armored
ing actual battle would have depended on hoplites. (And in any case, the phalanx it-
the individual situation. If the phalanx self needed relatively flat ground with
was opposed by another phalanx, the skir- few obstacles to operate efficiently.) The
mishers fended off the enemy's own skir- early Roman cavalry also provided sup-
mishers, who otherwise would try to port by protecting the flanks of the pha-
break up the Roman phalanx by attacking lanx and chasing down fleeing enemies.
its sides and rear. If, on the other hand, Because stirrups and saddles had not yet
22
been invented, riders had difficulty stay- ern scholars believe that this military reform
ing on swiftly moving horses, so cavalry occurred somewhat later, however, and per-
could not be used for direct charges on in- haps over a more extended period.
fantry, as it was in later ages. Whatever the correct dating of the
event, Livy explained that the govern-
The Servian Reform and ment instituted a census of the male pop-
Roman Republic ulation and divided it, along with the
Eventually the Roman military, with its elite army itself, into six classes according to
phalanx and mass of lighter-armed support degrees of wealth. About the wealthiest
troops, underwent a major reorganization. group, he wrote:
Later ancient writers, including the great
first-century B.C. Roman historian Livy, Of those whose property was rated
claimed the reorganization took place in the at a capital value of 100,000 asses
middle of the sixth century B.C.; and it is or more [an as being a common unit
usually referred to as the Servian reform af- of Roman currency], 80 centuries
ter Servius Tullius, the legendary sixth king were formed, 40 of "seniors" and 40
of Rome, who supposedly ordered it. Mod- of "juniors." This whole group was
Rome and Her

Neighbors
23
Ancient Rome
known as the First Class. The sen- could vote or hold public office. Some of
iors were for civil defense, the jun- these citizensmet periodically in an as-
iors for service in the field. All were sembly that proposed and voted on new
required to equip themselves with laws and also annually elected two con-
helmet, round shield, greaves, and suls (administrator-generals) to run the
breastplate. The defensive armor state and lead the army. The other leg-
was of bronze. Their weapons of of- islative body, the Senate, was composed
fense were the sword and spear.
6
exclusively of well-to-do patricians, who
held their positions for life. The senators
The armor and weapons Livy describes usually dictated the policies of the con-
here make it clear that the members of suls and, through the use of wealth and
the First Class manned the phalanx. Or high position, indirectly influenced the
more precisely, half of them did. The way the members of the assembly voted.
"seniors," probably men over the age of So the Senate held the real power in
forty-five or perhaps fifty> were assigned Rome, making the Republic an oligarchy
to "civil defense," meaning guarding (a government headed by an elite few)
Rome's urban center in an emergency; rather than a true democracy.

that left forty centuries of younger
men —a total of four thousand — to fight Warfare an Instrument
as hoplites in the phalanx. The second, of Expansion
third, fourth, and fifth classes were made In the Republic's first century, Rome began
up of progressively lighter-armed troops the physical expansion that would eventu-
whose task was to support the phalanx ally lead it to Mediterranean mastery. And
on the battlefield; and the sixth class, its land army, now commanded by the two
whose members were the poorest of consuls (and below them the traditional trib-
Rome's citizens, was exempt from mili- unes), was the principal instrument of that
tary service. expansion. (Still strictly a land power, Rome
The Servian reform may have roughly had no navy at this time.) At first, the Ro-
coincided with a political revolution just mans' enemies — other Italian tribal peo-
as crucial to Rome's Havingfuture. ples —were situated nearby. As military
grown tired of rule by kings, in about 509 historian Lawrence Keppie points out, in
B.C. the patricians dismantled the Monar- these years
chy and in its place installed the Repub-
lic, a government based on the more the wars between Rome and her
democratic idea of rule by representa- neighbors were more than
little
tives of the people. However, Roman scuffles between armed raiding

leaders at first defined "the people" bands of a few hundred [or thou-
rather narrowly. Only free adult males sand] men at most. . . . Fidenae,
who owned weapons (and were therefore against which the Romans were
eligible for military service), a group that fighting in 499 [B.C.], now lies
made up a minority of the population, within the motorway circuit round
24
Etruscan elders scatter in fear as Roman troops capture the important Etruscan citadel ofVeii in
396 B.C. Eventually Rome defeated and absorbed all the Etruscan cities.
modern Rome, and is all but swal- time away from home, the state began
lowed up in its northern suburbs. 7 to pay them a daily cash allowance for
the days they served. (They were still
Over time, however, the Roman army part-time militiamen rather than full-
pushed the borders of Rome's territory time professionals, however; in this pe-
and influence ever outward. After ab- riod the average soldier probably served
sorbing the villages and farmlands of for no more than a few weeks or months
the Latium plain, Rome fought a ten- at a stretch on two or three occasions in
year-long war against the Etruscans, his lifetime.)
capturing the important Etruscan city of This expanded version of the early Ro-
Veii in 396 B.C. By this time, the army man army met its greatest test yet in 390
had expanded to a legion/phalanx of six B.C. A large force of tribal Gauls, who had
thousand men, supported by several earlier crossed the Alps into northern
thousand light-armed troops and some Italy, Etruria and
descended through
eighteen hundred cavalry. Because the marched on Rome. The Roman phalanx
legionaries had to spend more and more assembled near the Allia River (a few
25
Ancient Rome
An old woodcut depicts the Roman defeat at the Allia River in 390 B.C. The disaster prompted a
number of significant military reforms that made the Roman army much more effective.
miles north of the city), expecting to eas- lay in their way, most of them tried
ily repulse the invaders. But though the to get to Veii, once an enemy town,
Gallic army lacked organization and disci- instead of making for their own
pline, its fearsome-looking warriors homes in Rome. The main body
. . .
nearly naked, longhaired, and wearing war of the army, at the first sound of the
paint — staged a wild, screaming charge Gallic war-cry . . . hardly waited
that completely terrified the unprepared even to see their strange enemy
Roman soldiers. According to Livy: from the ends of the earth; they
made no attempt at resistance . . .
In the lines of the legionaries — offi- but fled before they had lost a single
cers and men alike — there was no man. None fell fighting; they were
trace of the old Roman manhood. cut down from behind as they strug-
They fled in panic, so blinded by gled to force away to safety through
everything but saving their skins the heaving mass of their fellow-
that, in spite of the fact that the Tiber fugitives. Near the bank of the river
26
there was a terrible slaughter; the withdrew, but only after demanding and
whole left wing of army had the getting a large ransom of gold. The an-
gone that way and had flung away niversary of the humiliating defeat, July
their arms [ i.e., their hoplite armor 18, thereafter became known in Rome as
and weapons] in the desperate hope the dark "Day of Allia," an unlucky date
of getting over. Many could not on the calendar. More important to
swim and many others in their ex- Rome's future, the event convinced Ro-
hausted state were dragged under man leaders that the traditional military
water by the weight of their equip- system, including its training and deploy-
ment and drowned. . . . The Gauls ment of soldiers, was inadequate. They
could hardly believe their eyes, so took the bold step of instituting radically
easy, so miraculously swift their new battle formations and tactics. In the
8
victory had been. fullness of time, this move turned out to
have enormous consequences for Rome
After the Roman defeat, the Gauls pro- and ultimately for all the peoples of the
ceeded to sack Rome. They eventually Mediterranean world.
27
Chapter Two
The Development of
Manipular Tactics
an effort to avoid any further disasters tors in the Romans' eventual con-
In
like the humiliating defeat at Allia, the quest of the Mediterranean world.
Romans decided to institute radical mili- The hoplites had worked in close
Under a strong leader named

tary reforms. order at short range, but the new le-
Marcus Furius Camillus, who went on to gionaries were mostly equipped to

defeat the Gauls, Rome abandoned the engage with the pilum at long range,
rigid, sometimes inflexible phalanx. In the then to charge forward into already
coming years, Camillus and other reform- disorganized enemy ranks, before
ers created an army in which a legion setting to [getting to work] with
9
broke down into several smaller units on sword and shield.
the battlefield. These units, called maniples

(manipuli, meaning "handfuls") were each
capable of independent action and could be Specific Soldiers
combined or separated at will, making the with Specific Jobs
whole army much more flexible. More- As Keppie emphasizes, the manipular sys-
over, the Romans discarded the circular tem's high degree of flexibility was the
hoplite shield and adopted the more pro- key factor in the spectacular military suc-
tective oval (later rectangular) scutum; they cesses the Roman Republic achieved in
also largely replaced the thrusting spear the centuries that followed. Once it was
with a shorter throwing spear, the pilum. fully developed and tested, a process that
About this revolutionary new "manipular" may have taken several decades or perhaps
system, Lawrence Keppie writes: a century or more, the new system was un-
like any other in the known world. It was
The new flexibility of battle-order logically and strictly organized; it fully ex-
and equipment were cardinal fac- ploited the strengths of various kinds of
28
fighters, who were all well trained and thing similar, which serves both to pro-
10
well drilled in battle tactics; and it allowed tect and identify the soldier."
for methodical, well-ordered reactions to Arrayed behind the velites was the bulk of
various contingencies that might occur on the army, with the infantry deployed in ma-
the battlefield, including the need for nipular fashion, that is, with the maniples as-
strategic retreat. sembled in three long lines, one behind the
To understand components and
the other, facing the enemy. In each line there
tactics of the manipular system, one were spaces separating the maniples, each
should first imagine a Roman army as- space being the same width as a maniple. At
sembled on the battlefield, facing and the same time, the maniples and spaces of
ready to engage an enemy force. In Poly- the three lines were staggered in such a way
bius's time (the second century B.C.), the that there was open space in front and back
front of such a Roman army consisted of of each maniple, overall rendering a sort of
a long line, a few ranks deep, of light- checkerboard effect. (Because this pattern re-
armed skirmishers. These were the sembled the dots representing the number
velites, very young men usually wearing five on dice cubes, which the Romans called
no armor and carrying throwing spears. a quincunx, they gave the battlefield forma-
According to Polybius, "They also wear tion the same name.)
a plain helmet which is sometimes cov- The main factor that made each of the
ered with a piece of wolf's skin or some- three lines of maniples distinct was that it
Roman Manipular Legion
DDDDDDDDD mi ^m
Dvell.es
Hastati
Equites
Principes
I Triarii
40 men
Prior Century 60 men

Velites
/
Hastati Maniple
Posterior Century 60 men
60 men
Principes Maniple
60 men
30 men
Triarii Maniple
30 men
29
Ancient Rome
In these reconstructions of early Roman legionaries, the hastatus at left bears a scutum and two
pila. The man at right is a veles, a skirmisher armed with javelins.
contained a specific kind of soldier with a back one the "posterior." Each maniple of
specific job to do. The front line was made hastati had 60 men to a century and there-
up of the hastati, young men with a mini- fore 120 men in all. (The other 20 of each
mum of experience but possessing a great century's standard 80 men were v'elites,
deal of vigor and endurance. Each mani- who stood in their separate line.)
ple of hastati (and each maniple in the Behind the hastati were the principes,
other two lines) was composed of two experienced fighters in the prime of life
centuries, one positioned behind the other. (probably aged twenty-five to thirty).
(By this time a century contained 80 Their maniples were also composed of
rather than 100 men.) The front century in 120 men each. Both the hastati and
a maniple was termed the "prior" and the principes wore full armor, consisting of
30
cuirass, helmet,and greaves, and each was behind the triarii. Meanwhile, after the
armed with two pi la (one light, the other last of the skirmishers had made it past
heavy) and a double-edged thrusting the hastati in the front line, the poste-
sword (the gladius, which had originated rior centuries of hastati swiftly moved
in Spain). from behind the prior centuries and
Finally, the rear line was made up of filled the gaps in the line. This formida-
the triarii, older veterans who lacked the ble solid bank of infantry now charged
physical endurance of the others but pos- forward, the men shouting fiercely in
sessed more experience. Each century of unison in an attempt to frighten the en-
triarii had 30 men, so these rear maniples emy. At a distance of about a hundred
had 60 rather than 120 men each. Polybius feet, the hastati hurled their light
says that the triarii had the same armor javelins and a few seconds later fol-
and weapons as the others, "except that in- lowed with their heavy ones. Then they
stead of the throwing-spear, the triarii drew their swords, rushed forward, and
carry long thrusting spears."" crashed into the enemy ranks with as
much impact as possible.
Executing the The charge of the hastati sometimes
Manipular Tactic damaged and demoralized the enemy
The manner in which these specialized enough to force his retreat, giving the
kinds of troops fought was as follows. Romans an easy victory. On the other
After the Roman commander signaled hand, if after a while the hastati could
his trumpeter tosound the attack, the make no headway or appeared to be in
army advanced on the enemy. When the trouble, the Roman trumpet signaled the
enemy line drew close enough, the next stage of the manipular tactic. The
velites, still in the forefront of the Roman hastati retreated, their posterior centuries
forces, opened the battle by charging for- returning to their original positions be-
ward and hurling their javelins. "The hind the prior centuries. They then hur-
purpose of this," Peter Connolly ex- ried through the gaps separating the
plains, "was to try to break up the enemy maniples of principes and triarii and
formation in anticipation of the charge of stood behind the Meanwhile, just

triarii.
the [Roman] heavy infantry. When

. . . as the hastati had done earlier, the
both sides had lightly armed troops in principes formed a solid line and charged
the enemy, who now had to face a force
12
front, this tactic was neutralized."
As the two armies neared each other, of fresh soldiers with even more battle
another trumpet blast signaled for the experience than the hastati.
most common Roman battlefield maneu- If the charge of the principes was not
ver of republican times — the manipular enough to defeat the enemy, they retreated
tactic — to begin. The velites suddenly the same way the hastati had and filled the
retreated, passing quickly through the gaps between the hastatCs maniples. Then
open spaces in the three lines of mani- one of two scenarios played out. If it
ples and re-forming their line in the rear, looked as though the battle could still be
31
Ancient Rome
J Hastati
The Roman Manipular Tactic
Triarii
Principes Velites
4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Stage 1. The army assembles with the velites forming a frontal screen. The maniples (each composed of two centuries) of hastati, principes, and
triarii are arranged in a checkerboard pattern behind them. The battle begins with the velites running forward and hurling their javelins at the enemy.
Stage 2. At a given signal, the velites retreat through the gaps among the maniples and re-form their line in the rear. Meanwhile, the posterior
centuries of the maniples of hastati move forward and fill the gaps in their line, forming a solid front. The hastatilhen charge and engage the enemy.
4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Stage 3. If the enemy is able to resist the hastati's assault, or if the hastati begin to suffer serious losses, a trumpet blast orders them to retreat
and they move back through the gaps among the maniples. The centuries of the maniples of principes now form a solid line, as the hastati did
earlier, and launch their own charge on the opposing army.
Stage 4. If the principes are unable to secure a victory, they retreat through the gaps among the maniples of triarii and fill in the gaps among the
maniples of hastati. The hastati, who have had a chance to rest, might now move forward and attack the enemy again. Or, continued fighting if
appears fruitless, the centuries of triarii form a solid line and the whole army retreats in orderly fashion behind the triarii's upraised spears.
32
—
won, the hastati, having had a chance to set its sights on several prosperous islands
rest, pressed forward and had a second go and coastlines lying beyond the shores of
at enemy. However,
the if the Roman Italy. The powerful trading city and empire
commander decided it was best to quit and of Carthage, centered at the northern tip of
fight again another day, he ordered the Tunisia, on the African coast, fell to Roman
fresh and very experienced triarii to enter steel after the three devastating Punic Wars,
the fray. They formed a solid line and fought between 264 and 146 B.C.
pointed their spears forward, in phalanx
fashion, creating a protective barrier behind An Ability to Sustain
which the whole army retreated in an or- Huge Losses
derly manner. Rome's impressive victories in these
wars were not solely the result of the
Other Military Developments army's excellent organization, discipline,
Coinciding with the development of manip- training, and weapons. As a people, the
ular tactics, the Romans instituted other or- Romans possessed an astonishing, dogged
ganizational changes that made their army determination and will to survive, a
more effective and formidable. By the 360s never-say-die attitude that allowed them
B.C., about three decades after the Allia deba- on repeated occasions to sustain huge
cle, the Roman military consisted of two full losses and still bounce back and defeat
legions, each with about 4,200 to 5,000 men, the enemy. In fact, despite their extraor-
all Roman citizens. And by 31 1 there were dinary organization, Roman manipular
four legions of citizens, which thereafter be- armies did sometimes suffer defeats. The
came minimum. Each consul
the standard classic example —
the Battle of Cannae
usually commanded two such legions. In ad- showed clearly that while Roman battle
dition, when campaigning, a consul's two tactics were potentially very flexible,
citizen legions were accompanied and sup- their ultimate effectiveness depended in
ported by two more legions drawn from large degree on the quality of the com-
Rome's allies (Italian peoples it had con- manders who executed them; and even if
quered and signed treaties with). These said leaders were competent, their talents
noncitizen soldiers were collectively referred and efforts might be blunted or even nul-
to as the alae sociorum ("wings of allies"). lified if the enemy commander was
No other Italian peoples possessed gifted enough.
armies of such size, effective organization, The enemy commander at Cannae was
and fighting caliber. So it is not surprising Hannibal of Carthage (247-182 B.C.),
that the newly refurbished Roman army unarguably one of the finest military gen-
swiftly won control of all Italy. By 290 B.C. During the early stages of
erals in history.
the Romans had conquered the fierce Sam- the Second Punic War, the largest and
nites and other hill tribes of central Italy; bloodiest conflict fought on earth up to
and by 265 the Greek cities scattered across that time, he defeated one Roman army
the peninsula's southern sector had been ab- after another, inflicting horrendous losses
sorbed into the Roman sphere. Rome next and bringing Rome almost to its knees.
33
Ancient Rome
Samnite Wars
Among the toughest enemies early Roman Neapolis (modern Naples). The Romans drove
armies faced were the Samnites, a sturdy, the Samnite garrison out, but in 321 B.C. the
often warlike people who inhabited the val- enemy trapped a Roman army at the Caudine
leys of the central and southern Apennines. Forks (near Capua), forcing the Roman troops
In the middle of the fourth century B.C., Sam- to surrender, a humiliation the Romans never
nite territory and population were probably forgot. Still, the Romans rebounded and
twice as big as those of Rome and the largest eventually defeated the Samnites, who had
of any single Italian people. Rome fought to vacate Campania for good. In the Third
three wars with the Samnites. The first one Samnite War (298-290 B.C.), the Romans car-
(343-341 B.C.) arose when the Samnites at- ried the fighting directly into Samnite terri-
tacked Capua (in Campania, south of Rome) courageous defense put up by

tory. Despite a
and the town asked the Romans for assis- the local towns, the Romans ravaged one
tance. At one point, the Roman army mu- Samnite valley after another until the enemy
tinied because it felt it was fighting too far had no choice but to surrender. Rome ab-
from home. However, the war ended with sorbed a good deal of Samnite territory and
Rome in control of northern Campania. The forced the Samnites to become Roman allies,
Second Samnite War (326-304 B.C.) resulted thereby removing the greatest single obsta-
when the Samnites again intruded into Cam- cle in the path of Rome's conquest of the
pania, this time occupying the town of Italian peninsula.
The Samnites force the Romans to pass under a yoke, a sign of submission, at the Caudine
Forks.
34
Annexations 241 - 218 B.C.
Roman gains 298 - 263 B.C.
Rome's allies 298 B.C.
Rome's allies 298-263 B.C.
Roman and Latin Territory 298 B.C.
Roman Conquest of
Italy(298-218 B.C.)
SICILY
Hannibal's greatest victory, and Rome's made their maniples narrower and deeper
came in 216 B.C. A huge Ro-
darkest hour, than usual.
man army of some 75,000 to 80,000 men, Seeing that the Romans had assembled
commanded by the consuls Paullus and for battle in their usual manner, with the in-
Varro, confronted Hannibal's 40,000 fantry maniples massed in the center, Han-
troops on a small plain near the village of nibal anticipated that they would attempt to
Cannae, in southeastern Italy. Because attack and overwhelm his own center. So
the plain was very narrow, the Romans he set a trap for them. Instead of placing his
35
J
Ancient Rome
Battle of Cannae
ROMANS Stage 1. As the opposing armies prepare for

Roman battle, the Romans form ranks in their usual
Cavalry Allies Legions
fashion, with their strongest infantry— made up
of Roman legionaries— in the center, flanked by
their allied infantry, and on the wings the

Roman Skirmishers
Roman and allied cavalry units. Aware that the
Romans mean to aim for his own center and
Carthaginian
Skirmishers
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX overwhelm it, Hannibal moves his strongest
infantry— the Africans— back to holding

positions on the flanks and draws up his less
formidable Spanish and Celtic infantry units
Spanish and Celtic Infantry
in a crescent formation in the center. The
African Infantry African Infantry battle opens with a clash of the light-armed
CARTHAGINIANS
skirmishers of the opposing sides.
Stage 2. After the initial, indecisive exchange

between the skirmishers, per the usual
procedure they retreat to the rear and the
opposing infantry units advance on each other.
The Roman legions and allied units push the

weaker Carthaginian center backward, just
as Hannibal had anticipated they would,

while he shrewdly continues to hold his
Africans in reserve. Meanwhile, the cavalry
units on the right clash, while on the left
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
the Roman cavalry breaks and flees from
the numerically superior Spanish and
Celtic cavalry.
Stage 3. As the Roman infantrymen

continue to press forward, believing they
are winning the battle, Hannibal's brilliant
trap begins to spring on them. With the added
support of his skirmishers in the rear, his
center holds. At the same time, his Africans
turn toward the center and begin to envelop
the Roman flanks. Meanwhile, as a small
contingent of his Spanish and Celtic
cavalry pursues the Roman horsemen off
the field, the rest swing behind the Roman
army and attack the Roman allied cavalry
x *xxxxxx*^^ from the rear.
Stage 4. Assaulted front and back by

the enemy, the Roman allied cavalry breaks
and flees, pursued by Hannibal's Numidians.
His Spanish and Celtic cavalry then wheels
around and attacks the Roman center from
behind. Now nearly surrounded, the
normally disciplined Roman ranks fall
apart and a massive slaughter ensues.

