How did the Roman army move? Ancient rome army

Introduction

1.1 Reformation Maria

1.2 High command

1.3 Legions

1.4 Praetorian Guard

1.5 Roman garrison

2.1 Recruitment and training

2.3 Everyday life

Chapter III. Fleet

3.1 Roman fleet

3.2 Rome's heavy fleet

4.2 Defensive weapons

4.3 Equipment weight

5.1 Battle of Cannae

5.2 Battle of Cynoscephalae

5.3 Battle of Carrhach

Conclusion

Bibliography

Application

Introduction

and II centuries. AD in the history of the Roman state - an era of gradual transition from a policy of territorial expansion to defense. This was the period of maximum power and the beginning of the inevitable decline of ancient civilization.

By the beginning of the new millennium, Rome had extended its power over the entire Mediterranean. In the 1st century the conquests were still ongoing. Octavian Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD) completed the conquest of Spain. Through the efforts of his successor Tiberius (14-37), the power of Rome extended to the Danube. Under Claudius (41-54), the eagles of the Roman legions established themselves across the English Channel. Under Marcus Ulpius Trajan (98-117), Dacia submitted to Roman arms. This was the last major conquest.

At the beginning of the 2nd century. the empire reached the apogee of its power. The process of expanding the territory has stopped. Even a new Hannibal, if he were to be found among the enemies of Rome, would not now be able to lead his army to the gates of the “Eternal City”. The Pax Romanum ("Roman Peace"), stretching from the Baltic to the African deserts, from Ireland to the Caucasus, became increasingly closed in on itself. From that time on, the borders of the empire began to be covered with continuous defensive structures.

Naturally, to protect such vast lands, the state inevitably had to rely on impressive military force. In countless wars of previous centuries, a military structure was formed, the most advanced of those that the Ancient World knew - the Roman army. Thanks to the army, and a well-established one at that administrative system a motley conglomerate of regions (provinces), inhabited by a variety of peoples who worshiped different gods, became a single empire.

Speaking about the army of Rome in the 1st-2nd centuries... we must not forget that it was not only a military, but also a political force, which often had decisive importance in the brutal struggle for power that flared up in Rome in the 1st century. BC. - I century AD Each of the contenders for power in the state increasingly relied on the legions that joined him, winning their loyalty with flattery and gifts. Neither Caesar, nor Pompey, nor Mark Antony, nor Octavian Augustus disdained such methods. They tried to gather as many troops as possible under their banner. The number of legions was far from the last argument in the division of power falling from the hands of the decrepit republic. Beginning with the period of civil strife (Civil Wars), the demands of soldiers for increased pay, distribution of extraordinary awards or premature retirement began to make tangible adjustments to the course of many events. It often happened that legions, attracted by more generous promises, abandoned their former master and went over to his enemy.

Objectives and purpose of the study.

The object is the development of the Roman army during the existence of the Roman state as a generally recognized military-political force.

Research objectives:

· Show changes and innovations to the legions throughout Roman history

· consider the originality and features of the auxiliary services of the legions

· explore the roman fleet

· consider the legion camp and the life of the legions in peacetime

· show the importance of strategy and tactics in the battles of the Roman legions

When writing this work, I relied on the following sources:

Winkler P. von. Illustrated history of weapons. - The book is an illustrated work that combines unique information about cold, throwing and firearms with which people fought ancient world and the Middle Ages, including our ancestors in Russia.

Brief sketch of Roman antiquities / Compiled by N. Sanchursky. - Tutorial for gymnasiums, pre-gymnasiums and self-study, it went through over five editions only in pre-revolutionary times. The idea of ​​compiling a Brief Essay on Roman Antiquities belonged to a special commission of the St. Petersburg educational district and was carried out by a team of authors headed by former district inspector N.V. Sanchursky. The book is still an indispensable tool for studying ancient Roman history. It is addressed to teachers and students of higher education educational institutions, students of gymnasiums, lyceums, schools, and a wide range of readers.

Mashkin N.A. History of ancient Rome. - This source represents the history of ancient Rome, completing the history of antiquity, and is one of the important stages of world history. The book talks about the source study and historiography of ancient Rome, pre-Roman Italy, the era of the early republic, the era of civil wars, the era of the early and late empire. The textbook was subjected to some reduction due to material that went beyond the scope of the university course on the history of ancient Rome. Individual changes and clarifications were also made, which did not in any way change the basic provisions of the textbook. When making most of the clarifications, material from both printed and unpublished works of N.A. was used. Mashkina. The text was prepared for publication and edited by A.G. Bokshchanin with the participation of M.N. Mashkina.

Suetonius Gaius Tarquil. The Life of the Twelve Caesars. - The book aims to highlight “The Lives of the Twelve Caesars” not so much as a historical monument, but as a literary monument. Therefore, the question of how true the images of emperors drawn by Suetonius correspond to reality is almost not touched upon here: the given details and parallels from other sources should only complement the general picture of the first century of the empire that had developed in Roman historiography by the beginning of the 2nd century. AD and remained decisive for all posterity’s ideas about the first Caesars. Of the realities, the notes do not explain the most famous ones, information about which can be found in any textbook (consul, praetor, triumph, province, etc.). All the most important dates are included in the chronological index, all names are included in the personal index, most geographical names are included on the map at the end of the book.

Tacitus Cornelius. Essays. - Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (c. 55 - c. 117 AD) - ancient Roman historian and one of the great representatives of world literature. Tacitus was born around 55 AD. According to the tastes of the era, he received a thorough but purely rhetorical education. In 78 he married the daughter of the famous commander Agricola; Rich life experience imprinted on his highly tuned soul; vivid memories of his older contemporaries about the beginning of the empire, firmly assimilated by his deep mind; careful study of historical monuments - all this gave him a large supply of information about the life of Roman society in the 1st century. AD Imbued with the political principles of antiquity, faithful to the rules of ancient morality, Tacitus felt the impossibility of implementing them in the public arena in an era of personal rule and depraved morals; this prompted him to serve the good of his homeland with the word of a writer, telling his fellow citizens about their destinies and teaching them goodness by depicting the surrounding evil: Tacitus became a moral historian.

Flavius ​​Joseph. Jewish War. - “The Jewish War” is a valuable source on the history of Judea and the uprising of the Jews against the Romans in 66-71. - from a direct participant and leader of the uprising. It was first described by Josephus Flavius ​​(37-100), the famous Jewish historian and military leader, eyewitness and participant in the events. Before him, the Jewish wars were, as a rule, described in the spirit of sophists and by such people, some of whom, not being themselves witnesses to the events, used inaccurate, contradictory rumors, while others, although they were eyewitnesses, distorted the facts either out of flattery to the Romans, or out of hatred for the Jews, as a result of which their writings contain either condemnation or praise, but by no means a real and accurate history. The original work of Josephus was written in Greek., Peter. Greece and Rome at War. Englewood Cliffs NT. - Represents an encyclopedia of the military history of Greece and Rome. Tells about the evolution of military art over 12 centuries.

In addition, when writing the work, Internet sources were used on the history of the Roman army in the imperial era.

army ancient rome legion

Chapter I. Composition and organization of the army

The army consisted of heavily armed legionary infantry (milites legionarii), lightly armed infantry and cavalry. Lightly armed infantry (archers, slingers, javelin throwers) and horsemen were called auxiliary troops (auxilia) and were divided into detachments of 400-500 people. In the infantry, the units were called cohorts (cohortes), in the cavalry, alami (alae).

1.1 Reformation Maria

The emperors inherited from the Roman Republic a completely combat-ready army. The most important milestone in its history was the reform carried out under the consulate of Gaius Marius (first elected consul in 107 BC). The essence of the reform was the abolition of the property qualification for recruitment into the army and the introduction of regular pay for service. Previously, every warrior had to have some kind of property. These were mostly peasants who owned small plots of land. In the process of the total ruin of the peasants, who were forced out of the markets by the owners of large lands (latifundia), who used the free labor of masses of slaves, the number of Roman citizens who had the property qualification necessary to serve in the army became by the end of the 2nd century. - beginning of the 1st century BC. decline rapidly. It could get to the point where there would be no one to staff the invincible Roman legions. There was one more important circumstance. According to previous laws, after the end of the war, soldiers returned to their peaceful activities, which affected the combat effectiveness of the troops, because the training of soldiers was interrupted. In addition, not everyone showed a willingness to leave home, no matter how good a citizen he was. It often happened that an indomitable Roman warrior could, returning to his native hearth, see his house and plot of land captured by a rich and powerful neighbor. Homeless and hungry quirites (full-fledged Roman citizens) with numerous families replenished the crowds of unemployed rabble who gathered en masse in major cities and above all in Rome. These beggars, who defeated all the enemies of Rome, became very dangerous for the rich because of their numbers and aggressiveness.

The decision to recruit volunteers ready to serve the fatherland for some bribe eliminated this problem. After the reform, the Roman army transformed from a militia into a standing professional army (exercitus perpetuus). All warriors (except for foreign mercenaries, recruited as needed) were constantly in camps where they underwent military training.

Now the army received a stronger organization and a clear hierarchy of command, as well as opportunities for educating and training troops.

Campaigns promised booty, and the soldiers were ready to endure hardships. The authority of a successful commander among them could rise to heights unattainable for a non-military politician. But the soldiers, deceived in their hopes of enrichment, could just as easily turn to rebellion against the previously idolized commander.

1.2 High command

The emperor had full military power. The control of the troops was carried out through legates (legati) appointed by them. They were the highest immediate commanders over the troops. During the time of Julius Caesar, legates were only commanders of the legions. The legates of the legions (legatus legionis) belonged to the class of senators and, as already mentioned, were appointed by the emperor himself. In some cases, a legate could combine command of a legion with the post of provincial governor. Then the legion of such a legate, as a rule, was stationed further away in order to protect the legate from the temptation to use it to seize power in the province and betray the emperor, but this precaution did not always help.

Slightly lower in the service hierarchy were military prefects and tribunes. Prefects, who had a higher rank, commanded cavalry units (praefectus equitum), fleets (praefectus classis) or were direct assistants to the commander (praefectus fabrum) 3. Both of them could command separate detachments. The Roman high command as a whole did not have the strict hierarchy that exists in modern armies, and had a slightly different character. The ranks of officers had not only military, but also administrative significance. It is almost impossible to distinguish between these values.

1.3 Legions

The legions were the main striking force and pride of Rome throughout almost its entire history. At the time Augustus came to power, the Roman army numbered more than 60 legions - an exorbitant number for the state treasury, generated by countless civil wars, when each contender for power created new legions. These legions were far from equal in quality of training. Octavian Augustus, who remained at the pinnacle of power in splendid isolation, retained only 28 legions. The total number of the army during this period fluctuated between 300-400 thousand people, of which about 150 thousand were legionnaires, i.e. heavily armed infantry.

But even the reorganized Roman army sometimes suffered serious setbacks. After the defeat of three legions (XVII, XVIII and XIX) under the command of Varus by the Germans in the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD) they were not restored.

By the end of Augustus's reign, there were 25 legions in the army (after the death of three legions in the Teutoburg Forest). The rulers who inherited his power did not greatly change their number, especially since Rome had few territorial claims. In the 1st century - early 2nd century conquests were “limited” to Dacia, Britain, and Mauritania. Temporarily, and even then rather symbolically, Parthia was subordinated. Subsequently, the empire had to defend itself more.

Claudius created two legions to conquer Britain in 42. After the stormy year 69, when several emperors were replaced in a row, nominated by legions located in different parts of the empire, two of the four German legions were left. Only at the beginning of the reign of Domitian (81-96) another legion was created. The total number of legions reached 30. Subsequently, two legions were lost in different wars. Emperor Trajan, to strengthen the army during unrest in the eastern provinces (132-135), created two more legions that bore his name. Marcus Aurelius (161-180) recruited two Italian legions in 165. Septimius Severus (193-211) created three Parthian legions intended for the war with Parthia.

Secondary to the heavily armed legionary infantry, although no less numerous, were the auxiliary troops (auxilia). Actually, initially it was the legionnaires who were considered the army. But over time, the level of training of legionnaires and “oxylarii” (auxiliary troops) began to more or less level out.

During the Civil Wars of the 1st century. BC. Roman citizens were finally ousted from the cavalry by foreign mercenaries. This is not surprising if we remember that the Romans were never good horsemen. Therefore, the army's needs for cavalry were met by hiring Gallic and German cavalrymen. Cavalry and lightly armed infantry were also recruited in Spain.

The number of auxiliary troops, both infantry and cavalry, was, as a rule, equal to the number of heavily armed legionnaires and sometimes even exceeded it.

During Punic Wars(264-146 BC) Rome began to use in the army units formed from residents of the Mediterranean who were fluent in one or another type of weapon (archers from the island of Crete, prashers from the Balearic Islands). Numidian light cavalrymen played a major role in the Roman troops starting from the Punic Wars. The custom of recruiting soldiers who were proficient in their “national” weapons continued under the emperors. Subsequently, when the expansion of the empire’s borders ended, the function of direct border protection fell on the auxiliary troops. The legions were located in the depths of the province and formed a strategic reserve.

1.4 Praetorian Guard

The Roman Empire had at its disposal not only legions stationed in the provinces. To maintain order in Italy itself and protect the emperor, Augustus created 9 cohorts of the Praetorian Guard (cohortes practoriae) with a total number of 4,500 people. Subsequently, their number increased to 14 cohorts. At the head of each cohort was a praetorian prefect (praefectus praetorio). These selected troops were formed from the praetorian cohorts that existed at the end of the republican period under each commander to protect him. Praetorians had a number of privileges: they served for 16 years, not 26, like ordinary legionnaires, and had a salary that was 3.3 times higher than the salary of a legionnaire. Each praetorian cohort consisted of 500 people. At the beginning of the 3rd century. this number was increased to 1000, perhaps to 1500 people.

