Essay on The Roman Soldier: Primed for Battle

Spartans also had great weapons such as the doru. The doru is a spear that all of the Spartans use, it is 7 to 9 feet long. The tip of the spear looked like a metal leaf. It was used to finish of fallen enemies and if the tip of it broke of it could be spun around as another weapon. Spartans also had a secondary weapon that was called a xiphos.

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.

“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

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 lower class also known as the foot soldiers had a variety of weapons that they were trained to use. Some of these weapons are known as the polearms, billhooks, halberd, quarterstaff, baton, battle axe, caltrop, spear, maces, poleaxe, and warhammer. Polearms which

Rome's military now has no armor. They were getting lazy, making them the underdogs. Without protection, they are easy to beat making it simple for outsiders/ invaders to come in. Without the military, Rome will have no way of protecting itself.

With no strength, the armor they wore seemed heavy, as the Roman Historian Vegetius states from an excerpt in Document B. The military men started to ask to remove the breastplate,and later removed their helmets. With no armor protecting them in battle, the numbers grew short,as countless soldiers fell from numerous wounds. Rome tried to fix the problem by conscription, but failed to enforce it as numerous categories were excluded from the draft. With no soldiers to defend Rome, the invaders viewed this as an opportunity to attack, which was the third problem that played in Rome’s

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.

The weapons and shield were big, bulky and impractical as seen by Philip. Philips reform to the use, and style of weapons made it easier and more effective for soldiers to fight. Similarly to how Philip changes the structure of the army from a citizen army to a professional army, he had to change the weaponry that was use. Previously as armies were citizen armies, each solider obtained their weaponry from themselves, resulting in a vast variety of styles and quality of weapons. Philip successfully changed this by creating a professional army, who was paid by the State and with everything provided by the State. This not only created unity within the men fighting by also new and uniform weapons, generating a better army. Weapons that Philip created that effectively lead the Macedonian army to success include the Sarissa. The Sarissa was a six meter long pike gave its wielder many advantages both offensively and defensively. The added length against enemies meant that a Macedonian solider could stab its enemy with the Sarissa while still being out of touch of the enemies pike. The Sarissa was effective as it kept the solider with safe distance from enemies; it was designed so that if or when it broke, it was able to be turned around and used again, hence the versatility of the weapon being vital and effective to the Macedonian army. Philip also introduced that each man possessed a double-ended sword. Once his Sarissa was broken he was still able to take part in hand to hand sword fighting, of which Philip made sure that they were highly trained as Diodorus said that Philip trained and disciplined his troops to extremely high proficiency, as is shown on the many successful battle fields. The reformed shield being lighter and smaller also made it easier for the men to sword fight when necessary. This reform in the Macedonian professional army was

Since Rome was a large territory a substantial amount of funding was used for military to protect the empire from invaders. In order, to enlarge the military the Romans began to hire foreign troops from their previously conquered enemies. These foreign soldiers

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

I would give the Spartans steel swords to make them even more of a unstoppable force. The Spartans used bronze armor and swords which meant that they could not dish out as much damage as a they could with steel swords. The Spartans were already very powerful but maybe with steel swords they could have lasted longer in time. I would give them the steel swords in the Battle of Leuctra so that they could have had a better chance in defending against the flank that lead to their defeat.

The method of thrusting their sword rather than cutting allowed the soldiers much more manoeuvrability with their sword and made it much less unwieldy in a tight situation. It would take far less time for the soldier to thrust his sword than wield it back and chop downwards onto the enemy. A new recruit would have to learn to march at regulation pace for distances of up to 24 Roman miles (about 35km). Their physical training continued with swimming, running, jumping and by carrying heavy packs.

The common weapon in war was the spear. Conventional spears were seven feet long with a iron head and was used to be thrown and also to jab. Shields were plain and round, made of wood with an iron center. Only the rich and noble used swords, which were made of iron with steel edges. The Vikings were more heavily armed than the Anglo-Saxons, and they relied on chain mail and helmets as protection, and most people used a short stabbing swords as protection, although some used either a lance or a double-edged sword. (Ross, http://www.britainexpress.com).

The military might of Rome was second to none in its prime. Victorious battle after battle did