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The success of the Roman army
Roman army tactics and modern warfare
The success of the Roman army
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To climb the social ladder a person must be, in one way or another, more powerful than whom they are passing in life. As this is true for an individual, it is also true for an assemblage of individuals. Whether it is a village, city, or country, to survive you must be stronger than your challengers to defeat them. On the largest scale you would need an army to accomplish this feat. For centuries the Roman Empire was the most powerful civilization in the world and this was due to the invincibility of its military forces and prowess of its soldiers.
From the earliest days of Rome, its army played a large role in the forming of the city-state. When not in battle the core of the Roman army, known as legionaries, would be used in the building of certain structures within the city. These structures would include the walls that fortified the area along with roads, bridges, and aqueducts. Many soldiers became very skilled laborers and were instrumental in the building of the empire. “The Roman army”, writes Nigel Rodgers “was more than just an army; in some ways it became the heart of Rome itself” (147).
The appropriate age to be a Roman soldier ranged from seventeen to forty-six, and each recruit swore an oath for up to twenty-six years of service. Once eligible citizens became soldiers, they were arranged in groups of eighty to one hundred men. These groups were called centuries. The centuries, much like the infantry of modern-day armies, were the backbone of the military. They were a highly trained, well-disciplined fighting unit.
Training for the Roman army was brutal and was not restricted to only times of war. Regular marches in excess of twenty miles kept the soldiers fit. Their fighting skills were kept sharp by the men...
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...ient Roman ways into the life that many of us lead today. The adoption of much of the Roman system has formed many aspects of modern Western culture. Millions of people now speak languages that derived from Latin, the dialect of ancient Rome. Many building habits world-wide evolved directly from Roman architecture. The principles of justice that were followed by all Romans form the law system we observe today. The handing down of these and many other Roman traits to Western society today can be traced to the triumphs of the Roman army, and in addition, the tenaciousness of its soldiers.
Works Cited
Rodgers, Nigel, and Hazel Dodge. Roman Empire. New York: Metro, 2008. Print.
Lewis, Jon E. Rome: the Autobiography. England: Constable & Robinson/Running, 2010. Print
Goldsworthy, Adrian Keith. Roman Warfare. Ed. John Keegan. London: Cassell, 2000. Print.
Prior to Augustus’s reforms, when legions were raised, they were comprised almost entirely of Italian recruits. This was out of the question with this new standing army, and filling the ranks with Italians gave way to supplementing legions with local auxiliaries, then later integrating these Romanised locals into a legions structure proper.5 This action undertaken by Augustus seems to have had ramifications as the centuries progressed, with the percentage of Italian born recruits steadily dropping, to the point where by the time of Hadrian, there were almost not Italians serving in the legions. Augustus’s methods of recruiting elsewhere to support the strength of his legions became so successful that they became the primary method of filling the requirements of the Empires new professional
One reason that many avoided Army service was because Roman citizenship was now offered freely, where in prior times military service had been a path to citizenship. The result was less manpower available for Rome. The Roman army was left with no choice but to recruit barbarians, who could in this way both find employment where they had no skills, and hope to obtain Roman citizenship.
The idea of a Roman grand strategy has been an often-debated topic. Edward Luttwak originally purported the idea that during the crises of the third century, Roman grand strategy began to shift to a defense in depth approach, stripping the borders of their defenses and creating a large mobile field army. Thereafter, the defense in depth approach remained the prominent Roman grand strategy employed throughout the third to fifth centuries. Arther Ferrill also corroborates this account of a shift in Roman grand strategy to a defense in depth approach. He cites Constantine as the emperor who created a mobile field army that constantly stayed with the emperor and removed the frontier defenses. Thereafter, several mobile field armies became necessary in order to really defend the empire. He argues that this shift in strategy greatly contributed to the ultimate destruction of the Roman Empire because defense in depth was essentially an admission that it was impossible to prevent foreign invasion.
As shown in document 2 written by the Roman historian, Vegtius, it declares, “But when, because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned, the customary armor began to seem heavy since the soldiers rarely ever wore it.” this proves that the Roman soldiers became lazy and weren’t able to fight. The document also says, “So our soldiers fought the Goths without any protection for chest and head and were often beaten by archers.” which caused them to lose many battles and the soldiers thought about running instead of fighting the opposing team. The military also became less willing to follow orders given to them and they also became unreliable to their government.
The Roman Way is essentially a collection of letters, poems and essays from some of the most famous literary minds of the ancient Roman culture. Edith Hamilton is attempting to show us a side of Rome that was previously unseen. She uses these stories to try and explain what the ideas, attitudes and beliefs are that make up the “Roman Way.”
