The Roman Army Essay

In Book II “The Organization of the Legion,” Vegetius described the composition of the Roman legions. He began with the explanation of the differences between legions and auxiliaries, legions being Romans and auxiliaries being “drawn from barbarians.” Here, Vegetius discussed the decay of the legion and stated that it was up to the eEmperor to restore the Roman army to greatness, a

The first century BC brought about a number of important changes for the Roman army. Most notably, the reforms of Gaius Marius and the aftereffects of both the Social and Civil Wars altered the Roman army as a whole. Bringing about both continuity and change, these events would help to shape the nature, composition and character of the army of the Late Republic period and beyond. Change came in the form of reforms brought about by Marius; the changing of the conscription of soldiers into the Roman army would alter not only the formation of the army, but also its nature and character. Furthermore, the granting of full citizenship to non-Roman troops who fought for the Roman army meant a blurring of a distinct Roman identity, or what it meant to be a Roman. However, despite these aspects of change, continuity too came out of this period. The troops of the army post-Marian reforms developed strong patron-client relationships with their generals that were not unlike the concept of the paterfamilias that had existed since the beginnings of Rome. Furthermore, leadership of the army was put into the hands of a select few, as it always had been, and these men would use the army as a means to further their personal ambitions.

     As the story goes, Rome was founded by a pair of feuding brothers who were allegedly raised by wolves. Romulus and Remus. From that point on, the Roman Empire would play a pivotal role in the development of both Eastern and Western society alike. Its influence can still be noticed. The Empire bought us such inventions as aqueducts, elevators, and innovations like urban planning. This essay will discuss the evolution of the Roman Empire and its impact on the Western World.

The legions, the auxiliaries, and the Praetorian Guard made up the army. The legions consisted of Roman citizens. They had doctors, surveyors, and engineers. Their main focus was the military, but they also built roads, aqueducts, walls, and tunnels. The auxiliaries consisted of noncitizens and fought along with the legions. The Praetorian Guard were the emperor’s personal bodyguard. They were an elite group of soldiers.

The Roman army was very skilled in sieges, fighting styles/fighting formations and marching orders. Some of these tactics are still used widely today by the US army. But what made all of these tactics so useful to a modern army,? Kkeep reading to find out.

Roman military tactics played an important role in these victories, especially the flexibility of the Roman legions compared the inflexible Phalanx used by the Macedonian armies. The Phalanx was the central tactic of Greek warfare, prior to and after the time of Alexander the Great. In a Phalanx. Greek hoplite infantry soldiers formed a tight rectangle to attack and pulse enemy advances. The Roman legions, however, organized along cohorts. The legion was arranged into 10 cohorts. The first cohort contained 150 men per century. A century was a section of the cohort. The other cohorts contained 80 men. The centurions stood at the bottom left corner of the century. There were 59 centurions in total. Roman legions could use several different tactics including forming a wall with their shields. Roman legions could also form sub groups called “maniples” which could act as strike forces against enemies. For example, in the Battle of Cynoscephalae in the Second

Rome had the best military of its time. They troops were drafted each year and any land owning citizen could be picked. Every man was trained in the art of war, to be ruthless and efficient on the battlefield. They were trained with pilum and gladus to kill their enemies. They fought in what is known has a Maniple Legion. Maniples were the small formations that made up the bigger battle lines. These smaller organizations trained together and became a coherent part of the Roman lines. The Roman camps were laid out so that the Maniples camped in the same order that they line for battle. And this powerhouse of a military had to main

Along with the new recruitment system, Marius also improved and enhanced the military training by basing it upon those used and developed by gladiators and also abolished the three different types of soldiers, each armed and positioned by rank and experience, with cohorts of men universally armed and created the use of the eagle as the standard for

The new recruits had no choice at all or any freedom. New recruits were heavily guarded. They were forced into the roles of gladiators. Some who didn’t follow these rules would be sentenced to “Damnati ad Gladium” which means they were sentenced to death by sword or they would fight till death. Their life was pre-determined.

As verbalized by many great minds, in the archaic world, form always followed function. The Romans followed a six step process that exploited all the benefits that their army had over the opposing sides, all of which needed to be followed with absolute discipline or else the Roman army would have never gotten the reputation that it earned as one of the world’s greatest military influences. Whenever the Romans were beaten in battle it was due to the “fellows were unable to keep their ranks and stand firm; nor could they follow their appointed standards” (Caesar 28). It was pellucid that the tactics that the Roman army was best suited for need to be carried out for victory to be established.

To be in the Roman army, you had to be an all around good person. If there were a part of you that was not up to standards then the Roman army would make sure that part was fixed immediately. The Roman soldier was trained to be a lot like a wolf. Roman soldiers were taught to be honorable, always stay together, and to be extremely ferocious fighters even fighting to the last drop of blood. Legend has it that a pack of wolves raised the two founders of Rome.

Redrampant.com. N. p., 2009. Web. 6 Feb. 2018. "BBC - Primary History - Romans - The Roman Army."

The Roman military was Rome’s greatest source of power; the unification of Italy allowed for large amounts of civilians who did not possess any land or employment to find work within the Roman military. Consequently, this enabled Rome to face invading forces with a limitless supply of soldiers it also facilitated the reinforcement of failing invasions with fresh soldiers without jeopardizing the safety of the capital itself. The Roman military's primary role was to expand the borders of the empire and to protect the Senate and Rome from all invading forces. In the early days of the Roman Republic the military consisted of annual levies of citizens as part of their service to the Republic, this became obsolete however when Marius opened military service as a career to the public in 107 BC during his Consulship and as the Republic began to expand its borders beyond the provinces around Italy and into areas such as Asia. The military was then divided into two areas of Legions made of citizens of Rome, and Auxilia; forces that were allies of Rome but were not included as citizens. The Roman army was also one of Rome’s main sources of maintenance and construction of the Republic as all Roman soldiers were to serve the state, meaning that they could be called upon for a large number of tasks including the construction of roads, aqueducts and other major projects. This furthered the expansion of the Republic as the trade skills of their soldiers enabled them to repair and enhance the roads and surrounding infrastructure of the area to support the now garrisoned Roman army. The widespread employment of skilled workers into the military additionally allowed Rome to maintain a strong economy, and to avoid paying for

Chapter 2 entitled “From The Flavians To The Severi” informs the reader of Luttwak’s belief that Rome’s expeditionary units, as was used in the second century, were highly less effective than the legions of the first century because they were not as movable. The author tells us, “… legions were deployed at fixed bases which, in most cases, they were never to leave again; and soldiers soon acquired unofficial families in the settlements that grew spontaneously around the legionary bases. It is sometimes assumed that this domestication diminished the army’s combat capabilities by undermining its fighting spirit”.

The Roman army was very powerful and unique. The Roman army was arguably the best army in the world. The army conquered most of the known world. The lands that the army conquered created the longest lasting empire in the world at that time. The Roman Army played a significant role in rome becoming a vast empire that ruled the ancient world.