Some 50,000 Romans are killed, the largest
single battlefield loss in Rome's history,
while Hannibal, whose victory is complete,

X:<xxxxxxxx^ loses only 6,000 to 7,000 men.
36
strongest infantry, the Africans, in the cen- were now chasing the Roman horsemen
ter, he held these troops in reserve on the off the field.
flanks and put his less formidable Spanish While the chase continued, Hannibal's
and Celtic infantry in the center. giant deathtrap snapped shut on the unsus-
The battle opened in the usual way, pecting Roman infantry. Just as he had ex-
with a clash of the light-armed troops pected, the Roman legionaries, still led by
from each side. Then, executing the usual the hastati, drove the Carthaginian center
manipular tactic, the Roman hastati back so far that they passed by and between
closed ranks and charged the Carthagin- his elite troops, the Africans, still standing
ian center. They easily pushed the enemy on the flanks. These completely fresh units
back. And the rest of the Romans, main- now turned inward and attacked. At the
taining disciplined ranks within their same time, the Carthaginian cavalry, hav-
lines of maniples (along with the velites, ing eliminated the Roman horsemen,
now arrayed in the rear), moved forward wheeled around and assaulted the Romans
behind them, ready to enter the fight if from the rear. Surrounded, the Roman
needed. The confident Roman infantry- ranks crumbled. "As their outer ranks were
men had no idea that at that moment their continually cut down and the survivors
comrades on horseback were not faring were forced to pull back and huddle to-
so well. Soon after the opposing cavalry gether," Polybius writes, "they were finally
units had engaged, the Carthaginian all killed where they stood. ... So ended
horsemen had gained the upper hand and the battle ... at Cannae, a struggle in which
Getting to Know One's

Maniple Mates
As pointed out here by Nathan Rosenstein, state; its territory extended over much of
a scholar at Ohio State University at Columbus central Italy, and public life for many citizens
(in War and Society in the Ancient and Me- was mediated through the municipia (com-
dieval Worlds,), besides being militarily effec- munities of Roman citizens who also man-
tive, Roman manipular system promoted
the aged their local affairs) rather than Rome
camaraderie among the soldiers. And getting itself. The men annually levied for a Roman
to know one's maniple mates made the unit phalanx might have little familiarity with
more cohesive. one another and hence did not bring to war
the intense mutual loyalty necessary to co-
power of the Greek polis's [city-state's] here under the pressure of combat. Breaking
The
phalanx lay in the strength in the bonds the phalanx into smaller blocks allowed the
among its citizen hoplites, men who had men of each maniple to develop a far greater
long lived with one another and knew each degree of cohesiveness among themselves
other well. Rome was by this time [the late than they would have had as individuals
fourth century B.C.] no longer a simple city- within the mass of the phalanx.
37
Ancient Rome
Publius Cornelius Scipio

"Africanus," depicted in this
surviving bust, defeated
Hannibal at Zama, in north
Africa, bringing the terrible
Second Punic War to a close.
both victors and vanquished fought with in- Cornelius Scipio, defeated Hannibal's
domitable courage." 13 Roman losses are es- forces at Zama, in North Africa, giving
timated at a crippling fifty thousand, about Rome a resounding victory in the war and
eight times those of Hannibal. with it control of the whole western
Mediterranean sphere.
Rome's Military These long and danger-filled years of
Threatens the World the first two Punic Wars challenged the
Despite the catastrophe at Cannae, the de- Romans to increase military effective-
termined Romans rallied and held the ness once again. Especially in the latter
Carthaginian invaders at bay. Moreover, years of the second war, the army ex-
Hannibal found the impact of his brilliant panded in size and became increasingly
military successes greatly reduced when better organized. Campaigns often lasted
most of Rome's Italian allies remained many months or more, and newly won
loyal and refused to join him. Later, in 202 territories required garrisons (groups of
B.C., a reinvigorated Roman army, com- soldiers manning forts) to hold and pro-
manded by the talented general Publius tect them; so the army developed a hard
38
core of professional soldiers who signed Roman Warfare

up for hitches lasting several years. Versus Greek Warfare
Also, out of necessity during the Punic The crucial question was whether the Ro-
conflicts, Rome built a powerful navy. man army, based on maniples, could over-
These same years saw people all
come the widely feared phalanxes of the
across the Mediterranean world begin to
large Greek states. By this time the tradi-
worry. If the Roman military could de-
whose
tional phalanx, soldiers wielded six-
feat an empire as powerful as that of
foot-long spears, had given way to the
Carthage, the general reasoning went,
Macedonian phalanx, whose men carried
no one in the known world was safe.
battle pikes up to eighteen feet or more long.
That reasoning proved sound with a
The pikes of the first several rows protruded
vengeance. Almost immediately after its
from the front, giving the formation the ap-
second defeat of Carthage, Rome un-
leashed its formidable combined land pearance of a gigantic porcupine with its
and naval forces on the Greek kingdoms quills erect. Polybius's often-quoted obser-
clustered in the Mediterranean's eastern vation — that "so long as the phalanx retains
sphere, including Macedonia (encom- it characteristic form and strength, nothing
passing Greece and some neighboring can withstand its charge or resist it face to
territories), Seleucia (covering much of face"
14
—was an accurate one.
what are now Turkey, Palestine, and Still, the Macedonian phalanx had its
Iraq), and Egypt. weaknesses. First, it was a single, solid,
Battle Speeches to
Boost Morale
By tradition, just prior to battle the oppos- based on secondhand testimony; so they
ing commanders of Greek and Roman armies should not be taken at face value. "Soldiers,"
delivered speeches designed to steel their sol- sgid Antony (according to Dio),
diers' nerves and also to rouse their enthusi-
asm for the fight ahead. The actual contents preparations for the war which it is my
All
of these speeches are unknown. Numerous an- duty to undertake have been completed
cient historians attempted to reconstruct in good time. You belong to an army whose
them, a typical example being the second- strength is as overwhelming as its quality is
century Greek historian Dio Cassius's version of unsurpassed. Your training has given you
. . .
Roman commander Mark Antonys speech pre- such a mastery of every form of combat that
ceding the Battle of Actium. (A translation of is known in our times that each of you, man
Cassiuss version appears in The Roman His- for man, can strike fear into our adversaries.
tory: The Reign of Augustus.,) Unfortunately, ... If we are resolute, we shall win the
this and similar speeches from the works of greatest prizes of all; if we are careless, we
ancient historians are at best paraphrases shall suffer the worst of misfortunes.
39
Ancient Rome
Macedonian Forces Roman Forces

The Battle of
Cynoscephalae,
Skirmishers
¥ ^
197 B.C.
Cavalry
Infantry
S Hi
Elephants 4t
aW£ Macedonian Camp

-o^ Macedonian forces slower to form
up, allowing Roman forces to gain
a a\ advantage.
ID
dV
O
(Si Cynoscephalae
Ridge
*****
Roman Camp
Macedonian army breaks

G 5}^ Roman force Ofl'
under advance of Roman
attacks forming elephant charge..
Macedonian force Macedonian ranks.
presses attack.
^*%r- fg****
^ 20 maniples advance on
Macedonian rear flank,
cutting the phalanx to pieces.
L
inflexible mass of soldiers whose sepa- nians and Greeks, who . . . carried the
rate lines and files were neither intended phalanx to extremes of regimentation
nor trained to act independently. Sec- and automation, fossilized the very in-
ond, was limited mainly to frontal at-
it strument of their former success, to
15
tacks on flat ground that was largely their eventual downfall."
free from obstacles. So if the phalanx The battle foreshadowed that
that
was forced to fight on uneven ground or downfall took place at Cynoscephalae
an enemy unexpectedly attacked it from Ridge, in central Greece, in 197 B.C. The
the rear, it was seriously vulnerable. Macedonians were led by their king,
Sooner or later, then, a more flexible sys- Philip V, while the Roman commander
tem was bound to exploit its weaknesses. was Titus Quinctius Flamininus. The two
As Keppie aptly puts it, "The Macedo- armies approached the ridge and made
40
camp, the Macedonians to the north, the men to take control of the ridge. These
Romans to the south. The next morning forces ran into each other on the hill, a
each commander, unaware of the en- fight ensued, and coming hours it
in the
emy's close proximity (mainly because steadily escalated. "As the mist was
fog blanketed the area), sent out a small clearing," Connolly explains,
covering force of skirmishers and horse-
The Roman Victory at Pydna

Battle of Pydna, fought near Greece's tingents of his troops into gaps that had
The
northeastern coast in the summer of 168 formed in the enemy formation. Many Ro-
B.C., ended the Third Macedonian War in mans made it to the rear of the phalanx,
Rome's favor. A Roman army led by the con- which, assailed from front and back, quickly
sul Lucius Aemilius Paullus faced a phalanx fell apart. Perseus lost about twenty-five
commanded by Perseus, king of Macedonia. thousand men and soon afterward surren-
At first, the phalanx drove the Romans back. dered, while Paullus lost a mere one hundred
But soon the ground became uneven, hin- men. As at Cynoscephalae, three decades
dering the Macedonian pikemen, and Paullus earlier, the Roman military system had
seized on the opportunity by ordering con- proven superior to the Greek one.
Mount Olocrus
Roman Camp
41
Ancient Rome
both sides now decided to bring up phants. . . . One of the tribunes [in
the rest of their forces. The Romans the Roman right wing], seizing the
were nearer to the pass and managed initiative, took 20 maniples of the
to deploy their forces while Philip triarii, faced about, and charged . . .
was still bringing up his. Only his into the rear of the Macedonian right
right wing [i.e., the right half of his wing. The action was decisive; the
phalanx] had reached the top. . . . phalanx, unable to turn, was cut to
[His] cavalry and light-armed pieces. The Romans followed up
[troops], who were already engaged their victory, cutting down the
[with the Romans], were withdrawn Macedonians where they stood, even
and formed up on the right [of the though they raised their pikes to sur-
16
phalanx]. Flamininus placed the ele- render.
phants which were with his army

[beasts recently acquired from The casualty lists were, proportionally
Carthage in the treaty ending the . speaking, like Cannae in reverse; Philip's
Second Punic War] in front of his losses were some 8,000 killed and 5,000
right wing, told his troops there to captured, while the Romans lost only 700
stand fast, and advanced with his left men.
wing. Philip . . . ordered [the mem- In this battle and a few that followed,
bers of] his phalanx to lower their notably one fought near the Greek city of
spears and charge. . . . The charge of Pydna in 168 B.C., the Romans rendered
the phalanx drove the legionaries the Greek military system obsolete and
back down the slope. Flamininus, paved the way for Rome's absorption of
seeing the imminent destruction of the Greek lands in the coming decades. In-
his left wing, threw himself at the deed, by the end of the second century
head of the right wing and charged B.C., the Mediterranean Sea had become in
the Macedonian left wing, which effect a Roman lake. The nickname the
was still forming up. The half-as- Romans gave it thereafter mare nostrum,
sembled Macedonian line crumbled "our sea" —may have been arrogant, but it
before the onslaught of the ele- was accurate.
42
Chapter Three
The Professional
Imperial Military
Forces
Rome's strong, well-organized military had changed and evolved to meet new sit-
forces and considerable expertise and uations and needs. That process not only
vigor in prosecuting frequent wars gained continued, but actually accelerated in the
it dominance over most of the Mediter- first century most eventful and
B.C., the
ranean world by the close of the second calamitous period the Roman
people had
century B.C. Up to that time, the military yet endured. By the end of that century,
Growth to 275 B.C.
I I
Growth to 133 B.C.
I I
Growth to A.D. 14
I I Growth to A.D. 117

AFRICA
43
Ancient Rome
This drawing is based on a

bust ofGaius Marius, the
firstof a series of military
strongmen who eventually
brought the Republic to its
knees.
which rocked the Republic off its founda- ther a huge empire or the extremely pow-
tions, they had both a new kind of govern- erful military leaders who had won it.
ment and a new array of military and First, the Senate, people's assembly, and
paramilitary (military-like) forces, includ- other republican institutions found it in-
army and a fearsome

ing a professional creasingly difficult to administer so many
regiment of bodyguards for the new diverse lands and peoples. This is hardly
leader — the emperor. surprising, since the republican system had
In retrospect, it is clear that this momen- been originally designed to rule only a sin-
was a by-product of
tous series of events gle people inhabiting a small city-state.
Rome's recent conquest of the Mediter- Even more ominous was the military di-
ranean sphere. Though impressive, such mension. Over the course of more than
phenomenal success had come at a stiff two centuries, the state had created the
price, one that the Romans had clearly most formidable war machine in the
not anticipated. In a nutshell, the prob- known world. But government leaders had
lem was that the existing governmental failed to develop a policy of rewarding the
structure was ill prepared to deal with ei- soldiers with substantial pensions and land
44
when they retired. Meeting this need, the oped among these ambitious leaders led to
wealthiest and most powerful generals be- a series of devastating civil wars that
gan using their influence to secure such drained the resources of the republican
benefits for their men. And consequently, state and eventually caused its collapse.
the troops could more easily be convinced The climactic battle of these conflicts
to show more allegiance to their generals took place in the waters near Actium, in
than to the state. western Greece, in 31 B.C. Caesar's pro-
A talented and formidable general tege, Mark Antony, and Antony's lover/ally,
named Gaius Marius was the first of a new Cleopatra VII, the Greek queen of Egypt,
breed of military strongmen to amass such went down to defeat and soon afterward
a personal army, and a number of other committed suicide. Four years later the
Roman generals followed his example. now virtually powerless Senate bestowed
Most famous of all was his nephew, Julius on the victor of Actium — Caesar's adopted
Caesar. The dangerous rivalries that devel- son, Octavian — the title of Augustus, "the
How Roman Soldiers

Were Paid
During much of Rome's history, the aver- bedding, and other expenses. Another
age legionary received a salary that was chunk was deposited in a military bank to
barely adequate to his needs. Yet the re- keep the soldiers from wasting too much
cruit could look forward to the possibility on extravagant purchases. After these ini-
of promotion (officers received much tial deductions, the soldier received the
higher pay) and various kinds of bonuses small amount remaining as pocket money.
and special payments. In the Monarchy and The actual pay Roman soldiers received
early Republic, soldiers were not paid, varied. In the early second century B.C., a
since they served only on an occasional regular legionary received 112.5 denarii per
basis and made their livings from their year. (A was a common Roman
denarius
farms. By the early fourth century B.C., coin.) This amount remained standard until
however, the troops received a small daily the mid-first century B.C., when it doubled to
cash payment (stipendium) to help cover 225 denarii. That figure remained standard
their living expenses; and cavalrymen re- for over a century. Then, about a.d. 84 the
ceived money to maintain their horses emperor Domitian raised the legionary's pay
when on campaign. As time went on and to 300 denarii, and in the early third century
soldiers' terms of service lasted for years, the emperor Caracalla upped it to 675
these daily payments evolved into a regu- denarii. Through all these centuries, other
lar salary, paid in three and later four in- kinds of soldiers received higher wages than
stallments. These payments were mostly regular legionaries. Centurions, for instance,
"on paper," for most Roman soldiers did earned from 3,750 to 15,000 denarii per year
not receive their whole pay up front. First, under Augustus. This means that even the
the government deducted some money to lowest-paid centurion made almost seven-
cover the cost of armor and weapons, food, teen times more than a regular legionary!
45
Ancient Rome
revered one." Though he never personally brought enthusiasm and a sense of a pur-
used the title of emperor, Augustus was in pose and pride.
fact the first in the long line of dictators Marius instituted other military re-
who ruled the political entity that became forms, including supplying all of the
known as the Roman Empire. troops with standard weapons. Especially
important in this regard was his introduc-
Marius's Reforms tion of animproved version of the pilum,
The first phase of major military reforms in the new one equipped with a wooden rivet
this turbulent period were initiated by Cae- that broke on impact, preventing an en-
sar's uncle, Marius; he had gained tremen- emy soldier from throwing it back.
dous power and fame for his defeat, in 102 Cuirasses were also more or less standard.
and 101 B.C., of two large Germanic tribes By this time most legionaries wore ver-
that had invaded southern Europe and sions made of mail, rows of iron rings ei-
threatened Italy. Marius was the first Roman ther riveted or sewn together to form a
general to make a major move toward a true heavy protective shirt. (Mail appears to
professional army. have been invented by the Celts; the Ro-
The first question Marius addressed mans adopted it shortly before the Punic
was that of who could become a soldier. Wars, although at first only well-to-do
Ever since the Servian reform, near the fighters could afford it.)
dawn of the Republic, the state had im- Marius also standardized and improved
posed property qualifications for service. the quality of training and taught the sol-
The minimum amount of property a man diers to carry their own supplies rather
had to own to serve had grown increas- than to rely on cumbersome baggage trains
ingly smaller in the years following the of mules that slowed down an army on the
Second Punic War. But around the time march. According to the first-century B.C.
Marius defeated the Germans, he helped Greek writer Plutarch:
to eliminate the property qualification
and he (and then other generals) began There was practice in running and in
accepting volunteers from all classes. long marches; and every man was
These developments not only greatly compelled to carry his own baggage
increased the number of potential recruits, and to prepare his own meals. This
but also initiated profound changes in the was the origin of the expression
army's character. In the past the majority "one of Marius's mules," applied
of soldiers, especially the well-to-do, later to who was a glut-
any soldier
looked on serving as a necessary but un- ton for work and obeyed orders
pleasant duty. Their aim was to discharge cheerfully and without grumbling. 17
that duty as quickly as possible and re-
sume their civilian careers. For the volun-
teers of Marius's more permanent, Maniples Replaced by Cohorts
professional force, by contrast, serving in In addition, Marius reorganized the army
the army was their career, to which many into cohorts, groups of about 480 men, each
46
These Roman legionar-

ies of the first century
B.C. lugged most of their
equipment on their
backs, earning them the
nickname "Marius's
mules."
further divided into 6 centuries of 80 men; a ples had. A common arrangement of a le-
typical legion had 10 cohorts, or 4,800 men gion's ten cohorts was four in the front line
(although apparently it could have fewer or and three each in the second and third lines.
more men under certain conditions). Not One line of cohorts could advance on the en-
long afterward the maniples, long the staple emy while the cohorts of the other lines
battlefield units, were abandoned in favor of waited in reserve, as in the manipular tactic.
cohorts. However, basic battlefield tactics In fact, the cohorts were even more
did not change very much, for the following flexible than the maniples because they
reasons. First, each cohort was, like a mani- could more easily be arrayed in unusual
ple, an individual unit that could act on its formations. One that proved particularly
own. And on the battlefield, the cohorts typ- effective was the "pig's head." It consisted
ically formed three lines, just as the mani- of one cohort in front, two in the second
47
Ancient Rome
Roman Army Formations

Roman Legion Deployed In Traditional Triple Line Legend
Cohort 1 Cohort 2 Cohor^ Cohort H Legionary Infantry Horse Archers
Auxillia Infantry Artillery

|^><^]
Cohort 5 Cohort 6 Cohort 7
L^""H Cavalry
Cohort 8 Cohort 9 Cohort 10
Roman Deployment Against Barbarians
Barbarian Army
Roman Deployment Against Parthian/Persian Armies

Legion Legion Legion ^_^^
Parthians/Persians
(23^ ai wm
Legion
l>^jl^j
l^ll^l l^ll^l \^\ wm \z\
^]
ROmanS
^ The Pig's Head or Wedge Formation
Cohort2
Cohortl
Cohor^
Cohort Cohor^ Cohort6

l^lâi ii i^«L>^J
Cohort 7 Cohort 8 Cohort 9 Cohort 1
ll^lr^ll
row, three in the third row, and the other the Roman military for several centuries
four in the fourth row, together creating a to come.
massive wedge that was highly effective Finally, the nature of the auxiliary
in frontal attacks. troops who supported the legions
The major difference between the old changed. This was because the Roman
system and the new was the makeup of government granted citizenship to all the
the soldiers themselves. The distinctions residents of Italy in the 80s B.C. Since
in armor, weapons, and tactics among Rome's former noncitizen allies were now
the velites, hastati, principes, and triarii citizens, the alae sociorum ceased to exist.
ceased to exist. The former velites Thereafter, in their place, the army re-
donned armor and began carrying the cruited its —including
auxiliaries archers,
infantry shield {scutum) and sword, as slingers, and other light-armed troops, as
well as two pila; and the former triarii well as some cavalry —from units Spain,
traded in their thrusting spears for pila. North Africa, Germany, and other more
Well before Caesar's time, all of these distant lands.
kinds of fighters had become regular le-
gionaries armed and trained in similar Augustus and the Early
fashion. This highly standardized le- Imperial Army
gion/cohort system and its time-proven These military reforms of the early first
tactics built around the formidable le- century B.C. definitely produced stronger
gionary would remain the mainstay of armies with many professional volunteers
48
Junior and Senior

FT1 Army Officers
Becoming an officer in the Roman army
was desirable because higher rank carried
with it many advantages, including better
pay, more authority and respect, and in-
creased prestige and social and political op-
portunities. In the imperial army, the first
step up from an ordinary legionary was the
position of immunis. Theimmunes were so
named because they were immune from nor-
mal, and often unpleasant, daily military du-
tiesbecause they possessed special skills. An
immunis received higher pay than a legionary
and generally worked on his own and at his
own pace. Among the more than one hundred
kinds of immunes known were agn'mensores
(surveyers), carpentarii (carpenters), lapidarii
(stonemasons), librarii (clerks), sagittarii (ar-
row makers), and veterinarii (veterinarians).