The Roman Empire began as a small colony, in the city of Rome, and eventually, became one of the largest empires that the world has ever known before its ultimate demise. Because of the vast size of their territory, and the number of cultures they consumed throughout their existence, the Romans were heavily influenced by the Greeks and other Hellenistic civilizations. Two different groups of professors argue this point. Professors Matthews, Platt, and Noble argue this influence is reflected by Roman music, philosophy, literature, architecture, art, culture/government, and technology and science; and Professor Weber argues this is reflected in the areas of government/law, the influence and effects of conquests, culture, religion, architecture and art, and philosophy. Both parties make compelling arguments as to why the Romans were heirs to Greek and Hellenistic civilization however, it will be demonstrated that Matthews et al. provide a more thorough argument than Weber.
Outward appearance was extremely important to the Romans and the first thing that new recruits learned was to march in perfect form. Once they knew how to march they were then assigned to the legions in which they would remain for the next 20 years of service. (the book) The legions were made up of between 5000 and 5500 men. In a legion there were 10 Cohorts and in those Cohorts there were 6 Centuries. Auxiliary troops, although not usually counted as part of a legion, were part of a legion and could raise the number of men from around 5000 to 6000. The number of legions active in the empire was consistently between 25 and 33. (internet, http://museum.simplenet.com/rome/military/military.htm) The average year for auxiliaries to serve was 25 years or less. After about 20 years in the legions they “graduated” to a veteran cohort, and continued service there for about 5 years. The soldiers who completed their 25 years of military service to Rome were given a “diploma” made of bronze. It was actually a record of their service throughout the years and a copy was kept in soldier’s files in Rome. (the book)
The Romans were on one of the greatest people of all. They had power, wealth, and even a half of the world. They built one of the strongest and vast empire that world has ever seen. They came from nothing to something awesome. It started of as a city and ended up being one of the greatest empire of all. This essay is going to focus on the Roman Empire from the rise to the fall and the government, architecture, mythology, Family Structure, and Food of the Romans.
There are many political, economic, sociological causes to the growth and expansion of the Roman republic and later the Roman Empire, but one major factor of expansion that the Romans are most famous for is there Army. There Army was famous for their harsh discipline amongst their own ranks and there mercifulness brutality amongst their enemies. According to our text Roman warfare was characterized by great ferocity and the Roman pursuit of victory was relentless. The Romans had a pragmatic view towards atrocity and massacre that viewed almost any act as justifiable if it eased the path of victory (Goldsworthy 2000) p. 24. The hoplite phalanx which originated by the Greeks and later adopted by the Roman army, demanded great discipline and adherence to orders in order for this group of soldiers...
The Roman Republic had an upstanding infrastructure, a stable social system, and a balanced constitution that solidified Rome’s greatness. Regardless of its achievements, however, the Roman Republic owes much of its success to classical Greek cultures. These cultures, in conjunction with the fundamental values of Roman society, certified Rome as one of the most significant powers the world has ever seen.
The Roman’s had its ups and downs, but they made a lasting effect on today’s world, the establishment of law, the creation of the democratic government and the increase of Christianity ("Roman Influences," n.d.). We were also left with tangible items such as art and the delicate and beautiful artifacts. The empire was also known to help spread Latin Language, which formed the foundation of the English language ("Roman Influences,"
“This account I have given the reader, not so much with the intention of commending the Romans, as of comforting those that have been conquered by them, and for the deterring others from attempting innovations under their government. This discourse of the Roman military conduct may also perhaps be of use to such of the curious as are ignorant of it, and yet have a mind to know it.” –excerpt from “Description of the Roman Army,” by Josephus
In many ways, the Roman legacy remains the ideal upon which Western civilization has shaped itself today. For example, the capitol in Washington is seen to be followed by the roman model in making of a new nation. According to history-world.org, as the Athenians saw the symbol of their city-state's democracy and culture in the rock-jutting Acropolis, so the Romans viewed the Forum as the symbol of imperial grandeur. The Romans were practical people whose greatness lies in shaping the government and the law. They wanted to lead the nation and that is what we adapted through their teachings still today.
Rome has impacted modern times through so many ways. This immense empire has changed the way we do things nowadays from how they used to be long before today. Roman people used their intelligent minds to create unbelievable inventions that are still used today. Rome has revolutionized political and economic structures throughout the known world by the creation of roads, their architecture, the use of a senate, and many more.
Did you know that the Romans are the most powerful nation in human history, conquering the world and no nation could have stop them from becoming the greatest nation. But the Romans didn’t think of all the practices that were going on at that time. The Romans were totally different before they adapted the some of the practices of the Greek which changed their nation completely, which made them superior than other nations. Firstly, I would like to talk about how the Roman culture were the complete opposite from the Greek before they started to adapt their cultural ways, and how they started to take in practices that are used in everyday life. Secondly, I would like to talk about the cultural difference between the Greek Empire and Roman Empire