THE ROMAN MILITARY
No powerful civilization has ever excised without a well-organized military. The Republic of Rome and Imperial Rome would have no been so influential to civilizations across the globe without a powerful military. Imperial Rome conquered vast lands from Britain to North Africa, from Egypt to Judea with their military which consisted of well discipline soldiers from their generals to the simple foot soldiers. This military was not an armed mob with clubs and spear; they were a high skilled set of professional soldiers. Over the vast Roman Empire the military executed the will of the emperor. The distinct similarities of the Roman Military to that of modern militaries, the history of their conquest and duties,
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The Roman military campaigned for over 3,000 years. (Murray) Imperial Rome or as many historians call the Roman Empire was founded by the Julius Caesar ascension to Emperor in 44 BC. (Murray) Throughout the time of the empire the Roman military conquered various lands and had many other duties. (Murray) In addition to engaging foreign enemies, the Roman military served another strategic purpose that of maintain the empire’s internal stability. (Murray) While most legions were stationed on the frontiers, some were kept close to major strategic points within the empire. (Murray) Legionaries guarded Egypt for instance as it was a crucial source of Rome’s food supply. (Murray) Rome’s powerful military was used to conquer lands, and to defend their homeland. The military was also used to keep peace within their lands and to put down rebellions. (Murray) The military was crucial in the ushering in the peaceful era in the first and second century’s. This time of Roman peace which was the height of their military power was known as the Pax Romana. Possibly the area of most Roman influence was the influence on Christianity, the region known as Judaea. In 63 BC Rome conquered modern day Israel a region known as Palestine. (Palestine) The Roman military was the law of the land for the region with a permanent legion stationed at the outpost. (Palestine). Caesar Augustus was the Emperor of Rome at the time of Jesus’ birth. (Ryrie) The Roman military
“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 powerful and well known Roman army was another key factor in maintaining the empire. The Roman army was large, well equipped, well trained, disciplined and skilled military force that was stationed throughout the empire to prevent uprisings and crush rebellion. Military training was a very important and arduous affair in the Roman Empire. It was essential for each soldier to achieve a high level of skill in fighting and using their weapons. They also had to march 30 kilometers 3 times a month wearing 20kg armor, do drills twice a day, learn to build camps, swim, mount and ride a horse and fight mock battles. The Roman army was quite ruthless when it came to crushing rebellion. They did not hesitate to hurt or even slaughter the people who went against the Roman rule.
Between approximately 509 BCE and the third century CE the Roman empire continually expanded and became one of the largest in history. While this expansion was due to many reasons, not the least of which was greed, to a great extent it was made possible because of Rome's overwhelming military and its combination of a democratic and republic government. (Lee) (Ferril)
One trait every army must have to be successful is the willingness and drive to dominate. The Roman army took these traits to a whole different level. The Romans were very extreme in battle as well. They often enjoyed humiliating other city-states by burning them to the ground. In 264 B.C.E. a battle between other Greek city-states forced Rome and Carthage, who dominated the western part of the Mediterranean, into conflict. The First Punic War was for the control of Sicily.4 This battle lasted twenty-three years.4 The Romans were losing a lot of men, but they continued to battle on.4 Finally, the persistence paid off.4 The Romans learned how to fight by sea and cut off the Carthaginian supply line into
The Roman empire started around 750 BCE, as a spreading empire. They conquered land from modern-day Scotland to Spain, and gained control of the whole mediterranean sea, and established colonies in North Africa, Egypt, the middle east, and Asia Minor. The vast empire had some twists and turns and soon fell mainly because of the natural disasters, economic problems, and most significant of all, the poor military skills.
The military prowess of Roman commanders and legionaries proved to be successful enough to turn a small community into an ancient super power. There are many discussions to be had about the tactics and success of the Roman army, some of which are: their style of fighting, the attitude toward the fight, and the fruits of their war.
During the early stages of the Republic Rome was completely surrounded by hostile neighbors called Etruscan's. The Romans were constantly attacked by these people and ironically in defense they conquered these people. This theme of Romans conquering land in defensive wars will continue on even after the Republic. One of the reasons that the Romans defeated the Etruscan's was the Roman army. They improved upon the phalanx that they borrowed from the Greek by adding cavalry to it, and eventually they would replace the spears with swords. However the flexibility and adaptability of the Roman army certainly helped them during their wars.
