Roman Empire Changes

The Roman people saw war as the natural way of establishing dominance, and their history was filled with war as a result. The power of the famous Roman army allowed them to conquer much of the known world during Rome’s peak. However, because Rome was a major military power for so long, the army went through many changes during Rome’s different periods of the Roman Kingdom, Republic, and finally the Empire. During the early periods of the Kingdom and Republic, Rome was generally only involved in local battles, but by the time of the Empire, they were campaigning in far lands. One area in which Rome was superior to their competition was their weaponry and armor. Their weapons and armor were more sophisticated, and they had a distinct fighting

They had a very organized system of fighters, each assigned to groups which contained multiple subgroups. The smallest group was called a tent group, eight men who shared various equipment, and a tent. Ten tent groups were then organized into centuries, consisting of eighty men command by a centurion. Then, six of these centuries, 480 men, were organized into a cohort, Rome’s basic fighting unit. The largest unit of Roman soldiers was the legion, composed of ten cohorts commanded by a legate (after Augustus). The first cohort had extra men, who were army specialists that did not fight, such as engineers. Therefore, a Roman legion generally consisted of 4,800 legionnaires plus the specialists who did not take part in combat. Throughout the history of Rome, the army did undergo numerous change in certain areas. For example, “… the exact numbers of men in a legion varied [throughout history], [but] the basic pattern of organization remained the same.” (7). A general was assigned to each military campaign of the Romans. These generals were members of the social elite and were generally consuls or ex-consuls. An aristocrat had to hold at least a certain rank within the government to be granted the rank of commander within the army. Below the generals were legates, who each commanded a legion. Within each century was an officer who acted as a supervisor in the field of battle. These were the men who kept the army running smoothly. By utilizing such an organized and intricate method of ranking and structuring, Rome was able to keep a strong chain of command, easily allowing orders to be passed from one officer to another and finally to the infantry