Augustus never kept more than three praetorian cohorts in Rome; he sent the rest to billets in nearby cities. Under Tiberius, the Praetorians were collected and placed under a single command in Rome in one camp. These warriors, spoiled by the attention of the emperors, were reluctant to go on military campaigns, but they participated in conspiracies with great enthusiasm and more than once played a decisive role in the overthrow of one emperor and the accession of another. The soldiers in the praetorian cohorts were recruited mainly from the inhabitants of Italy and some neighboring provinces that had long been annexed to Rome. However, after at the end of the 2nd century. The praetorians once again tried to nominate “their” emperor. Septimius Severus disbanded them and recruited them again, but from the Danube legions loyal to him. The Praetorian cavalry was formed from soldiers of the Praetorian foot cohorts who had served for at least four or five years.

When on duty in the palace, Praetorians wore togas (the traditional clothing of the Roman rich and nobles) like eminent dignitaries. The praetorian banners contained portraits of the emperor and empress, as well as the names of the emperor's victorious battles.

To strengthen the praetorian cavalry, an imperial auxiliary cavalry (equites singulares) was created, recruited from the best auxiliary cavalry riders by the emperor himself or his representatives.

For the personal protection of the emperor and members of the imperial family, detachments of bodyguards were recruited from barbarians. The Germans were especially often chosen for this role. The emperors understood that being too close to the Praetorians was not always safe.

1.5 Roman garrison

The city garrison (cohortes urbanae) was under the command of the city prefect (praefectus urbi). This position was considered an honor for retired prominent senators. The urban cohorts were created simultaneously with the praetorian cohorts, and their first numbers (X-XI) followed immediately after the praetorian numbers (I-IX). Claudius increased the number of urban cohorts. Under Vespasian (69-79), four cohorts were stationed in Rome, the rest were sent to Carthage and Lugudunum (Lyon) to guard the imperial mint. The organization of the city cohorts was the same as in the Praetorian Guard. True, they served for 20 years. The pay was two-thirds higher than the legionnaire's pay.

The municipal guard (cohortes vigilum) performed the functions of night watch and fire department. These cohorts also owe their origin to Augustus. In total, 7 of them were formed (initially from freed slaves), one for two of the 14 districts of the city. Commanded cohorts of praefectus vigilum. They served for 7 years.

1.6 Distribution of troops by province

The total number of the army was insufficient to defend the vast expanses of the empire. Therefore, a reasonable distribution of forces became of paramount importance. Even under Julius Caesar (c. 46-44 BC), troops were withdrawn from Italy and located near borders where there was a danger of enemy invasion, and in recently conquered provinces. Augustus and his successors. followed the same concept.

It is quite natural that over the course of two centuries these “pain points” of the empire changed their location. In the 1st century AD The emperors' main attention was focused on the Rhine, where at that time about 100 thousand Roman soldiers, including 8 legions, were concentrated. However, the strategic importance of this line gradually weakened. Already under Trajan (98-117) there were much fewer troops there - 45 thousand people. At this time, in connection with the ongoing wars in Dacia and Panonia, the “center of gravity” of military operations moved to the Danube. In 107, up to 110 thousand soldiers stood on the banks of this river, almost along its entire length. Five legions were in Moesia, three in Dacia, four in Panonia.

On the sections of the border most susceptible to enemy attacks, Rome also tried to use detachments of foreign mercenaries. In the first two centuries of the reign of the emperors, there were not as many of them as later, when foreigners gradually began to oust the native Romans from the ranks of the army, but in the 1st-2nd centuries. this process has already begun.

Three legions were concentrated against the Parthians in Syria. During the reign of the Flavian dynasty (69-96), two more were added to them, formed in Cappadocia. After the conquest of Arabia in 106, one legion was sent to this province.

Troops were also located in less dangerous directions. In such provinces as Spain, North Africa, Egypt, which had already been annexed to the empire for quite some time, troops were present, but full-strength legions were almost never stationed there. Of the “secondary” regions, in terms of the likelihood of large-scale military action, the exception was Britain, where three out of four legions always remained that participated in the conquest of the island, which was a clear disproportion in relation to the area of ​​this province. This is explained by the fact that the British were conquered relatively recently and individual uprisings against the Romans broke out there from time to time.

As for Gaul, since it received the status of a province (16 BC), troops from Germany or Spain were sent there if necessary.

Chapter II. Daily life of warriors

2.1 Recruitment and training

After Mary's reforms, the Roman army became mercenary. The legionary infantry could only be formed from Roman citizens, while the auxiliary troops consisted of representatives of the peoples conquered by Rome. After the Civil Wars of the 1st century. BC. all Italians living south of the Po River were granted Roman citizenship. This meant that the distinction between Roman and allied legions no longer existed. Civil rights gradually began to be granted to the western provinces (Spain, Southern Gaul, “Province” - the current historical region of France - Provence). In the East, the institution of citizenship was not so widespread, therefore, in order not to conflict with the law, recruits from those regions received this status upon joining the legion. Such measures made it possible to expand the army's access to human resources.

So, recruitment into the Roman army as a result of Marius’s reforms was distinguished primarily by the fact that instead of compulsory conscription, the principle of voluntariness was introduced. But due to the fact that the level of this very voluntariness among citizens in the 1st-2nd centuries. left much to be desired, the authorities very soon began to resort to the services of residents of the most Romanized provinces, such as Dalmatia or Gaul. If there were not enough volunteers, forced recruitment was used. At the same time, in order not to provoke unrest, the authorities, as a rule, did not skimp on good promises. Josephus testifies: “After the war against Antiochus, most of the Roman citizens, however, began to evade service. To replenish the army, it was necessary to use the services of special recruiters from the poor. During this period, even in the cavalry, more people were supplied by the provinces, citizens were in it only by officers."

At the beginning of the 2nd century. Emperor Hadrian ordered to recruit not only Roman citizens, but also residents of the provinces. A good help for replenishing the legions was the existence in the provinces that did not have civil status, the sons of legionnaires and “oxylarians”, who inherited civil rights from their fathers who served in the army. Some benefits associated with the opportunity to get rich in the war, in principle, attracted provincials to serve more than residents of Italy, so in the army there were, as a rule, more of the former than people from this beautiful peninsula, which it was so difficult for them to part with. Nevertheless, among the soldiers of the legions there were always native Italians. Talking about ethnic composition legions, we must not forget that they often included local residents of those regions where permanent camps were located. In any case, it is known that during the reign of Hadrian, approximately 70% of the legionnaires came from the western provinces (Germany, Gaul, Britain).

Before becoming a legionnaire, a volunteer had to first obtain a letter of recommendation from a member of his family already in the army, or, in the absence of one, from some third person holding even a minor government post. With this document, the volunteer appeared before a kind of draft commission or council (probatio), the members of which were officers of the legion. Such commissions were often headed by the provincial ruler. During the test, both the physical and personal qualities of the recruit were tested. The selection was made very carefully, since the power of the legion and the army as a whole was directly dependent on the qualities of the future soldier. Quite high requirements were also imposed upon joining the auxiliary cavalry.

The recruit (tiron) had to have a minimum height of about 1.75 m, have a decent appearance and a strong build. These simple conditions require some comments. According to outside observers, the inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula were short people. This was especially often noticed by the tall Gauls and Germans. This may partly be the reason why the share of “Italics” in the legions gradually decreased.

After passing the commission's tests, the recruit, aged approximately 18, was required to take an oath (sacramentum). The “sacramentum” differed from the modern oath in its religious meaning. It was not only a legal act confirming the acquisition of the status of a soldier, but a kind of expression of a certain mystical connection between the recruit and his commander. For the superstitious Romans, all these rituals had a deep meaning. At the end of the ceremony, the future soldier signed up for the legion in which he was to serve. Then he was given a small amount of money (viaticum), after which, under the protection of an officer, together with other recruits, he went to his legion. Upon arrival at the camp, a freshly minted warrior was assigned to a specific century. His name, age, and special features were included in the unit's lists. After this, the grueling training phase began.

Josephus notes: "... they win battles with such ease; for there is never confusion in their ranks and nothing takes them out of the usual battle order; fear does not deprive them of their presence of mind, and excessive exertion does not exhaust their strength." He explained these advantages of Roman soldiers by constant exercises and exercises, which were the lot of not only beginners, but also gray-haired veterans (however, for a certain amount of money handed to the centurion, it was always possible to avoid particularly tedious duties). However, most legionnaires could not afford regular bribes. Moreover, checks and inspections followed one after another. Officials also did not sit idle.

The high command, right up to the emperor, personally inspected the legions and closely monitored the state of military training.

Initially, training was not systematic, but from about the beginning of the 1st century. BC. it became an indispensable element of military life.

The primary training of the legionnaire consisted of the same thing that to this day forms the basis of the training of recruits in most armies of the world. And until the recruit became familiar with the basics of discipline and combat, under no circumstances could he be put into service.

Three times a month, soldiers made marches, 30 km each. Half the journey was done at a walk, half at a run. Soldiers were trained to keep their place in the ranks while moving and changing formations. Ultimately, it was thanks to high drill training that the legion could carry out all its formations and movements with almost mathematical precision. But it was quite difficult to achieve this. It is unlikely that it will ever be possible to count the number of sticks broken off by the centurions when the soldiers comprehended this science. Accurate execution of formations was highly valued by the Romans and was considered the main key to achieving victories.

Legionnaires had to be able to march in two different rhythms. The first of them is a “military step”. In this rhythm, the unit had to cover about 30 km in 5 hours on flat terrain. The second - “extended step” - made it possible to cover more than 35 km in the same time.

Drill training was supplemented by physical exercises, which included jumping, running, throwing stones, wrestling and swimming. Everyone from beginners to officers did these exercises.

But the main attention was paid to the construction of the camp. The soldiers were required to do the work correctly and, most importantly, quickly. For this purpose, recruits had to build many “training camps.” If in normal practice legions built them once a day, then recruits had to do this twice. Build and shoot again.

Recruits were also trained in horse riding. All soldiers had to go through these classes, performed both in full equipment and without it.

Later, newcomers began to be taught how to use weapons. This part of the training largely repeated the training methods in gladiator schools. The weapons for training were wooden, the shields were wicker. In size and shape they were quite identical to the real ones, but they were almost twice their weight. To practice strikes, a wooden pole the height of a person was dug into the ground. On it, the legionnaire practiced blows on the enemy’s imaginary head and legs. The main purpose of the exercise was to practice the strike so that when delivering it the lunge would not be too deep, since this would increase the likelihood of hitting the attacker’s right side, which is not protected by a shield. Throwing the pilum at different distances and at different targets was also practiced.

At the next stage, the future legionnaire moved on to that stage of training, which, like the gladiators, was called armatura. From this moment on, they began to use military weapon. The legionnaire received a sword, one or more pilums and a shield.

Weapon skills were developed in duels with swords or spears, the tips of which were covered with wooden tips for safety. To maintain excitement, rewards for the winners of the fight and punishments for the losers were widely used. Those who succeeded received a double ration, while the losers had to be content with barley instead of the usual grain.

Exercises with weapons were aimed at strengthening not only the body, but also the spirit of the soldiers. Flavius, apparently observing them closely, believed that “they resemble either bloodless battles or bloody exercises.” Looks like they were practicing in earnest.

During training campaigns, newcomers became familiar with tactical combat techniques, as well as with various types of formations.

At the end of this stage, the soldiers parted with the status of recruits and joined the legion. Nevertheless, throughout their further service, they were faced with the same exercises and activities to which most of every day was devoted, except for holidays. The maniples and centuries were engaged in drill training and, divided into two groups, fought among themselves. The riders practiced steeplechase racing and practiced attacking infantry. Cavalry and infantry in full marching gear will make three 15-kilometer marches every month.

The practice of continuous learning was so characteristic feature Roman military life, that even Seneca, so far from the bustle of everyday life in his works, noted: “Soldiers in peacetime go on a campaign, although not against the enemy, pour in yours, exhaust themselves with unnecessary work so that they have enough strength for what is necessary.”

2.2 Military discipline. Punishments and rewards

No other army of antiquity had such strict discipline. Its main expression was unconditional obedience to orders. Maintaining strict order was, first of all, facilitated by the fact that the soldiers were never left idle. In addition, the well-known principle of “carrot and stick” was applied in the army with invariable consistency.

Military laws punished death not only for desertion and abandonment of formation during battle, but also for less significant offenses, such as leaving a guard post, loss of weapons, theft, false testimony against a comrade, cowardice. Less significant crimes were punished by reprimands, reduced pay, demotion, assignment to hard work and corporal punishment. There were also shameful punishments. For example, Augustus ordered the offender to stand in front of the praetorium all day, sometimes wearing only a tunic and a combat belt.

If an offense was committed by the entire maniple or legion, every tenth, twentieth or hundredth person, chosen by lot, was executed, the rest were transferred to barley bread.

More severe than military law was sometimes the unlimited personal power of commanders, which they used, regardless of rank and merit. Augustus, famous for his veneration of the “traditional virtues of antiquity,” would allow legates to see their wives only in the winter. A Roman horseman who cut off his sons' thumbs to spare them military service, ordered to be sold at auction with all property. Tiberius punished the head of the legion with dishonor because he sent several soldiers to accompany his freedman on a hunt. On the other hand, release from punishments, dishonor imposed and accusations of troubled times was a real measure designed to win over the troops to their side or strengthen their authority in calmer times.

Incentives could also be of various kinds: praise, promotion, increase in salary, participation in the division of spoils, exemption from work in the camp, cash payments and insignia in the form of silver or gold wrists (armillae), worn on the forearm. There were also specific awards for different types of troops: in the cavalry - silver or gold neck chains (torques), in the infantry - silver or gold plywood breastplates with the image of a commander or the head of a deity.

Officers were awarded an honorary spear without a tip (hasta pura) and an honorary personal flag - a small vexillum. The highest insignia were wreaths (sogopae), the most honorable of which was considered the laurel wreath of the triumphant (corona triumphalis). There were other wreaths: corona civica - for saving a citizen, corona muralis - for the first to climb the wall, corona vallaris - for the first to climb the rampart of an enemy fortification, corona navalis - for the first to board an enemy ship.

Awards were distributed to the soldiers in the presence of the entire army.