Above the legionaries and immunes were
the officers, grouped into commissioned, or
senior, officers, and noncommissioned, or
junior, officers. The junior officers were the
tesserarius, a sort of sergeant who made sure
the legionaries were doing their jobs; the op-
tio, the deputy centurion who assumed com-
mand of his century in the centurion's
absence; the signifer, who bore the century's
standards, a highly prestigious duty; and the
aquilifer, who bore the eagle, the standard
for the legion.
The lowest-ranking senior officer was the This modern reenactor is authentically at-
centurion, a kind of top sergeant in charge of tired as a signifer, a legionary officer who
a century. The highest-ranking and most bore his century 's standard.
prestigious centurion in a legion was the
primus pilus spear"), who had the
("first until the late Republic when elected officials
right to attend meetings and strategy ses- no longer commanded the army during their
sions with the six tribunes, who were ranked terms of office. In the early Empire, Augustus
above the centurions in both republican and introduced the position of legionary legate,
imperial legions. Above the tribunes in a re- who had charge of a single legion for several
publican legion (after about 190 B.C.) was years and reported directly to the general
the legate (tegatus), appointed by the Sen- commanding the whole army (who was some-
ate; and above the legates were the consuls, times the emperor himself).
49
Ancient Rome
dedicated to serving. But in the hands of To eliminate the problem of troops

ambitious, power-hungry, often corrupt swearing loyalty to individual generals
generals, such strength and dedication rather than to the state, Augustus first re-
became instruments to use against the tained and expanded the concept of a pro-
Roman state. When Octavian became fessionalarmy of volunteers; career men
Augustus, the first emperor, he realized who by choice, he correctly rea-
enlisted
that he could not hope to hold on to his soned, were more likely to support the es-
newfound power while individual gen- tablishment than a renegade general. He
eralsand armies ran amok. Instead, he also required that soldiers swear an oath
must create an imperial army loyal to to him as their supreme commander once
him and his new autocratic state. each year; forcing them repeatedly to re-
A drawing based on the fa-

mous Prima Porta statue of
the first emperor, Augustus,
who instituted a new series
of military reforms.
50
—
Actium, Last Battle

i
of the Civil Wars

Battle of Actium, which took place in navy were disorganized and unprepared.
The still
31 B.C., was the final battle of the civil Before long, Antony and Cleopatra were
wars of the first century B.C.; its outcome sig- trapped at Actium, in western Greece, and
naled the last death knell of the Republic and had no choice but to fight their way out. The
the rise of Octavian, Julius Caesar's adopted battle took place in the nearby waters on
son, as supreme ruler of the Roman realm. Oc- September 2. After only two or three hours of
tavian and his able military commander Mar- fighting, Cleopatra suddenly fled, followed
cus Agrippa had about 250 warships and soon afterward by Antony. It is likely that the
about 80,000 land troops at their disposal. two had planned their escape from the be-
By contrast, their opponent, Roman notable ginning, their main objective being to save
Mark Antony (who was allied with Egypt's the treasure they carried and use it to raise
Queen Cleopatra VII), had about 60,000 in- new forces and continue prosecuting the war.
fantry, 70,000 light-armed troops, and per- Whatever the reason for their flight, the move
haps 500 or more ships. Octavian and Agrippa threw their remaining ships and men into dis-
seized the strategic advantage by advancing array. Antony's forces were shattered, and the
on Greece while their adversaries' army and dawn of a new Roman world was at hand.
new the vow was a way of reestablishing More Rounded, Rigorous

the tradition of a soldier's primary loyalty Training
to the state. In addition, and perhaps most In addition to such large-scale reforms, the
importantly, he granted them hefty bonuses new imperial system focused on the indi-
and created a system of land grants as vidual Roman legionary, who became
part of their pensions, making it almost more formidable than ever. Roman sol-
impossible for a general to buy their alle- diers had long been highly flexible, with
giance. the ability to adapt quickly to changing sit-
Augustus's new reforms also altered uations. Even before Marius's time, Poly-
the size and command structure of the bius had written:
The standing army was now
military.
composed of 28 legions, each with about Every Roman soldier, once he is
5,500 men (counting cavalry), for a total armed and goes into action, can
of more than 150,000 men. By the end of adapt himself equally well to any
Augustus's reign, each legion was com- place or time and meet an attack
manded by an officer called a legionary from any quarter. He is likewise
legate (legatus legionis), who was ap- equally well-prepared and needs
pointed by the emperor; under the legate to make no change whether he
were the traditional six tribunes; and un- has to fight with the main body
der them were the centurions (each in [of the army] or with a detach-
charge of a single century). ment ... or singly. Accordingly,
51
Ancient Rome
since the effective use of the parts weight, and gave their recruits
of the Roman army is so much su- wooden staves [sticks] instead of

perior, their plans are much more swords, and these again were of
likely to achieve success than double weight. With these they
those of others.
18
were made to practice at the stakes
both morning and afternoon. ... A
One important key to this success was a stake was planted in the ground by
high degree of training. In the late Repub- each recruit, in such a manner that
lic, according to Polybius, a typical week it projected six feet in height and
for new recruits was as follows. On the could not sway. Against this stake
first day the soldiers had to run about 3.7 the recruit practiced . . . just as if
miles in full armor, an extremely arduous he were fighting a real enemy.
feat; on day two they cleaned and polished Sometimes he aimed as against the
their weapons and underwent an exacting head or the face, sometimes he
inspection; on day three -they rested; on threatened from the flanks [sides],
day four they endured relentless weapons sometimes he endeavored to strike
drills —
practicing sword play, spear throw- down the knees and the legs. He
ing, and the like; on day five they ran an- gave ground, he attacked, he as-
other 3.7 miles in armor; on day six they saulted, and he assailed the stake
had another inspection; and on day seven with all the skill and energy re-
they rested again. The following week they quired in actual fighting . . . and in
repeated the process. this exercise care was taken to see
After Augustus's reforms, the training that the recruit did not rush for-
became even more wide ranging and rigor- ward so rashly to inflict a wound
ous. During the early Empire, new recruits as to lay himself open to a counter-
learned to march by engaging in exhaust- stroke from any quarter. Further-
ing parade drills twice a day until they were more, they learned to strike, not
able to cover twenty-four miles in just five with the edge [of the sword], but
hours while wearing full armor. Next, they with the point. For those who
had to march mile after grueling mile, day strike with the edge have not only
after day, carrying a full pack consisting of been beaten by the Romans quite
some sixty pounds of weapons, tools, and easily, but they have even been
rations. They also learned how to build a laughed at.
19
camp, ride a horse, and swim. Then came

weapons training. According to Vegetius, a Alternating with such drills were others
late fourth-century Roman civil servant featuring throwing spears, as well as
who wrote a handbook on military matters, forced marches, long runs in armor, and
the trainers practice at jumping and felling trees.
Eventually, the recruits lined up in an

made round wickerwork shields, open field and practiced shaping the vari-
twice as heavy as those of service ous common battle formations until they
52
legionarx centurion
easily distinguished by his transverse helmet
crest and vine stick; the reenactors at right
portray legionaires training with wicker
shield and wooden swords.
could do so quickly and precisely. And fi-
nally, they engaged in mock battles, in

which the points of their swords and
were covered
javelins to prevent serious
injuries.
This extensive and rigorous training

regimen shows that the Romans took
53
Ancient Rome
war and soldiering very seriously. In- was not restored to them until they
deed, failure, whether in training or on had demonstrated by practical
the battlefield, was not an option. "So tests, in the presence of the . . .
strict was the attention paid to training," tribunes or the senior officers, that
Vegetius writes, they were proficient in every
branch of their military studies. 20
that weapons training instructors
received double rations, and sol-
diers who had failed to reach an Two Motivations for Warfare
adequate standard in those exer- The early imperial Roman legionary was the
cises were compelled to receive most remarkable and rounded soldier the
their rations in barley [a grain then world had ever seen. On the one hand, his
considered inferior to wheat] in- discipline, courage, determination, and flex-
stead of wheat. The wheat ration ibility, coupled with his excellent training
Roman cavalry of the early Empire. Note the long shields to protect both rider and horse and
the lack of stirrups, which had not yet been invented.
54
and the superior strategy and tactics of his tury witnessed a similar process. In the
commanders, made him the world's first view of most of the early emperors, war-
truly professional warrior. And as such, he fare had two aims, one political, the other
was often a highly efficient killing machine. altruistic in nature; it was a means not only
The imperial troops were far from of making the realm larger, but also of be-
merely brutish, ruthless destroyers, how- stowing the "blessings" of Roman civiliza-
ever. In their conquests, they often carried tion on "barbarians" who lacked them.
with them a powerful civilizing influence
in the form of Roman administration, law Other Imperial Armed Forces
and order, architecture, literature, and Besides the professional army that, with
other cultural aspects. Scholar Michael minor modifications, served the Empire for
Simkins points out: nearly three centuries, Augustus created
some smaller paramilitary forces whose
The Roman soldier was ... the pri- members were also paid professionals.
mary agent for the propagation of Originally they were conceived as special
Roman ideas and the establishment garrisons for the capital city, but they also
of a settled way of life. . . . Though came to be used in other cities. One was a
the initial shock of conquest and the force of unusually well-paid troops called
often unjust treatment of the subju- the Praetorian Guard. Its membership was
gated nation must seem unaccept- at first restricted to men of Italian birth, and
able behavior to many people today, its primary tasks were to guard the emperor
it is all too easy to overlook the fact and see that his orders and policies were
that good proportion of those
a enforced.
brought so roughly within the Ro- The original Praetorian force consisted
man pale [sphere], settled down . . . of 9 cohorts, each having from 500 to
and flourished. Some became Ro- 1 ,000 men, for a total of about 5,000 or so.
man citizens themselves, by mili- (Later emperors considerably increased
tary service in . . . Rome's forces; its size.) Some patrolled the Palatine Hill
others by services rendered to the (where Augustus lived) and other parts of
Empire in a variety of ways. Cit- . . . Rome, while others were stationed in sur-
izenship was hereditary and carried rounding towns. Their leader was called
with it substantial benefits under the the Praetorian Prefect.
Roman system.
21
The Praetorians had armor and weapons
very similar, if not more or less identical,
It was with the "one-two punch," so to to those of Roman legionaries — metal

speak, of military aggression and the cuirasses and helmets, and sword and
spread of culture that Rome first con- javelin carried on the right side. In the
quered and then absorbed most of southern early Empire, both Praetorians and le-
and central Britain in the first century a.d. gionaries began using a new kind of
The campaigns of the emperor Trajan in cuirass. Called lorica segmentate^ it con-
southern Germany in the early second cen- sisted of about two dozen thin strips o\'
55
Ancient Rome
Erecting a Roman
Army Camp
The first-century a.d. Jewish historian Jose- evenly spaced. In the gaps between the tow-
phus's account of the building of a Roman ers they mount [mechanical] spear-throwers,
army camp, excerpted here from his The Jew- catapults, stone-throwers ... all ready to be
ish War, is quite similar to that of the Greek discharged. Four gates are constructed, one in
historian Polybius, who wrote over two cen- each length of wall, practicable for the entry
turies earlier. of baggage-animals and wide enough for
armed [detachments of combat
sorties
Whenever they [the Romans] invade hostile troops], if called for. The camp is divided up
territory they rigidly refuse battle till they by streets, accurately marked out; in the mid-
have fortified their camp. This they do not dle are erected the officers' huts, and in the
construct haphazardly or unevenly, nor do middle of these the commander's headquar-

they tackle the job . . . without organized ters, which resembles a shrine. It all seems
squads; if the ground is uneven it is thor- like a mushroom town, with marketplace,
oughly leveled, then the site is marked out as workmen's quarters, and orderly-rooms.
a rectangle. To this end,
the army is followed by
a large number of engi- rzn Porta Praetona
neers with all the tools

needed for building. The
inside is divided up,
ready for the huts. From E E
outside, the perimeter

looks like a wall and is
Q P F
equipped with towers
"T I I T
Via Prin cipalis
Porta $ Porta
Principalis
Principalis
Dextra
Sinistra M
i c
7j Porta Decumana
A
G
Italian allies I Intervalium
Aux Other auxiliary troops L Legions
E Extraordinarii P Praetorium
F Forum Pref Prefects' tents
G Gates fronted by defensive barriers, Q Ouaestorium
each having a name T Tribunes' tents
5 described by Polybius
56
Two Roman legionaries of

the early Empire sport typi-
cal gear of their day: lorica

segmentata armor, the heavy
pilum, the gladius (worn on
the right side), the rectangu-
lar scutum, and short leather
boots (caligulae).
laminated iron held together with small vened in imperial affairs at will, usually
hinges, buckles, hooks, and/or leather when paid to do so by one ambitious fac-
straps One possible difference between tion or another. In a.d. 41, for example,
Praetorian and legionary equipment was the Praetorians joined in the conspiracy
the shield; some evidence suggests that the to kill the third emperor, Caligula; and
Praetorians carried the old oval scutum, they then placed Claudius on the throne.
while the legionaries wielded the more In an even more audacious display, fol-
modern rectangular version. lowing the assassination of the emperor
Beginning in the reign of Augustus's Commodus in 192, the Guards murdered
successor, Tiberius, the Praetorians be- his successor, Pertinax, after a reign of
came more of a political force in its own only eighty-seven days because he had
right, as its leaders and members inter- paid them only half of a promised bonus;
57
Ancient Rome
This drawing is based on a relief sculpture showing a group of Praetorian Guards. At times these
elite soldiers assassinated some of the emperors they were charged to protect.
they then auctioned off the throne to the their headquarters moved to the Campus
highest bidder. Martius, the region comprising the city's
Another paramilitary force created by eastern sector). A normal hitch for mem-
Augustus consisted of the urban cohorts bers of these units was twenty years, and
(cohortes urbanae), units of policemen they received considerably better pay than
for the city of Rome. There were three co- ordinary legionaries. Over time other
horts, each having a thousand men com- cities in the realm instituted their own ur-
manded by a tribune, who reported to the ban cohorts.
Urban Prefect (the official who ran the Still other imperial forceswho were al-
city for the emperor). The urban cohorts lowed to wield weapons like army soldiers
were stationed in barracks on the Viminal were the vigiles, members of a permanent
Hill (until the late third century a.d., when professional firefighting brigade set up in
58
the city of Rome by Augustus about a.d. ern police nightsticks), and they could ar-
6.They were divided into 7 cohorts of muggers and other wrongdoers and turn
rest
500 (later 1,000) men each. A tribune them over to the office of the Urban Pre-
commanded each cohort and these 7 men fect. Other cities and towns eventually set
reported to a prefect. In addition to fight- up their own brigades of vigiles (though on

ing fires, the vigiles had several law- a smaller scale than those in Rome).
enforcement duties. After the emperor Thus, whether in the form of regular
Nero instituted fire-safety regulations in army troops, imperial guards, or brigades
the 60s a.d., they inspected tenement of city police and firemen, military regi-
blocks and other buildings to make sure mentation and methods permeated all
the citizens were complying with the fire levels and niches of Roman society. This
laws. Some vigiles also acted as commu- is hardly surprising considering that
nity policemen who patrolled the dark, Rome was a nation and empire born out
dangerous streets of the capital at night. of, shaped by, and maintained through
They carried swords and rods (like mod- warfare.
59
*
Chapter Four
Fortifications and
Siege Warfare
Roman legend, Romulus built a wall Peter Connolly points out, "Fortifications
In
to protect the new city named after and siege warfare are inextricably [in-
him; in the Empire's final years, wave af- escapably] combined. The development
ter wave of so-called barbarian tribes of one inevitably stimulates changes in
overran the vast Roman realm's many the other,"
22
and therefore the two must be
border forts and walls. These were only considered together. Even the largely
the beginning and end of Rome's obvious calm Pax Romana, the roughly two-
need for and almost constant preoccupa- century-long era of peace and prosperity
tion with defensive measures, which con- inaugurated by Augustus, saw its share of
stituted a crucial aspect of their warfare. such sieges. (The most famous and dra-
Indeed, the Romans became renowned matic of these took place in Palestine
for their defensive walls, like those built when the Jews rebelled against Rome in
to protect the capital or the one Hadrian the late 60s and early 70s a.d.) The Ro-
erected across northern Britain; their mans did not invent most of the siege
highly fortified army camps; and their techniques they employed; rather, in their
stone forts, the direct predecessors of me- usual manner, they borrowed the ideas
dieval castles. from others and then applied them in the
Most Roman troops, including those ways that best suited their own needs.
stationed in distant provinces or on the
Empire's frontiers, remained on the de- Barriers Designed to
fensive side of fortifications. However, Keep Enemies Out
some found themselves on the offensive During the era of the Roman Monarchy and
side. These were the soldiers who en- early Republic, there were no distant
gaged in siege warfare — surrounding and provinces or frontiers to defend. Evidence
capturing enemy fortresses and towns. As uncovered by archaeologists shows that
60
some of the original seven hills of Rome The only significant innovation the Ro-
were fortified by mounds of earth topped by mans made in the art of fortification dur-
stockade fences and fronted by ditches, sim- ing the remainder of the Republic and
ilar to the outer defenses of later Roman early Empire was the portcullis, which
marching camps. The residents apparently later became a familiar feature of me-
relied on these simple barriers, along with dieval castles. This was a heavy door, usu-
the steepness of the hills, to discourage ally made of wood, and shod with iron for
large-scale attacks. extra strength, that protected a wall or
Later, in 378 B.C., the Romans began fortress's gateway. A system of ropes and
work on the so-called Servian Wall, a winches located in a chamber above
more formidable stone barrier that ran raised and lowered the door. The fourth-
around the city's entire perimeter. It was century B.C. Greek writer Aeneas Tacticus
backed (and strengthened) by an enor- gave this description of a version of his
mous rampart of earth and fronted by a own time:
wide, deep ditch or moat. As time went on
and Rome's territory expanded, other Ro- If a large number of the enemy come
man cities, as well as forts, were protected in . . . and you wish to catch them
by similar protective barriers. you should have ready above the
Children play in the ruins of the military fort at Vindolanda, near Hadrian's Wall in north-central
Britain. Parts of the fort, including a wooden gatehouse, have been reconstructed.
61
Ancient Rome
center of the gateway a gate of the In its heyday, it stretched for some seventy-
strongest possible timber overlaid three miles across the north-central sec-
with iron. Then when you wish to cut tion of the province of Britain (conquered
off [part of] the enemy [forces] as by the Romans in the previous century).
they rush in, you should let this drop According to Durham University scholar
down and the gate itself will not only Brian Dobson:
as it falls destroy some of them, but
will also keep the [rest of] the foe This stone wall was perhaps some 5
from entering, while at the same time meters [16 feet] high, fronted with a
the forces on the wall are shooting at broad berm [space between the ditch
23
the enemy at the gate. and the wall] and a ditch 8 meters
[26 feet] wide and 3 meters [10 feet]
By the early second century a.d., the deep. was defended by eighty
It
Romans had come to perceive a need to small mile-castles about 1,500 me-
fortify not just individual cities and forts, ters [a Roman mile, slightly less than
but the realm as a whole. So they began a modern mile] apart and some 160
building defensive walls, fortresses, and turrets [defensive towers]. Two tur-
forts in larger numbers and on a grander rets were placed between each mile-
scale than ever before. The most spectac- castle about 500 meters [1,640 feet]
ular surviving example of a fortification apart. . . . There were gateways at
wall meant to keep enemies out of Roman 1,600 meter intervals, though the
territory is Hadrian's Wall, begun in 122. majority of these seem in time to
Wall Hadrian's Wall (Schematic)

