The Military of the Roman Empire

The legions of Rome were one of the biggest factors in Rome's success as an empire. They conquered vast quantities of land, and were often used by the government to improve the morale of people living in cities, which often had parts that were cramped and unsanitary. The legions were set apart from contemporary armies due to their level of organisation and especially as they fought as a unit and not as individuals, as many tribes did.

Separating a military into unique specialized forces increases efficiency and the Romans knew that. The Roman legions consisted of: “10 cohorts to one legion, six centuries to one cohort, 10 tents to one cohort, eight soldiers to one tent, 120 cavalry” (Lloyd, 2013). The Roman formation was the triplex acies, which was the hastati,

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.

The Roman Army was the most important factor that led to the Romans maintaining such a large empire. The army was very well organised into many groups, and the whips kept by the group leader ensured that the army would be obedient and

As Rome expanded throughout Europe and acquired a growing number of citizens, the army was able to greatly increase its numbers. This ensured Rome a nearly unlimited supply of new soldiers.

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

One of the many noteworthy reasons Rome came to its demise was the unstable nature of their military. The Romans were rarely using their armor to shield themselves and it was getting tiresome to wear the armor. The emperor then did not require the use of body armor anymore, “Therefore, they first asked the emperor to set aside the breastplates… and then the helmets.” (page 15). Because of the decision to cast away the breastplates and helmets, it made it effortless to wound and kill the Romans with skilled archers, such as the Huns (Doc D). Another pivotal fault was the draft, “The exempted categories were...numerous” (Doc B). Draft exemptions meant that not enough men were fighting and too many were lazing around. Even bakers and cooks were not required to serve under martial law(Doc B). Because of these mistakes, the Roman military became weak. Not having enough members on their command,

One of the most prominent reasons for Rome’s quick success was its powerful military. Its disciplined

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,

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

Also, Augustus recruited soldiers from the Roman provinces. These auxiliary troops were granted Roman citizenship upon completion of military service, and they became important agents of Romanization because the provinces now had a share in the defense of the Empire. In addition, Augustus raised a new military force, the 9,000-strong Praetorian Guard, to act as personal bodyguards of the Emperor and to specifically protect the city of Rome from all enemies, foreign or domestic.

The training was so hard that the soldiers became well disciplined and very fit. They were trained to such a high level that most forces they came up against were swept away; this is illustrated in the following passage: " They [the new recruits to the army] are also taught not to cut with their swords but to thrust. The Romans find it so easy to beat people who use their swords to cut rather than thrust that they laugh in their faces." Vegetius, A Book About Military Affairs

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