The Roman Army.
The Romans were probably the most successful empire ever. However what made them such a driving force was the sheer power and organization behind the formidable legions of the Romans.
The Legion's structure.
The legions were split into various things:- .
Legion - There were usually around 5,000 men in a legion. The whole army contained around 150,000 soldiers. It was commanded by a Legate or a Legatus Legionis who was usually from a wealthy or important family.
Cohort - For some reason one cohort (prima cohors) had more men than the other cohorts - the prima cohors had around 800 men while the others had from 480 men to 500 men. Each legion had 10 cohorts.
Century- Although the name "century- suggests that there were 100 men in each century, this was usually not the case. Oddly most centuries had only around 80 men, but some did have 100 soldiers. Despite this inconsistency, there was always 6 centuries in a cohort.
Contubernium - There was 8 soldiers in each contubernium. They ate together and shared the same tent or room. There was 10 contubernia in each century and each legionary belonged to one.
The Contract.
When the roman soldiers signed up for 25 years of service, they received a signing-on fee - approximately 3 Aurei or 75 Denarii (1 Aureus, which was a gold coin, was equivalent to 25 denarii which was a silver coin. Romans obviously valued gold much more than silver; possibly they thought gold was 25 times more valuable than silver.). Each soldier had to serve out all 25 years of their contract, the first 20 years most likely as a normal soldier, then the next 5 years as a veteran. Most people to sign up were around 17 or 18- however there is a record of someone as young as 15 signing up. They would serve until they were 42-43. After that they would get a large pension, a bit of land (later on emperors stopped giving out land possibly because they wanted the land for themselves) and citizenship.
The Roman army calls their soldier "legionaries". ... The Roman army calls their soldier "legionaries". ... Every soldier in the Roman army carried a sword and a dagger. The Roman army put their soldiers through basic training. ... "The Roman army also believed in punishment. ...
INFLUENCE OF THE ROMAN ARMY ON MODERN CIVILIZATION From early times right down to the 3rd century A.D, the Roman army was based on its legions. ... The soldiers of the legion were picked men: They were all Roman citizens and received a higher pay than the auxiliary troops - that is, foreigners who serve with the Roman army. ... The Romans were very careful about their camps - no Roman army halted for a single night without digging a trenches and fortifying its camp. ... At its finest period the Roman army was almost unconquerable. ... This structure of an army that the Roman's invented h...
For a young man, joining the army was a big step to take. Roman soldiers often died in battle, or from diseases caught on campaign. ... Despite this, many young men did volunteer to become Roman soldiers. ... For the Roman army to be successful in battle, soldiers had to be very well trained in battle and extremely disciplined. ... Another key factor for success was the way the army was organised. ...
The Structure of the Legion A Roman Legion at full strength consisted of 6000 men. ... During the empire, the Roman Army was a professional army, as opposed to the Levied army of the Republic. ... A soldier was able to retire from the Army after serving a term of twenty to 25 years. ... Milites The grunts of the legion- common soldiers The Auxilia Ranks These commanders were most commonly Romans, though tribal leaders also could hold these positions. Praefectus Alae M Cavalry commander Praefectus Alae D Cavalry commander Tribunus Cohortis M Infantry commander Praefectus Coho...
Although the Romans possessed much better armor and military equipment, Shapur was still able to defeat them in battles and keep the Persian army strong-willed and valiant. ... Once Constantine died, Shapur again found the right opportunity to attack the Roman armies. ... Plague hit the Persian army with a lot of prayer and the army was defeated. ... Constantius had heard of this huge army and he ordered his army to retreat. In a very smart manner, the Persian army drew the Roman army into the mountains where they had archers placed, and once in position the Persian army drew back and let the ...
The Han and Roman Empires The Roman Empire and the Han Empire were similar and different in many ways. ... The core of the Romans power lay in the hard-fisted Roman peasantry and their grim patrician overlords for centuries. Both of them provided the backbone of the Roman army. ... With all these characteristics no wonder the Romans were successful. ... Chinese armies also invaded parts of northern Vietnam and northern Korea toward the end of the second century BC. ...
Military was another key factor in the success of the Roman Empire because of the size of their armies. ... This helped them gain more power, land and resources and helped them get more men into the army. After many years the army became one of the strongest aspects of Rome(Lecture Notes). One way the Romans recruited so many men to join the army was by telling them about the glory and recognition they would get. ... They had a strong army that made it possible to expand out and to protect the empire they already had. ...
After Constantine's death, the Roman Empire continued to divide as fighting broke out on a regular basis between groups of the Roman army supporting the claims of rival emperors. ... The commanders of the Roman army mistreated the Visigoths, and they became outraged. ... The new emperor Theodosius I, resettled the Visigoths and integrated many of their soldiers into the Roman army. Some of the Visigoths even became army leaders. Roman policy soon allowed units of the Roman army to be entirely composed of Germanic tribes, known as federates. ...
The Roman Invasion What we know of Britain during the Roman invasion is not overwhelming. ... There are two well known Latin writings about Roman Britain. ... In AD43 the roman army under the control of Emperor Claudius invaded Britain. ... The Romans were using the Iceni to control themselves! ... This made them angry and caused the small battle in 47AD against the roman army. ...