t West Sectio
16 Ft.
+ <-26 Ft.-
Haltwhistle
Carlisle
62
have been narrowed to passages for of forts linked by roads along the frontiers
people on near the Rhine and Danube which
'
foot. Rivers,
separated Roman and Germanic lands. Sig-
Beginning in about 140, Hadrian's succes- nificantly reinforced and expanded by
sor, Antoninus Pius (reigned 138-161) Hadrian in the second century, this defen-
erected a similar but smaller wall several sive line stretched for some twenty-five
miles north of Hadrian's. The new fortifica- hundred miles, from the North Sea in the
tion was intended to replace the old one and northwest to the Black Sea in the east. And
guard an expanded Roman frontier. But it later became the basis for an even more
about six or seven decades later, the Romans formidable network of frontier defenses in-
abandoned the Antonine Wall and fell back stalled by the emperor Diocletian and his
to the one Hadrian had built. successors in the late third and early fourth
centuries. The forts were eventually spaced
Fortified Military Bases about five to six miles apart (or closer in
Running behind Hadrian's and Antoninus's some places); and between them loomed
walls were roads along which forts were numerous solidly built, freestanding,
erected at intervals; these forts served as square-shaped watchtowers measuring
quarters for most of the soldiers who twenty to forty feet on a side; there were
manned the walls. In the case of Hadrian's also intermittent sections of stockades and
Wall, the forts were spaced about six miles ditches, all guarded by sentries.
apart. Beginning in the late first century, the The next level of defense consisted of a
Romans constructed a much larger network system of fortresses that backed up the
63
Ancient Rome
Northern Frontier
Barbarian Lands
Defense System
Roads run alongside fortresses, watchtowers, and small

forts, flanked by a wall or river. Roads lead into barbarian
territory. The whole system is joined by roads coming from
Roman territory.
!
Road
Ditch
1
I • '
/
------
\/
• -.- -.-.-
1
I
1
I Hoad
: RamDart I
-—_l
-1
small
Tort
1
|
—
teerj
Uowerl
i
: Road 1 1
Legionary
Camp
EXPANDED VIEW
\\n^
:
forts. One major factor that distinguished There were obviously fewer fortresses than
the fortresses from the forts was their size. forts at any given time.
Generally, the forts were relatively small Size differences aside, Roman forts
each covering about two to fourteen acres and fortresses, which can be classified
and accommodating a few hundred to per- together as fortified military bases, had
haps a thousand men. Fortresses, by com- much in common. First, both were
parison, were much larger. Each covered structurally similar, being more perma-
fifty or more acres and housed at least one nent versions of the traditional and tem-
legion, up to five thousand or more men. porary Roman marching camp. Like
64
marching camps, permanent bases had camp's tents. Each block had ten or eleven
outer defenses, including ramparts and sets of double rooms, each of which housed
ditches. However, the defenses of the a unit of eight men. Of the two rooms, the
bases were much more elaborate, like main one, about was for
fifteen feet square,
those of fortified towns, including tow- sleeping, while a somewhat smaller one pro-
ers at intervals in the walls and wider vided storage for the men's equipment.
and deeper moats. At the end of each block of barracks
was a centurion's quarters. Because of his
Living on a Military Base rank and prestige, a centurion had eight or
In fact, the permanent military bases had nine rooms, including a latrine and wash-
many of the amenities of small Roman room, arranged around a central corridor.
towns. Such a base had streets arranged in a (Some of these chambers were probably
grid pattern (as in a marching camp). It also offices and storerooms; and it is possible
featured blocks of barracks, at first of timber that his optio shared the quarters with
and later of stone, in place of the marching him.) Tribunes had their own separate
The ruins of the bathhouse in
the Roman fort at Chesters.

located on the south side of
Hadrian 's Wall.
65
Ancient Rome
houses, equipped with kitchens, dining demanded a series of rooms of vary-

rooms, and suites for their personal staffs. ing temperaturesand humidity
Also like a town, a military base had which induced a perspiration subse-
various civilized amenities. These in- quently sluiced [washed] off by
cluded bathhouses, introduced into le- warm or cold water, followed by
gionary fortresses in the first century a.d. massage and oils rubbed into the
Later, some forts also featured bath- body. It must have been an exhila-
houses, smaller in scale of course, most rating experience and its effect on
often located just outside the walls. Unlike the morale of the troops very con-
25
the relatively simple modern bath or siderable.
shower, says former University of Birm-
ingham scholar Graham Webster, the Ro- Much more than a mere bathing facility,
man method of bathing Roman bathhouse was a place in
however, a
which people exercised, played sports, gam-
Legionary Base
at Carnuntum
on the Danube
66
ENEMY TOWN
Roman Assault on Enemy Town
This drawing shows various methods the Romans used to capture an enemy town.
Use a ram on the weakest spot-the gate O assault bridge across a ditch ©;
build an assault platform up to the wall ©; dig a mine that collapses the wall ©;
or dig a tunnel underneath the wall ©; the artillery, archers, and slingers are used
to give covering fire to Roman troops and to suppress the defenders on the walls.
bled, read, and socialized; and it is a good such luxuries). One of these, excavated at
bet that a soldier spent a good deal of his Caerleon, in southwestern Britain, meas-
time in the local bathhouse when his daily ures about 265 by 220 feet and in its
shift was over. prime sat an estimated six thousand, well

Off-duty servicemen no doubt also fre- more than the complement of an average
quented their local amphitheaters (arenas legion. A few such arenas were even
with wooden or stone seating, like the larger, although most were probably a bit
Colosseum in Rome) in those bases that smaller. They were only occasionally
had them. From the second century on, used for staging gladiator and wild ani-
small amphitheaters were erected outside mal shows were very
fights, since these
the walls of many of the fortresses (the expensive to stage and were rarely seen
forts generally being too small to merit outside of Rome and other large cities.
67
Ancient Rome
Less expensive sorts of entertainment, friends of ordinary soldiers were allowed

such as boxing, trained animal acts, and this same privilege.)
pantomimes may have been presented a

bit more often. For the most part, though, Surrounding an Enemy Town
such activities as campwide religious cer- Naturally, such amenities and leisure pur-
emonies, group exercise, and military suits were to a great extent curtailed dur-
drills took place in these arenas. ing periods when a base's soldiers were
In addition to housing, baths, and in engaged in actual warfare. At such times,
some cases an amphitheater, a military these men were all business. And the same
base had many other kinds of buildings. is certainly true of those Roman troops
These included administrative offices, a who fought on the other side of a fort's or
hospital, granaries, a prison, an officers' town's walls, as attackers and besiegers.
club, and some shops and taverns. It ap- Very little is known about Roman siege
pears that the soldiers were not the only warfare before the time of the Punic Wars.
ones who patronized the' baths, shops, According to later ancient historians, the
and other facilities. Recent excavations Romans besieged the Etruscan city of Veii
of a Roman fort at Vindolanda, just south in the late fifth century B.C. and finally
of Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain, captured by digging a tunnel under its

it
have revealed that some women used the walls; however, most details of the siege
base bathhouse (lying just outside the fort's remain uncertain.
walls). They seem to have been the wives The first Roman siege for which details
and daughters of base officers. These are known was that of the Sicilian town of
women probably lived in a nearby civil- Agrigentum in 262 B.C., at the start of the
ian settlement and visited the base on a First Punic War. Here, the besiegers used
regular basis, enjoying its social life. (It a technique that became the standard Ro-
is unknown whether the wives and girl- man siege system. This was circumvalla-
The Proud Averni Defy Rome

The Gauls Julius Caesar besieged at Ale- in 121 B.C. Subsequently, Averni territory
sia in 52 B.C. were Averni (or Arverni) shrank and the Aedui became dominant in
tribesmen. They had became quite promi- the region. During Julius Caesar's Gallic
nent by the mid-second century B.C., at campaigns in the 50s B.C., the proud Av-
which time they dominated much of cen- erni made one last bid for supremacy un-
tral Gaul. Long bitter enemies of their der their talented war chief Vercingetorix.
neighbors the Aedui, the Averni fought However, Caesar soundly defeated them.
against an alliance of Aedui and Romans, And over time they became romanized,
who delivered them a debilitating defeat along with the other Gallic peoples.
68
I I Roman Camps
^^^— Gallic Positions Caesar's Siege Lines at Alesia
Roman Siege Lines
O Roman Fort
I
1 Roman mile |
Mt. Rhea-o
o
tion, basically blockading a town or fort ments to any part of the fortifica-
by surrounding it. According to Connolly: tions. Forts and picket [sentry] posts
were placed at intervals along the
Several camps would be established whole circuit so that every point of
around the besieged town at some the line was watched. 26

distance from it. These would be
joined by lines of trenches and This was the method Julius Caesar em-
[earthen] ramparts cutting the town ployed in his famous siege of the Gallic
off from the surrounding country fortress of Alesia in 52 B.C. Because the fear-
and preventing anyone from escap- less Gauls repeatedly sent out warriors to
ing. If there was no enemy army in harass the Roman soldiers guarding the
the field this would be sufficient, but perimeter, he thought it prudent to make
if there was any possibility of relief some additions to the usual ramparts,
from the outside, a second line of ditches, and guard posts. In that way, he
ramparts and ditches [bicircumval- recorded in his surviving personal log, the
lation]would be established facing Commentaries on the Gallic Wars,
outwards. Between the two lines
there was a broad thoroughfare our lines could be defended by a
[roadway], often several meters smaller number of men. Tree trunks
wide, facilitating rapid troop move- or very stout branches were cut down
69
At the epic siege ofAlesia, in 52 B.C., Julius Caesar's troops construct the inner ring of their
siege circumvallation around the town, which can be seen in the distance.
and the ends were stripped of bark points, were fixed in these pits and set
and sharpened; long trenches, five so as not to project more than about
feet deep, were dug and into these the three inches from the ground. To keep
stakes were sunk and fastened at the them firmly in place, the earth was
bottom so that they could not be torn trodden down hard to a depth of one
up, while the top part projected above foot and the rest of the pit was filled
the surface. There were five rows of with twigs and brushwood so as to
them in each trench, fastened and in- conceal the trap. These traps were set
terlaced together in such a way that in groups, each of which contained

anyone who got among them would eight rows three feet apart. The men
impale himself on the sharp points. called them "lilies" from their resem-
The soldiers called them "tomb- blance to that flower. In front of these
stones." hi front of these, arranged in was another defensive device. Blocks
diagonal lines forming quincunxes, of wood a foot long with iron hooks
we dug pits three feet deep and taper- fixed in them were buried underneath
ing downward toward the bottom. the surface and thickly scattered all
Smooth stakes as thick as a man's over the area. They were called
thigh, hardened by fire and with sharp "spurs" by the soldiers. When these
70
defenses were completed, I con- Caesar's siege of Alesia was ultimately suc-
structed another line of fortifications cessful, as he was able simultaneously to de-
of the same kind, but this time facing feat the Gauls within the fortress and an
the other way, against the enemy even larger force that attacked the outer
from the outside. These additional perimeter of his defenses.
fortifications had a circuit of thirteen
27
miles.
Dogged Persistence
Wins the Day
men expended a considerable
Caesar and his
amount of time and energy sealing off the
Alesia fortress. This clearly illustrates the
difference between Roman siege techniques
and those of the Greeks, from whom the
Modern reconstructions of two versions of Ro-

man artillery. The ballista, or "stone caster"
(top) could hurl small rocks as far as 300
yards; cocking the mechanism of the onager, a
catapult (below), required seven or eight men.
71
Ancient Rome
Romans learned the basics of the art of siege or long underground tunnels to gain access
warfare. In the Republic's last few centuries, to the town or fortress they were besieging.
the Greeks developed numerous clever, so- In almost every Roman siege, therefore,
phisticated, and often enormous siege ma- dogged persistence and patience, along with
chines. These included giant drills that could sheer manpower, won the day.
pierce stone walls and monstrous siege tow- Among the largest and most impres-
ers that moved on rollers and held dozens of sive and devastating of these sieges were
catapults and other mechanical missile three conducted by the Romans in the
throwers (artillery). The Romans also em- province of Judaea (in Palestine) during
ployed siege towers and artillery. However, the Jewish rebellion lasting from 66 to
their versions were generally smaller and 73. First to fall, after fifty days of relent-
used less frequently. More often, they pre- less pressure, was the town of Jotapata,
ferred to exploit the nearly limitless muscle commanded by the Jewish historian
power of the thousands of soldiers making Josephus. (Captured by the Romans, Jose-
up their legions. The soldiers took weeks or phus went on to desert the Jewish cause,
even months to build the kind of elaborate to become a Roman citizen, and eventu-
defenses and booby traps Caesar employed ally to compile his now-famous detailed
at Alesia; or to erect gigantic earthen ramps account of the war.)
The ancient and revered great Jewish Temple of Solomon burns during the months-long Roman
siege of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, as depicted by the Renaissance Italian artist Ercole de Roberti.
72
The Siege of Masada

of the most famous sieges of ancient had two legions (ten thousand men) and
One full
times, that of the Jewish fortress of several thousand Jewish prisoners, whom he
Masada, proved a classic demonstration of used to create a vast supply train of men and
the Roman approach to siege warfare, com- mules to carry food, water, timber, and
bining methodical patience, enormous mus- equipment into the desert to prosecute the
cle power, and a huge siege ramp. In a.d. 71, siege. Silva first surrounded the plateau with
after the general collapse of the Jewish re- a six-foot-thick stone wall having guard tow-
volt that had begun almost five years before, ers spaced at intervals of about eighty to one
a few militant diehards retreated to Masada, hundred yards. Then he constructed a huge
perched on the summit of an imposing rock assault ramp (of earth and stone, reinforced
plateau overlooking the western shore of the by large timbers) on Masada's western slope.
Dead Sea. There, the leader of the group, Once the ramp was finished and the attack-
Eleazar ben Ya'ir, and some 960 men, women, ers had breached walls, they received an un-
and children bravely determined to resist expected and eerie surprise. All of the
Rome to their dying breath. defenders (except for two women and five
In 72 the new Roman military governor, children) had killed themselves in a suicide
Flavius Silva, set about capturing Masada. He pact, preferring death to surrender.
Siege of Masada, a.d. 71
Linear Defenses
First Camp
This diagram shows

the series of small
forts built by the
besiegingRomans
around the Masada
fortress, as well as
At Masada the Romans built and a linear defense
eight forts (#1-8)
the great earthen
around the citadel and constructed a huge ramp to assault it.
assault ramp.
73
Ancient Rome
The larger and more destructive siege did not burn, they demolished later; and
of Jerusalem began in the early spring of there was much indiscriminate killing and
70. Applying their usual methodical meth- plundering by Roman troops.
ods of circumvallation, earthen ramps, When Jerusalem fell, most of the insur-
and underground tunnels, by May the Ro- rection collapsed. About a thousand die-
mans had made it past the first of the city's hard rebels retreated to the fortress of
three defensive walls. Late in August they Masada, on a steep hill in the desert. And
reached the Jews' great sacred Temple. In despite resolute resistance, the construc-
spite of the desire of the Roman com- tion of an enormous earthen siege ramp
mander (the future emperor Titus) that the enabled the Romans to capture it in 72.
building be spared, it caught fire and was The cold reality was that, no matter how
destroyed. Fierce fighting continued and brave the defenders, no city or fortress in
the attackers were unable to capture the the known world could keep the Romans
entire city until late September. What they out if they wanted to get in.
74
Chapter Five
Naval Weapons
and Tactics
The Romans did not start out as a sea- gain any experience in naval war-
faring people, as the Phoenicians and fare they immediately engaged
Carthaginians did. So Rome did not build [joined battle with] the Carthagini-
and maintain any significant number of ans, who had for generations en-
warships during the years of the Monar- joyed an unchallenged supremacy
chy and early Republic. But when the Ro- at sea.
28
mans saw the pressing need for such

ships, they constructedthem with aston- Yet even after building its first navy
ishing speed. In first war with
their and defeating Carthage's fleets, Rome did
Carthage (264-241 B.C.), they managed not act or think like a traditional naval
the phenomenal accomplishment of build- power. As noted historian Lionel Casson
ing some 120 fully equipped warships in puts it, the Romans were "an anomaly in
only sixty days. This feat, Polybius ex- maritime history, a race of [landjlubbers
claimed, who became lords of the sea in spite of
29
themselves." In fact, Rome's military
illustrates better than any other the tradition as a land power was so ingrained
extraordinary spirit and audacity of that its navy was long seen as secondary
the Romans. ... It was not a ques- to and considerably less prestigious than
tion of having adequate resources the army. And for centuries most young
for the enterprise, for they had in Roman men aspired to be soldiers rather
fact none whatsoever, nor had they than sailors. One young second-century
ever given a thought to the sea be- a.d. naval recruit wrote home:
fore this. But once they had con-
ceived the idea, they embarked on it God willing, I hope to be trans-
so boldly that without waiting to ferred to the army. But nothing will
75
Ancient Rome
The Roman Navy: 1st

-
Fectio
and 2nd Centuries a.d.
Fleet base from Nero
( a.d. 54-68) to Hadrian „
^Colonia AgnppineSIS
(a.d.117-138)
/^^/ River squadrons
Moesian for Trajan's
eP
| fleet
--^C^bi
\ *•»
,
200
Miles
•
frontier of the Roman Empire
be done around here without money hitches was to be granted Roman citizen-
[to bribe persons in a position to fa- ship as a reward on discharge.
cilitate the transfer?], and letters of Despite the fact that Roman sailors
recommendation will be no good served in what most people viewed as the
unless a man helps himself. 30 inferior branch of the service, the navy
and its personnel had important, some-
The oarsmen and other crewmen who times even vital duties and responsibilities
manned Rome's warships were mostly to perform. Chief among these, of course,
noncitizens or foreigners. (Contrary to de- was enemy navies when the need
fighting
pictions in some Hollywood films, the arose. Though these clashes rarely de-
rowers were not slaves, nor were they cided the outcome of a war, now and then
chained to their oars.) During republican they did, as in the case of the First Punic
times, most of these seamen were mem- War or the civil conflict between Octavian
bers of Rome's Italian allies, while during and Antony. Also, the ships carried con-
the Empire they came primarily from suls, governors, emperors, and other high
Greece, Phoenicia, Egypt, Syria, and other officials (and sometimes contingents of
lands with long-established seafaring tra- land troops) to faraway locations much
ditions. Their main incentive for signing faster than was possible over land. In ad-
on for their grueling twenty-six-year dition, sailors carried crucial military dis-
76
patches during both wartime and peace- ties occurred in 31 1 B.C. when the govern-
time; served as policemen in commercial ment funded the building of a handful of
ports and on the rivers flowing near the small craft to patrol the waters of western
frontiers; chased and sank pirate vessels Italy and keep them secure from pirates
that threatened commercial shipping; who had been raiding the area. Some twenty
guarded the grain supplies in Rome and years later, a group of these Roman ships
later in Egypt and other provinces; and got into a fight with the larger, more for-
worked on civil engineering projects, in- midable war fleet of the independent
cluding raising and lowering the giant Greek city of Taras (Tarentum in Latin),
awning that protected Rome's great am- on Italy's southern coast. The Romans
phitheater, the Colosseum. suffered such a decisive defeat that they
beached their remaining ships. And for the
Rome's Navy Through next few decades, they passed off the job
the Centuries of policing their coast to warships from
The first known instance in which Roman nearby Greek cities that were already sub-
warships and sailors performed such du- jects of Rome.
Roman war galleys like these only occasionally fought in large sea battles. More often
they ferried troops from one place to another, guarded ports and commercial ships, and
chased after pirates.
77
Ancient Rome
Then came Rome's declaration of war new fleet. Fortune seems to have been
264 B.C. At first, the
against Carthage in smiling on them in their hour of need,
landlubbing Romans tried to defeat the however, for they had recently come into
enemy on the island of Sicily, the western possession of a Carthaginian warship that
half of which Carthage controlled. But had accidentally run aground. "It was this
these efforts were largely unsuccessful, as ship which they proceeded to use as a
the Carthaginian navy kept its Sicilian model," Polybius wrote,
strongholds well supplied. It was not long
before Roman leaders accepted the hard and they built their whole fleet ac-
reality that they would have to fight the cording to its specifications; for
Carthaginians on their own terms. Rome which it is clear that but for this ac-
needed to seize control of the western cident they would have been pre-
Mediterranean sea lanes from the enemy. vented from carrying out their
And to do so, it would have to construct a program for sheer lack of necessary
large fleet of warships. . knowledge. As it was, those who
This was an enormously tall order. The had been given the task of ship-
Romans had faint notions at best about building occupied themselves with
how to build large, effective warships; the construction work, while others
they also lacked the thousands of specially collected the crews and began to
trained crewmen required to operate the teach them to row on shore in the
Carthage was long the preeminent naval power of the western Mediterranean. The Romans used
a Carthaginian warship like the ones seen here as a model for their own war vessels.
78
An Ancient Description
rr
of the "Raven
In his Histories, Polybius provides this de- end of the gangway, an oblong slot was
tailed description of the corvus, the offensive cut, into which the base of the pole was
naval device introduced by the Romans during fitted, and each of the long sides of the
the First Punic War. gangway was protected by a rail as high as
a man's knee. At the outboard [far] end of
|"The was constructed as foL-
"raven"] the gangway was fastened an iron spike. . . .
L I A round pole about twenty-four