From this point of view, the story of Josephus about the ceremony organized by Titus after the capture and sack of Jerusalem is indicative: “Immediately he ordered the persons appointed for this purpose to proclaim the names of those who had accomplished some brilliant feat in this war. Calling them by name, he praised those who came up and showed so much joy, as if their exploits had made him personally happy, and immediately he laid upon them golden wreaths, golden neck chains, gave them large golden spears or silver banners, and elevated each of them to the highest rank. Moreover, he bestowed upon them with a generous hand from the spoils in gold, silver, clothing and other things. Having thus rewarded everyone according to their deserts, he blessed the entire army and, with loud jubilant cries of the soldiers, descended from the rostrum and began the victorious sacrifices. A huge number of bulls, already standing at the altars, were slaughtered ", and their meat was distributed to the army. He himself feasted with them for three days, after which part of the army was released wherever anyone wanted."

In honor of a commander who won a major victory, a thanksgiving service could be held in temples (supplicatio). But the highest reward was triumph - the ceremonial entry into Rome. According to tradition, the right to it belonged to the commander vested with the highest military power (imperium), when he, as commander-in-chief, won a decisive victory on land or at sea in a declared war with an external enemy. According to this definition, in the I-II centuries. AD Only emperors, who were considered the supreme commanders of the armies, had the right to triumph.

According to ancient tradition, the commander had to remain outside the city until the day of triumph. On the appointed day, he made a solemn procession through the triumphal gates towards the Capitol. On this occasion, the streets were decorated with wreaths and churches were opened. The spectators greeted the procession with shouts, and the soldiers sang songs.

At the head of the procession were government officials and senators, followed by musicians, and then carried booty and images of conquered countries and cities. Priests, young men in festive clothes walked, leading white bulls designated for sacrifice, and noble prisoners of war in chains. Next came the triumphant golden chariot, drawn by four white horses. In front were lictors, musicians and singers. The triumphant stood on a chariot, crowned with a laurel wreath, dressed in a purple tunic embroidered with gold (tunica palmata - the clothing of Jupiter Capitolinus) and a purple toga decorated with gold stars (toga picta). In his hands he held a scepter from Ivory, decorated with a golden eagle and a laurel branch on top. At the back of the chariot stood a state slave, holding a golden crown above his head. The crowd greeted the triumphant with shouts: “Look back and remember that you are human!”

The procession was closed by soldiers wearing laurel wreaths and wearing all the insignia. Arriving at the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, the triumphant placed his spoils in the hands of the statue of the god, said a prayer, made a sacrifice, and then distributed gifts and awards to the soldiers. This was followed by a feast.

The victorious commander (not the emperor) was given only the right to special occasions wear triumphal decorations and signs with which the Caesars began to reward them from the time of Augustus. Among the decorations were chains, tunics embroidered with palm leaves, togas (toga picta), and laurel wreaths.

In honor of the victorious commander, monuments (tropaea) were erected, initially from melted down enemy weapons, and later from marble and copper, triumphal arches, columns, marble and bronze statues were erected. The armor taken from the enemy leader was sacrificed to Jupiter (luppiter Feretrius). In general, military spoils were used to pay salaries for the troops, and were also partially dedicated to the gods.

Of course, it wasn't just the winners who received awards. For example, during Caesar’s African triumph, young Augustus was awarded, despite the fact that he did not participate in the war.

2.3 Daily life

Years of military service did not always involve campaigns and battles. In the II century. life in the army was more measured. Expeditions became rare. The troops were mainly stationed in permanent camps, the way of life of which was very similar to the life of most ordinary cities of the Pax Romanum, with all the everyday amenities of ancient civilization (baths, theaters, gladiator fights, etc.).

The everyday life of a legionnaire differed little from the everyday life of a soldier of any other era - exercises, guard duty, road patrols. But in addition to military activities, soldiers were required to perform numerous construction works. They erected camp buildings and fortifications, built roads, bridges, constructed border fortified lines and monitored their safety. Behind the main rampart with watchtowers, a military road was always built along which troops could be transported along the border. Over time, such fortified lines strengthened the borders of the empire in the north of Britain - Hadrian's Wall, between the Dniester and Prut - the Trojan Wall and in Africa - the Tripolitan Wall.

An important aspect of the army's activities was its participation in the process of Romanization of the provinces in which it was stationed. After all, the army was used not only to carry out military work, but also to build canals, water pipelines, water reservoirs, and public buildings. Things got to the point that in the 3rd century. the military often had to completely take over a number of civilian functions. Legionnaires often became employees (secretaries, translators, etc.) in various local civil departments. All this contributed to the spread of the Roman way of life, its organic intertwining with local mores and customs in territories that, as a rule, did not have enough high level civilization.

For service in the army, the legionnaire regularly received a salary (stipendium). The first time the service fee was raised was by Caesar. Then it amounted to 226 denarii. Centurions traditionally received twice as much. They were paid it every four months. Then, 150 years later, the fee was increased by Domitian. The next promotion took place another hundred years later.

To pay troops, there was a kind of “tariff scale”, according to which an auxiliary infantryman received three times less, and a cavalryman half as much, as a legionnaire, although a cavalryman’s pay may have been close to that of a legionnaire. Large monetary rewards were paid to soldiers after victories or upon the accession of a new emperor to the throne. Payments and gifts (donatives), naturally, made the service more attractive.

This, of course, did not exclude mutinies in the army that arose on economic grounds, as well as due to cruel discipline or the large amount of work with which the legionnaires were burdened. It is curious that Tacitus reports an uprising in the summer camp of three legions, which occurred immediately after the death of Augustus, which, among other things, demanded equal pay with the Praetorians. With great difficulty, it was possible to liquidate this uprising, satisfying the basic demands of the rebels. Almost simultaneously, the Rhine legions rebelled. Later, a mutiny of legionnaires on the Upper Rhine was caused by the fact that they did not receive the rewards promised by Galba for the victory over the Gauls.

Soldiers often tried to save money, even though they had to provide their own food, clothing, shoes, weapons and armor (with discounts, but from their own pay), not to mention the so-called "New Year's dinner" for commanders and payments to the funeral fund. Costs for food and clothing were constant. The weapon, of course, was purchased once. Some soldiers could afford to decorate their armor with gold and silver. Some of the money inevitably went towards bribes. So, for example, not a single emperor was able to do anything about the “tradition” of paying centurions for providing vacation. So, giving “to Caesar what is Caesar’s” on the battlefield, the centurion considered himself entitled to “the centurion’s” in the camp.

Half of any remuneration (donatives) was retained for the soldier until the day of his resignation. The standard bearers were responsible for the savings of the legionnaires, who did this in addition to their other duties.

For food, the soldier received monthly four measures (modius) of grain and a certain amount of salt. The soldiers ground grain (usually wheat) in hand mills, and baked bread from the flour. Only those serving in the navy received baked bread, because it was dangerous to light a fire on ships. Meat played a secondary role. Vegetables, legumes and other products were provided only when there was a shortage of grain. The provinces were obliged to help support the army in kind or in money. For the campaign, provisions were specially prepared for municipalities (districts) and provinces.

The chief quartermaster of the army, i.e. the head of the economic department and the treasury of the army was the quaestor. Under his command were various lower officials for treasury and food affairs and scribes.

Chapter III. Fleet

3.1 Roman fleet

In Rome, the fleet was not fundamentally different from the ships of Greece and the Hellenistic states of Asia Minor. The Romans have the same dozens and hundreds, oars as the main propulsion of the vessel, the same multi-tiered layout, approximately the same aesthetics of the fore and sternposts. The main, most accurate and widespread classification is the division of ancient warships depending on the number of rows of oars.

Ships with one row of oars (vertically) were called moneris or uniremes, and in modern literature they are often called simply galleys, with two - biremes or liburnes, with three - triremes or triremes, with four - tetrers or quadriremes, with five - penters or quinqueremes, with six - hexers. However, further the clear classification becomes blurred. In ancient literature one can find references to hepter/septer, octer, enner, detsemrem (ten-row ships?) and so on up to sedecimrem (sixteen-row ships!). The only imaginable semantic content of these names is the total number of rowers on one side in one section (section) in all tiers. That is, for example, if in the bottom row we have one rower per oar, in the next - two, in the third - three, etc., then in total in five tiers we get 1+2+3+4+5 = 15 rowers . Such a ship, in principle, can be called a quindecimreme. Roman ships were on average larger than similar class Greek or Carthaginian ones. When there was a fair wind, masts were installed on the ship (up to three on quinqueremes and hexers) and the sails were raised on them. Large ships were sometimes armored with bronze plates and were almost always hung with oxhides soaked in water before battle to protect them from incendiary shells.

Also, on the eve of a collision with the enemy, the sails were rolled up and placed in covers, and the masts were laid on the deck. The vast majority of Roman warships, unlike, for example, Egyptian ones, did not have stationary masts at all. Roman ships, like Greek ones, were optimized for coastal naval battles rather than long raids on the high seas. It was impossible to ensure good habitability of a medium ship for one and a half hundred oarsmen, two to three dozen sailors and a century of marines. Therefore, in the evening the fleet tried to land on the shore. The crews, rowers and most of the marines left the ships and spent the night in tents. In the morning we sailed further. The ships were built quickly. In 40-60 days, the Romans could build a quinquereme and put it fully into operation. This explains the impressive size of the Roman fleets during the Punic Wars. For example, according to my calculations (cautious and therefore probably underestimated), during the First Punic War (264-241 BC) the Romans commissioned more than a thousand first-class warships: from triremes to quinqueremes. Since they sailed only with a fair wind, and the rest of the time they used exclusively the muscular strength of the rowers, the speed of the ships left much to be desired. The heavier Roman ships were even slower than the Greek ones. A ship capable of squeezing 7-8 knots (14 km/h) was considered “fast”, and for a quinquereme a cruising speed of 3-4 knots was considered quite decent. The crew of the ship, in the likeness of the Roman land army, was called "centuria". There were two main officials on the ship: the captain ("trierarch"), responsible for the actual sailing and navigation, and the centurion, responsible for the conduct of military operations. The latter commanded several dozen marines. Contrary to popular belief, during the Republican period (5th-1st centuries BC) all crew members of Roman ships, including rowers, were civilians. (The same, by the way, applies to the Greek fleet.) Only during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) did the Romans, as an extraordinary measure, resort to limited use in the Freedmen's Navy. However, later they began to increasingly use slaves and prisoners as oarsmen.

Birems and Liburns.

Birems were two-tier rowing ships, and liburns could be built in both two- and one-tier versions. The usual number of rowers on a bireme is 50-80, the number of marines is 30-50. In order to increase capacity, even small biremes and liburns were often equipped with a closed deck, which was not usually done on ships of a similar class in other fleets.

Triremes.

A typical trireme had a crew of 150 oarsmen, 12 sailors, approximately 80 marines and several officers. Transport capacity was, if necessary, 200-250 legionnaires.

The trireme was a faster ship compared to the quadri and quinqueremes, and more powerful than the biremes and liburns. At the same time, the dimensions of the trireme made it possible, if necessary, to place throwing machines on it.

3.2 Rome's heavy fleet

Quadriremes.

Quadriremes and larger ones warships were also not uncommon, but they were built en masse only directly during major military campaigns. Mainly during the Punic, Syrian and Macedonian wars, i.e. in the III-II centuries. BC. Actually, the first quadri and quinqueremes were improved copies of Carthaginian ships of similar classes, first encountered by the Romans during the First Punic War.

Quinqueremes.

The quinqueremes themselves were so huge that there were no rams on them; they were replaced by numerous artillery installations that made it possible to take on board large parties of paratroopers (up to 300 people). During the First Punic War, the Carthaginians could not attempt to match the strength of their ships with similar sea fortresses.

Hexers.

In the works of Roman authors there are reports of more than five-tier ships, namely six and even seven-tier ships, in the Roman fleet. Six-tier ships include hexers. They were not used in carpet production and were built extremely rarely. So, when in 117 AD. Hadrian's legionnaires reached the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, they built a fleet, the flagship of which was supposedly the hexer. However, already during the battle with the Carthaginian fleet at Eknomu in the First Punic War, the flagship ships of the Roman fleet were two hexers.

Super heavy ships.

These include septera, enners and decimremes. Both the first and second were never built en masse. Ancient historiography contains only a few scant references to these ships. Obviously, enners and decimremes were very slow-moving and could not withstand squadron speed on a par with triremes and quinqueremes. For this reason, they were used as coastal defense battleships to guard their harbors, or to besiege enemy sea fortresses as mobile platforms for siege towers, telescopic assault ladders (sambuca) and heavy artillery. In a linear battle, Mark Antony tried to use decimremes (31 BC, Battle of Actium), but they were burned by the high-speed ships of Octavian Augustus.

Chapter IV. The evolution of legionnaire weapons

The very identity of a person as a legionnaire was his attire. It differed in some parts from the simple attire of citizens. As such, this was established only with the introduction of the Marius reform and a series of subsequent reforms that made the army permanent.

The main differences were the military belt ("balteus") and shoes ("kaligi"). The "baltheus" could take the form of a simple belt worn at the waist and decorated with silver or bronze overlays, or two crossed belts tied at the hips. The time of appearance of such crossed belts is unknown. They may have appeared closer to the reign of Augustus, when additional protection appeared in the form of leather stripes on the sleeves and waist ("pterugs") (metal plates for such strips were found near Kalkriese, where Varus was defeated). Probably, during the reign of Tiberius, blackening on silver, lead or copper began to be widely used in the manufacture of decorative belt overlays with a complex mosaic pattern.

Military shoes "kaliga" were another important attribute of belonging to the soldier class. The exact time of their introduction is unknown. They were the standard footwear for Roman soldiers from the reign of Augustus until the beginning of the 2nd century. AD These were strong sandals. Josephus Flavius ​​in his work “The Jewish War” said that the creaking of nailed soles and the jingling of belts spoke of the presence of soldiers. Archaeological finds throughout the empire indicate a high degree of standardization in the form of "kalig". This suggests that the models for them, and possibly other items of military equipment, were approved by the emperors themselves.

4.1 Offensive weapons

"Pilum" was one of the main types of weapons of the Roman legionnaire. Unlike the “gladius”, a sword that had several clearly defined and consistent varieties, the “pilum” was preserved for six centuries in two main types - heavy and light. The dart, with a total length of more than 2 m, was equipped with a long iron rod with a pyramidal or double-pronged tip.

The Pilum was a weapon that was used at short range. With its help it was possible to pierce the shield, armor and the enemy warrior himself.

