why was the roman army so sucessfull

University Degree Architecture, Building and Planning

Why was the roman army so successful?

Throughout the years the roman army conquered most of Europe and lands all over the world, making them one of the most successful armies of their time. This essay will explain some of the things that made them so successful such as organization, discipline and weapons.

The Roman soldiers were always well equipped for battle. They had a short sword, a dagger, a spear, flexible armour, a helmet, and finally their special marching boots with studs for grip. As well as the weapons the solders carried, there were other weapons such as the baluster used to catapult huge rocks at the opponent. All the weapons had there own special job, take the spear for example; it was designed to bend when it hit the ground so that the enemy could not throw them back. These weapons helped make the Romans successful because they were affective in battle and the soldiers were trained well to use them.

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Another thing that made the army successful is there organization. The roman army was organized into legions. There were approximately 30 legions in the whole of the empire each with a different pattern on there shields so they were recognized as part of the group. Each legion was made up of 60 centuries, in each century there was 80 men called legionaries. The solders in a legion served for 16 years, but they were the lucky ones the auxiliary had to serve for 25. One of the things that kept the solders organized and loyal is the reward they received after there years of service. The auxilia,who were foreign from conquered lands or friendly tribes, were given citizenship so they could live in Rome comfortably. The reason organization made the Romans successful was that the soldiers were efficient in battle and this meant unlike many other armies at the time everyone new what they were doing.

Disipline was also a main part of the romans success Roman soldiers were killed every day for small things like falling asleep well on duty or disobeying there superiors. If a solider was disobied a superior while in training he would be stoned or beaten to death. A paticually nasty punishment that was recorded by a legionarie was to be locked in a box full of scorpians and venomus spiders.The reason discipline helped the Army become sucessful is that in battle the soldiers were scared to disobe there leaders and this usually lead them to victory.

Health an fitness was also vital in the army. Soilders were not near acidic swaps or terrains for long and if a soldier showed any sign of illness they were taken away from there legion so nothing could spread. The soldiers had plenty of exercise for example there long marches and they were given strict rations so nobody became obese.In battle when a soldier was badly injured they would be taken to the medics that were stationed around the battle field.This helped them to become sucessful because the soldiers were strong healthy and could overpower the other armies.

The romans thought communication was vital.They built very straight roads over rivers and trough woods.They also had lots of fleets from other provinces delivering food and other materials and jewellery.the main thing that was imported was corn that was used as rations for the armie as Italy did not produce its own products.this helped the army become sucessful becase the army could move along the roads easily and quickly and they had plenty of reglar rations imported.

The roman army spent a lot of there time marching and they had to pitch a camp the night .The camps were organized into rows of tents with a watchouts in case of attack. Each legion also had a fort in a usfull place.These forts were made of stone andwere muich more warm and comfortable then the ordinary camps.forts were also used to block intruders for example Hadrian’s wall which was used to block the fierce Scottish tribes.this made thwe army sucessful because the soldiers were well rested.

In conclusion I think the main ingredient for the Romans success was there organizations because this was something that the other armys at the time lacked in and therefore the romans overpowered them in battle.

By Ellie Smith