lows. When the ship charged an opponent, the
feet high and ten inches in diameter was "raven" would be hauled up by means of
erected on the prow of the ship. At the top the pulley and then dropped onto the deck
of this pole was a pulley, and at its base a of the enemy vessel; this could either be
gangway four feet in width and thirty-six done over the bows, or the gangway could
in length made of planks which were nailed be swiveled round if the two ships collided
across each other. Twelve feet from one broadside on.
following way. They placed the men resiliency, they managed to win the war.
along the rowers' benches on dry They went on to vanquish the Carthagini-
land, seating them in the same order ans again in the Second Punic War; and by
as if they were on those of an actual 201 B.C., at the conclusion of that conflict,
vessel, and then . . . trained them to Rome, which a mere seventy years before
swing back their bodies in unison. had possessed no war fleets at all, was the
. . . When the crews had learned this greatest sea power in the Mediterranean
drill, the ships were launched as sphere.
soon as they were finished. 31
As time went on, however, the size and
strength of Rome's naval forces varied
Using this crash program of construc- considerably as the government funded or
tion and training, Rome produced about neglected them according to changing cir-
330 fully manned warships by 256 B.C. cumstances. Once Carthage's war fleets
Though large numbers of these vessels had been eliminated, the only other navies
were destroyed in battle or in violent that posed any threat to Rome's fleet were
storms, the Romans continually built new those of a few Greek states in the eastern
ships and fleets. In the course of the war, Mediterranean. But by the mid-second
which was fought mostly at sea, they lost century B.C., the Romans were in full con-
an estimated seven hundred warships and trol of this region; and with the sea lanes
troop transports and over 100,000 crew- largely at peace, they allowed their navy
men (the largest naval losses ever suffered to decline. Not until the civil wars of the
by a single nation in one war). Yet in their late first century B.C. did the Romans re-
usual display of guts, determination, and quire fleets of warships again. This time
79
Ancient Rome
they acquired most of them from Greek Types and Sizes

cities under their control. of Roman Warships
Following the civil wars, these ships During the periods when Rome's war fleets
became the nucleus of the imperial were well maintained and saw service, they
fleets organized by Augustus. In the consisted of a fairly wide variety of vessels.
early Empire, he and his successors es-
For the most part, though, the Romans
tablished fleets of varying sizes on the
mainly used four kinds of warships
coasts of Italy, Egypt, Syria, the Black
triremes ("threes"), quadriremes ("fours"),
Sea, the English Channel, and the Rhine
quinqueremes ("fives"), and Liburnians.
and Danube Rivers. By the second cen-
The original designs of the first three types
tury, however, with the known world
largely at peace during the Pax Romana,
were Greek. And over time a large propor-
these fleets began to decline. In the Em- tion of the sailors who manned the Roman
pire's few centuries, sea power
last versions continued to be Greeks; if they
played almost no role in warfare. And lived long enough, these men gained Roman
by the end of the fourth century, the citizenship at the ends of their hitches.
once impressive Roman navy had virtu- As its name suggests, the trireme had
ally ceased to exist. three banks of oars, with one man to an
A large Roman warship with several rowers working each oar struggles in rough seas. The ves-
sel's crowded decks show that it is transporting troops, most or all of whom will fight on land.
80
772/5 relief sculpture found at Praeneste, southeast of Rome, shows a large war galley of the first
century B.C. Many historians think it was carved to commemorate Octavian's victory at Actium.
oar. A Roman trireme probably carried a quadrireme appears to have had two banks
complement of about 220 to 250 men, in- of oars, with two men
to each oar. As for
cluding about 170 rowers (with between the quinquereme, modern scholars have
50 and 60 men in each oar bank), about 15 long debated the numbers of its oar banks
to 20 crewmen, and a few dozen marines and rowers. However, most scholars have
Adding together the hull, decks,
(fighters). come to believe that such a vessel had
mast, oars, men, weapons, and supplies, three oar banks, with two men to an oar in
such a vessel would have weighed, or in each of the upper two banks and one man
nautical terms "displaced," eighty to to an oar in the lower bank. Perhaps the
ninety tons. Yet it was relatively quick for most common warship in Roman navies
its time. In short spurts, when attacking, during the mid to late Republic, the quin-
for example, it could attain a speed of per- quereme was up to 20 feet long and car-
1
haps seven to eight knots (eight to nine ried some 270 rowers, 30 crewmen, and
miles per hour). from 40 to 120 marines.
Two other common warships, the Much smaller than the trireme,
quadrireme and quinquereme, were both quadrireme, or quinquereme was the
somewhat larger than a trireme. A Liburnian, invented by a tribe of pirates
81
Ancient Rome
who inhabited what is now Bosnia. In ships included important abstract con-
Casson's words, a Liburnian was light, cepts, such as Justice, Liberty, Peace, and
fast, and highly maneuverable, making it Piety.
ideal for pursuit of pirates or for Methods of Warfare at Sea

quick communications. . . . The Ro- Today it may seem surprising that in any
mans found it useful enough to adopt given era these ships and crews rarely, if
as a standard [naval] unit, particu- ever, actually took part in a military cam-
larly for the provincial fleets which paign. This was because Rome was at peace
used such craft almost exclusively. more often than it was at war. Those sailors
Originally, it was most probably who did experience the horrors of naval war-
single-banked, but its borrowers de- fare faced a high risk of injury or death, es-
veloped a heavier version driven by pecially by drowning when their ships

two banks of oarsmen. ... Its two suffered major damage and sank.
banks were easier to handle than the As in the case of ship designs and vari-
three of the [trireme and quin- ous naval customs, the Romans adopted
quereme] and ... its mast and sail . . basic naval battle practices and tactics
perhaps could be lowered under way from the Greeks, Carthaginians, and other
for a fight without disturbing the Mediterranean maritime peoples. One of
rowers. The Liburnian became so the primary tactics ram an enemy
was to
popular in the Roman navy that the vessel with a bronze-coated beak mounted
term eventually came to mean war- on a ship's bow. The object was to open a
32
ship in general. hole in an enemy ship's side and thereby to
sink it. Various tactics developed to outma-
The crews of these ships gave them neuver opposing vessels and make it easier
names, just as sailors name their boats to- to ram them, among them the periplus, in
day. Roman sailors did not follow the which an attacking fleet tried to outflank
modern custom of writing a ship's name an enemy fleet. If the attackers succeeded
on the side of its hull, however; instead, in enveloping the sides of the opposing
they placed a wooden figurehead or other fleet, they could ram the exposed sides of
carving prominently on the bow. Many the outer ships in the enemy's line. An-
ships were named after gods and god- other common maneuver was the diekplus,
desses, particularly those associated with described here by Casson:
the sea. Widely popular were Neptune,
lord of the sea; Neptune's son, Triton; and In battle, opponents generally faced
Nereus, the "old man of the sea," a god each other in two long lines. The
thought to possess the gift of prophecy. one carrying out the diekplus would
Roman sailors were also partial to Isis, an at a given signal dash forward so
Egyptian goddesswho came to be widely suddenly and swiftly that his ships
worshiped across the Roman Empire. were able to row through the en-
Other common names for Roman war- emy's line before the latter was able
82
In this photo of models constructed for the 1959 film of Lew Wallace's novel Ben Hur, one war-
ship rams another. Ramming was one of the chief tactics of ancient naval warfare.
to take countermeasures, wheel Although the Romans sometimes used

[around] when through [the line], these maneuvers, they much preferred the
and ram the unprotected quarters or second basic naval battle tactic —boarding
sterns [of the enemy's ships]. was
It an enemy ship and taking control of it via
a deadly maneuver, but it demanded hand-to-hand fighting. Perhaps it was the
the utmost in coordination, response long and prestigious record of their land
to command, and cleanness of exe- army that led to their increased emphasis
cution; only fast ships and finely of land warfare techniques in naval bat-
trained crews, taught to work in uni- tles. The first major advance in this direc-
33
son, could carry it out successfully. tion was their invention of the corvus
("crow" or "raven") in the early years of
In another naval battle tactic, a ship at- the First Punic War. This was a long
tacked an enemy vessel at an angle, wooden gangway with a spike attached to
shearing off most of its oars on one side its end. The crow stood in an upright posi-
and thereby rendering it helpless; a sec- tion on the front deck of a Roman ship un-
ond attacker, stationed directly behind the til the vessel pulled up alongside an
first, then moved in for the killing ram- enemy ship, at which time sailors dropped
ming run. the device onto the enemy's deck. The
83
Ancient Rome
Rome's Victory at
Cape Ecnomus
What may have been the largest sea bat- Carthaginian center. The Carthaginian ships
tle fought in ancient times took place were faster than the Roman ones, but the
in 256 B.C. at the height of the First Punic former were reluctant to come too close to
War. The Romans prepared to invade North the latter, which
equipped with were
Africa by sending some 330 warships, carry- "ravens," which theRomans used to hold
ing some 140,000 sailors and marines, to fast and board enemy vessels. Eventually,
Cape Ecnomus, on Sicily's southern shore. the Romans gained the upper hand and
The Carthaginians countered this move by their opponents fled. Over thirty Carthagin-
hurriedly assembling about 350 ships about ian ships were destroyed and another sixty
forty miles west of the Roman fleet. In his or so were captured, while the Romans lost
Histories, the Greek historian Polybius de- twenty-four ships. The Roman victory left
scribes the subsequent battle. He says that the African coast vulnerable to attack, al-
the Romans arranged their front ships in a lowing Rome to carry the war to the
wedge formation and smashed through the Carthaginian homeland.
This photo from a 1937 Italian film shows a Roman warship outfitted with a "raven."
k f
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84
spike pierced the deck, holding the gang- Officers and Crewmen
way in place, and Roman marines charged Fighting in such battles required a wide
across and attacked the enemy vessel's range of duties and skills, including rowing,
crew. In republican times these marines steering, lowering the sails, and fighting, as
were not sailors, but army legionaries who well as commanding and coordinating of-
had been trained to adapt their use of
fense and defense. So the breakdown of
pilum, sword, and shield to the narrow
naval leaders and personnel was nearly as
confines of ships' decks. Therefore, the
diverse as that of Rome's land forces. A man
corvus, Peter Connolly writes, "turned a
naval battle into a fight between marines,
in the topmost naval position —admiral
was always a Roman citizen from a promi-
which the superb Roman infantry were
nent family; noncitizens in the lower ranks
bound to win." 34
could not aspire to his post. In the Republic
Later, the Roman navy discontinued use
the admirals, who commanded whole fleets
of the corvus because its weight made their
and the home bases where these fleets
ships unbalanced, unsteady, and more prone
docked, were usually senators. Imperial ad-
to capsizing in stormy conditions. However,
mirals, in contrast, held the rank of prefect
they continued to develop and use devices
that allowed them to hold fast and board en- and tended to be well-to-do, high-ranking
emy ships. These included long poles or army officers. (That these admirals came
lengths of chain with large grapnels (hooks) from the army rather than the navy re-
attached to the ends; when their ship ma- flected and reinforced the common percep-
neuvered close enough to an enemy vessel, tion that the navy was the inferior of the two
Roman sailors tossed the grapnel, snagging services.)
the enemy's deck, and the marines boarded The Romans borrowed the terms used
on wooden planks or ladders. to describe most of the other naval officers
A more advanced version of these de- from the Greeks. The commander of a
vices was introduced in the 30s B.C. by squadron, perhaps about ten ships, was a
Augustus's talented admiral, Agrippa. navarch (from the Greek navarchos); and
Called the harpax, it was a grapnel with the captain of an individual ship was called
long ropes or chains attached. Specially a trierarch (from the Greek trierarchos).
trained marines shot it from a catapult Navarchs were generally promoted from
mounted on the deck of a Roman ship, al- the position of trierarch, and trierarchs
lowing an enemy ship to be ensnared were likely promoted from the lower
from a much greater distance. Larger ranks of navy men. In the early Empire,
ships also sometimes featured wooden both positions were filled mainly by expe-
towers mounted on the deck at front and rienced Greek sailors.
back; javelin men or archers stationed Just as several junior officers existed
atop these towers fired down on an enemy under an army tribune, a naval captain had
ship's deck as the opposing ships neared his own staff of junior officers. These in-
each other, softening up the enemy before cluded a chief administrator and various
the marines boarded. kinds of clerks with specialized jobs, such
85
Ancient Rome
Ridding the Sea

Lanes of Pirates
Romans used war- popular general Pompey the task of ridding
One important way the
ships was to chase down and destroy pi- the sea lanes of the pirate menace. In an
The most spectacular instance
rate vessels. unprecedented move, the government gave
occurred in thefirst century B.C. By the him supreme (though temporary) command
third decade of that century, piracy had be- of the Mediterranean Sea and all of its
come so bad that bands of brigands had coasts to a distance of fifty miles inland.
started coming ashore on Italy's western In a lightning campaign of only forty days,
coast, where they robbed and burned houses he literally swept the sea of pirates, de-
and mugged or kidnapped travelers on Ro- stroying their strongholds and sinking or
man roads. Pirate ships also sank a small capturing over seventeen hundred of their
group of Roman warships and in 69 B.C. vessels, all without the loss of a single Ro-
sacked the Greek island of Delos (an impor- man ship! Needless to say, this incredible
tant marketing center), crippling Mediter- achievement virtually eliminated the dan-
ranean shipping. That was the last straw for ger of pirates, while making Pompey a hero
the Romans. In 67 B.C. they assigned the of epic proportions.
as making reports to the admiral's office Each warship also had its complement
and keeping financial records. The trier- of marines. Since for organizational pur-
arch also had deck officers to help him run poses an individual warship was desig-
his ship. Among them were the gubemator nated as a naval century, these fighters
(the term from which the word "governor" were trained and commanded by a centu-
evolved), who supervised the steersmen rion. As in an army century, he was as-
from his station on the aft (rear) deck; his sisted by an optio. The relationship
assistant, prow (front),
stationed on the between the centurion and the trierarch,
who kept an eye out for rocks and shoals in including who had more authority in spe-
the vessel's path; a man who used wooden cific areas, remains unclear. But it is al-
mallets to pound out a beat for the rowers most certain that the centurion made all
to follow; two or three experts at raising the important decisions concerning actual
and lowering the sails; and a nauphlax, combat.
who had charge of the ship's physical up- Finally came the lowest-ranking naval
keep. (It is probable that only larger ships, personnel — the rowers and other ordinary
like quinqueremes, had a full complement sailors. They were well aware of the draw-
of such specialists; the fewer crewmen backs of naval service when they signed
manning Liburnians and other small craft up. Besides the navy's secondary status as
likely doubled up on these jobs.) Usually, a service branch, they faced long hitches
these junior officers and specialists re- featuring hard and sometimes dangerous
ceived double or more the pay of an ordi- work and little pay. Still, for a poor boy
nary sailor. from an Italian or provincial farm or city
86
slum, the rewards of serving in the navy portant of all were the possibilities of pro-
could well outweigh the drawbacks. Even motion and eventually becoming a citizen.
if small, the pay was steady and often These potential benefits motivated and
amounted to more than he could make as sustained the crews of thousands ships
a farmhand or ordinary laborer. There was during the centuries that Roman warfare
also the opportunity for travel and seeing shaped and reshaped the Mediterranean
faraway cities and peoples. And most im- world.
87
Chapter Six
The Decline and Fall

of Rome's Military
renowned decline and fall of the sors were thoughtful, effective rulers. The
The
Roman Empire did not happen sud- five emperors who ruled from 96 to 180
denly or quickly. It was a gradual process Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and
that happened in fits and starts, with vari- Marcus Aurelius —were especially capable
ous and diverse causes, over the course of and enlightened leaders, hence the name
almost three centuries. Moreover, both posterity accorded then — the "five good
mirroring and significantly contributing emperors." They brought Roman civiliza-
to the Empire's decline was the decline of tion to its political, economic, and cultural
the Roman military. Warfare and the zenith.
armed forces required to wage it effec- Indeed, under the second good em-
tively had made Rome strong and long peror, Trajan, an able, thoughtful, and
maintained the integrity of its realm; so it generous Empire was larger than
ruler, the
is not surprising that when the Romans it had ever been or ever would be. It
could no longer wage war effectively, that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean in the
realm fell apart. west to the Persian Gulf in the east, and
from north Africa in the south to central
From Order to Near Anarchy Britain in the north. The huge realm cov-
The story of the decline of the Empire and ered some 3.5 million square miles and
its military establishment begins at the close supported over 100 million inhabitants.
of the period when these entities were at Those inhabitants could not have pre-
their height — the Pax Romana ("Roman good em-
dicted that the death of the fifth
Peace," ca. 30 B.C. to a.d. 180). Rome was peror, Marcus Aurelius, in 180, would
enormously, strong, ordered, stable, and mark the end of the largely safe and happy
prosperous in this era mainly because Au- Pax Romana. Thereafter, the Empire's po-
gustus and most of his immediate succes- litical and economic problems rapidly in-
88
creased, leading to a century of severe cri- ters worse, army units in various parts of
sis in which the Roman realm approached the realm swore allegiance to their gener-
the brink of total collapse. The crisis had als, much as in late republican times, and
several dimensions and causes, among these leaders frequently and foolishly
them poor leadership, as one ambitious, tried to fight one another while defending
brutal, and/or incompetent individual af- against the invaders. During the ensuing
ter another occupied the throne; and seri- roughly fifty-year period of near anarchy,
ous economic problems, including a more than fifty rulers claimed the throne.
shortage of precious metals, rising infla- And all but one of them died by assassi-
tion, and declining agriculture. nation or other violent means.
Worst of all, the Empire faced grave Chaos, disunity, and invasions threat-
military threats, as large semi-nomadic enedto tear the Roman world asunder. Yet
Germanic tribes assaulted its northern Rome managed, seemingly miraculously,
borders. At the same time, the Roman to pull back from the brink of ruin. Begin-
army, though larger than ever, had by the ning in the year 268, a series of strong
early third century grown less disciplined military leaders took control, and in the
and reliable than it had been in the past; so next sixteen years they both pushed back
it was often unable to stop enemy incur- the Germans and defeated illegal imperial
sions into Roman territory. Making mat- claimants in various parts of the realm.
The Great Crisis of

the 3rd Century
Ostrogoths
Foreign Nation
Bafbafia'ntvaLon D W™ Stations (214,0)
89
Ancient Rome
Trajan, one of the five

"good" emperors, dominates
this sculpted scene from his
famous column in Rome. He
appears sixty times in all, al-
ways slightly larger than the
other figures.
With the Empire reunited and minimal cessors continued, was a thorough overhaul
order restored, in 284 a very intelligent and of the military. The new army that emerged
capable leader named Diocletian ascended reflected a general change in the Empire's
the throne. He initiated numerous reforms overall strategic approach to warfare, one
substantially reorganizing the provinces, the that had been developing for some time and
tax system, and the imperial court — creating would ultimately lead to weakness and dis-
what was in effect a new Roman Empire. aster. Put simply, the Roman military, which
Modern historians often refer to this realm, had for so many centuries operated offen-
a grimmer, more dangerous and regimented, sively, went on the defense.
and far less optimistic society than that of Shaping this new outlook was the sober
the Pax Romana era, as the Later Empire. reality of many decades of relentless bar-
barian incursions across the northern fron-
A New Round of tiers. Roman leaders now accepted the idea
Military Reforms that it was no longer possible to make the
One of Diocletian's most important and far- borders {limes) completely impregnable;
reaching reforms, which his immediate suc- some invaders, the reasoning went, must be
90
expected to get through the line of forts personal traveling court, the comitatus,
along the frontiers. However, these intrud- supported by elite cavalry forces, the
ers could hopefully be intercepted by one scholae, thus creating a fast and very ef-
or more small, swiftly moving mobile fective mobile field force.
armies stationed at key points in the border One of Diocletian's immediate succes-
provinces. To make such "defense-in- sors, Constantine I (reigned 307-337),
depth" strategy work, historian Arther Fer- further elaborated on these changes. Like
rill points out, the forts had to be "strong Diocletian, he divided his military into
enough to withstand attack and yet not so both mobile forces, the comitatenses
become a drain on
strongly defended as to (from comitatus), and frontier troops, the
manpower, weakening the mobile army." 35 limitanei (from limes). However, Constan-
A step in the direction of less static de- tine withdrew troops from some frontier
fenses had been taken in the 260s by the forts and used them to create several small
emperor Gallienus (reigned 253-268), mobile armies. These patrolled the fron-
who recruited extra cavalry forces for a tiers, from town to town; when
traveling
mobile army that could move independ- needed, they hurried to any new trouble
36
ently of the slow-moving main legions. spots.
Diocletian now took the idea a step fur- The actual size of these armies, as well
ther. He stationed small armies, each ac- as of Rome's overall forces in the Later
companied by detachments of cavalry, at Empire, is difficult to calculate and often
key positions on the frontiers. He also at- disputed. A realistic figure for the Em-
tached two highly trained legions to his pire's combined armies in the first half of
Supreme Commanders in
the Later Empire
The titles of Rome's supreme military lead- itary leader — the magister mititum ("master
ers in the Later Empire grew out of terms of, soldiers"). In the western Empire's last
coined in earlier centuries. For example, in century, the magistri often came to dominate
the Republic, the magister equitum ("master not only military affairs, but also their sup-
of the horse") was the principal assistant and posed masters, the emperors. This was be-
deputy of the dictator (on those rare occa- cause Roman troops, who were increasingly
sionswhen the state appointed a dictator). Germanic or otherwise foreign in character,
Augustus eliminated the position of master tended to show more allegiance to their gen-
of the horse; but in the Later Empire, Con- erals (who were often of "barbarian" extrac-
stantine I decided to revive the title. This tion themselves) than to the government.
time it referred to the leading general of And these powerful generals frequently made
Rome's cavalry, while the leader of the in- decisions on their own that were not in the
fantry was the magister peditum. Soon their best interests of the already deteriorating
titles and duties merged into one overall mil- western Roman state.
91
Ancient Rome
the fourth century is perhaps 400,000. At army units likely consisted of little more
first glance this sounds truly formidable. than a thousand infantry and five hundred
But it turns out to be much less so after cavalry. These were sometimes combined
certain realistic limitations are factored in. to form larger armies, of course; but only
First, army lists were frequently inflated rarely did generals in the Later Empire
with fictitious entries, such as the names field forces numbering in the tens of thou-
of little boys and old men attempting to sands.