Several "pilums" with flat tips and remains of a wooden shaft have been preserved, found in the Oberaden Fort of Augusta in Germany. They could weigh up to 2 kg. However, those specimens that were found in Valencia and belonged to the period of the Late Republic had much larger tips and significantly more weight. Some "pilums" were equipped with weights, probably made of lead, but no such specimens have been discovered by archaeologists. Such a heavy “pilum” in the hands of a praetorian can be seen on the surviving panel from the destroyed Arch of Claudius in Rome, which was erected in honor of the conquest of southern Britain. The weighted dart weighed at least twice as much as a normal dart and could not be thrown over a long distance (the maximum throwing distance was 30 m). It is clear that such weighting was done to increase the penetrating power of the dart and was most likely used for combat on elevated areas of land and fortress walls.

The Roman legionnaire is usually represented as armed with a short, sharp sword known as a gladius, but this is a misconception

For the Romans, the word "gladius" was general and meant any sword. Thus, Tacitus uses the term "gladius" to refer to the long cutting swords with which the Caledonians were armed at the battle of Mons Graupius. The famous Spanish sword, "gladius hispaniensis", often mentioned by Polybius and Livy, was a medium-length piercing-cutting weapon. The length of its blade reached from 64 to 69 cm, and its width - 4-5.5 cm. The edges of the blade could be parallel or slightly narrowed at the handle. From about a fifth of the length the blade began to taper and ended with a sharp point. This weapon was probably adopted by the Romans shortly after the Battle of Cannae, which took place in 216 BC. Before this, it was adapted by the Iberians, who took the Celtic long sword as a basis. The scabbard was made from a strip of iron or bronze with details made of wood or leather. Up to 20 BC. some Roman units continued to use the Spanish sword (an interesting example came to us from Berry Bow in France). However, during the reign of Augustus it was quickly replaced by the "gladius", the type of which is represented by finds in Mainz and Fulheim. This sword clearly represented a more developed stage of the “gladius hispaniensis”, but had a shorter and wider blade, narrowed at the hilt. Its length was 40-56 cm, with a width of up to 8 cm. The weight of such a sword was about 1.2-1.6 kg. The metal scabbard could be finished in tin or silver and decorated with various compositions, often associated with the figure of Augustus. The short "gladius" of the type found in Pompeii was introduced quite late. This sword, with parallel edges and a short triangular point, was completely different from the Spanish swords and swords found in Mainz/Fulheim. It was 42-55 cm long, and the blade width was 5-6 cm. Using this sword in battle, legionnaires delivered piercing and slashing blows. This sword weighed about 1 kg. The beautifully decorated scabbards, like those found at Mainz/Fulheim, were replaced by scabbards made of leather and wood with metal fittings, on which various images were engraved, embossed or minted. All Roman swords of the period we are considering were attached to a belt or hung on a sling. Since the image of a “gladius” similar to that found in Pompeii is most often found on Trajan’s Column, this sword began to be perceived as the main weapon of the legionnaire. However, its use in Roman units was very short compared to other swords. Introduced in the middle of the 1st century. AD, it fell out of use in the second quarter of the 2nd century. AD The ordinary Roman soldier carried his sword on his right side. Centurions and higher-ranking officers wore the sword on the left, which was a sign of their rank.

Dagger.

Another borrowing from the Spaniards was the dagger ("pugio"). In shape it was similar to a “gladius” with a blade narrowed at the handle, the length of which could be from 20 to 35 cm. The dagger was worn on the left side (ordinary legionnaires). Beginning with the reign of Augustus, dagger hilts and metal scabbards were decorated with elaborate silver inlay. The basic forms of such a dagger continued to be used in the 3rd century. AD

4.2 Defensive weapons

Shield.

The traditional legionnaire's shield was a curved "scutum" oval shape. A copy from Fayum in Egypt, dating back to the 1st century. BC, was 128 cm long and 63.5 cm wide. It was made of wooden planks laid on top of each other in transverse layers. In the central part, such a shield had a slight thickening (the thickness here was 1.2 cm, and at the edges - 1 cm). The shield was covered with felt and calfskin, and weighed 10 kg. During the reign of Augustus, such a shield was modified, receiving a curved rectangular shape. The only surviving example of this form comes to us from Dura Europos in Syria and dates back to approximately 250 AD. It was constructed in the same way as the Fayum shield. It reached 102 cm in length and 83 cm in width (the distance between the curved edges was 66 cm), but was much lighter. With a thickness of 5 mm, it weighed about 5.5 kg. Peter Connolly believes that earlier examples were thicker in the middle and weighed 7.5 kg.

Such a weight of the “scutum” meant that it had to be held with a horizontal grip at arm’s length. Initially, such a shield was intended for offensive use. The shield could also be used to knock down an opponent. The flat shields of the mercenaries were not always lighter than the shields of the legionnaires. The rectangular shield with a curved top, found at Hod Hill, weighed about 9 kg.

Armor.

Most legionnaires of the Imperial period wore heavy armor, although some types of troops did not use armor at all. Caesar used legionnaires without armor ("expediti"), fighting as "anti-signani". These were lightly armed legionnaires who began skirmishing at the beginning of the battle or served as reinforcements for the cavalry (for example, at Pharsalus). The relief from the legionnaires' headquarters building in Mainz shows two legionnaires fighting in close formation. They are armed with shields and spears, but have no protective armor - even heavily armed legionnaires could fight "expediti". On two other reliefs from Mainz you can see the armor of the established pattern that was used by the legionnaires. In one image, a legionnaire wearing lorica segmentata armor, made of metal strips and plates, walks behind a signifer. True, such armor was not used everywhere. Recent finds made at Kalkriese, the site where Varus's army was defeated (the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest), including a completely preserved breastplate with a bronze border, suggest that such armor appeared during the reign of Augustus. Other pieces of armor were found in what were once Augustus' bases, near Haltern and Dangsteten in Germany. The shell provided good protection, especially for the shoulders and upper back, but, ending at the hips, left the lower abdomen and upper legs exposed. It is likely that some kind of quilted clothing was worn under the shell, which softened the blows, protected the skin from abrasions and helped ensure that the shell fit properly, and the breastplate and other plates were correctly positioned in relation to each other. A reconstruction of one such armor showed that it could weigh about 9 kg. Another relief from Mainz shows a centurion (his sword on his left side) wearing what at first glance appears to be a tunic. However, the cuts at the arms and hips indicate that this is a chain mail shirt ("lorica hamata"), the cuts of which are necessary in order to facilitate the movement of the warrior. Many of these monuments depict details in the form of rings. Chain mail was probably the type of armor that was widely used by the Romans. In the period we are considering, chain mail shirts had short sleeves or no sleeves at all and could fall much lower than the hips. Most legionnaires wore chain mail with additional chain mail pads on the shoulders. Depending on the length and number of rings (up to 30,000), such chain mail weighed 9-15 kg. Chain mail with shoulder pads could weigh up to 16 kg. Usually chain mail was made of iron, but there are cases when bronze was used to make rings. Scale armor ("lorica squamata") was another common type, cheaper and easier to manufacture, but inferior to chain mail in strength and elasticity. Such scale armor was worn over a shirt with sleeves, probably made of canvas lined with wool. Such clothing helped soften blows and prevented metal armor from being pressed into the legionnaire’s body. To such clothing they often added “pterugs” - canvas or leather protective strips that covered the upper parts of the arms and legs. Such stripes could not protect against serious injuries. Until the end of the 1st century. AD centurions could wear greaves, and even then, probably not in all cases. Articulated arm armor was used in the period under consideration by gladiators, but it did not come into widespread use among troops until the reign of Domitian (81-96 AD).

Legionnaires used different kinds helmets During the Republic, bronze and sometimes iron helmets of the “Montefortino” type became widespread, which became the traditional helmets of legionnaires from the 4th century. BC. They consisted of a single cup-shaped piece with a very small rear visor and side plates that covered the ears and sides of the face. Later versions of helmets, including the so-called “Kulus” type, were used until the end of the 1st century. AD They were equipped with large plates to protect the neck. At the beginning of the reign of Augustus, and perhaps even during the period of Caesar's Gallic conquests, Roman blacksmiths began to make iron helmets of the Gallic Port and Agen types for legionaries. These so-called "Gallic Imperial" helmets were of very high quality, equipped with a front and rear visor. Large side plates have also been added to this helmet to protect the neck. Closer to the middle of the 1st century. AD A version of this helmet was made in Italian workshops. For their manufacture, iron and bronze were used (which was a step forward compared to the Montefortino type helmet). The legionnaires' helmets were quite massive. The wall thickness reached 1.5-2 mm, and the weight was about 2-2.3 kg. The helmets and their side plates had felt pads, and some helmets were designed to leave a small space between the head and the canopy to soften the blow. The Montefortino helmets were equipped with wide side plates that completely covered the ears, but the new Gallic Imperial type helmets already had cutouts for the ears. True, with the exception of those cases where helmets were custom-made for a soldier, the side plates could partially cover the legionnaire’s ears. The side plates covered the sides of the face well, but could limit peripheral vision, and the open front of the face became a target for the enemy. The Batavian and Tungrian mercenaries who fought at Mons Graupius struck their British opponents in the face. Caesar recalled how the centurion Crastinus was killed at the Battle of Pharsalus by a blow to the mouth with a sword.

4.3 Equipment weight

Besides emotional stress During the battle, the legionnaire of the Augustan era had to carry a significant weight of combat equipment. The "lorica segmentata" armor and the use of a curved rectangular "scutum" made it possible to reduce the weight of the equipment to 23 kg. On the march, the weight that the legionnaire had to carry increased due to his luggage, which included cooking utensils, a bag of provisions, and spare clothes. All this property, the weight of which could exceed 13 kg, was placed in a leather bag with ropes and carried using a T-shaped pole on the shoulder. Josephus notes that, if necessary, the legionnaire also had to carry all the equipment for earthworks. This included a pickaxe, an axe, a saw, a chain, a leather belt and a basket for carrying earth. It is not surprising that Julius Caesar made sure that a certain part of the legionnaires on the march were not burdened with a load and could quickly react in the event of an enemy attack.

The table shows the weight of combat equipment that a legionnaire of the Augustan era had to carry. \

EquipmentApproximate weight (in kg) Helmet "Montefortino" 2 Chainmail 12 Crossing belts 1.2 Oval "scutum" 10 "Gladius" with scabbard 2.2 Dagger with scabbard 1.1 "Pilum" 3.8 Total 32.3

The ability of legionnaires to travel long distances with a load, and then immediately enter into battle, surprises modern scientists. For example, the six legions of Vitellius who took part in the Second Battle of Cremona marched 30 Roman miles (about 60 km) from Hostilia in one day and then fought all night. In the end, the fatigue of Vitellius's legionnaires took its toll, and they were defeated. Soldier fatigue often influenced the outcome of battles between Roman armies, which, as the Second Battle of Cremona shows, could last quite a long time. The heaviness of the armor and the energy that the legionnaire had to expend using the pilum, sword and shield limited the duration of the battle, which was regularly interrupted for respite.

Chapter V. Strategy of the Roman legions

Tactics and strategy were of great importance in the Roman army, but these functions were only possible if the legionnaires were given time to prepare and undergo training.

The standard tactics of the Roman army (before the reform of Gaius Marius) was a simple onslaught. The use of pilums made it possible to defeat the enemy with much greater ease. The first onslaught and attack could decide the outcome of the entire battle. Titus Livy and all the other authors describing the consolidation of Rome on the Italian peninsula said that the enemies of Rome were in many ways similar in weapons to the Romans themselves. So, the most significant battle demonstrating that tactics played a big role was the Battle of Cannae.

5.1 Battle of Cannae

On August 2, 216, near the village of Cannes in southeastern Italy, near the confluence of the river. Aufid (Ofanto) in the Adriatic Sea, the largest battle of the 2nd Punic War took place. The size of the Roman army, according to some sources, was about 80 thousand infantry and 6 thousand horsemen, and according to others - 63 thousand infantry and 6 thousand cavalry, which on that day was commanded by the consul Gaius Terentius Varro. The Carthaginian army consisted of 40 thousand infantry and 10 thousand cavalry.

August the Roman army was commanded by Varro; he ordered the legions to break camp and move towards the enemy. Aemilius was against these actions, but Varro did not pay attention to all his objections.

Hannibal moved his cavalry and lightly armed infantry towards the Romans and unexpectedly attacked the Roman legions while moving, causing confusion in their ranks. But then the Romans brought forward a detachment of heavily armed infantry, reinforced by javelin throwers and cavalry. The Carthaginian attack was repulsed and they were forced to retreat. This success further strengthened Varro in his desire for a decisive battle. The next day, Aemilius could not safely withdraw the legions, being in direct contact with the enemy. Therefore, he camped two-thirds of his forces on one bank of the Aufid River, and a third on the other bank, 2 km from the first camp; these troops were supposed to threaten the Carthaginian foragers.

The Carthaginian army set up a camp on the other side of the river where the main Roman forces were located. Hannibal addressed his soldiers with a speech, which he ended with the words: “With victory in this battle, you will immediately become masters of the whole of Italy; this one battle will put an end to your current labors, and you will be the owners of all the wealth of the Romans, you will become lords and rulers of the whole earth. Here Why are there no more words needed, deeds are needed.”

The Carthaginian army then went out into the field and formed up for battle. Emilius strengthened the guard posts and did not move. The Carthaginians were forced to return to their camp. On August 2, as soon as the sun appeared, the Roman troops, on the orders of Varro, moved immediately from both camps and began to build a battle formation on the left bank of the river. Aufid facing south. Varro placed the Roman cavalry close to the river on the right wing; the infantry was adjacent to it in the same line, and the maniples were placed closer than before, and the entire formation was given greater depth than width. The Allied cavalry stood on the left wing. Light detachments were located at some distance ahead of the entire army.

