The Men from the Ranks The main supply for the centurionate of the legions came from the ordinary men from the ranks of the legion. Though there was a significant number of centurions from the equestrian rank. Some of the late emperors of the empire prove very rare examples of ordinary soldiers who rose all …
Marching and Physical Training The first thing the soldiers were taught to do, was to march. The historian Vegetius tells us that it was seen as of greatest importance to the Roman army that its soldiers could march at speed. Any army which would be split up by stragglers at the back or soldiers trundling …
The Fleet The Roman Navy was always considered an inferior arm and was strictly under army control. But already during the First Punic War, Rome proved itself capable of launching a fleet capable of checking an established naval power such as Carthage. Romans were no sailors though. They had no knowledge of ship building. Their …
Siege Tactics In conducting sieges the Romans showed their practical genius combined with ruthless thoroughness. If a place could not be overcome by the initial assaults or the inhabitants persuaded to surrender, it was practice of the Roman army to surround the whole area with a defensive wall and ditch and spread their units around …
The equipment to the legionaries was remarkably uniform throughout the empire and it is possible that there were large centres in Gaul and North Italy for the mass manufacture of helmets, armour and weapons as well as the kettles and mess tins, etc. One can detect changes in the style at different periods and there …
The Tactics Information about tactics can be derived from accounts of battles, but the very military manuals known to have existed and to have been used extensively by commanders, have not survived. Perhaps the greatest loss is the book of Sextus Julius Frontinus. But parts of his work were incorporated in the records of the …