draw free pay and rations. There were also
high desertion rates, spotty training, and Adrianople: A Crucial
inadequate supplies (caused in large part Military Turning Point
because of the government's shortage of The Empire's new overall military strategy
funds). of relying on frontier forts and small mobile
Finally, and as it turned out very signif- armies worked well enough as long as bar-
icantly, the military was composed of nu- barian incursions in the north were infre-
merous small forces dispersed across a quent and fairly small scale. As time went
huge realm, the individual field armies be- became both
on, however, these invasions
ing tiny in comparison to those of republi- more numerous and much larger in size.
can times. Each of Constantine's mobile About 370 a fierce nomadic people from
The emperor Gallienus (left) conceived the idea of a quick-moving mobile army; his successor
Diocletian (right) built on this concept, as did the emperor Constantine I.
92
A nineteenth-century engraving depicts the fearsome Huns on the move. A contemporary descrip-
tion of the Huns calls them "two-legged animals" who practically lived on horseback.
central Asia — the infamous Huns —swept peared repulsive and frightening even to the
into eastern Europe, forcing the Goths, Van- Germanic barbarians,
dais, Franks, Alani, and other European
tribes (whom the Romans called barbarians) [The Huns] are quite abnormally
to flee and search for new lands. The fol- savage. . . . They have squat bod-
lowing graphic description of the Huns by ies, strong limbs, and thick necks,
the fourth-century Roman historian Ammi- and are so prodigiously ugly and
anus Marcellinus explains why they ap- bent that they might be two-legged
93
Ancient Rome
Battle of Adrianople a.d. 378

First Stage:
Valens, having force-marched
his army to Adrianople, draws
up his army to attack the Gothic
laager (circle of wagons/camp)
Valens
<^ Second Stage:

Valens attacks; but soon, the
Gothic cavalry arrives and
flanks the Roman forces
Third Stage:
Roman collapse
animals. . . . Their way of life is so random, inflicting tremendous

37
rough that they have no use for fire slaughter.
or seasoned food, but live on the
roots of wild plants and the half- As the uprooted Goths and other
raw flesh of any sort of animals, groups pressed on and entered some of
which they warm a little by placing Rome's northern border provinces, the
it between their thighs and the Roman army was by now inadequate to
backs of their horses. . . . Once the task of keeping all the intruders out.
they have put their necks into some This became most painfully clear on Au-
dingy shirt they never take it off or gust 9, 378, a date that now joined those of
change it till it rots and falls to Allia and Cannae in the annals of humili-
pieces. . . . When they join battle ating Roman military defeats. The em-
they advance in packs, uttering peror Valens (reigned 364-378) attempted
their various war-cries. Being to halt the advance of some 200,000
lightly equipped and very sudden members of a branch of the Goths, the
in their movements they can delib- Visigoths, who had earlier poured across
erately scatter and gallop about at the Danube River. The opposing armies
94
met near Adrianople, in northern Greece; stretched it out. Dust rose in such
there, Valens suffered utter defeat and died clouds as to hide the sky, which rang
along with at least two-thirds of his army, with frightful shouts. . . . The bar-
perhaps as many as forty thousand men. barians poured on in huge columns,
As Ammianus described the fateful en- trampling down horse and man and
counter: crushing our ranks so as to make an
orderly retreat impossible. ... In
Amid the clashing of arms and this mutual slaughter so many were
weapons on every side . . . sounding laid low that the field was covered
the death-knell of the Roman cause, with the bodies of the slain, while
our retreating troops rallied with the groans of the dying and severely
shouts of mutual encouragement. wounded filled all who heard them
38
But, as the fighting spread like fire with abject fear.
and numbers of them were trans-

fixed by arrows and whirling When news of the catastrophe reached
javelins, they lost heart. Then the Ambrose, a leading Christian bishop,
Italy,
opposing lines came into collision called it "the massacre of all humanity,
like ships of war and pushed each the end of the world." 39 Ambrose had ex-
other to and fro, heaving under the aggerated, for this one defeat, though crip-
reciprocal motion like the waves of pling,was not enough to bring down the
the sea. Our left wing . . . gave way Empire. Yet his words bore an element
and collapsed like a broken dike. of truth. In a way the disaster at Adrianople
This left the infantry unprotected marked a crucial turning point for Rome,
and so closely huddled together that the beginning of a military-political down-
a man could hardly wield his sword ward spiral that would eventually seal its
or draw back his arm once he had fate. Thereafter, the barbarian invasions
y
Scholars Aided by the
notitia dlgnitatum
little contemporary written evi- or perhaps a bit later. Regrettably, most of
Very
dence about the military in Rome's last the information concerns officials in the
two centuries has survived. One notable western part of the realm rather the whole
exception is the Notitia Dignitatum, a list Empire, and the work does not list all of
of political and military officials and their Rome's garrisons, forts, and military units.
staffs that provides some information Still, modern scholars find the Notitia an
about the duties and military units of invaluable aid in understanding how the
each. It was compiled by an unknown per- deteriorating late Roman government and
son or persons some time around a.d. 400 army worked.
95
Ancient Rome
A Resilient Enemy:
The Vandals
Vandals were one of the most resilient later, the Vandals decided that they must find
The
and successful of the Germanic tribes who still another new home. They built a fleet of
threatened the Later Empire. Their original ships and landed in the Balearic Islands (off
homeland appears to have been northern Ger- Spain's eastern coast). Then, in 429, led by an
many, near the Baltic Sea, but by the mid- ambitious and capable man named Gaiseric,
second century a.d., they had migrated they landed in Africa. His forces swept east-
southward to the region now occupied by ward, overrunning the region's Roman
Hungary. In the years to come, they periodi- and soon Gaiseric established a
provinces;
cally raided Roman border provinces. But they new and powerful Vandal kingdom, with its
posed a much bigger threat beginning in the capital at Carthage. Not satisfied with these
early fifth century when they joined other gains, in 455 the Vandals sailed north to
Germans in crossing the Rhine River into Gaul. Italy's western coast, sacked Rome, and also
Soon, feeling pressure from other barbarian terrorized the coasts of Sicily, Sardinia, and
groups entering Gaul, the Vandals moved far- Corsica. The Vandal kingdom survived the
ther south into Spain. They began to settle western Empire's fall (in 476) and prospered
there, but in 416 the Visigoths invaded the until the 530s, when an expedition sent by
area and attacked them. About three years the eastern emperor Justinian destroyed it.
continued to mcrease, while the quality ever, as the recruitment of Germans into the
and morale of the Roman army steadily military accelerated, this policy began to
decreased. take its toll, particularly in a loss of disci-
pline, traditionally one of the Roman army's
The Barbarization greatest strengths. According to Ferrill, the
of the Military German recruits
One major reason for the continued decline
of the Roman military was that by the end of began immediately to demand great
the fourth century many of its members rewards for their service and to
were barbarians themselves. This process of show an independence that in drill,
so-called "barbarization" had begun in prior discipline and organization meant
centuries when the government had allowed catastrophe.They fought under their
Germans from the northern frontier areas to own commanders, and the
native
settle in Roman lands. Once these settlers barbaric system of discipline was in
had established themselves, they were more no way as severe as the Roman.
than willing to fight Rome's enemies, in- Eventually Roman soldiers saw no
cluding fellow Germans; and Roman lead- reason to do what barbarian troops
ers, always in need of tough military in Roman service were rewarded
recruits, took advantage of that fact. How- heavily for not doing. . . . Too long
96
and too close association with bar- also brought about significant changes in
barian warriors, as allies in the Ro- armor. Most Roman body armor in the
man army, had ruined the qualities Later Empire was either the old-style iron-
that made Roman armies great. . . . ringed mail or scale armor, consisting of
The Roman army of a.d. 440, in the rows of small, thin bronze or iron scales at-
west, had become little more than a tached to a linen or leather tunic. (The more
40
barbarian army itself. expensive lorica segmentata had been
abandoned by the mid-third century.) But
More than two centuries of barbariza- the passage of time witnessed a reduced
tion and other aspects of military evolution use even of mail and scale armor, as some
j MM ^^H
^L^n_^-J^l
^^jk
Bk'jsStJI
^^L k jk ^^^H
P^^l F$ *;"*"*
1 :'
By
Bk ^Mm "I
i^^H This infantryman of a Roman
\m 97
comitatenses protects his torso
with the scale
common in
armor that
the Later Empire.

was
Ancient Rome
soldierswore whatever they could afford grees introduced a total relaxation of disci-
tobuy or scrape together and others wore pline, the soldiers began to consider their
41
no armor at all. One reason was that the armor too heavy and seldom put it on."
government was increasingly impover- Weapons use and battle tactics also un-
ished and could not afford to supply all derwent change. Late Roman army weapons
soldiers with standardized equipment; an- included a long sword worn on the left side;
other was that the Germans, who increas- a javelin (now called the spiculum rather
ingly filled the army ranks, often viewed than the pilum); the bow and arrow; a throw-
such armor as cumbersome and unneces- ing ax (introduced by the Franks and other
sary. According to Vegetius, who lived dur- Germans); and the plumbata, a lead-
ing the Empire's last decades: "It is plain weighted dart about twenty inches long, of
that the infantry are completely exposed. which a soldier carried five attached to the
42
. . . Negligence and sloth, having by de- inside of his wooden shield. As for battle
These modern reenactors display common weapons of late Roman infantry soldiers, including
plumbatae (darts), wielded by the man at left, and the spiculum, carried by the one at right.
98
The Infantry Sword of the

Later Empire
In this excerpt from The Late Roman Army, on a baldric [a long belt worn over one
Pat Southern and Karen Dixon, scholars at the shoulder] and worn on the left side, rather
University of Newcastle upon Tyne, describe than the right [as the gladius had been.
the sword that replaced the traditional glad- Eventually, the baldric was replaced by a belt
ius for use by Roman infantrymen in the Later worn around the hips]. The blades could be
Empire. [forged and] decorated in various ways. [For
example,] pattern-welding was a process
long sword (spatha) was the dominant which involved forged strands of iron and
The
form employed by the Roman army from steel being twisted and welded together.
the late second/early third century onwards. . .The cutting edges were then welded on
.
. The sword [with a blade typically about

. . to the core, and the whole blade was filed
twenty-seven inches long] was now carried down [to the desired shape and sharpness].
tactics, the emphasis on smaller armies and duties of the average Roman soldier be-
the influence of less-disciplined German came increasingly thankless and hopeless.
battlefield organization caused the tradi- The soldiers were not only paid very little,
tional, highly organized system of cohorts but because of the government's frequent
and manipular tactics to disappear. The in- lack of money, their wages were often
fantry fought in a phalanx-like mass of months or even years in arrears, which se-
troops, though it was not as tightly organ- verely damaged morale. Serving in the mil-
ized and well-trained as an old-style pha- itary, once a prestigious and coveted goal,
lanx. In battle, two such masses crashed steadily lost its allure.
together. As the front ranks of one army tried Because fewer Roman men enlisted in
to shove back their opponents and strike at the army than had in prior, more peaceful
them with their swords, men in the rear tirnes, the government resorted to making
ranks rained volleys of arrows, javelins, service compulsory for the sons of veter-
darts, and axes onto the enemy rear ranks; ans and eventually for many others. But
meanwhile, cavalry units tried to attack the conscription remained unpopular and dif-
sides and/or rear of the enemy formation. ficult to enforce. To avoid serving, some
young men resorted to extreme measures,
The End of the Army such as amputating their own thumbs.
and the Realm "Those who tried to evade their duty were
Other problems besides barbarization con- liable to be rounded up by recruiting offi-
tributed to the decline of the military. First, cers," historian Stewart Perowne explains
as financial problems increasingly beset
both imperial and town government, as well Every estate or village, or group of
as families and individuals, the tasks and villages, had to provide so many re-
99
Ancient Rome
Barbarian Invasions
in the Fifth Century
emits every so many years. The plined, well organized and trained, tough
levy fell wholly on the rural popu- and tenacious, eager and willing to de-
lation. ... As soon as they were en- fend both family and the Roman state
rolled, recruits were branded, as a steadily deteriorated. The ongoing military
precaution against desertion. This decline, coupled with the continuing in-
fact alone shows how unpopular vasions and severe economic decay,
the service had become, and conse- caused the western Roman Empire to
quently how hard it now was to shrink drastically in size and power. (The
43
find enough recruits. eastern portion of the Empire, centered at
Constantinople, in what is now northern
Adding to the increasing shortage of man- Turkey, escaped most of the invasions and
power was a side effect of Christianity after remained largely intact; in time, it mu-
it became the official state religion in the tated into the Greek-speaking Byzantine
fourth century. Increasing numbers of Chris- Empire.) The last few western emperors
tians refused to fight, claiming it violated ruled over a pitiful realm consisting only
their moral principles. of the Italian peninsula and portions of a
As these problems grew worse and few nearby provinces.
took their toll over time, the traditional Even these lands were not safe or se-
Roman soldier and army —highly disci- cure, for claims by German tribes on Ro-
100
man 476 a German-

territory continued. In one haunting example of the often silent,
born general named Odoacer, who com- insidious process:

manded the last of all the Roman armies
in Italy, demanded that he and his sol- While the Romans were in power,
diers be granted lands in which to settle. soldiers were maintained in many
When government refused, Odoacer's
the towns at public expense to guard
men acclaimed him king of Italy. And on the frontier. But when this custom
September 4, he deposed the young em- ceased, several whole units of sol-
peror Romulus Augustulus in a bloodless diers disappeared. The men at
coup. No new emperor took the boy's Batava [on the Danube frontier] re-
place, and most later scholars came to mained at their posts, and sent a
view the event as the fall of the western delegation to Italy to find out why
Empire. they had received no pay. Some
As for the western Roman army, except days later their bodies floated
for a few regiments of Germans in Italy, it down-river and came to rest on the
had already disintegrated, forever ending banks, silent testimony to the end of
the long saga of Roman warfare. Scholars Rome's ability to keep her Empire
44
Pat Southern and Karen Dixon describe intact and to defend her frontiers.
101
Legions of the
Early Empire
Notes: Legion: name of legion. Formed/Raised by: year recruited and by whom. Cognomina: what the legion's title means.
Emblem: the legion's symbol. A ? indicates incomplete or unknown data.
Legion Formed/ Cognomina Emblem Notes

Raised by
I Adiutrix 68 A.D./Nero "Supportive" Trireme Recruited from sailors
I Germanica 48 B.c?/Caesar "Service in Germania" 7 Disbanded 69 a.d.,
revolt of Civilis
I Italica 66/67 A.D./Nero "Recruited from Italians" 7
I Minervia 83 A.D./Domitian "Sacred to Minerva" Minerva
I Parthica 197 A.D./Severus "Service in Parthia" Dragon Raised for Severus's

Parthian War
II Adiutrix 69 A.D./Vespasian "Supportive" Trireme Recruited from sailors
II Augusta 43 B.C.?/ After Augustus Capricorn Also called II Gallica and

Augustus II Sabina
II Italica 165 A.D./ "Recruited from Italians" ? Raised for Marcomanic War
M. Aurelius
II Parthica 197 A.D./Severus "Service in Parthia" Dragon Stationed near Rome
after Civil War of
a.d. 194-197
II Traiana Fortis 101 a.d./ Trajan Raised by Trajan/ "Strong" ? Raised for Dacian Wars
III Augusta 43 B.C.?/ After Augustus Pegasus

Augustus
III Cyrenaica 30 B.C.?/ Service in North Africa 7

Augustus
ni Gallica 48 B.c.?/Caesar "Service in Gaul" Bull
III Italica Concors 168 a.d./ "Recruited from Italians" ?

M. Aurelius
III Parthica 197 A.D./Severus "Service in Parthia" Dragon Raised for Severus's
Parthian War
102
Legions of the Early Empire
1 <egk>n Formed/ Cognomina Emblem Notes

Raised by
IV Macedonica 48b.c-.A> "Service in Macedonia" Bull, Reconstituted as IV

Capricorn Flavia Felix, 70 a.d.
IV Flavia Firma 70 A.D./ "Steadfast to Flavians" 9
Vespasian
IV Scythica 30 B.C. V "For victories Capricorn Disbanded 68 a.d., revolt

Augustus over Scythians" of Civilis
V Alaudae 52 B.C. /Caesar Celtic for "The Larks" Elephant Destroyed/disbanded 86 a.d.?
V Macedonica 43B.c./Caesar "Service in Macedonia" Bull Longest continually existing

military unit in history
(43 B.c-650 a.d.)
VI Ferrata 52 B.c./Caesar "Ironclad," (Gemini)

indicates endurance Wolf, Twins
VI Victrix 41-40 B.c./Caesai "Victorious" Bull Also titled VI Hispaniensis

VII Claudia 59 B.c.?/Caesar "Loyalty to Bull
Pia Fidelis Emperor Claudius"
VII Gemina 70 A.D.?/Galba "Twin" Gemini Two legions from one
VII Hispania 68 A.D./Nero "Of Hispania" 7 Split to form VII Gemina
VIII Augusta 59 B.c.?/Caesar Commemorating Bull Originally titled Gallica,

Augustus's victory in Spain Mutinensis
IX Hispania ?/Caesar "Of Hispania" 7 Disbanded 2nd century

A.D. (165 A.D.?)
X Fretensis 59 B.c./Caesar "Of the Straits" BullTrireme, Title refers to participation
(of Messena) Dolphin in amphibious operations
X Gemina 59 B.c./Caesar "Twin" Bull Amalgamation of two legions
XI Claudia ?/Augustus "Loyalty to Neptune

Pia Fidelis Emperor Claudius"
XII Fulminata 58 B.c.?/Pompey? "Lightning Hurler" Eagle w/

thunderbolt
Xni Gemina ?/Augustus "Twin" Lion Amalgamation of two legions

Pia Fidelis
XPV Gemina ?/Augustus "Twin" Capricorn Amalgamation of two legions

Martia Victrix "Martial and Victorious" for
victory over Boudicca. 00 \ i>
XV Apollinaris 41/40 B.C./ "Sacred to Apollo" 7

Augustus
XV Primigenia 39 A.D./Caligula After goddess 7 Disbanded 70 a.d.,
Fortuna Primigenia revolt of Civilis
XVI Gallica 41-40 B.C./ "Service in Gaul" Reconstituted as XVI

Augustus Flavia Firma in 7(1 i. 1
XVII 41-40 B.C./ 7 ? Destroyed in 9 a.d. a!
Augustus Teuterburgerwald
xvm 41-40 B.C./ ? ? i >e8troyed in

{
> a.d. a)
!03
Ancient Rome
Legion Formed/ Cognomina Emblem Notes

Raised by
XIX 41-40 B.C./ ? ? Destroyed in 9 a.d. at
XX Valeria 41-40 B.C./ "Valiant and Victorio Boar Titled Victrix after defeat
Victrix Augustus of Boudicca, 60 a.d.
XXI Rapax 41-40 B.C./ "Grasping" Capricorn Destroyed in the Dobruja

