After convincing the men to join the army, and recruiting them, they started training the men, to become soldiers. Training for the Roman Army required a lot of strength. One of the reasons, that I say this is that soldiers had to train with weapons that were twice as heavy as the real ones that they would take to war. This was to prepare them well. If they could do a good job with weapons that were twice as heavy, then he would be doubly effective during war. Also, legates and centurions took training very seriously. There wasn’t just physical training but being trained how to survive with little food rations.
The first step in training was teaching the soldiers how to march. In summer, the soldiers had to march 29.6km within 5 hours, in view of the fact that they have to march very fast in war. Next, was the long jump and high jumps. This trained their legs even more. Vegetius said that leaping was an essential part of training. After that, they were trained to fight by compact fighting. In summer their training was slightly different. They would do all their usual routines but, if there was a river, or the sea next to the soldier’s camp, they would all have to go swimming. Vegetius said ’ The cavalry also as well as the infantry, and even the horses and the servants of the army should be accustomed to this exercise, as they are all equally liable to the same accidents. Every young soldier, without exception, should in the summer months be taught to swim.’ This was how important swimming was.
It would be no use going to war so well, trained, but without good weapons. While training soldiers trained with wooden weapons to prevent any injuries, but during the real war, their weapons were much more vicious.The weapons included the pugio which was similar to a small dagger, used for stabbing and sometimes used as a convenience knife. The gladius was another weapon which was just sword. In the movie gladiator, the gladii were used very effectively, mostly for fluently slicing of enemies’ head’s while riding on their horses. In addition, there was the short sword which was used for quickly piercing the enemy. It was used more often than the pugio. The pila was very closely related to the javelin. It was used for throwing and was about 2m in length. Finally, the hasta was used for suddenly poking the enemy. The scutum was a shield which helped the roman soldier recognise his century/legion. The shield also was curved to help in making formations, and reducing the impact on the roman soldier if, attacked by the enemy. There was a hollow semi-sphere on the front of the shield, which, if applied pressure on, could become very harmful to the enemy.
Another part of the soldier’s equipment was his armour. The roman armour was carefully designed in order to protect the armour and make it easy for the soldier to move around. Soldiers had to walk long distances, so footwear was very important. The roman soldier’s sandals were carefully designed with studs on the soles to help them walk long distances without much foot pain. To protect the soldier’s chests they wore what was called a lorica segmenta. It was made of iron sectors which were put together in a manner which made it very easy for the soldiers to move, and it protected them. They also wore a loose tunic underneath the lorica segmenta. This was made of cotton and it caused no problem when moving freely. The helmet was very important to protect the soldier’s head. It curved around the entire head, leaving the face open, to help the soldier, breathe and see. The rest of the armour included the apron which protected the penis, of the man, a belt, which showed the rank f a soldier, and greaves (stockings) which were sometimes worn to help keep the soldier warm. The roman’s weapons were much more advanced than the other army’s weapons during that period.
Using the equipment wisely was very important, so the Roman soldiers were taught some tactics and strategies that sometimes ended up saving their lives! Before any war, the soldiers would closely research their enemy and find out the enemy’s weaknesses and strengths. The Roman Soldiers had special weapons called the Auxiliaries. Auxiliaries were soldiers from other countries which were captured during previous wars. These men would usually be talented in a particular skill such as artery or horse back riding. They also had weapons called artilleries. Artilleries were huge weapons such as the Ballista and catapulta. The Ballista fired huge arrows which were very harmful. The catapulta, was usually loaded with huge boulders, or pot of oil which were set on fire. Both of these huge pieces of roman technology would have been very frightening to the other armies, as these weapons would’ve been completely new to them. That was another tactic- causing fear and chaos.
The auxiliaries and artilleries weren’t the most important strategies they had. The soldiers also had formations which were very important tactics. The most common of the formations was the Testudo (tortoise). The testudo was when the soldiers got together and formed a shell around them using their scutums. The curved shape of their shields enabled the other shields to slot perfectly into each other and made it simple for the soldiers in the front to look out. The other formations were the orb, wedge, and repel-cavalry. The orb was in the shape of a cylinder without a top or bottom. The men stood in a circular shape for the orb. The orb position was only taken in the case of a serious emergency when waiting for help. The wedge was taken at the start of the battle. The wedge, from a birds-eye view looked like a pizza slice. Multiple wedges were very effective. This was because they had little pocket which the enemies would run straight into. In those slots they had no way of escaping, and were stabbed to death on the spot. Finally, the repel–cavalry was used to stop and kill horses and their masters. One group of soldiers would crouch down allowing the other soldiers to put their shields above the soldiers that were crouching down. The tactics were a very important part of the success of the Army.
Training couldn’t take place as a whole army- that would cause chaos. So the army was organised. The army was huge, with almost 150,000 men during peace and double during war. Each soldier was put into a group of 8-10 men, called a contubernium. These men, trained together, stayed with each other, became almost like brothers, and shared one tent and donkey. At the point of death, during the battle, the men fought for each other, saved each other, ad sometimes gave up their life for their companion. 10 contubernia made a century which consisted of around 80-100 men. A century was led by a centurion who commanded the soldiers, while training. 6 centuries formed a cohort of 500- 600 men. A cohort was led by a young senator. A legion was made up of 10 centuries with 5500-6000 men in a legion. A legion was run by a legate. Being a legate was one of the highest ranks. There was a standard or emblem which helped the soldiers work for something. The standard of each cohort, century, or legion was held by the standard bearer, who was a senior soldier. The standard also helped the soldiers recognise which century/legion they were in during war. Furthermore, the emblem helped the legates identify and give orders to their troops during war.
When organising the army for the battle they formatted the army very logically. The commanders were at the back so that they could give commands to their soldiers and, so that they could be safe. The cavalry was placed at the sides to make it easy for them to get out and start the initial attack. The auxiliaries were in front of the cavalry on the sides. This was because they were the least important of the army, and that they could kill more people at the beginning to make it easy for the cavalry and infantry. The infantry was in between the auxiliaries. This was so that once the cavalry was out; the infantry could go and help. Finally, the reserves were in between the commanders and the infantry. Given that they could be safe until they were needed.
All these things made Rome one of the biggest empires of it’s time, and made the Roman army successful. Although Vegetius says ‘The Roman discipline the cause of their greatness.’ I do not agree. In the end, Rome couldn’t have become such a huge empire if it weren’t for the soldiers in the first place. The soldiers came through recruitment. Even when this is so, the men wouldn’t have come without knowing the rewards. Therefore recruitment and rewards were the most important points that lead to the success of the Roman Army. Without Recruitment and reward there would be no training, equipment, tactics or organisation in the army. Tactics would be the least important because they mainly needed training, equipment, organisation, a good Recruitment policy, and reward to have a high-quality army. Overall all the points were part of why the roman army was so successful.
By: Adrina Surrthy Gnanachandran
Class: 7D
Date: 30.3.07
WHY WAS THE ROMAN ARMY SO SUCCESSFUL?
Year 7 assessment
The era of the Roman Empire
National Curriculum L 4-8
By: Adrina Surrthy Gnanachandran
Class: 7D