The Roman battle formation occupied about 2 km along the front. The troops were lined up in three lines of 12 ranks each, that is, 36 ranks deep. Legions and maniples were formed at reduced intervals and distances; 4,000 cavalry under the command of Varro lined up on the left flank, and 2,000 cavalry under the command of Aemilius lined up on the right flank. Eight thousand lightly armed infantrymen covered the battle formation. Varro intended the ten thousand people remaining in the camp to attack the Carthaginian camp during the battle. Reducing intervals and distances and increasing the depth of the Roman formation actually meant abandoning the advantages of the manipular formation of the legions. The Roman army turned into a huge phalanx that could not maneuver on the battlefield. The battle formation of the Carthaginian army was divided along the front: the worst troops were in the center, the wings consisted of selected units of infantry and cavalry. Near the river, on the left flank against the Roman cavalry, Hannibal placed the cavalry of the Iberians and Celts, followed by half of the heavily armed Libyan infantry, followed by the infantry of the Iberians and Celts, and next to them the other half of the Libyans. The right flank was occupied by the Numidian cavalry. Having formed the entire army in one straight line, Hannibal moved forward with the Iberians and Celts standing in the center; to them he added the rest of the army in such a way as to form a curved line like a crescent, gradually thinning towards the ends. By this he wanted to ensure that the Libyans covered the fighting, and the Iberians and Celts were the first to enter the battle. On his extreme right flank, Hannibal built the Numidian cavalry (2 thousand horsemen) under the command of Hanno, on the extreme left flank there was a heavy African cavalry (8 thousand horsemen) under the command of Hasdrubal, and on the path of the advance of this cavalry there were only 2 thousand horsemen of poorly trained Roman cavalry. Next to the cavalry, on both flanks, there were 6 thousand heavy African infantry (Libyans), lined up in 16 ranks. In the center, 10 ranks deep, stood 20 thousand Gauls and Iberians, whom Hannibal ordered to move forward. The center was built with a ledge forward. Hannibal himself was here. Eight thousand lightly armed infantrymen covered the battle formation of the Carthaginian army, which faced superior enemy forces.

The lightly armed infantry of both opponents, having started a battle, retreated behind the location of their armies. Following this, the cavalry of the left flank of the Carthaginian battle formation defeated the cavalry of the Roman right flank, went to the rear of their battle formation, attacked the cavalry of the left flank and scattered it. The Carthaginians drove the Roman cavalry from the battlefield. At the same time, an infantry battle developed. The course of events on the battlefield created the preconditions for the flanks of the Roman army to be captured by the Carthaginian infantry, the encirclement of the Romans to be completed by cavalry and the destruction of the encircled Roman army. The Carthaginian battle formation took on a concave, enveloping shape. The Romans wedged into it, which facilitated a two-way coverage of their battle formation. The rear ranks of the Romans were forced to turn to fight the Carthaginian cavalry, which, having defeated the Roman cavalry, attacked the Roman infantry. The Carthaginian army completed the encirclement of the Romans. The dense formation of the legions deprived them of maneuverability. The Romans were huddled together. Only the warriors of the outer ranks could fight. The numerical superiority of the Roman army lost its significance; There was a crush inside this huge mass; the soldiers could not turn around. A terrible massacre of the Romans began.

As a result of the twelve-hour battle, the Romans lost 48 thousand killed and about 10 thousand captured. The losses of the Carthaginians in killed reached 6 thousand people. Despite being completely surrounded, many of the Romans managed to escape; According to some reports, 14 thousand people were saved, but if we take into account the data on losses and total number of the entire Roman army (86 thousand people), it turns out that 28 thousand people were saved.

What were Varro’s main mistakes? He abandoned the already established tactics (manipular). The Roman formation was wide, but even for such a length the depth was too great. For Varro, it made more sense to break the army into legions and disperse them across the area, giving them the opportunity for both tactical maneuvering and the ability to deliver a united attack from several sides. In addition, a reserve corps of 10 thousand could deliver a flank or rear attack on Hannibal's army.

But Varro did not take into account any facts and decided to defeat the enemy with one frontal attack, which led to his defeat. Not taking into account Hannibal's strong cavalry, he imprudently decided to move the army.

But still, in such a situation, there was a chance to defeat Hannibal by using the triarii for a flank counterattack at the beginning of the battle. They could strengthen the horsemen standing on the flanks and repel the attacks of Gazdrubal and Hannon. After which the battle would change its course. But Varro did not take this option into account and lost. Thus ended the Battle of Cannae - the complete defeat of the Romans.

5.2 Battle of Cynoscephalae

The second battle was the Battle of Cynoscephalae. The Battle of Kinoscephalae occupies a special place in military history. Partly because it was the first large-scale field battle of the Roman legions and the Macedonian phalanx, partly because the fate of the Macedonian state was decided in it (Fig. 7).

Both sides in the winter of 197 BC. prepared for battle on the Thessalian plain. The Romans sought to push the king north into Macedonia and isolate his garrisons in Greece. Philip, in turn, wanted to retain Thessaly and cover the Tempean passage to Macedonia.

Philip set out on a hike in the morning, but because of the fog he decided to return to camp. To provide cover from the Cynoscephalus, behind which the enemy could be located, he sent an ephedra - a guard detachment of no more than 1000 - 2000 people. The main part of the army, having set up guard posts, remained in the camp. A significant part of the soldiers was sent to collect fodder for the cavalry.

Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who also did not know about the enemy’s movement, decided to reconnoiter the situation on the ridge of hills separating him from the Macedonians. For this purpose, extraordinaries were allocated - selected 10 tours of allied cavalry (300 horsemen) and 1000 light infantry.

At the pass, the Romans suddenly saw a Macedonian outpost. The battle between them began with separate skirmishes, in which the velites were overthrown and retreated along the northern slope with losses. Flamininus immediately sent 500 Aetolian horsemen Eupolemus and Archedamus and 1000 Aetolian infantrymen to the pass under the command of 2 Roman tribunes. The crumpled Macedonians retreated from the ridge to the tops of the hills and turned to the king for help. Philip sent the most mobile and maneuverable part of the army to the pass. The Macedonian cavalry of Leontes (1000 horsemen), the Thessalian cavalry of Heraclides (100 horsemen) and mercenaries under the command of Athenagoras - 1500 Greek peltasts and light armed men and perhaps 2000 thralls - entered the battle. With these forces, the Macedonians overthrew the Roman and Aetolian infantry and drove them down the slope, and the Aetolian cavalry, strong in scattered battle, grappled with the Macedonians and Thessalians.

The arriving messengers told Philip that the enemy was fleeing, unable to resist, and the opportunity simply could not be missed - this was his day and his happiness. Philip gathered his remaining troops. He himself led the right wing of the army to the ridge: the right wing of the phalanx (8,000 phalangites), 2,000 peltasts and 2,000 Thracians. On the crest of the hills, the king reorganized his troops from the marching order, deploying to the left of the pass and occupying the height dominant above the pass.

dissatisfied with the inevitability and suddenness of the battle, Titus lined up an army: cavalry detachments and allied troops on the flanks, Roman legions in the center. In front, 3,800 velites lined up in loose formation for cover. He led the left wing of the army - on the right is the 2nd legion, to the left is the 2nd allied army, in front is all the light infantry, the Aetolians, probably on the flank of the legion (a total of 6,000 heavily armed, about 3,800 velites and up to 4,000 Aetolians) - stood in the center and led to the aid of the defeated Aetolians. The right wing, in front of which a line of bishops stood instead of velites, remained in place.

Flaminin, without withdrawing the lightly armed maniples behind the line, attacked the enemy. The Romans approached the Macedonians who were beating the light infantry and Aetolian cavalry, the velites threw pilums and began to cut with swords. The Romans again had the numerical superiority. Now about 8,000 infantry and 700 horsemen fought against 3,500 - 5,500 infantry and 2,000 horsemen. The ranks of Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry and lightly armed soldiers, mixed in pursuit, could not withstand the blow and rolled back to the top under the protection of Philip.

The king doubled the depth of the phalanx and peltasts and closed their ranks to the right, making room for the deployment of the left flank rising to the ridge. The right wing of the phalanx was lined up in 32 ranks of 128 people. Philip stood at the head of the peltasts, the Thracians stood on the right flank, and the retreating lightly armed infantry and cavalry deployed even further to the right. On the left, the right wing of the phalanx was not covered either by the left wing of the phalanx (it rose next in the marching formation) or by peltasts. The Macedonian army was ready for battle - 10,000 in formation, up to 7,000 in loose formation, 2,000 horsemen. Titus Quinctius Flamininus let the lightly armed infantry pass between the ranks of the maniples, rearranged the heavy infantry in a checkerboard formation and led them into the attack - 6,000 in formation, up to 8,000 in loose formation, up to 700 horsemen. Philip ordered the sarissas to be lowered, and the phalanx bristled with the dagger tips of the sarissas.

The Romans, accustomed to overturning the barbarian phalanx with a hail of pilums, stumbled upon an impenetrable wall. 10 sarissas were aimed at the chest of each legionnaire, which inflicted deep bleeding wounds, and the Romans fell onto the rocky ground wet from the rain, unable to even cause damage to the Macedonians. And the phalanx walked forward at an even pace, the Macedonians stabbed forward with their sarissas at the ready, and only sudden resistance to the spear sent forward meant for the warrior of the fifth or sixth rank that he had hit the enemy. Having met resistance, the 2nd Legion and its allies with the Aetolians began to roll back. The Aetolians still tried to fight the phalanx, but the demoralized Romans simply ran.

The battle was, in essence, lost by the Romans. King Philip advanced quickly. On the right flank of the right wing of the Macedonians rushing forward, there were peltasts, light weapons and mercenaries in order under the command of Athenagoras. There, Heraclides and Leontes, the best cavalry in the Balkans, were put in order. Nikanor Elephas led the left wing of the phalanx to the crest of the hills, lowered it down and successively deployed the left wing of the phalanx into a battle line.

In order to preserve the battle formations of the right wing, the Romans would have to let past the remnants of the 2nd legion pursued by the Macedonian cavalry and meet the blow of the rebuilt front of the phalangites, who, under the leadership of the king, had just defeated the enemy and to which the fresh left wing of the phalanx was attached.

Flaminin did not wait for defeat, but turned his horse and rode to the right wing, which alone could save the situation. And at that moment the consular drew attention to the formation of the Macedonian army: the left wing, in marching order, crossed the crest of the hills in separate spars and began to descend from the pass in order to deploy into battle formation to the left of the pursuing king. There was no cover by cavalry and peltasts - they all marched on the right flank of Philip's successfully advancing right wing. Then Titus Quinctius Flamininus launched an attack that changed the course of the battle. He withdrew the right wing, which was standing aside from the battle, and moved the right wing (60 maniples - about 6,000 heavily armed) towards the left wing of the Macedonians, which had risen to the ridge. Elephants walked ahead of the battle formation.

This was a turning point in the battle. The phalangites, formed in marching order, did not have the opportunity to consistently turn their front towards the enemy on the narrow road and began to retreat randomly, without waiting for the strike of the elephants and the hail of pilums. Nicanor Elephas either hoped to regain control on the crest of the hills when the phalanx broke away from the Romans, or succumbed to general panic.

One of the tribunes held back 20 maniples and turned them to the rear of Philip, who continued to pursue the defeated enemy. Since these maniples did not participate in the pursuit of the fleeing (Roman discipline could not have called them back), it should be assumed that they were in the 3rd line, and these were 10 maniples of triarii and 10 maniples of principles or triarii of the allies - about 1200 in total - 1800 people (elite of the Roman legions). There was no cover on Philip's left flank - the left wing did not have time to settle in, and the light infantry remained on the right flank. 20 maniples hit the flank of Philip's advancing right wing and stopped his advance. There was no cover on the left flank, and the Macedonians found themselves in a difficult situation. The commanders were either far ahead or in the middle of the line, and could not get out. The Uragas died in the first moments of the battle. It was very difficult to turn around in a deep formation: aspis and huge sarissas worn on the elbow were useless in close combat and clung to the equipment. The linen kotfib worn by the warriors in the back ranks did little to protect against the slashing blows of the wide gladius that had recently been adopted by the legions. But even now the phalanx held on due to the density of the formation and heavy weapons, and the stopped phalangites, throwing sarissas that had become useless, fought off the Roman swordsmen attacking from the rear and flank with short xiphos. The left flank of the wing still retained the ability to spontaneously, unorganizedly change formation facing the enemy. However, the phalanx's forward movement stopped, and the Macedonian cavalry was never withdrawn from the crowd on the right flank for pursuit. When the tribunes brought the 1st Legion into order and the battle from the front resumed, the Phalangists wavered and ran.

Flaminius announced 8,000 killed and 5,000 captured Macedonians - mostly from the phalanx. Roman casualties were reported to be 700; whether the Aetolians were included in this number is unclear.

Here the obvious military leadership talent of Titus Flaminius is revealed. Realizing that he was losing, he did not try to throw his right wing at the phalangists, but turned to the left, unready wing of the phalanx. By sacrificing his left wing, he was able to defeat the enemy. When Philip got too involved in the battle, forgetting about his duty as a commander, Flaminius revealed it, attacking the phalanx from behind.

5.3 Battle of Carrhach

In June 53 BC. near Carrium a battle took place between the Romans under the leadership of Crassus and the Parthians under the command of Surena. The first had 7 legions and 4 thousand cavalry and light infantry each, the second - 10 thousand horse archers and 1 thousand cataphrates from the royal personal squad. Under threat of attacks and shelling from all sides, mainly from the flanks, the Parthians forced the Romans to first form a square. The counterattack was organized by Crassus' son, Publius, at the head of 8 cohorts, 3 thousand horsemen and 500 foot archers. However, his detachment, due to a false retreat of the Parthians, broke away from the main forces and was defeated head-on and at the same time covered from the flanks. Publius's horsemen were beaten while the rest pinned down the infantry, after which they were finally attacked by pikemen. The head of Publius was sent to King Orodes II. Crassus's own infantry was extremely constrained by archery fire. The shooting was inaccurate, but very effective, as it was fired at a dense mass. As a result, there were 4 thousand wounded with an unknown number of deaths. However, the Parthian cataphracts did not play a significant role at Carrhae - the blow of the heavily armed, armored horsemen was lost in the stamina of the legionnaires. Having taken a blow to the shields, they were able to force the cataphracts to get stuck in the ranks and only a retreat saved the warriors of the king of Parthia from death. But the climatic factor also played a role in the defeat of the Romans - Crassus’ army was composed mainly of Italics, and in the summer the heat in Mesopotamia reached 38 degrees. On the march with a load of more than 50 kg and a lack of water, the soldiers quickly got tired.

