A Brief Look at a Legionnaire's Equipment

Some classes are the Eques began their matches on horseback, but ended in hand-to-hand combat. They wore tunics, bronze helmets, round shields and a long sword. Another class was the Hoplomachus who fought with a long spear as well as a short sword or dagger; he wore a visored helmet with crest and long greaves over both legs to protect them since he carried only a small shield, usually round. The attacking class was the Provocator was the most heavily armed and the only one who wore a pectoral covering; the extent of the armour hindered the gladiator’s ability to dodge making it slower and agile. However, he was pair with another gladiator to assist him.

Used mainly to counter missile troops, the shields took great strength to hold up for sustained periods of time. An example of the enemy that it was used to counter is British slingers. These men used strips of leather and ovoid lead shots to great effect, as each bullet could shatter a legionary's bone, finishing his career in the legions, even if he survived the trauma, and generally forcing him to beg for the remainder of his life. The small size of these missiles allowed some to fit through small gaps between the shields, but the majority were stopped whilst the legion marched on. This picture shows an example of a sling bullet: This bullet is probably Seleucid in origin, as seen from the anchor, and was used between 220 and 130 BC, in the siege of Dor.

“It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience. “Julius Caesar. The words of a powerful man describing the tenacity and dedication of one the most powerful and dedicated Armies in history. By the middle of the first century B.C, the Roman army had developed over centuries of all but continuous warfare into a professionally minded force (L.J pg 379). Rome naturally always had an Army from its earliest days as a village by the Tiber bank. At first it consisted of a king and his bodyguard and retainers, members of clan groups living together (Keppie pg 37). Within many campaigns the Empire’s army have known victory and defeat. From

The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. The power and size they managed to obtain has been a constant subject of interest for historians and all those who are interested in history. Julius Caesar’s ascension to power marked the time from where the Romans steadily expanded their territory and by the time the Roman Republic dissolved and the Roman Empire emerged, the Empire had become so big that the Romans had then to face the problem of maintaining their empire. The Roman Empire maintained its power by

In its time, the Roman Empire was the largest empire the world had ever seen. The fact that the Romans were able to control and obtain an empire of this size was due to plenty of factors, but the main ones are the Roman army, the Roman roads, Pax Romana, the borders of the empire, and the benefits of the barbarians who became ruled by the empire. On their own, these factors wouldn’t do much at all, but such a combination brought great success.

Some examples of these would include The Battering Ram, The Turris, and The Ballista. The Roman army was also very willing to incorporate the war tactics and the weapons of their defeated enemies if they were deemed beneficial. (Alchin) These improvements provided the Roman army advantages in battle. The Roman generals that were picked to lead the army were highly skilled in the art of war. They were masters of attack and counterattacks, the use of mounted and unmounted calvary as well as archery. As a result of the Roman army's successful tactics, Rome therefore was able to achieve massive amounts of territory and assemble a substantial empire. (Cavazzi)

Carthaginians were forced to withdraw. In 256 BC Rome established a base in North Africa under the power of the Roman general, Marcus Atilius. For thirteen years the wars were fought in Sicily. In 255 Carthage rebuilt its Army with cavalry and war elephants and went on to attack Rome. they also used a gladius, pilum and plumbata to fight. A gladius is a sword. a pilum is a javelin. It was 6 foot 7 inches and it had an iron shank about 0.28 inches in diameter and 24 inches long with pyramidal head. The plumbata were mainly throwing weapons. There were also naval battles and the ships of rome were damaged in a storm. The war resumed in 254 to 241 when the Romans had 200 warships and gave them undisputed control of the sea. A year later Carthage surrendered.

The lower class also known as the foot soldiers had a variety of weapons that they were trained to use. Some of these weapons are known as the polearms, billhooks, halberd, quarterstaff, baton, battle axe, caltrop, spear, maces, poleaxe, and warhammer. Polearms which

Over the course of several centuries, Rome built one of the largest empires the world have ever known. Rome for a period of time was considered the center of civilization. The empire was beautiful. It was often invaded but well protected by a powerful army. Some people believed the empire would last forever.

One of the problems that Rome was dealing with is their soldiers, who were very problematic which left Rome with an incompetent army and no protection. According to Vegetius, “...customary armor began to seem heavy since soldiers rarely ever wore it. Therefore they asked the emperor to set aside the breastplates.. and then the helmets. So our soldiers fought the Goths without any protection for the chest and head and were often beaten by archers.” (Document B).

The American Revolution was and still is one of the most important wars in the history of our country. The soldiers were completely disorganized when it came to warfare, and they didn’t have any form of “established” uniform or even army for that matter, but they still got the job done, and they still had a basic almost “toolset” that they had used in order to get the job done. They had their gun and ammunition, their bladed weapon, and their essentials for survival: canteen, utensils, food, et cetera. The Colonial army and the state militias were outfitted very differently, though. The Colonial army was more organized

armor included a small convex square shield, an armband on the right arm, high leggings, an unusual helm which was decorated with the relief of a griffin’s head, and a gladius either curved or straight. He usually fought the hoplomachus or another Thracian. The hoplomchus was similarly armed as the Thracian except his small shield was round, his helmet plain, and his sword always straight. The secutor was armed with a gladius, a long rectangular shield, a metal greave, and a small closed helmet with two small eyeholes. He usually fought the net fighter called a retiarius. Because of his heavy armor, it was in his best interest to move in quickly and kill his opponent because he tended to tire out more quickly. The retiarius is a lightly armed gladiator that fought with a net, trident, and gladius. His left arm was fully armored while his right was completely bare.

According to Hope Babowice, the author of dailyherald.com, “Around five thousand gladiators died each year during the Roman empire which lasted till the 5th century.” If you do the math, that is two million five hundred thousand people that died in gladiator battles. The last thing that was unfair about the equipment is that when an emperor fought against a gladiator, he would weaken him. He did this by either taking away almost all of his armor, or he would give the gladiator a wooden sword while the emperor was able to use a steel sword. This shows me that the equipment that the gladiators used was unfair.

WIth such vast empires, there was an eminent need for a massive army to defend all corners of their lands. Romans were particularly advanced in technological aspects of the military. With the access to numerous iron and bronze (as well as other metals) due to the vast stretch of their empire, the Roman smiths were able to create revolutionary new weaponry and defensive pieces (helmets, shields, chainmail). Their equipment, especially armours, gave them a profound advantage over their rivals and enemies. These advancements in military allowed the Romans to defeat nearly any army and conquer lands with ease.

Introduced in around 250BC, gladiators were well-trained individuals who fought against each other to entertain the civilians of Rome. The gladiators fought in the Colosseum, which had a height of about 160 feet and capacity of up to 50,000 people. The Colosseum was also designed to be able to flood and hold ships. The term gladiator comes from the Latin word: "gladius" meaning sword. The profession of being a fighter brought great fame to the individual. The theme of death brought people together to see many young men die in battle. The crowd loved vicious shows that were gory and gruesome. Many gladiators who fought in the Colosseum went on to become tremendous war heroes, due to the intense training provided by the emperor. Gladiators always wore clothing that resembled other nations that the Roman army seized. They were also given unorthodox weapons to fight with and their battles usually illustrated famous ones fought by the Roman army. Sometimes, the ‘damnati ad mortem’, individuals who committed ruthless crimes, went into the arena without a weapon. Gladiators were mostly captives of war or slaves of the rich. Some people saw the fighting as a hobby and spent much time and money picking and choosing from the best of the gladiators. A fanatic of fighting was called a "lanista", or an owner of gladiators. Keeping these gladiators in good health became very expensive over time. Different gladiators were allowed to use different weapons based on their past life. For