Augustus (as a bird of prey) under Domitian
XXII Deiotariana 25 B.C.?/ Raised by Deiotarus, ? Destroyed or disbanded

Deiotarus king of Galatia 135 A.D.
XXH Primigenia 39 A.D./Caligula After goddess

Fortuna Primigenia
XXX Ulpia Victrix 101 a.d./ Trajan After Marcus Title Victrix added after
Ulpia Traianus distinguished conduct

in Dacian Wars
Praetorian Guard 27 B.C./ After Praetors: early Scorpion Disbanded by Constantine,

Augustus Republic magistrates 312 A.D.
Sources: Parker: The Roman Legions; Webster: The Roman Imperial Army; La Bohec: The Imperial Roman Army.
104
Distribution
of the Legions
a.d. 23 to 138
This table shows the increasing importance of the Danube River frontier as legions were strategically redeployed to the
provinces of Pannonia and Moesia to meet the increasing barbarian threat. As a province became more Romanized it
needed fewer legions.
Province 23 A.D. 68 A.D. 106 A.D. 138 AJ).
Germania Inferior I Germanica I Germanica I Minervia I Minervia

V Alaudae V Alaudae VI Victrix XXII Primigenia
XX Valeria XV Primigenia
XXIRapax XVI Gallica
Germania Superior II Augusta PV Macedonica VIE Augusta VIII Augusta

Xm Gemina XXIRapax XXIJ Primigenia XXX Ulpia Victrix
XTV Gemina XXII Primigenia
XVI Gallica
Dalmatia XI Hispania XI Claudia Pia Fidelis
VTI Macedonica
Moesia IV Scythica IU Gallica IV Flavia Felix IV Flavia Firma

V Macedonica VII Claudia Pia FidelisVU Claudia Pia Fidelis VII Claudia RE
XXX Ulpia Victrix I Italica
II Triana V Macedonica
I Italica XI Claudia P.K
V Macedonica
XI Claudia Pia Fidelis
Pannonia VTH Augusta X Gemina II Aduitrix I Aduitrix P.F.
IX Hispania XID Gemina X Gemina II Aduitrix I'l
XV Apollonaris VIII Augusta XIV Gemina \ ( icmina

XV Apollonaris XIV Gemina M.V
105
Ancient Rome
Province 23 A.D. 68 A.D. 106 A.D. 138 A.D.
Syria Ill Gallica IV Scythia m Gallica IH Gal-

lica
VI Ferrata VI Ferrata P/ Scythica rv Scythica

X Fretensis X Fretensis VI Ferrata XVI Flavia Firma
XII Fulminata
Judea V Macedonica X FretensisX

Fretensis
XII Fulminata VI Ferrata
XV Apollonaris
Egypt III Cyrenaica III Cyrenaica III Cyrenaica n Triana Fortis

XXII Deiotariana XXII Deiotariana XX3I Deiotariana
Africa III Augusta III Augusta in Augusta HI Augusta
Hispania rV Macedonica VI Martia Victrix VH Gemina Vn Gemina

VI Martia Victrix
X Gemina
Italy Praetorian Guard Praetorian Guard Praetorian Guard

Praetorian Guard
XTV Gemina Martia V
Britain II Augusta n Augusta n Augusta

IX Hispania DC Hispania DC Hispania
XX Valeria Victrix XX Valeria Victrix XX Valeria Victrix
Lugdunum I Italica
(Imperial Mint)
Dacia I Adiutrix Pia Fidelis Xm Gemina

Xm Gemina
Cappadocia Xn Fulminata XII Fulminata
XVI Flavia Firma XV Apollonaris
Arabia Peteria ETI Cyrenaica
Total 25 28 30 29
106
Notes
Introduction: Rome's Unique 8. Livy, History of Rome, in Livy: The
Approach to Warfare Early History of Rome, pp. 383-84.
1. Polybius, The Histories, trans. Ian
Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin, Chapter 2: The Development
1979, p. 415.
of Manipular Tactics
2. Michael Grant, History of Rome. New 9. Keppie, Making of the Roman Army, p.
19.
York: Scribner's, 1978, pp. 65-66.
10. Polybius, Histories, p. 320.
Chapter 1: The Early Roman 11. Polybius, Histories, p. 321.
Army 12. Connolly, Greece and Rome at War, p.

3. Peter Connolly, Greece and Rome at 142.
War. London: Macdonald, 1998, pp. 13. Polybius, Histories, pp. 273-74.
92-93. 14. Polybius, Histories, p. 509.
4. John Warry, Warfare in the Classical 15. Keppie, Making of the Roman Army, p.
World. Norman: University of Okla- 19.
homa Press, 1995, p. 37.
16. Connolly, Greece and Rome at War,
5. Quoted in Kenneth J. Atchity, ed., The pp. 205-206.
Classical Greek Reader. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 43. Chapter 3: The Professional
6. Livy, The History of Rome from Its Imperial Military Forces
Foundation. Books 1-5 published as 17. Plutarch, Life of Marius (part of the
Livy: The Early History of Rome, trans. larger Parallel Lives), in Fall of the Ro-
Aubrey de Selincourt. New York: Pen- man Republic: Six Lives by Plutarch,
guin, 1971, p. 81. trans. Rex Warner. New York: Penguin,

1972, p. 25.
7. Lawrence Keppie, The Making of the
Roman Army: From Republic to Em- 18. Polybius, Histories, p. 513.
pire. New York: Barnes and Noble, 19. Vegetius, On the Roman Military.
1984, p. 14. quoted in Michael Grant, The Army oj
107
Ancient Rome
the Caesars. New York: M. Evans, Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the
1974, p. xxvii. Mediterranean in Ancient Times.

20. Vegetius, On the Roman Military, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
quoted in G.R. Watson, The Roman Press, 1991, p. 157.
Soldier. London: Thames and Hudson, 30. Quoted in Casson, Ancient Mariners,
1969, p. 57. p. 211.
21. Michael Simkins, Warriors of Rome: 31. Polybius, Histories, p. 63.
An Illustrated History of the Roman 32. Casson, Ancient Mariners, pp. 213-14.
Legions. London: Blandford, 1988, pp. 33. Casson, Ancient Mariners, p. 101.
22-23. 34. Connolly, Greece and Rome at War,
p. 273.
Chapter 4: Fortifications and
Siege Warfare Chapter 6: The Decline and
22. Connolly, Greece and Rome at War, Fall of Rome's Military
p. 274. The Fall of the Roman
35. Arther Ferrill,
23. Aeneas Tacticus, On the Defense of Empire: The Military Explanation.

Fortified Positions, quoted in Sidney New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986,
Toy, Castles: Their Construction and p. 45.
History. New York: Dover, 1984, p. 17. 36. The exact nature and chronology of
24. Brian Dobson, "The Empire," in Sir
Rome's frontier forts and mobile
armies is still a matter of debate
John Hackett, ed., Warfare in the An-
cient World. New York: Facts On File,
among historians. Some argue that
the existence of a defense-in-depth
1989, p. 218.
strategy is uncertain because archae-
25. Graham Webster, The Roman Imperial
ological evidence for it is scanty. See,
Army. Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble,
for example, Averil Cameron's The
1985, p. 204.
Later Roman Empire: a.d. 284-430
26. Connolly, Greece and Rome at War, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer-
pp. 292-93. sity Press, 1993), pp. 141^13.
27. Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic 37. Ammianus Marcellinus, History, pub-
Wars, in War Commentaries of Caesar, lished as The Later Roman Empire,
trans. Rex Warner. New York: New a.d. 354-378, trans, and ed. Walter
American Library, 1960, pp. 172-73. Hamilton. New York: Penguin, 1986,
pp. 411-12.
Chapter 5: Naval Weapons and 38. Ammianus, History, p. 435.
Tactics 39. Quoted in Michael Grant, The Roman
28. Polybius, Histories, p. 62. Emperors. New York: Barnes and No-
29. Lionel Casson, The Ancient Mariners: ble, 1997, p. 264.
108
Notes
40. Ferrill, Fall of the Roman Empire, may have been the heads of javelins.
pp. 84-85, 140. 43. Stewart Perowne, The End of the

41. Quoted Simon Macdowall, Late Ro-
in Roman World. New York: Thomas Y.
man Infantrymen, 236-565 a.d. Lon- Crowell, 1966, p. 21.
don: Osprey, 1994, p. 14. 44. Pat Southern and Karen R. Dixon, The
42. A few scholars dispute that plumbatae Late Roman Army. New Haven, CT:
were darts, suggesting instead that they Yale University Press, 1996, p. 55.
109
Glossary
agrimensores: Surveyors. so that, none of the besieged can es-
alae sociorum: "Wings of allies"; in cape and no one can get in to reinforce
Rome's republican army, legions and or supply them.
other units composed of noncitizen al- cohort (cohors): A unit of a Roman army
lies. legion, usually consisting of about five
aquilifer: A soldier who bore his legion's hundred men, used in the late Repub-
eagle (the aquila) and other standards. lic and thereafter until Rome's last two
centuries.
as (plural asses): A copper coin worth % of
a sestertius. cohortes urbanae: "Urban cohorts";
auxilia: Military forces, consisting of
Rome's police force, instituted by
noncitizens recruited from the

the emperor Augustus.
provinces, that supplemented the regu- comitatenses: In the Later Empire, mo-
lar Roman legions. bile armies stationed in towns.
berm: In a fort, castle, or defensive fortifi- comitatus: In the Later Empire, the em-
cation, the space between the moat peror's traveling court.
and the outer wall. consul: In the Roman Republic, one of
carpentarii: Carpenters. two jointly serving elected chief gov-
centuries: Small units within a Roman le- ernment administrators, who also com-
gion, at first containing a hundred men manded the armies; their office was
each and later containing eighty men the consulship, and matters pertaining
each; a naval century consisted of the to it or them were termed consular.
crew of one warship. corvus: "Crow" or "raven"; a naval war-

centurion: The lowest ranking senior offi- fare device, consisting of a wooden
cer who commanded a century. Con- gangway with a spike protruding
sidered to be the backbone of the army. from the end, which stood upright on
circumvallation: A basic siege technique a Roman deck until dropped onto an
consisting of surrounding a town or enemy deck. The spike penetrated the
fortress with troops and fortifications, deck and held the ships together
110
Glossary
while Roman soldiers ran across and lapidarii: Stonemasons.

boarded the other vessel. legatus: "Legate"; in the mid to late Re-
cuirass: Chest armor. public, an officer in command of one
denarius (plural denarii): A silver coin or more legions.
worth x
/a of an aureas (a common gold legatus legionis: "Legionary legate"; from
coin). Augustus's time on, a military officer
equites: ''Knights"; Roman businessmen in command of a single legion.
and other well-to-do individuals who legion: An army battalion, consisting at
comprised a non-land-based aristoc- first of about 3,000 men, then about
racy second in prestige only to the
4,200, and later about 5,000 or more.
landowning patricians; also, the caval-
legionary: An ordinary Roman soldier.
rymen drawn from this class.
librarii: Clerks.
forum: A main square, used for
city's
Liburnians (liburnae): Small, fast, highly
public gatherings and as a market-
maneuverable warships used by the
place; also, the marketplace of a Ro-
man army camp. Romans, especially in their provincial
fleets.
garrison: A group of soldiers manning a
limes: Frontier zones or borders.
fort or other installation.
limitanei: In the Later Empire, troops sta-
gladius: The short sword wielded by Ro-
man soldiers.
tioned on the frontiers.
gubernator: A Roman naval officer in

magister equitum: "Master of cavalry"; in
charge of a ship's steersmen. the Later Empire, the commander of

the horsemen of a mobile army.
harpax: A grapnel (hook) hurled at an en-
emy ship by a catapult mounted on the magister peditum: "Master of infantry"; in
deck of a Roman ship, with the object the Later Empire, the commander of
of holding fast the other ship so that it
the foot soldiers of a mobile army.
could be boarded. maniple: A tactical fighting unit, usually
hastati: In Rome's mid-republican army, consisting of about 1 20 men, used in
young soldiers who fought in the first

Rome's early and mid-republican
line of infantry. armies.
hoplite: A heavily armored infantry sol- manipular tactic: A basic combination of
dier who fought in the phalanx forma- battlefield maneuvers in which the Ro-
tion. man maniples formed lines, each of

which engaged in a separate charge
immunis (plural immunes): A soldier who
against the enemy.
was excused (and therefore immune)
from normal daily military duties be- navarch: The commander of a Roman
cause he possessed a special skill. naval squadron.
Ill
Ancient Rome
oligarchy: A government controlled by a three banks of oars, with two men to
small elite group of individuals. an oar in the upper two banks and one
optio: A Roman army sergeant who was man to an oar in the lowest bank.
second in command to a centurion. sagitarii: Arrow makers.

patricians: Landowners who comprised scholae: In the Later Empire, cavalry
Rome's wealthiest and most privileged forces guarding the emperor's travel-
class. ing court.
Pax Romana: "Roman Peace"; the highly scutum: A Roman legionary's originally
peaceful and prosperous era initiated oval and later rectangular shield. In the
by Augustus, lasting from about 30 third century a.d., the scutum was
B.C. to about a.d. 180. abandoned as oval shields once more
phalanx: A battle formation introduced by came into general use.
the Greeks and adopted by the early Senate: The Roman legislative branch,
Romans. Ranks (lines) of infantry sol- made up of well-to-do aristocrats. It
diers stood one behind the other, their directed foreign policy, advised the
upraised shields and thrusting spears consuls, and in general controlled the
creating a formidable barrier. state during the Republic.
pilum:A throwing spear (javelin). sestertius (plural sestertii or sesterces): A

plumbata: A lead-weighted dart thrown or silver or bronze coin originally equal
slung by soldiers in the Later Empire. to 2.5 asses and later 4, and also % of a
portcullis: A heavy door made of wood denarius.
and iron. Raised and lowered by ropes signifer: A soldier who bore his century's
and winches, it protected the gate of a standards.
fortress or wall. spatha: A long sword wielded by infantry

primus pilus: "First spear"; the highest- soldiers in the Later Empire.
ranking centurion in a Roman legion. spiculum: The most common throwing

principes: In Rome's mid-republican spear used by Roman soldiers in the
army, soldiers in the prime of their Later Empire, it was similar to the
life, who fought in the second line older pilum.
of infantry. standards: The emblems, flags, or colors
quincunx: The pattern of dots dis- of an army or army unit, usually raised
played for the number five on dice on a pole as a rallying point for the sol-
cubes; also used to describe the diers.
checkerboard arrangement of the stipendium: A soldier's pay.

Roman maniples on the battlefield tesserarius: A sort of low-ranking sergeant
during republican times. who made sure the Roman legionaries
quinquereme: A warship likely having were doing their jobs.
112
Glossary
triarii: In Rome's mid-republican army, velites: In Rome's mid-republican army,

older veterans who fought in the third light-armed skirmishers who threw
line of infantry. javelins at the enemy and then re-
tribune (tribunus): "Tribal officer"; one of treated behind the infantry.
the six elected officers who ran an veterinarii: Veterinarians; their facility
army legion; they ranked below a within a Roman army camp was the
legate but above a centurion. veterinarium.
trierarch: The captain of a Roman warship. vigiles: Firefighters who doubled as night
trireme: A warship having three banks of police, a paramilitary force introduced
oars, with one man to each oar. by Augustus for the city of Rome.
113
For Further Reading
Isaac Asimov, The Roman Empire. Don Nardo, The Roman Republic and The
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1967. A Roman Empire, San Diego: Lucent
fine, clearly written general overview Books, 1994; The Age ofAugustus, San
of the main events of the Empire, in- Diego: Lucent Books, 1996; Greek and
cluding various battles and other Roman Mythology and Life in Ancient
highlights of Roman warfare. Rome, San Diego: Lucent Books,
Phil R. Cox and Annabel Spenceley, Who 1997; Life of a Roman San Slave,
Were the Romans? New York: EDC Diego: Lucent Books, 1998; and The
Publications, 1994. An impressive, Ancient Romans, San Diego: Lucent
well-illustrated introduction to the Ro- Books, 2000. These comprehensive but
mans, presented in a question-and- easy-to-read volumes provide an
answer format and aimed at basic overview of Roman life and history for
readers. junior high and high school readers (as
Jill Hughes, Imperial Rome. New York: well as ambitious younger readers).
Gloucester Press, 1985. This nicely il- Jonathan Rutland, See Inside a Roman
lustrated introduction to the Roman Town. New York: Barnes and Noble,
Empire will appeal to grade school 1986. A very attractively illustrated in-
readers. troduction to some major concepts of
Anthony Marks and Graham Tingay, Roman civilization for basic readers.
The Romans. London: Usborne, Judith Simpson, Ancient Rome. New York:
1990. An excellent summary of the Time-Life Books, 1997. One of the
main aspects of Roman history, life, latest entries in Time-Life's library of
and arts, supported by hundreds of picture books about the ancient world,
beautiful and accurate drawings re- this one is beautifully illustrated with
constructing Roman times. Aimed attractive and appropriate photographs
at basic readers but highly recom- and paintings. The general but well-
mended for anyone interested in written text is aimed at intermediate
Roman civilization. young readers.
114
Major Works
Consulted
Modern Sources cient world. Highly recommended.
M.C. Bishop and J.C. Coulston, Roman Arther The Fall of the Roman
Ferrill,
Military Equipment. Princes Risbor- Empire: The Military Explanation.

ough, England: Shire Publications, New York: Thames and Hudson,
1989. A very useful summary of Ro- 1986. In this excellent work, written
man arms and other military materi- in a straightforward style, Ferrill
als. supports the position that Rome fell
Lionel Casson, The Ancient Mariners: mainly because its army grew in-
Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the creasingly less disciplined and for-
Mediterranean in Ancient Times. midable in the Empire's last two
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University centuries, while at the same time the
Press, 1991. This enduring and pop- overall defensive strategy of the em-
ular book by a fine classical scholar perors was ill conceived and con-
contains several useful chapters on tributed to the ultimate fall.
Roman ships, including warships. Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of
Casson includes a number of Eng- the Roman Empire. First published
lish translations of letters written by 1776-1788. Among the better mod-
Roman sailors. ern editions are a seven-volume ver-
Peter Connolly, Greece and Rome at sion edited by the noted historian J.B.
War. London: Macdonald, 1998. A Bury (London: Methuen, 1909-1914;
highly informative and useful vol- later published in three volumes
ume by one of the finest historians of New York: Heritage Press, 1946), and
ancient military affairs. Connolly, a three-volume version edited by
whose stunning paintings adorn this David Womersley (New York: Pen-
and his other books, is also the fore- guin, 1994). Gibbon's masterwork
most modern illustrator of the an- contains a wealth of material about
115
Ancient Rome
the Roman army's legions, leaders, tles in the late Republic and early
campaigns, and battles. Bury and Empire.
Womersley provide commentary up- Simon Macdowall, Late Roman In-
dating Gibbon's information in light fantrymen, 236-565 a.d. London:
made since his time.
of discoveries Osprey, 1994. This well-illustrated
Michael Grant, The Army of the Caesars. volume offers a detailed look at how
New York: M. Evans, 1974. A very Roman infantrymen dressed, trained,
informative volume that examines marched, and fought in the Empire's
the evolving Roman army from the last precarious centuries.
days of Marius in the late Republic Kurt Raaflaub and Nathan Rosenstein,
to the much inferior Roman military eds., War and Society in the Ancient
machine of the Later Empire. and Medieval Worlds. Cambridge,

Sir John Hackett, ed., Warfare in the An- MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.
cient World. New York: Facts On An excellent collection of essays by
File, 1989. An excellent analysis of noted military historians, each sum-
the weapons, siege devices, and mil- marizing the basic approach to and
itary customs and strategies of the methods of warfare by an ancient
major ancient cultures, each covered people. The essay on republican
by a world-class The sec-
historian. Rome is by Rosenstein, of Ohio
tions on Rome include "The Early State University at Columbus; the
Roman Army" and "The Roman one on imperial Rome is by Brian
Army of the Age of Polybius," by Campbell, of Queen's University of
Peter Connolly; "The Roman Army Belfast.
of the Later Republic," by Lawrence Nick Sekunda, The Roman Army,
Keppie (author of The Making of the 200-104 B.C. London: Osprey, 1996.
Roman Army; see below); "The Em- This nicely illustrated volume by a
pire," by Brian Dobson; and "The highly respected scholar goes into
Late-Roman Empire," by Roger great detail about Roman army per-
Tomlin. sonnel, uniforms, weapons, and tac-
Lawrence Keppie, The Making of the tics in the transitional period of the
Roman Army: From Republic to second century B.C., including the
Empire. New York: Barnes and No- major changes made by Marius in
ble, 1984. Keppie, a noted scholar 107-104 B.C. A must for military
and archaeologist, begins with a buffs.
fine overview of Rome's early mil- Michael Simkins, The Roman Army from
itary development, then goes into Caesar to Trajan: An Illustrated Mil-
considerable detail on Roman sol- itary History of the Roman Legions.
diers, military equipment, and bat- London: Osprey, 1984. The weapons,
116
Major Works Consulted
uniforms, camps, and battle tactics of epic Punic Wars, in which Rome
Roman soldiers during the early Em- squared off against the powerful mar-
pire are highlighted in this nicely il- itime empire of Carthage.
lustrated volume.
Ancient Sources
Pat Southern and Karen R. Dixon, The
Ammianus Marcellinus, History, pub-
Late Roman Army. New Haven, CT:
lished as The Later Roman Empire,
Yale University Press, 1996. This
a.d. 354-378. Trans, and ed. Walter
well-written, scholarly volume exam-
Hamilton. New York: Penguin, 1986.
ines the gradual, nearly three-century-
Kenneth J. Atchity, ed., The Classical
long decline of the Roman army,
Greek Reader. New York: Oxford
beginning with the events of the "cen-
University Press, 1996.
tury of crisis" (the third century B.C.).
Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Gal-
Included are illuminating sections on
lic Wars and Commentaries on the
weapons factories, fortifications, siege
Civil Wars, published as War Com-
warfare, and troop morale.
mentaries of Caesar. Trans. Rex
G.R. Watson, The Roman Soldier. Lon-
don: Thames and Hudson, 1969. One
Warner. New York: New American
Library, 1960.
of the better of the many books on the
Dio Cassius, Roman History, published
Roman army, this one contains much
as The Roman History: The Reign of
detailed information about how the
Augustus. Trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert.
troops were recruited, their training,
pay, weapons, camps, and so on.
New York: Penguin, 1987.
Graham Webster, The Roman Imperial