The cataphracts retreated, and mounted riflemen began to cover the Roman quadrangle on all sides. The Roman light infantry sent forward tried to push them back, but the Parthians, retreating a little, showered them with arrows and drove them back into the square. Following this, a hail of arrows struck the closed ranks of the legions. The Romans were horrified to discover that the Parthian arrows were piercing their armor. For some time there was hope that the supply of arrows would dry up, and then it would be possible to force hand-to-hand combat on the Parthians. But the Parthians had a full convoy in reserve with five times the usual supply of arrows; time after time, when they ran out of arrows, the mounted riflemen retreated back, took a new supply and returned. Crassus decided to counterattack with a reserve in order to retreat to a more advantageous position under its cover. Crassus' son Publius with 1 thousand Gallic horsemen, 300 light infantry, 500 foot archers and 8 cohorts of heavy infantry rushed at the Parthian archers. They began to retreat. But when Publius broke away from the main forces, he was attacked from all sides by the Parthians, supported by the cataphracts. They were answered, the Gallic mercenary cavalry struck back. The spears of the Gauls could not pierce the scaly armor of the cataphracts, but, coming into hand-to-hand combat, they threw the riders off their horses, tore spears out of their hands, dismounted, dived under the armor of the horses and ripped open their bellies. In the battle, Publius was wounded and the Gauls, surrounding the commander, occupied one of the hills, but they were not allowed to retreat, they were surrounded and destroyed. Five hundred people from the Gaul detachment survived. Publius was killed, his head was shown to his father and the rest of the army. With darkness the battle died down. Surena invited Crassus to surrender, promised him life and gave him a night to mourn the death of his son. At night, Crassus lost self-control, and with it control of his troops. The military council decided to leave the wounded and retreat under cover of darkness. The cavalry, having learned of the decision, left immediately to avoid chaos during the night retreat. Passing by the city of Carra, she warned the sentries on the walls about the disaster and went further to the border. Soon Surena discovered that Crassus was hiding in Carrhae with the remnants of the army. The Romans again decided to leave under cover of darkness. Their guide, who was in the Parthians' pay, led the Roman column into the swamp. Surena, on behalf of his king, proposed a truce to the confused Romans. The Roman army began to put pressure on Crassus to accept this proposal. Crassus went to negotiate, but was killed during them. His head and right hand were cut off. Some of the Roman troops surrendered, some managed to escape, many of those who fled were caught and killed by local nomads. The Romans lost up to 20 thousand killed and up to 10 thousand captured. There is no mention of Parthian losses in the sources.

So, Crassus’ mistakes were simple and lay on the very surface.

He did not conduct any reconnaissance, conducting his campaign spontaneously without being guided by any data.

Crassus needed to delay his campaign for several months or one year until reconnaissance and spies conveyed at least a small amount of information about the enemy. Conduct reconnaissance with small forces, checking the possibility of resistance of the Roman cohorts to the enemy. Based on the results of reconnaissance in force, draw conclusions and options for confronting enemy cavalry. Then, relying on the features of the landscape and terrain, force the Parthians into a general battle, when the cavalry would be caught in a pincer movement between several legions at once, and limit the Parthian cavalry’s ability to quickly retreat and maneuver. Defeat one of the armies and distract the rest by showing the wrong direction. Afterwards, strike quickly at the capital and, if provided, the opportunity to take it, which would inevitably lead to the fall of the Parthian state (the ruler was absent at that time, and there was no chance of organizing sufficient resistance)

Conclusion

The army played a very significant role in Roman history. She shaped society itself, its entire inner strength and all the innovations. Thanks to her, Rome went down in history, from a small city becoming a gigantic empire spread across the vast Mediterranean coast.

Rome was strong with its social structure, but the legions that marched across the lands of Europe played an important role in preserving the memory of this empire. The legions created this empire with their own hands, seizing lands throughout the Mediterranean basin.

In our time, the device that the army of Rome had is still considered the best and time-tested. The Roman army was perfect; it not only won easily, but also, having been defeated, learned from its mistakes. An example of this is the Punic Wars and the victory of Scipio Africanus at Zama. Based on the mistakes of his predecessors (defeats at Cannae, Trebia, Lake Trasimene), he was able, based on the results and results of the First Punic War, to defeat the superior army of Hannibal. Rome, based on the experience of countless battles, developed universal combat tactics and chose the best weapons suitable for it.

The Roman fleet, which became a force during the Punic War, was the most powerful fleet in antiquity.

In addition, the legions were an army not only for times of war; during the years of peace, the legions also dealt with matters important for the entire empire.

All this attracted a lot of interest to the Roman army, both from contemporary neighbors and from current researchers. Many of them sought to understand how everything worked and convey it to their descendants as accurately as possible.

And now we have at our disposal the immortal works of ancient authors who contributed to modern research dimensionless contribution. Our contemporaries, relying on all the same authors, strive for understanding, with every opportunity wanting to recreate what is described. But all the information in the authors’ works largely contradicts each other. And that's why for a long time There are disputes about certain details. Therefore, the main method of producing new ideas in this section is considered to be the theoretical presentation and understanding of the archaeological data already available to scientists, new finds and reports from the authors.

The study of this section itself is very interesting, as it allows you to learn not just the features of the army, but the originality of the army that created with its strength and power greatest state ancient age that ever existed in this era. The history of Rome itself encourages us to learn as much as possible about the army, through which this great state was created.

Bibliography

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17.Suetonius Gaius Tarquil. The Life of the Twelve Caesars. M., 2008.

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21.Electronic sources

22.#"center"> Application

Rice. 1. Formation of the heavily armed infantry of the Roman Legion according to G. Delbrück a-v. (a - formation before the battle; b - rebuilding of the maniples of each line before a collision with the enemy; c - starting position before the infantry clash) Reconstruction by P. Connolly.

Rice. 3 Ballista.

Rice. 4. Scorpio.

Rice. 5. Onager (A - sea onager, based on ships; B - standard small legion onager, onagers used during siege are 2-3 times larger than this one)

Start of the battle:

Completion:

Rice. 6. Battle of Cannes

Rice. 7. Battle of Kinoscephalae.

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By the 3rd century. BC. Rome became the strongest state in Italy. In continuous wars such a perfect instrument of attack and defense was forged - the Roman army. Its entire strength usually amounted to four legions, that is, two consular armies. Traditionally, when one consul went on a campaign, the second remained in Rome. If necessary, both armies operated in different theaters of war.

The legions were accompanied by allied contingents of infantry and cavalry. The legion of the Republic era itself consisted of 4,500 people, 300 of them were horsemen, the rest were infantry: 1,200 lightly armed soldiers (velites), 1,200 heavily armed soldiers of the first line (hastati), 1,200 heavy infantry made up the second line (principles) and the last 600, the most experienced warriors represented the third line (triarii).

The main tactical unit in the legion was the maniple, consisting of two centuries. Each century was commanded by a centurion, one of them was also the commander of the entire maniple. The maniple had its own banner (badge). Initially it was a bundle of hay on a pole, then a bronze image of a human hand, a symbol of power, was attached to the top of the pole. Below, military awards were attached to the banner staff.

Weapons and tactics of the Roman army in ancient times did not differ significantly from those of the Greeks. However, the strength of the Roman military organization lay in its exceptional flexibility and adaptability: as the wars that the Romans had to fight, they borrowed the strengths of enemy armies and changed their tactics depending on the specific conditions in which a particular war was fought.

Infantryman's weapons. Thus, the traditional heavy weapons of the infantryman, similar to the hoplite weapons of the Greeks, changed as follows. The solid metal armor was replaced by chain mail or plate armor, which was lighter and less restrictive to movement. Leggings were no longer used, because instead of a round metal shield, a semi-cylindrical one (scutum) about 150 cm high appeared, covering the entire body of the warrior, except for the head and feet. It consisted of a plank base covered with several layers of leather. The edges of the scutum were bound with metal, and in the center it had a convex metal plaque (umbon). The legionnaire had soldier's boots (kaligs) on his feet, and his head was protected by an iron or bronze helmet with a crest (for a centurion, the crest was located across the helmet, for ordinary soldiers - along).

If the Greeks had a spear as their main type of offensive weapon, the Romans had a short (about 60 cm) sword made of high-quality steel. The traditional Roman double-edged, pointed sword (gladius) has a rather late origin - it was borrowed from Spanish soldiers when the Romans experienced its advantages in hand-to-hand combat. In addition to the sword, each legionnaire was armed with a dagger and two throwing spears. The Roman throwing spear (pilum) had a long (about a meter), thin tip made of soft iron, ending with a sharply sharpened and hardened sting. At the opposite end, the tip had a groove into which a wooden shaft was inserted and then secured. Such a spear could also be used in hand-to-hand combat, but it was designed primarily for throwing: piercing into the enemy’s shield, it bent so that it was impossible to pull it out and throw it back. Since several such spears usually hit one shield, it had to be thrown, and the enemy remained defenseless against the attack of a closed formation of legionnaires.

Battle tactics. If initially the Romans acted in battle as a phalanx, like the Greeks, then during the war against the warlike mountain tribes of the Samnites they developed a special manipulative tactic, which looked like this.

Before the battle, the legion was usually built along maniples, in 3 lines, in a checkerboard pattern: the first was made up of maniples of the hastati, the second of the principles, and the triarii stood at a slightly greater distance from them. Cavalry lined up on the flanks, and light infantry (velites), armed with darts and slings, marched in front of the front in loose formation.

Depending on the specific situation, the legion could form the continuous formation necessary for the attack, either by closing the maniples of the first line, or by pushing the maniples of the second line into the intervals between the maniples of the first. Triarii maniples were usually used only when the situation became critical, but usually the outcome of the battle was decided by the first two lines.

Having reformed from the pre-battle (chessboard) formation, in which it was easier to maintain formation, into the combat one, the legion moved at an accelerated pace towards the enemy. The velites made up the first wave of attackers: having pelted the enemy formation with darts, stone and lead balls from slings, they then ran back to the flanks and into the spaces between the maniples. The legionnaires, finding themselves 10-15 m from the enemy, rained down a hail of spears and pilums on him and, drawing their swords, began hand-to-hand combat. At the height of the battle, cavalry and light infantry protected the legion's flanks and then pursued the fleeing enemy.

Camp. If the battle went badly, the Romans had the opportunity to find protection in their camp, which was always set up, even if the army stopped for only a few hours. The Roman camp was rectangular in plan (however, where possible, natural fortifications of the area were also used). It was surrounded by a ditch and rampart. The top of the rampart was additionally protected by a palisade and was guarded by sentries around the clock. In the center of each side of the camp there was a gate through which the army could enter or exit the camp at short notice. Inside the camp, at a distance sufficient to prevent enemy missiles from reaching it, the tents of soldiers and commanders were set up - in a once and for all determined order. In the center stood the commander's tent - the praetorium. In front of her there was free space, sufficient to line up an army here, if the commander required it.

The camp was a kind of fortress that the Roman army always carried with them. It happened more than once that the enemy, having already defeated the Romans in a field battle, was defeated when attempting to storm the Roman camp.

Subjugation of Northern and Central Italy. Continuously improving our military organization, using the troops of conquered peoples (the so-called allies) to strengthen themselves, the Romans at the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. subjugated Central and Northern Italy. In the struggle for the South, they had to face such a dangerous and previously unknown enemy as Pyrrhus, king of the Greek state of Epirus and one of the most talented commanders of the Hellenistic era.

Ancient Rome is a state that conquered the peoples of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Britain. Roman soldiers were famous throughout the world for their iron discipline (but it was not always iron) and brilliant victories. The Roman commanders went from victory to victory (there were also severe defeats), until all the peoples of the Mediterranean found themselves under the weight of the soldier’s boot.

The Roman army at different times had different numbers, number of legions, and different formations. With the improvement of military art, weapons, tactics and strategy changed.
In Rome there was universal conscription. Young men began to serve in the army from the age of 17 and up to 45 in field units, after 45 to 60 they served in fortresses. Persons who participated in 20 campaigns in the infantry and 10 in the cavalry were exempt from service. Service life also changed over time.
At one time, due to the fact that everyone wanted to serve in the light infantry (weapons were cheap and purchased at their own expense), the citizens of Rome were divided into categories. This was done under Servius Tullius. The 1st category included people who owned property valued at no less than 100,000 copper asses, the 2nd - at least 75,000 asses, the 3rd - 50,000 asses, the 4th - 25,000 asses, the 5th -mu - 11,500 asses. All poor people were included in the 6th category - proletarians, whose wealth was only their offspring (proles). Each property category fielded a certain number of military units - centuries (hundreds): 1st category - 80 centuries of heavy infantry, which were the main fighting force, and 18 centuries of horsemen; only 98 centuries; 2nd - 22; 3rd - 20; 4th - 22; 5th - 30 lightly armed centuries and 6th category - 1 century, a total of 193 centuries. Lightly armed warriors were used as baggage servants. Thanks to the division into ranks, there was no shortage of heavily armed, lightly armed infantry and horsemen. Proletarians and slaves did not serve because they were not trusted.
Over time, the state took upon itself not only the maintenance of the warrior, but also withheld from his salary for food, weapons and equipment.
After a severe defeat at Cannes and in a number of other places, after the Punic Wars, the army was reorganized. Salaries were sharply increased and proletarians were allowed to serve in the army.
Continuous wars required many soldiers, changes in weapons, construction, and training. The army became mercenary. Such an army could be led anywhere and against anyone. This is what happened when Lucius Cornellius Sulla came to power (1st century BC).

Organization of the Roman army

After the victorious wars of the IV-III centuries. BC. All the peoples of Italy came under the rule of Rome. To keep them in obedience, the Romans gave some peoples more rights, others less, sowing mutual distrust and hatred between them. It was the Romans who formulated the law of “divide and conquer.”
And for this, numerous troops were needed. Thus, the Roman army consisted of:
a) legions in which the Romans themselves served, consisting of heavy and light infantry and cavalry assigned to them;
b) Italian allies and allied cavalry (after granting citizenship rights to the Italians who joined the legion);
c) auxiliary troops recruited from the inhabitants of the provinces.
The main tactical unit was the legion. At the time of Servius Tullius, the legion numbered 4,200 men and 900 horsemen, not counting 1,200 lightly armed soldiers who were not part of the legion's combat ranks.
Consul Marcus Claudius changed the structure of the legion and weapons. This happened in the 4th century BC.
The legion was divided into maniples (Latin for a handful), centuries (hundreds) and decurii (tens), which resembled modern companies, platoons, and squads.

