Roman Battle Techniques

Romans fought in a manner very similar to the Greeks. In early times they utilized the phalanx and a cavalry back-up, but around the 1st century BCE they began to form a “checkered board” pattern. This allowed them to cover more ground and allow men room to fight. In the first century they also retired using a cavalry (Cartwright). The form of foot soldiers only with no horseback cavalry was uncommon. In

The U.S. military uniforms are completely different from the Roman Republic; nothing is the same except for the use of a helmet. Warfare has changed since the ancient times and with that change, what soldiers wear for protection had to change as well.

He admired the way they managed and organized things. Polybius thought that the Roman constitution was a amazing combination of the three main forms of government; monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. He feels that balance is crucial to a govenmennt. like a "well-trimmed ship" says Polybius, The Roman army was ran by Consuls, A consul was a highest elected political officer of the Romans. They made all the big decisions and possessed almost absolute authority. The Consuls appointed twelve Tribunes who served under the Consuls. The army was split into four legions, and within those four legions were four groups. The youngest, the velites, who were set out for light armed troops, the second youngest were the Hastati, the first line of melee infantry, the principles made up the second line of infantry. Polybius said that the Principes were usually spearmen armed with a long stabbing spear called a hasta, but were later required to carry gladii and two pila. The triarii were the most experienced line. The Triarii were the wealthiest members of the Roman infantry and were also the oldest usually. The Roman cavalry were made up of the republic’s richest citizens. These cavalrymen also only were required to serve ten years in the military rather than the typical twenty of the infantry. Polybius doesn’t say how they were armored, but said that that they were dressed similarly to the Greeks. The Romans were very strict

One of the key reasons the Roman Empire fell was the frequent and merciless barbarian attacks. They pushed more and more people into Rome,That created cramped living conditions in Rome. The people that went into Rome started to destroy and steal crops. It also created a strain on their natural resources. The constant barbarian attacks pushing more people into the Empire, destroing their food supply, and using up natural resource lead to their destruction.

ROMAN GLADIATORS By Jackson A. Sutton THESIS By looking at how much work the ancient Romans put into training and setting up gladiator fights, you can see that the people of this ancient city wanted an entertaining battle. Guiding Question What are some reasons an ancient Roman gladiator might choose to enter a fight? Ancient Roman Gladiators

Some key elements of military in ancient Greece consist of types of transportation during wartime, weaponry, training, and strategy. They used war wagons to ride into battle. Additionally, the Greek warriors were named hoplites, named their shield, the hoplon. Hoplons were heavy, bronze-covered wooden shields about 3 to 3.5 feet in diameter.

The Roman Empire was the largest empire and collapsed. It collapsed because Germanic groups attacked Rome, the military weakened, the size of the country, production of food, and taxes became to high for citizens. Germanic barbaric groups called Visigoth, Huns, and Slavs caused The Roman Empire. The Germanic groups invaded the western side of Rome. The Roman empire had finally collapsed 476

The populace was as averse to defeat as was the army. Society emboldened all that contributed to military strength and spurned all that proceeded from cowardice. It was believed that all free men should be soldiers. Propagation was encouraged; It was noble of a woman to bear a son who would become a valiant soldier and more noble of that son to fulfill that role. Initially, Rome’s legions were derived from a levy on its citizenry, who were made to conform to rigid dogmatic discipline and believe that their submission was the requisite of their power. In combat, a phalanx of warriors would use their shields form an impassable barrier and the frontmost rows of the battalion would extend their spears inflexibly. This formation was highly dependant upon group cohesion and was susceptible to ambuscades from the sides or rear. After having this weakness exploited by the Samnites, Rome discarded this tactic. With increasing Roman suzerainty came more massive and professionalized force of homogeneous military units that were salaried and heavily regulated. Roman generals were abnormally attentive of their enemies’ logistics and willing to cultivate new arts of war which allowed the infantry to adapt to new threats rapidly. Following the second samnite war, Rome adopted a maniple system based on social class and age. Maniples of one-hundred-twenty men, extracted from legions of five-thousand, were arrayed in the fashion of a checkerboard with younger soldiers, eager to demonstrate their prowess, in front. To minimize casualties of Romans, yet ensure that their contenders are crippled, the frontmost warriors would absorb the first onslaught of enemies until weary and marred, then retreat into the maniples behind them, exposing their enemy to two rows of experienced and vigorous warriors who were expected to deplete the remaining enemies. Generals Titus, Caesar, and Augustus increased the effectiveness of this tactic by

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.

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)

The Roman Army was well-organized. Soldiers were trained to fight and to defend themselves and used various weapons.

An important contributing factor to an army's success is armor for defense. An army can have skilled soldiers, but cannot be successful without the right armor. Roman and Greek armies wore similar types of armor. The Roman and Greek foot soldiers wore a square breastplate on their torso. While the Romans only wore one greave on their left leg, Greeks wore greaves on both legs. A greave was a sheet of metal worn to protect the legs (Horsepower: Harnessed…). Soldiers wear greaves even in current day. Recently, the greaves have been upgraded to protect the legs from ‘Improvised explosive devices,’ such as those in Iraq (Frost, Quad Guard). Roman soldiers wore a helmet that protected the neck, and came around to protect their face. The Greek’s helmets were more full and protective than the Roman helmets. Greek helmets covered their entire head and only left small

Thankfully, due to the Romans writing a lot down, there are many sources (unlike in the "Dark Ages" for example) available to study how the Roman army worked. In this project, the aim is to find out how the training and organization of the

They had a symbol known as the “fasces” which the lictors, attendants, carried. The fasces consisted of bird rods tied up with red straps, sometimes with an ax. They represented power, triumph, and were lowered to acknowledge a high official. In the United States, these symbols are still very relevant today. In the U.S. Military, the coat of arms is decorated with fasces that relates to the Roman magistrate(officer), who held this symbol during battle. They use the fasces because it is also represents justice

According to Roman mythology, Roman “warfare” started all the way back with Romulus and Remus. It is said that the two brothers fought against each other, therefore making the first Roman battle. Rome was a peaceful place until the leaders of Rome decided to try to conquer neighboring countries. Roman warfare went on for centuries over bountiful amounts of territories. Over all of these battles the Romans won an amazing amount of those battles. The Romans were usually superior not only in numbers, but they were also superior in strategy.