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Roman Soldiers
Roman
soldiers built numerous forts - the purpose of these
constructions were to act as fortified bases. These forts
were built as defences and as power bases. Wooden stockades
were erected and surrounded by ditches wherever Roman
soldiers camped and whenever Roman Forts were built.
Manpower, organisation and pre-fabricated forts enabled the
Romans to build Roman Forts quickly and efficiently. His pay
was only one denarius daily. Marriage for Roman Soldiers was
discouraged or forbidden.
Weapons of the Roman Soldiers
Roman Soldiers and the
Legions
According to the Roman
constitution, every free-born citizen was a soldier and
bound to serve, if necessary, in the armies of the state
from the age of seventeen to forty-six. The army of Roman
citizens was eventually replaced by a standing army made up
of landless city dwellers and newly created citizens from
outlying provinces. Roman Soldiers were courageous and
they were trained under the severest discipline and directed
by means of an organization which was divided, subdivided
and officered almost as perfectly as our modern corps with
divisions, brigades, regiments, companies and squads.
However, the Roman Legions were different in that they
contained troops of all arms, infantry, cavalry and
artillery used during siege warfare. The strict regime of
the Roman Soldiers and their legions enabled them to march
across over and subdue most of the known world. The Roman
legion consisted of four thousand men, as in the early ages
of the republic but increased to six thousand during the
time of Emperor Augustus. Roman Soldiers served in legions
were essentially divided into horse soldiers (calvary) and
foot soldiers. A Roman Legion was divided into ten cohorts.
Each cohort consisted of Roman soldiers who fell into the
categories composed of Hastati who were raw troops,
Principes who were trained troops, Triarii who were
veterans and Velites who were light troops or skirmishers.
Organisation of a Roman
Soldiers within a Legion
The Roman Legion consisted
of 10 cohorts. The basic organisation of the Roman Soldiers
within an Imperial legion was as follows:
1 contubernium = 8 soldiers: 1
contubernium (mess unit / tent group), probably led by a
Decanus
1 centuria (century) = 10
contubernia: 1 centuria (century), commanded by the centurion
1 cohort = 6 centuriae: 1
cohort commanded by its senior centurion
1 legio (legion) = 10 cohortes:
1 legio (legion), commanded by the legatus (legate)
Roman Army Ranks
Roman Army
The Life of Roman Soldiers
- Glory and Honor
Roman military life was a
mixture of excitement, toil, danger, and hardship. The
rewards of the Roman soldiers were small; he was paid in
glory. No profession brought so much honor as the military.
A Roman Soldier was taught that his destiny was to die in
battle: death was his duty and his glory. He enlisted in the
army with little hope of revisiting his home; he crossed
seas and deserts and forests with the idea of spending his
life in the service of his country. However insignificant
the legionary was as a man, he gained importance from the
great body with which he was identified - his legion. The
Roman soldier was both the servant and the master of the
State. He had an intense esprit de corps - he was bound up
in the glory of his legion. Both religion and honor bound
him to his standards. The golden eagle which glittered in
his front was the object of his fondest devotion.
The Life of Roman Soldiers
- Promotion
A Decanus (Decanii) was the
first rank that a legionary could be promoted to, similar to
a modern sergeant. A decanus was responsible for between
8-10 who shared the same tent. He was responsible for
training and discipline of the men in his tent together with
issuing instructions regarding erecting stockades and
fortifications. Another level of promotion for a
particularly loyal Roman soldier was that of a Discentes
signiferorum a trainee standard bearer who would look to
become an Aquilifer who carried the legionary
eagle. An important position in a century was that of
the Signifier who carried the Century's standard (signum)
into battle (wearing bear's hide over his helmet) and was
also the treasurer for the Century. All standard bearers
wore animal skins over their uniforms and helmets.
The Life of Roman Soldiers
- The Rewards
Roman Soldiers were given
various decorations for loyal and valiant deeds in battle.
These decorations were worn with great pride when marching
in parades of triumphs. The most common rewards to
rank and file Roman soldiers were the following:
*** Armillae: Armillae were minor
decorations worn as an armband
*** Torques: Torques were decorations worn around the neck
*** Phalerae: Phalerae were an
embossed disc which was worn on the uniform
Other rewards to
Roman soldiers were crowns of different forms:
*** The mural crown was presented
to the soldier who in the assault first scaled the rampart of a town
*** The castral, to soldiers who
were foremost in storming the enemy's entrenchments
*** The civic chaplet of oak
leaves, to the soldier who saved his comrade's life in battle
*** The triumphal laurel wreath to
the general who commanded in a successful engagement
When an army was freed from a
blockade, the soldiers gave their deliverer a crown called
obsidionalis, made of the grass which grew in the besieged
place; and to him who first boarded the ship of an enemy, a
naval crown. But the greatest distinction that could be
conferred on a commander, was a triumph; this was granted
only by the senate, on the occasion of a great victory. When
decreed, the general returned to Rome, and was appointed by
a special edict to the supreme command in the city; on the
day of his entry, a triumphal arch was erected of sculptured
masonry, under which the procession passed.
Roman Triumph
The Life of Roman Soldiers
- Penalties for Cowardice - Decimation
The severity of military
discipline was never relaxed. Military exercises were
incessant, in winter as in summer. In the times of peace the
Roman troops were familiarized with the practice of war. It
was not possible to escape the penalty of cowardice or
treachery or disobedience. Roman Soldiers could be chastised
with blows from whips by his centurion and his general could
sentence him to death. Marcus Licinius Crassus enforced an
example of Decimation during his campaign against the
Gladiator Wars led by Spartacus. One of the commanders,
Mummius engaged the rebel gladiators early against the
orders of Crassus and was defeated. Crassus decided to
inflict 500 men of the legion involved, who he deemed to
have shown cowardice, with the ancient and gruesome
punishment of ‘decimation’. Decimation, derived from Latin
meaning "removal of a tenth" was a form of military
discipline used by officers in the Roman Army to punish
mutinous or cowardly soldiers. Crassus had one tenth of a
legion killed. The punishment of Decimation was inflicted
before the eyes of the whole army who were commanded to
assemble as spectators. Each cohort selected for punishment
by decimation was divided into groups of ten. Each of the
Roman Soldiers cast lots (Sortition) and the soldier on whom
the lot fell was executed by his nine comrades by stoning or
clubbing. The unfortunate soldier would have to 'run the
gauntlet' between the two rows of his close comrades who
were ordered to beat him to death. Crassus decimated the
legion to restore discipline - the Roman Soldiers serving
under Crassus were more frightened of their general than the
fierce gladiators fighting for Spartacus.
Ancient Roman Soldiers
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