Fig. 1 - Legion structure.

Fig. 2 - Manipular construction.

Light infantry - velites (literally - fast, mobile) walked ahead of the legion in a loose formation and started a battle. In case of failure, she retreated to the rear and flanks of the legion. There were 1200 people in total.
Hastati (from the Latin “gast” - spear) - spearmen, 120 people in a maniple. They formed the first line of the legion. Principles (first) - 120 people in the manipula. Second line. Triarii (third) - 60 people in a maniple. Third line. The triarii were the most experienced and tested fighters. When the ancients wanted to say that the decisive moment had come, they said: “It has come to the triarii.”
Each maniple had two centuries. In the century of hastati or principles there were 60 people, and in the century of triarii there were 30 people.
The legion was assigned 300 horsemen, making up 10 turmas. The cavalry covered the flanks of the legion.
At the very beginning of the use of the manipular order, the legion went into battle in three lines, and if an obstacle was encountered that the legionnaires were forced to flow around, this resulted in a gap in the battle line, the maniple from the second line hurried to close the gap, and the maniple from the second line took the place of the maniple from the third line . During the battle with the enemy, the legion represented a monolithic phalanx.
Over time, the third line of the legion began to be used as a reserve that decided the fate of the battle. But if the commander incorrectly determined the decisive moment of the battle, the legion would face death. Therefore, over time, the Romans switched to the cohort formation of the legion. Each cohort numbered 500-600 people and, with an attached cavalry detachment, acting separately, was a legion in miniature.

Command structure of the Roman army

In tsarist times, the commander was the king. During the Republic, the consuls commanded, dividing the troops in half, but when it was necessary to unite, they commanded alternately. If there was a serious threat, then a dictator was chosen, to whom the chief of the cavalry was subordinate, as opposed to the consuls. The dictator had unlimited rights. Each commander had assistants who were entrusted with separate parts of the army.
Individual legions were commanded by tribunes. There were six of them per legion. Each pair commanded for two months, replacing each other every day, then giving way to the second pair, etc. The centurions were subordinate to the tribunes. Each century was commanded by a centurion. The commander of the first hundred was the commander of the maniple. Centurions had the right of a soldier for misconduct. They carried with them a vine - a Roman rod; this weapon was rarely left idle. The Roman writer Tacitus talked about one centurion, whom the entire army knew by the nickname: “Pass over the other!” After the reform of Marius, an associate of Sulla, the centurions of the triarii gained great influence. They were invited to a military council.
As in our time, the Roman army had banners, drums, kettledrums, trumpets, and horns. The banners were a spear with a crossbar, on which hung a panel of one-color material. The maniples, and after the reform of Maria the cohorts, had banners. Above the crossbar there was an image of an animal (wolf, elephant, horse, boar...). If a unit accomplished a feat, then it was awarded - the award was attached to the flagpole; this custom has survived to this day.
The badge of the legion under Mary was a silver or bronze eagle. Under the emperors it was made of gold. The loss of the banner was considered the greatest shame. Each legionnaire had to defend the banner to the last drop of blood. IN Hard time the commander threw the banner into the midst of the enemies to encourage the soldiers to return it back and scatter the enemies.
The first thing the soldiers were taught was to relentlessly follow the badge, the banner. Standard bearers were chosen from strong and experienced soldiers and were held in high esteem and respect.
According to the description of Titus Livy, the banners were a square panel laced to a horizontal crossbar mounted on a pole. The color of the cloth was different. They were all monochromatic - purple, red, white, blue.
Until the Allied infantry merged with the Romans, it was commanded by three prefects chosen from among Roman citizens.
Great importance assigned to the quartermaster service. The head of the quartermaster service was the quaestor, who was in charge of forage and food for the army. He ensured that everything needed was delivered. In addition, each century had its own foragers. A special official, like a captain in a modern army, distributed food to the soldiers. At the headquarters there was a staff of scribes, accountants, cashiers who issued salaries to soldiers, priests-fortunetellers, military police officials, spies, and trumpeter-signal players.
All signals were sent through a pipe. The sound of the trumpet was rehearsed with curved horns. When changing the guard, a futsin trumpet was blown. The cavalry used a special long pipe, curved at the end. The signal to assemble the troops for a general meeting was given by all the trumpeters gathered in front of the commander’s tent.

Training in the Roman Army

The training of the soldiers of the Roman manipular legion primarily consisted of teaching the soldiers to go forward on the orders of the centurion, to fill gaps in the battle line at the moment of collision with the enemy, and to rush to merge into the general mass. Performing these maneuvers required more complex training than that of a warrior fighting in a phalanx.
The training also consisted of the fact that the Roman soldier was sure that he would not be left alone on the battlefield, that his comrades would rush to his aid.
The appearance of legions divided into cohorts, the complication of maneuver, required more complex training. It is no coincidence that after the reform of Mary, one of his associates, Rutilius Rufus, introduced into the Roman army new system training, reminiscent of the system of training gladiators in gladiatorial schools. Only well-trained (trained) soldiers could overcome fear and get close to the enemy, attack a huge mass of the enemy from the rear, feeling only a cohort nearby. Only a disciplined soldier could fight like this. Under Mary, a cohort was introduced, which included three maniples. The legion had ten cohorts, not counting light infantry, and from 300 to 900 horsemen.

Discipline

The Roman army, famous for its discipline, unlike other armies of that time, was entirely at the mercy of the commander.
The slightest violation of discipline was punishable by death, as was failure to comply with orders. So, in 340 BC. the son of the Roman consul Titus Manlius Torquatus, during reconnaissance without orders from the commander-in-chief, entered into battle with the head of the enemy detachment and defeated him. He talked about this in camp with delight. However, the consul sentenced him to death. The sentence was carried out immediately, despite the pleas of the entire army for mercy.
Ten lictors always walked in front of the consul, carrying bundles of rods (fasciae, fascines). IN war time an ax was inserted into them. A symbol of the consul's power over his men. First, the offender was flogged with rods, then his head was cut off with an ax. If part or all of the army showed cowardice in battle, then decimation was carried out. Decem in Russian means ten. This is what Crassus did after the defeat of several legions by Spartacus. Several hundred soldiers were flogged and then executed.
If a soldier fell asleep at his post, he was put on trial and then beaten to death with stones and sticks. For minor offenses they could be flogged, demoted, transferred to hard work, reduced in salary, deprived of citizenship, or sold into slavery.
But there were also rewards. They could promote them in rank, increase their salary, reward them with land or money, exempt them from camp work, and award them with insignia: silver and gold chains, bracelets. The award ceremony was carried out by the commander himself.
The usual awards were medals (faleres) with the image of a god or commander. The highest insignia were wreaths (crowns). Oak was given to a soldier who saved a fellow Roman citizen in battle. A crown with a battlement - to the one who first climbed the wall or rampart of an enemy fortress. A crown with two golden bows of ships - to the soldier who was the first to step onto the deck of an enemy ship. The siege wreath was given to the commander who lifted the siege of a city or fortress or liberated it. But the highest reward - triumph - was given to the commander for an outstanding victory, in which at least 5,000 enemies had to be killed.
The triumphant rode on a gilded chariot wearing a purple robe embroidered with palm leaves. The chariot was drawn by four snow-white horses. In front of the chariot they carried spoils of war and led prisoners. The triumphant man was followed by relatives and friends, songwriters, and soldiers. Triumphant songs were sung. Every now and then there were shouts of “Io!” and “Triumph!” (“Io!” corresponds to our “Hurray!”). The slave standing behind the triumphant chariot reminded him that he was a mere mortal and not to become arrogant.
For example, the soldiers of Julius Caesar, who were in love with him, followed him, making fun of him and laughing at his baldness.

Roman camp

The Roman camp was well thought out and fortified. The Roman army, as they said, carried the fortress with it. As soon as a halt was made, construction of the camp immediately began. If it was necessary to move on, the camp was abandoned unfinished. Even if it was defeated only for a short time, it differed from a one-day one with more powerful fortifications. Sometimes the army remained in camp for the winter. This type of camp was called a winter camp; instead of tents, houses and barracks were built. By the way, cities such as Lancaster, Rochester and others arose on the site of some Roman camps. Cologne (the Roman colony of Agripinna), Vienna (Vindobona) grew out of the Roman camps... Cities ending in “...chester” or “...castrum” arose on the site of the Roman camps. “Castrum” - camp.
The camp site was chosen on the southern dry slope of the hill. Nearby there should have been water and pasture for the transport's livestock, as well as fuel.
The camp was a square, later a rectangle, the length of which was one third longer than the width. First of all, the location of the praetorium was planned. This is a square area, the side of which is 50 meters. The commander's tents, altars, and a platform for addressing the commander's soldiers were placed here; The trial and the gathering of troops took place here. To the right was the tent of the quaestor, to the left - the legates. There were tribune tents on both sides. In front of the tents, a street 25 meters wide ran through the entire camp; the main street was crossed by another, 12 meters wide. At the ends of the streets there were gates and towers. There were ballistas and catapults on them (the same throwing weapon, got its name from the projectile being thrown, the ballista threw cannonballs, the catapult - arrows). Legionnaires' tents stood in regular rows on the sides. From the camp the troops could set out on a campaign without fuss or disorder. Each century occupied ten tents, and each maniple occupied twenty. The tents had a plank frame, a gable plank roof, and were covered with leather or rough linen. Tent area from 2.5 to 7 square meters. m. A decuria lived in it - 6-10 people, two of whom were constantly on guard. The tents of the Praetorian Guard and cavalry were large. The camp was surrounded by a palisade, a wide and deep ditch and a rampart 6 meters high. There was a distance of 50 meters between the ramparts and the legionnaires' tents. This was done so that the enemy could not set fire to the tents. In front of the camp, an obstacle course was set up consisting of several countervailing lines and barriers made of sharpened stakes, wolf pits, trees with sharpened branches and intertwined, forming an almost impassable obstacle.

There were no socks on sandals and boots (kaligs). The skin was red.

Leggings have been worn by Roman legionnaires since ancient times. They were abolished under the emperors. But the centurions continued to wear them. The leggings had the color of the metal from which they were made, and were sometimes painted.

Rice. 6 - Banners.
1. Legion Banner
2. Cavalry Banner
3. Cohort Banner
4. Banners of the maniples
5. Standard bearer. On their heads, the standard bearers wore the head of a puma or panther.

In the time of Mary the banners were silver, in the times of the empire they were gold. The panels were multi-colored: white, blue, red, purple.

A cavalry sword is one and a half times longer than an infantry sword. The swords were double-edged, the handles were made of bone, wood, and metal.
The pilum is a heavy spear with a metal tip and shaft. Serrated tip. The shaft is wooden. The middle part of the spear is wrapped tightly turn to turn with cord. One or two tassels were made at the end of the cord. The spear tip and shaft were made of soft forged iron, before the iron was made of bronze. The pilum was thrown at the enemy's shields. The spear that dug into the shield pulled it to the bottom, and the warrior was forced to throw the shield, since the spear weighed 4-5 kg ​​and dragged along the ground, as the tip and rod were bent.

Shields (scutums) acquired a semi-cylindrical shape after the war with the Gauls in the 4th century. BC e. Scutums were made from light, well-dried, tightly fitted aspen or poplar boards, covered with linen, and on top with cowhide. The edge of the shield was bordered with a strip of metal (bronze or iron) and the strips were placed in a cross across the center of the shield. In the center was a pointed plaque (umbon) - the top of the shield. The legionnaires kept a razor, money and other small things in it (it was removable). On the inside there was a belt loop and a metal bracket, the owner's name and the number of the century or cohort were written. The skin could be dyed: red or black. The hand was inserted into the belt loop and grasped by the bracket, thanks to which the shield hung tightly on the hand.

The helmet in the center is earlier, the one on the left is later. The helmet had three feathers 400 mm long; in ancient times, helmets were bronze, later iron. The helmet was sometimes decorated with snakes on the sides, which at the top formed a place where feathers were inserted. In later times, the only decoration on the helmet was the crest. On the top of the head the Roman helmet had a ring into which a strap was threaded. The helmet was worn on the back or lower back, like a modern helmet.

1. Armor made of metal plates, in early times bronze, later iron, most common in the Roman army.
2. Leather armor (the leather was dyed) with metal plates sewn onto it.
3. Scaly shell (made of metal). It consisted of two halves, fastened with straps.
4. A shell made of quilted rough fabric in several layers, soaked in salt. It was as strong as stone. It was cheaper than all the others.

Roman velites were armed with javelins and shields. The shields were round, made of wood or metal. The velites were dressed in tunics; later (after the war with the Gauls) all legionnaires also began to wear trousers. Some of the velites were armed with slings. The slingers had bags for stones hanging on their right side, over their left shoulder. Some velites may have had swords. Shields (wooden) were covered with leather. The color of clothing could be any color except purple and its shades. Velites could wear sandals or walk barefoot. Archers appeared in the Roman army after the defeat of the Romans in the war with Parthia, where the consul Crassus and his son died. The same Crassus who defeated the troops of Spartacus at Brundisium.

The centurions had silver-plated helmets, did not have shields and carried the sword on the right side. They had greaves and, as a distinctive sign on the armor, on the chest they had an image of a grapevine rolled into a ring. During the times of manipular and cohort formation of legions, centurions were on the right flank of centuries, maniples, cohorts. The cloak is red, and all legionnaires wore red cloaks. Only the dictator and senior commanders had the right to wear purple cloaks.

The hastati had a leather armor (could have been linen), a shield, a sword and a pilum. The shell was lined (leather) with metal plates. The tunic is usually red, as is the cloak. Pants could be green, blue, gray.

The principes had exactly the same weapons as the hastati, only instead of a pilum they had ordinary spears.

The triarii were armed in the same way as the hastati and principles, but did not have a pilum, they had an ordinary spear. The shell was metal.