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman An-
Army. Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble, tiquities. 7 vols. Trans. Earnest Cary.
1985. A distinguished former Univer-

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1963.
sity of Birmingham scholar, Webster
delivers an information-packed study Josephus, The Jewish War. Trans. G.A.
of the army as it evolved during the Williamson; rev. E. Mary Small-

Empire. Includes very useful chapters wood. New York: Penguin, 1970,
on frontier systems, camps and forts, 1981.
and peaceful activities engaged in by Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold, eds.,
the soldiers. Roman Civilization, Sourcebook I: The
Terence Wise, Armies of the Carthagin- Republic, and Roman Civilization.
ian Wars, 265-146 B.C. London: Os- Sourcebook II: The Empire. New York:
prey, 1996. Another handsome and Harper and Row, 1966.
useful book in Osprey's series on an- Livy, The History of Rome from Its foun-
cient warfare, this one concentrates dation. Books 1-5 published as Livy:
on the Roman military during the The Early History of Rome. Trans.
117
Ancient Rome
Aubrey de Selincourt. New York: Pen- of the Roman Republic: Six Lives by
guin, 1971; books 21-30 published as Plutarch. Trans. Rex Warner. New
Livy: The War with Hannibal. Trans. York: Penguin, 1972; and Makers of
Aubrey de Selincourt. New York: Pen- Rome: Nine Lives by Plutarch. Trans.
guin, 1972; books 31-45 published as Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Pen-
Livy: Rome and the Mediterranean. guin, 1965.
Trans. Henry Bettenson. New York: Polybius, The Histories. Trans. Ian
Penguin, 1976. Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin,
Plutarch, Parallel Lives, excerpted in Fall 1979.
118
Additional Works
Consulted
Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins, Hand- Rome. New York: American Heritage,
book to Life in Ancient Rome. New 1975.
York: Facts On File, 1994. Brian Caven, The Punic Wars. New York:
Paul G. Bahn, ed., The Cambridge Illus- Barnes and Noble, 1992.
trated History of Archaeology. New T.J. Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome.
York: Cambridge University Press, London: Routledge, 1995.
1996. Tim Cornell and John Matthews, Atlas of
Gavin de Beer, Hannibal: Challenging the Roman World. New York: Facts On
Rome 's Supremacy. New York: Viking File, 1982.
Press, 1969. Michael Crawford, The Roman Republic.

Arthur E.R. Boak, Manpower Shortage Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
and the Fall of the Roman Empire in Press, 1992.
the West. 1955; reprint, Westport, CT: Roy W. Davies, Service in the Roman
Greenwood Press, 1974. Army. Ed. David Breeze and Valerie A.
Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, Maxfield. New York: Columbia Uni-
a.d. 150-750. New York: Harcourt versity Press, 1989.
Brace, 1971. Walter Goffart, Barbarians and Romans,

J.B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Em- a.d. 418-584: The Techniques of Ac-
pire, 395-565, 2 vols. New York: commodation. Princeton, NJ: Prince-
Dover, 1957. ton University Press, 1980.
, The Invasion of Europe by the Michael Grant, Caesar. London: Weiden-
Barbarians. New York: Norton, 1967. feld and Nicolson, 1974.
Averil Cameron, The Later Roman Em- , The Fall of the Roman Empire.
pire: a.d. 284-430. Cambridge, MA: New York: Macmillan, 1990.
Harvard University Press, 1993. , History of Rome. New York:
Lionel Casson, Daily Life in Ancient Scribner's, 1978.
119
Ancient Rome
, The Roman Emperors. New York: Batsford, 1981.

Barnes and Noble, 1997. Stewart Perowne, The End of the Roman
P.A. Holder, The Roman Army in Britain. World. New York: Thomas Y Crowell,
London: Batsford, 1982. 1966.
A.H.M. Jones, Constantine and the Con- Justine Davis Randers-Pehrson, Barbar-
version of Europe. Toronto: University ians and Romans: The Birth Struggle
of Toronto Press, 1979. of Europe, a.d. 400-700. Norman:
, The Later Roman Empire, University of Oklahoma Press, 1983.
284-602. 3 vols, 1964; reprint, Nor- Boris Rankov, Guardians of the Roman
man: University of Oklahoma Press, Empire. London: Osprey, 1994.
1975. W.L. Rodgers, Greek and Roman Naval
Archer Jones, The Art of War in the West- Warfare. Annapolis, MD: Naval Insti-
ern World. New York: Oxford Univer- tute Press, 1964.
sity Press, 1987. Michael Simkins, Warriors of Rome: An Il-
John Keegan, A History of Warfare. New lustrated History of the Roman Le-
York: Random House, 1993. gions. London: Blandford, 1988.
Phillip A. Kildahl, Gaius Marius. New Chester G. Starr, The Influence of Sea
York: Twayne, 1968. Power on Ancient History. New York:
J.F. Lazenby, The First Punic War: A Mili- Oxford University Press, 1989.
tary History. Stanford: Stanford Uni- , The Roman Imperial Navy, 31
versity Press, 1996. b.c.-a.d. 324. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Uni-
Edward N. Luttwak, The Grand Strategy of versity Press, 1941. 2nd ed., Cam-
the Roman Empire. Baltimore: Johns bridge: Heffe, 1960.
Hopkins University Press, 1976. Sidney Toy, Castles: Their Construction
Ramsay MacMullen, Roman Govern- and History. New York: Dover, 1984.
ment's Response to Crisis: a.d. F.W. Walbank, The Awful Revolution: The
235-337. New Haven, CT: Yale Uni- Decline of the Roman Empire in the
versity Press, 1976. West. Toronto: University of Toronto

E.W. Marsden, Greek and Roman Artillery. Press, 1969.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969. John Warry, Warfare in the Classical
Valerie A. Maxfield, The Military Decora- World. Norman: University of Okla-
tions of the Roman Army. London: homa Press, 1995.
120
Index
Actium (battle), 39, 51 centurions, 45, 49, 65-66, 86
admirals, 85 discipline of, 11,89,98, 100
see also navy drills, 52, 89, 98, 100
Adrianople (battle), 94-96 hoplites, 16, 17, 20
Agrigentum, 68 infantry, 17, 31
Agrippa, Marcus, 51,85 leadership of, 49, 88-90
Alani, 93
mobility of, 92
Alesia (fortress), 69-72
officers, 45, 49, 51
Allia (battle), 25-27, 28
organization of, 11, 33, 99
Ambrose (Christian bishop), 95
pay for, 45
Ammianus, Marcellinus, 95
phalanx, 20-23, 24, 28, 39
amphitheater, 66, 67
salaries for, 45
Antoninus Pius (Roman emperor), 63,
skirmishers, 29
88
slingers, 46
Antony, Mark, 45, 51, 76
training, 51-54,92
armor, 46, 97-98
tribunes, 15, 49
see also clothing
army see also battle tactics; clothing;
archers, 48, 85 weapons

artillery, 71, 72 assassinations, 57
barracks, 65 assault. See siege warfare

bodyguards, 44, 55 Augustus (Roman emperor), 46, 50,
brutality of, 11-12 60, 80, 88
camps, 64-65 Averni (or Arverni), 68

cavalry, 15, 22, 46, 91
centuries, 15, 30 barbarians, 89-90, 91,93
121
Ancient Rome
barbarization, 96-99 Cleopatra VII (queen of Egypt), 45,

bathhouses, 65, 66-67 51
battle formations, 20-23, 28, 36, 53 clothing
battle tactics, 31, 36, 55, 99 armor, 17, 18-20,30-31

ben Ya'ir, Eleazar, 73 baldric (belt), 99
blockades, 69 cuirass (breastplate), 17, 55-56, 57
see also siege warfare greave (leg protector), 17, 31

Britain, 55, 60 helmet, 17-18,29,31
Byzantine Empire, 100 mail, 46
shield, 18-19, 20, 28, 57
Caerleon, 67 cohorts, 46
Caesar, Julius, 45, 51, 69-71 see also urban cohorts
Caligula (Roman emperor), 57 Colosseum, 67, 77
Camillus, Marcus Furius, 28 Commentaries on the Gallic Wars
Cannae (battle), 33, 35-38 (Caesar), 69-71
Cape Echnomus (naval battle) 84 Commodus (Roman emperor), 57

Caracella (Roman emperor), 45 Connolly, Peter, 20, 31, 41-42, 60,
Carnantum, 66 69,85
Carthage, 12, 33, 75, 78 conquests. See Roman civilization,
Carthaginians, 33, 35-39, 84 conquests

Casson, Lionel, 75-76, 82-83 conscription, 99-100
catapults, 71,85 Constantine I (Roman emperor), 91,
see also siege warfare 92
cavalry, 15, 22, 46, 91 Constantinople, 100
ceremonies, 21-22, 39 consuls, 33, 49
charge, 31 Corinth, 12
Christianity, 100 corvus (naval device), 79, 83, 84, 85
circumvallation, 68-69 crewmen. See sailors
see also siege warfare cuirass, 31
city-state, 44 Cynoscephalae (battle), 40^2

class system, 23-24
see also patricians Danube River, 63
Claudius (Roman emperor), 57 decline. See Roman civilization, de-
122
Index
cline of Gauls, 25-27, 68

desertion, from military, 92 Germans, 89, 91,99-100
Dio Cassius, 39 gladiator fights, 67
Diocletian (Roman emperor), 63, 90, gods and goddesses, 82
91,92 Goths, 93, 94-95
discipline, 89, 98, 100 Grant, Michael, 13
ditches, 63, 64 grapnel (hooks), 85
Dixon, Karen, 99, 101 see also naval tactics
Dobson, Brian, 62-63 Greeks, 33
Domitian (Roman emperor), 45
draft. See conscription Hadrian (Roman emperor), 60, 88
Hadrian's Wall, 62-63
elephants, 40, 42 Hannibal, 33, 35-37
Etruscans, 15, 16-17, 25 horsemen. See cavalry
Huns, 93-94
Ferrill, Arther, 90
firefighters, 58-59 immunes (Roman officers), 49
Flamininus, Titus Quinctius, 40 infantry, 17, 31
Flavius Silva, 73 Isis, 82

formations. See battle formations
fortifications, 38-39, 60, 63, 64, 68 Jerusalem, 74
fortresses. See fortifications Josephus, 72
forts. See fortifications Judaea, 72
forum, 66
Franks, 93, 98 Keppie, Lawrence, 24, 40
knights, 16
Gaiseric, 96
Gallic Wars, 68-72 Late Roman Army, The (Southern and
Gallienus (Roman emperor), 91, 92 Dixon), 99, 101
gangways, 83, 85 Latins, 14-15, 22
see also naval tactics legate, 49
garrisons, 38-39 legionary, 45, 49
see also fortifications legions, 15-16, 33
123
Ancient Rome
Liburnian, 81-82 oarsmen, 76, 81, 86-87

Livy, 22, 23, 26-27 see also sailors
Octavian. See Augustus
Macedonians, 39, 40-42 Odoacer (Roman commander), 101
Macedonian Wars, 39-42
mail, 46, 97-98 Palatine Hill, 55
maneuvers. See battle formations; bat- Palestine, 72

tle tactics; naval maneuvers; naval patricians, 15, 24
tactics Paullus, Lucius Aemilius, 41
maniples, 28, 29-33 Pax Romana (Roman Peace), 60, 80, 88
manipular system, 28, 29-33 Perowne, Stewart, 99-100

Marcellinus, Ammianus, 93-94 Perseus (Macedonian king), 41
Marcus Aurelius (emperor of Rome), Pertinax (Roman emperor), 57
88 phalanx, 20-23, 24, 28, 39
Marius, Gaius, 44, 45, 46 Philip V (Macedonian king), 40
Masada, 73, 74 Phoenicians, 75
Mediterranean Sea, 42 pirates, 77, 81-82
military bases. See fortifications Plutarch, 46
militia, 15 policemen, 58-59
missile throwers, 71,72 Polybius, 12, 31, 37-38, 51-52, 75,
moats, 65 78-79
Monarchy, 10, 15, 24 portcullis, 61-62
Praetorian Guard, 55, 57
naval maneuvers, 82-85 Punic Wars, 33, 35-39, 68-69, 76, 79,
naval officers, 85-86 84
naval tactics, 82-85 Pydna (battle), 41,42
navy, 39, 75-77, 85, 86-87
Neptune, 82 quadrireme, 80, 81
Nereus, 82 quinquereme, 80, 81
Nero (emperor of Rome), 59
Nerva (emperor of Rome), 88 ramming, 82
Notitia Dignitiatum (list of Roman of- ramparts, 64
ficials), 95 ramps, 72, 73
124
Index
"raven." See corvus sailors, 75-77, 85, 86-87

Republic, 10,24,44 see also naval tactics; navy
Rhine River, 63 Samnites, 33, 34
rituals, 21-22, 39 Scipio, Publius Cornelius, 38
roads, 63 Seleucia, 39
Roman civilization Senate, 15, 24, 44
administrative caliber of, 13 senators, 85
borders of, 63 Servian Wall, 61

conquests and, 11, 22, 33, 34, 35, Servius Tullius, 23
43 shields, 18-19, 20, 28, 57
decline of, 88-90, 92, 96-100 ships. See warships
duration of, 10 Sicily, 78, 84
political management skills of, 13 siege warfare, 60, 67, 68-74
war as important component of, Simkins, Michael, 55
10-11 Southern, Pat, 99, 101
Roman History, The: The Reign of stockades, 63
Augustus (Dio Cassius), 39 "stone caster," 7
Rome strategy, 55
city-state beginnings of, 15-16 swords, 99
class structure of, 15, 23-24
expansion of, 11, 22, 23, 24-27, 34, tactics. See battle tactics; naval tactics
43 Tacticus, Aeneas, 61-62

governmental forms of, 10, 15, 24 Taras (battle), 77
location of, 14-15 Tiberius (Roman emperor), 57
see also firefighters; Latins; police- Titus (Roman emperor), 74
men Trajan (Roman emperor), 55, 88, 90
Romulus, 22, 60 triremes, 80-81
Romulus Augustulanus (Roman em- Triton, 82
peror), 101
Rosenstein, Nathan, 37 uniform. See clothing

rowers. See oarsmen urban cohorts, 58
Sabines, 22 Valens (Roman emperor), 94-95
125
Ancient Rome
Vandals, 93, 96 warships, 76-82

Vegetius, 52, 54 watchtowers, 63, 64
Veii, 25 weapons, 98
Vercingetorix, 68 ax, 20, 98
vigiles (firefighters and policemen), 58 bow and arrow, 98
Vindolanda, 68 dagger, 20
Visigoths, 94 darts, 99
javelin, 20, 31,98
walls, 60-63 pike, 39
War and Society in the Ancient and spear, 19, 28

Medieval Worlds (Rosenstein), 37 sword, 18,20,31,99
Warry, John, 21 Webster, Graham, 66
126
Picture Credits
Cover Photo: The Art Archive/MusZe © Charles and Josette Lenars/CORBIS,

Municipal SZmur en Auxois/Dagli 14
Orti © Patrick Ward/CORBIS, 61
© Nicholas Zubkov/AeroArt International, Courtesy of The Ermine Street Guard/

Inc. 11797 Hollyview Drive, Great Legio XX Valeria Victrix, 49, 53
(both), 54, 71 (both)
Falls, VA 22066 www.aeroartinc.
Chris Jouan, 1 1, 20, 29, 40, 41
com, 19, 47, 57
The Kobal Collection, 83
The Art Archive, 70, 77, 78, 90
Mary Evans Picture Library, 12, 25, 26,
Bridgeman Art Library, 38
34,44
© Archivo Iconografico, S.A./CORBIS,
North Wind Picture Archives, 50, 58, 80,
18, 81, 92 (left)
93
© Bettmann/CORBIS, 84, 92 (right) Courtesy of the Roman Military Research
© Robert Estall/CORBIS, 65 Society/ Legio XIV Gemina Martia
© Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS, Victrix, 16, 30 (both), 97, 98 (both)
72 Steve Zmina, 23, 35, 48, 62-63, 64, 66,
© David Lees/CORBIS, 17 67, 69, 73, 76, 89, 94
127
About the Author
HistorianDon Nardo has written numerous volumes about ancient Rome,
Roman Slave, The Age of Augustus, Rulers of Ancient
including Life of a
Rome, and Greenhaven Press's massive Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome. He
is also the editor of Classical Greece and Rome, the second volume of the
ten-part World History by Era series. Mr. Nardo resides with his wife, Chris-
tine, in Massachusetts.
128
The History Weapons and Warfare series explores

of
the changing nature of warfare and how it has
affected various human societies. In each volume, the
warfare of a pivotal people or era is examined in
The words of actual participants in ancient,

detail.
medieval, and modern wars, as well as noted
historians of the past and present are used to
describe beliefs about war, strategies, battle
formations, infantry, cavalry, siege, and naval tactics,
and the lives and experiences of both military leaders
and ordinary soldiers. Each volume's value as a
learning tool is further enhanced by informative
sidebars, footnotes, an extensive annotated
bibliography, and an index.
Titles in the series include:
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Greece
The Civil War
The Middle Ages
The Native Americans
essa
LUCENT
BOOKS' 8
part of the Thomson Learning family

Lucent Books is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc.,
of companies—dedicated to providing innovative approaches to lifelong learning. ISBN l-S^Dlfl-0b7-H

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NTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 1833 04343 2910

the History of Weapons and Warfare

the History of Weapons and Warfare

On cover: The siege ofAlesia, 52 B.C. by Henri Paul Motte.

a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

For more information, contact:

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Nardo, Don, 1947-

Military art —Juvenile literature. Military weapons— Rome—Juvenile

literature. Rome —Army. Rome— History,

Military weapons — Rome.] I. Title. II. Series.

Printed in the U.S.A.

Legions of the Early Empire 102

The Roman Empire in the First Century a.d.

BALEARIC SARDINIA MINOR CILICIA

offensive. In a memorable passage, the cut in half and the dismembered

enough of his men had entered the town, he

This engraving shows Roman soldiers devastating an enemy town.

Leniency for the Defeated with a talent for patient political

The Influential Etruscans

During the early years of

diers resembled this Greek-

Early Roman Helmets

More than half of these are of the metal

in position. The lower edges of the cap at the

of these helmets and the later Roman hel-

The remains of Greek bronze

This excellent modern illus-

shows some of the ar-

the middle wears a "pot"

The Roman Phalanx

Rome's First Conquest

Rome and Her

Rome's urban center in an emergency; rather than a true democracy.

tives of the people. However, Roman scuffles between armed raiding

Under a strong leader named

Marcus Furius Camillus, who went on to gionaries were mostly equipped to

the battlefield. These units, called maniples

Roman Manipular Legion

Prior Century 60 men

formation in anticipation of the charge of stood behind the Meanwhile, just

the [Roman] heavy infantry. When

tacked Capua (in Campania, south of Rome) courageous defense put up by

Annexations 241 - 218 B.C.

Roman gains 298 - 263 B.C.

Rome's allies 298 B.C.

Rome's allies 298-263 B.C.

Roman and Latin Territory 298 B.C.

ROMANS Stage 1. As the opposing armies prepare for

their allied infantry, and on the wings the

infantry— the Africans— back to holding

Stage 2. After the initial, indecisive exchange

The Roman legions and allied units push the

as Hannibal had anticipated they would,

units on the right clash, while on the left

Stage 3. As the Roman infantrymen

Stage 4. Assaulted front and back by

apart and a massive slaughter ensues.

while Hannibal, whose victory is complete,

Getting to Know One's

Publius Cornelius Scipio