The Roman empire approximately began in 753 B.C through 476 A.D(also known as the fall of the Roman empire). The empire stretch from the Italian peninsula to all the Mediterranean sea and also stretching far north to the British isle. The empire was a highly advanced society, just like he Aztec in their lifetime. In addition the roman shared many similarities with the Aztec and one of them was having a highly trained and skilled army. The roman empire army conquer all of the Mediterranean sea and most of western Europe. The training they had to experience were also experience by the Aztecs. They both start a young age and if you did well you would have a high ranking in the social society. The military did serve a high purpose in Romans society,
The Roman army was the most powerful war machine of its time and arguably many others. It is this vast war machine that facilitated the Roman Empire and its creation. I call the Roman army a war machine because of the meticulous organization the army displayed, organization so thorough it mimics the individual cogs and gears in a machine working in perfect unison to achieve a common goal. The roman army was responsible for developing revolutionary fighting techniques which not only secured Rome’s position as the most powerful force in the world, but would influence the fighting styles of other armies for hundreds of years. But a machine so intricate and complex was not created in a day. It was through much trial and error and the test of time that the Roman army became the world power that we remember it as. I call the legions a world power because without the approval of the legions an emperor would be powerless. History documents show many Generals who already had the approval of their legions ascending to power, most notably Julius Caesar. So the Roman army was a very prominent military and political influence. Although the Roman army did not simply consist of soldiers and future politicians, it also included engineers. These engineers were responsible for the building of the roads that carried soldiers to and from battle, along with numerous military technologies that would influence the future of warfare. The Roman army’s history and the creation of new war
On Roman Military Matters, commonly referred to as De Re Militari, by Flavius Vegetius Renatus is essentially a field manual focusing on Roman military organization and how to field an army in a time of war. Vegetius discusses not only the development of the Roman soldier, from recruitment to final training, but also the organization, weaponry, strategy and tactics employed by the Romans legions. Though Vegetius, through evidence, had no military background or experience, and it is unclear on what evidence he based his argument, he accurately and in great detail described the structure of the Military of the late Roman Empire.
Part of current understanding of the Roman Army, especially during the Republic and before, can be concluded from a study of Roman political history. Rome began as a city founded by Romulus after he killed his brother Remus, both descended from Aeneas, who escaped the Sack of Troy of Illiad fame, or so the legend goes. The young city spent the better part of 200 years under the yoke of the Etruscan League, a confederation of Latin Tribes primarily to the east and north of Rome in Central Italy. The Etruscans were in turn fond of trading with the Greeks, not just for wealth, but also for ideas. Until c. 550 BC the Romans did not normally use a state controlled army, but
Rome used its military aggressively. The Roman army had started from mainly farmers, and gaining new farming lands from other countries, for the its growing population or later retiring soldiers, was often one of the military’s main objectives. Only in the late Empire did the Roman military's goal become keeping control over its territories.
With the entire Mediterranean shore and large parts of Europe under their control, Ancient Rome is undoubtedly one of the most successful ancient empires. At the heart of the control of these vastly different territories was the military. A large
There were many wars needed for the Roman Empire to grow so big. The first Roman army was called the Greek Phalanx and there were five ranks. The Greek Phalanx was ended after the Gauls attacked Rome in 390 B.C. The Early Legion was a great army after the Phalanx and had many tactics. Scorpio came and helped that army to outmaneuver the enemy. War times caused the army to change many times. A large battle was the Punic wars between Rome and Carthage. It ended with Rome winning. Gaius Marius
The Roman Empire was said to be one of the most powerful and largest empires in all of history. The Roman Empire had a monstrous army and was always on the hunt for new land. Also, the Romans built a strong wall around the border to prevent Barbarian invasions. In order to defend and preserve the empire, the Romans were very militaristic. They used a variety of procedures to preserve the empire. The Romans fought in numerous wars to defend their empire, and they were very successful. An example of the Romans fighting to defend their empire was the Punic Wars. The Punic Wars were fought between Rome and Carthage. The Romans felt that the Carthaginians were an imminent danger to their empire, so they thought quickly to destroy them. Throughout the Punic Wars, the Roman army faced very tough military forces, including