Animal skins served as saddles. The Romans did not know stirrups. The first stirrups were rope loops. The horses were not shod. Therefore, the horses were very taken care of.

2.

3.

4.

The ethnic composition of the Roman army changed over time: in the 1st century. n. e. it was predominantly an army of the Romans, at the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd century. army of the Italics, but already at the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 3rd century. n. e. turned into an army of Romanized barbarians, remaining “Roman” only in name. According to other sources, if in the 1st century. BC e. Mostly people from the Apennine Peninsula served in the army, then already in the 1st century. n. e. the number of immigrants from the Apennine Peninsula in the army decreased sharply, and the number of immigrants from the Romanized Senate provinces (Asia, Africa, Baetica, Macedonia, Narbonese Gaul, etc.) increased. The Roman army had the best weapons for its time, an experienced and well-trained command staff, and was distinguished by strict discipline and high military skill of commanders who used the most advanced methods of warfare, achieving the complete defeat of the enemy.

The main branch of the army was infantry. The fleet ensured the operations of ground forces in coastal areas and the transfer of armies to enemy territory by sea. Military engineering, the establishment of field camps, the ability to make rapid transitions over long distances, and the art of siege and defense of fortresses received significant development.

Organizational structure

Combat units

The main organizational and tactical unit of the army was legion. From the second half of the 4th century BC. e. the legion consisted of 10 maniple(infantry) and 10 turm(cavalry), from the first half of the 3rd century BC. e. - out of 30 maniple(each of which was divided into two centuries) and 10 turm. All this time, its number remained unchanged - 4.5 thousand people, including 300 horsemen. The tactical division of the legion ensured high maneuverability of troops on the battlefield. From 107 BC. e. in connection with the transition from a militia to a professional mercenary army, the legion began to be divided into 10 cohorts(each of which combined three maniples). The legion also included battering and throwing machines and a convoy. In the 1st century AD e. The legion's strength reached approx. 7 thousand people (including about 800 horsemen).

In almost all periods there existed simultaneously:

Under the concept signum either maniples or centuries were understood.

Vexillations were the name given to individual units that were separated from a unit, such as a legion. So, the vexillation could be sent to help another unit or to build a bridge.

Praetorians

The elite unit of the Roman army was the Praetorian Guard, which served as the emperor's guard and was stationed in Rome. The Praetorians took part in many conspiracies and coups d'etat.

Evocats

Soldiers who served their term and were demobilized, but were re-enlisted into the military on a voluntary basis, in particular on the initiative of, for example, a consul, were called evocati- lit. “newly called” (under Domitian, this was the name given to the elite guards of the equestrian class who guarded his sleeping quarters; presumably, such guards retained their name under some subsequent emperors, cf. evocati Augusti in Hyginus). Usually they were included in almost every unit, and, apparently, if the military leader was popular enough among the soldiers, the number of veterans of this category in his army could increase. Along with Vexillaria, evocati were released from the series military duties- fortifying the camp, laying roads, etc. and were higher in rank than ordinary legionnaires, sometimes compared to horsemen or even candidates for centurions. For example, Gnaeus Pompey promised to promote his exes evocati to the centurions after the end of the civil war, but in totality all evocati could not be promoted to this rank. All contingent evocati usually commanded by a separate prefect ( praefectus evocatorum).

Auxiliary troops

Auxiliary troops were divided into cohorts and als (in the Late Empire they were replaced by wedges - cunei). The irregular troops (numeri) did not have a clear numerical composition, as they corresponded to the traditional preferences of the peoples who composed them, for example the mauri (Moors).

Armament

• 1st class: offensive - gladius, hasta and darts ( tela), protective - helmet ( galea), shell ( lorica), bronze shield ( clipeus) and leggings ( ocrea);
• 2nd class - the same, without a shell and a scutum instead clipeus;
• 3rd class - the same, without leggings;
• 4th class - hasta and pike ( verutum).

• offensive - Spanish sword ( gladius hispaniensis)

• offensive - pilum (special throwing spear);
• protective - iron chain mail ( lorica hamata).

• offensive - dagger ( pugio).

At the beginning of the Empire:

• protective - the shell of Lorica Segmentata, segmented lorica, late lamellar armor made of individual steel segments. Comes into use starting from the 1st century. The origin of the plate cuirass is not entirely clear. Perhaps it was borrowed by the legionnaires from the weapons of the crupellarian gladiators who participated in the rebellion of Florus Sacrovir in Germany (21). Chain mail also appeared during this period ( lorica hamata) with double chain mail covering on the shoulders, especially popular among cavalrymen. Lightweight (up to 5-6 kg) and shorter chain mail are also used in auxiliary infantry units. Helmets of the so-called imperial type.

• offensive - “Pompeian” sword, weighted pilums.

• protective - scale armor ( lorica squamata)

A uniform

• paenula(short dark woolen cloak with a hood).

• tunic with long sleeves, sagum ( sagum) - a cloak without a hood, previously incorrectly considered a classic Roman military one.

Build

Manipulative tactics

It is almost generally accepted that during the period of their dominance the Etruscans introduced the phalanx to the Romans, and subsequently the Romans deliberately changed their weapons and formation. This opinion is based on reports that the Romans once used round shields and formed a phalanx like the Macedonian, however, in descriptions of battles of the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. the dominant role of the cavalry and the auxiliary role of the infantry are clearly visible - the former was often even located and acted ahead of the infantry.

If you want to be a tribune, or if, simply put, you want to live, then restrain your soldiers. Let none of them steal someone else's chicken, let none of them touch someone else's sheep; Let no one take away a bunch of grapes, an ear of grain, or demand oil, salt, or firewood for himself. Let everyone be content with their rightful portion... Let their weapons be cleaned, sharpened, their shoes strong... Let the soldier's salary remain in his belt, and not in the tavern... Let him take care of his horse and not sell his feed; let all the soldiers follow the centurion's mule together. Let the soldiers... give nothing to fortune tellers... let the scoundrels be beaten...

Medical service

At different periods there were 8 positions of military medical personnel:

• medicus castrorum- camp doctor, subordinate to the camp prefect ( praefectus castrorum), and in his absence - to the legionary tribune;
• medicus legionis, medicus cohortis, optio valetudinarii- the last one is the head of a military hospital (valetudinary), all 3 positions existed only under Trajan and Hadrian;
• medicus duplicarius- a doctor with double salary;
• medicus sesquiplicarius- a doctor on time and a half salary;
• capsarius (deputatus, eques capsariorum) - a mounted orderly with a first aid kit ( capsa) and with a saddle with 2 stirrups on the left side for the evacuation of the wounded, was part of a detachment of 8-10 people; presumably they could be recruited from among the so-called. immunes;
• medicus ordinarius (miles medicus) - an ordinary doctor or staff surgeon, there were 4 of them in each cohort.

The student was called discens capsariorum.

The recruitment could be ordinary, from recruits, from qualified doctors under a contract, from slaves who were then released, or, in emergency cases, mandatory, from civilians.

see also

Notes

Primary sources

• Flavius ​​Vegetius Renatus. " Summary military affairs".
• Caesar. "Notes on the Gallic War". "Notes on the Civil War".
• Appian. " Civil wars». « Syrian wars" "Punic Wars". "Mithridates Wars". "Illyrian Wars", "Macedonian Wars".
• Josephus Flavius. "The Jewish War".
• Lucius Annaeus Florus. "Two Books of Roman Wars."
• Gaius Sallust Crispus. "Yugurthine War".
• Flavius ​​Arrian. "Disposition against the Alans."
• Sextus Julius Frontinus. "Stratagems".
• Anonymous. "Alexandrian War".
• Anonymous. "African War".
• Anonymous. "Notes on the War in Spain."
• Tabulae Vindolandae

For non-specialized primary sources, see.

Literature

In Russian

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Bannikov A.V. The Roman army in the 4th century from Constantine to Theodosius. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University; Nestor-History, 2011. - 264 p. - (Historia Militaris). - ISBN 978-5-8465-1105-7.
• Boek Yan le. Roman army of the Early Empire. - M.: ROSSPEN, 2001. - 400 p. - ISBN 5-8243-0260-X.
• Van Berham J. The Roman army in the era of Diocletian and Constantine / Trans. from English A. V. Bannikova. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University Publishing House; Acre, 2012. - 192 p.: ill. - (Res Militaris). - ISBN 5-288-03711-6.
• Varry John. Wars of antiquity. From the Greco-Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome / Trans. from English T. Barakina, A. Nikitina, E. Nikitina and others - M.: Eksmo, 2009. - 2nd ed. - 232 p.: ill. - (Military history of mankind). - ISBN 978-5-699-30727-2.
• Golyzhenkov I. A., Parkhaev O. Army of Imperial Rome. I-II centuries n. e. - M.: LLC "AST"; Astrel, 2001. - 50 p.: ill. - (Military-historical series “Soldier”). - ISBN 5-271-00592-5 ....
• Makhlayuk A. V. Soldiers of the Roman Empire. Traditions of military service and military mentality. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University Publishing House; Akra, 2006. - 440 pp.: ill. - ( Historical research). - ISBN 978-5-84-650-624-4.
• Makhlayuk A. V., Negin A. E. Roman legions. The most complete illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo, 2018. - 416 p.: ill. - (The best warriors in history). - ISBN 978-5-04-089212-9.
• Parker Henry Michael. History of the legions of Rome. From the military reform of Gaius Marius to the ascension to the throne of Septimius Severus / Trans. from English L. A. Igorevsky. - M.: ZAO "Tsentrpoligraf", 2017. - 224 p.: ill. - (The World History). - ISBN 978-5-9524-5272-5.
• Tokmakov V. N. Army and state in Rome: from the era of kings to the Punic Wars. Uch. allowance - M.: IVI RAS, 2007. - 264 p. - ISBN 978-5-98227-147-1.
• Watson George. Roman warrior / Trans. from English A. L. Andreeva. - M.: ZAO "Tsentrpoligraf", 2009. - 208 p.: ill. - (Chronicles of military battles). - ISBN 978-5-9524-4708-0.

In English

• Birley, Eric. The Roman Army: Papers, 1929-1986
• Brunt, P. A. Italian Manpower, 225 B.C.-A. D. 14
• Campbell, Brian. The Emperor and the Roman Army, 31 B.C.-A.D. 235; The Roman Army: 31 B.C.-A.D. 337; Warfare and Society in Imperial Rome, 31 B.C. - A.D. 280
• Connolly, Peter. Greece and Rome at War
• DeBlois, Lukas. Army and Society in the Late Roman Republic; The Roman army and politics in the first century B.C.
• Erdkamp, ​​P. Hunger and the Sword. Warfare and Food Supply in Roman Republican Wars (264-30 B.C.)
• Gabba, Emilio. Republican Rome. The Army and the Allies
• Gilliam, J. Frank. Roman Army Papers
• Gilliver, C. M. The Roman Art of War
• Goldsworthy, Adrian Keith. Roman Warfare
• Grant, Michael, The History of Rome, Faber and Faber, 1993, ISBN 0-571-11461-X
• Isaac, Benjamin. The Limits of Empire. The Roman Army in the East
• Keppie, Lawrence, The Making of the Roman Army
• Le Bohec, Yan. The Imperial Roman Army
• MacMullen, Ramsay. How Big was the Roman Army?
• Mattern, Susan P., Rome and the Enemy. Roman Imperial Strategy in the Principate
• Peddie, John. The Roman War Machine
• Webster, Graham. The Roman Imperial Army
• Kuenzl, E. The medical supply of the Roman army

In other languages

• Aigner, H. Die Soldaten als Machtfaktor in der ausgehenden römischen Republik
• Dabrowa, E. Rozwój i organizacja armii rzymskiej (do początku III wieku n.e.)

Links

• Tombstone of Anicius Ingenuus
• Battlefield medicine - The Ancient World 2000 BC-AD 500 (English)
• Roemercohorte Opladen (German)

Ancient Roman warriors fought in cohesive and disciplined units. A group of 80 warriors was called a century. Several centuries were part of a cohort, and ten cohorts made up a legion.

On the head of a Roman legionnaire ( foot warrior) was wearing an iron helmet. In his left hand he held a shield made of wood and leather, in his right hand a throwing spear or sword, which was kept in a sheath on his belt. The Roman warrior's breastplate was made of metal plates. A peculiar ancient Roman tunic hung from the waist. The feet of the ancient Roman legionnaire were wearing leather sandals, which were padded with nails.

The Romans were determined warriors, they conquered even well-defended cities. The Romans surrounded the city with a tight ring, and then, using ingenious technology, broke into it.

To approach the besieged city, Roman soldiers moved under a canopy of shields. This formation is called a “turtle”. It effectively protected attackers from arrows fired from the walls by the city's defenders. Also, to get closer to the walls, soldiers built a covered passage. Along it, without endangering their lives, they could approach the wall.

When the Roman army attacked a walled city, the soldiers used special mobile wooden siege towers. The tower was sheathed with durable metal sheets. The warriors built on an uneven piece of land inclined plane, then rolled the siege tower to the wall. Then the ancient Roman soldiers climbed up the internal stairs of the siege tower. Afterwards, they lowered the drawbridge onto the wall and burst into the city.

At the same time as using the siege tower, the ancient Romans used a battering ram to break through the wall, and also dug under the wall to destroy it. The warriors operating the ram were inside it.

At long distances, the ancient Romans used catapults. Large catapults threw heavy stones at the walls. Smaller catapults fired metal arrows at the enemy. Skilled Roman archers, who were considered one of the best in the Middle East, fired from the same distance.

Having burst into the city, the ancient Romans set houses on fire with flaming arrows so that the entire city was engulfed in flames. All surviving townspeople were captured and sold into slavery. Material from the site

The Roman Empire had to be kept in subjection, and therefore military units had to move quickly to get to where they were needed. A network of good roads was built along which one could reach any corner of the empire. Warriors walked along such roads more than 50 km a day.

Camps and forts

After a long forced march, the soldiers set up camp for the night. The temporary camp of the ancient Roman soldiers was surrounded by a fence and surrounded on the perimeter by a defensive rampart (earthen hill), in front of which a ditch was dug. The camp itself consisted of leather tents. The next morning the camp was cleared and the army continued on its way. On the borders of the empire, where the constant presence of garrisons was necessary, stone forts were built.