Roman Military Tactics

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 army was essential in the creation and upkeep of the Roman Empire. It defended the homeland and conquered other nations to bring wealth that benefited the nation. The Roman army was the most advanced of its time, using new techniques and weapons that brought other nations to their knees. The fighting techniques that they came up with were only able to work due to the rigorous training that took place. “They developed fighting techniques that were linked to a very hard training regimen” (Trueman). Training was very tough, long days of parading and maneuvers as well as physical fitness and martial skills was what a typical day would consist of. Recruits would often be punished for failure so they would become very fit and disciplined or else could face extra duty or even worse, a whipping.

“Jus belli, ut qui vicissent, iis quos vicissent, quemadmodum vellent, imperarant.” -Julius Caesar. Once translated into English, this quote makes a significantly more sense. “It is the right of war for conquerors to treat those whom they have conquered according to their pleasure.” This is a big part of how Rome became the absolute monster of an empire it was. They had the weapons and equipment. Rome had the geography, the transport, communication, knowledge, and most importantly, the people, all working in their favor. This paper will take a look at how Rome became the most powerful empire of all time, and what caused its downfall.

“Violent” and “destructive” are words used to describe the Roman army but was there a more significant purpose to the army? Was the army the reason the Roman Empire conquered so much land? The Roman army was, without question, the guiding force behind the growth of the Roman Empire. The Roman army wasn’t all about fighting; every move they made had a purpose, playing a more prominent part than seen at first glance. The army had great organisation, weapons and training methods. Thesxxxxe are the reasons the Roman Empire conquered so much land.

Explain the role of the army and its use for political purposes during this period.

Edward Luttwak’s The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire from the First Century A.D. to the Third gives a militaristic analysis of the tactics used by the Roman Empire while also highlighting parallels between Rome and contemporary U.S. military policy. Luttwak divides his book into three chapters, a chapter for each of the 3 identified systems; the first chapter discusses Rome’s use of mobile armies and client states to defend her borders. The second chapter shows border defense as was provided by small groups of marching legionary troops. The third and final chapter details the transition from an offense stance to a more

The. The weaponry was much stronger than weaponry of the Celts because it was made of stronger metals like iron and steel, which gave the Romans a longer weapon lifespan (“Romans: The Roman Army”). Although their weapons were strong, the Romans were known for their intricate and almost impenetrable armor. Two types of body armor were scale armor, which was made of numerous metallic scales sewn together, and mail armor, which was identical to the Celt’s chain-mail. In addition to body armor, the Romans had strong rectangular shields made of layered wood and bronze helmets embellished with iron face pieces that extended to the neck (DeVries and Smith 23-25).

What lies behind the strength of the Roman Imperial Army has sparked considerable debate throughout modern scholarship, with the dominant view concluding that Rome’s Imperial military power was heavily influenced by its organisation and discipline. However, Adrian Goldsworthy has emphasised that the military’s organisation should not be exaggerated, claiming that it was flexibility that was ultimately the key to its success. The strength of the Army can explicitly be seen in its ability to maintain control over the provinces. Yet in order to assess the reason behind its power, it is essential that the importance of the Army’s organisation, frontier system and strategy as well as its training and discipline be taken into account.

Ancient Roman battle techniques were superior to other civilizations because of their shield, spear and formation tactics. For example, their shields were chest height and rectangle made with birch and a material called scutum which is the wood used to make the frame. They used the shields to make formations and block arrows from enemy bows. Their shields were painted based an abstract painting of a bug. There were many shield formations but this research paper will focus on the tortoise and the orb. The tortoise was a tactic to stop arrows from hitting the soldiers. This formation could be done by the whole army but it was mostly done by the wigs. The orb was a tactic used when surrounded by enemy lines. The soldiers would get into a circle with their backs in the center and their shields and spears in front of them.

Rome had some of the most powerful war tactics of their time. They were the first to have different ranks in their army like Commanders, Tribunes, and Centurions to name a few.They also had various types of troops in their army; infantry, calvary, and artillery experts . When they attacked you they came at you with brute force (Birdoswald, 2008). Much like the U.S. today. The war tactics today in the U.S. is much the same. Today we have all kinds of different troops. We have the Marines, Army, Air Force, and the Navy. In those branches there are even more types of troops. Much like rome we hit our enemies with everything we have. We today regarding our military are the most advanced (Goodman,2015).

Of the ancient civilizations, Rome was able to transform from a small town into the center of power of the entire Mediterranean Basin. The history of Rome can be traced through the evolution of the Roman Army and by observing the evolution of the troops and the tactics that have been employed by the Roman military since the foundation of Rome to the end of the end of the republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. As the territory of Rome expanded, the military structure, as well as the training and tactics of the Roman army was forced to change.

The Roman army used discipline for advanced strategy in warfare as well as state expansion. Rome was a vast empire and sought to conquer many of the surrounding territories to acquire wealth and resources. They were constantly adopting and developing military tactics that would help them gain a military edge. One of these innovations was the organization of their troops into a checkerboard formation.

It is a good post and you are right that the Roman Empire and army wanted to expand their territories with many conquests. The Roman army was powerful and had many features in their time of period to fight and win the enemies of the Roman Empire. The most important part that I liked in the Roman army was its hierarchical system that they had military ranks, military branches and uniforms. It is interesting that their uniforms changed centuries after centuries, but one thing was not changed that it was its hierarchical system. So, the important key of the Roman army’s achievements is its hierarchical system in the Roman army.

In the Ancient world cavalry wasn’t used for the most part. However, there were some exceptions such as the Macedonians. The cavalry was part of the Macedonian tactical system. However, in the later years of the Roman Empire cavalry started to become more important for frontier defense because it allowed for increased mobility. Also, romans used cavalry for the rapid concentration of forces to close the gap between legions. After 250 AD, cavalry was even more predominant in the roman army. Furthermore, cavalry was very effective. Infantry had several disadvantages when confronted by cavalry. The only ways that infantry could defeat cavalry was if they had superior fire power, which they didn’t have at that time, and if they were disciplined

I am the very model of a modern Major-General in the Roman army . I help march Roman prisoners to Jerusalem. Today there was a prisoner that we were not supposed to give water to named Ben Hur, but a man still approached him and gave him water. As I went to strike him, he looked at me and I felt as if I should leave him alone I don't know what it was but as I looked at him I felt calm. I feel now after seeing him that I should be nicer to our prisoners but that would go against our emperor.