“Victori” ~ Latin for “The Conquerors”

A fitting name for the illustrious Empire of Rome.

Narrowing our research down to the flourishing times brought on by Augustus Caesar, (also known as Octavian or Octavius), we are able to select a time period that the Roman military underwent some rapid transitions. Augustus’s rise to power over Marc Antony brought about a political reform from Republic to Empire itself.  Rome itself was stifled by internal strain and civil war, wrought with competing politicians; Rome’s history had started through violence, and depended on force. Julius and Augustus knew there had to be change somehow.  Julius laid the groundwork for seizing power, but his autocratic style proved fatal as he was murdered on the Senate floor by his angered enemies.  As Augustus was his nephew, this sparked a flaming desire to resurrect the power of his uncle, but not in the same way, and vowed not to fall as he did.

“As a social institution it is unique in the world, and its contribution to the pattern of warfare in the West was enormous.”

The previous quote was written by Gabriel Richards, found in his book The Culture of War: Invention and Early Development, as a comment on the army of Rome.  However, in order to contemplate the complexity of the Roman Army in our examined time period under Augustus, we first need to understand the little beginnings of how our Roman Military began.  Within the ages before Julius and Augustus, the very foundation of the Roman State was separated between tribes and powerful extended families. This also was applied to the foundation of the military. “Each tribe and family contributed a certain number of infantry and cavalry soldiers to the army, even then called the “legio.”” (Richards 103)

Throughout the following many years, as it is too much to cover, we can see a great deal of advancement in Roman weaponry and tactics.  For instance, an early Roman phalanx was utterly dominated by Gaul’s “freewheeling cavalry and infantry,” (Richards 104) as they met along the Alia River.  This led to Rome’s abandonment of the old Phalanx structure and opened up ranks a little bit more. “Eventually, this formation developed into the manipular formation for which the legions were famous.” (Richards 105) Tactile maneuvers and actions also were built out of situations like these, for instance, the abandonment of an old Roman thrusting spear and the adoption of the Pilum.  These spears would then be thrown into a charging enemy, and as they reached the line soldiers would pull out swords for hand to hand combat.

That is just a small example of a mass amount of advancement and changes the Roman military endured throughout the time period before Augustus, and I wish I could emulate more on periods of great enlightenment and innovation the military achieved through experience on multiple conquests to forge an empire. However, that is all you truly need to know before Augustus for now; the real basis is this: Rome’s military developed and adapted constantly, changed tactics, built inventions, gained knowledge from any bad confrontation they may have had with enemies. They built upon their armor and defense styles, all in an effort to gain the advantage in warfare for the future.  Below is a summation of what came out of the hundreds of years the Roman military built up and what Augustus was left to command.

Organization

Early development of the Roman legion saw the military organization formed on an “ad-hoc” basis. This meant that more or less, the military was built up with Italian volunteers and headed mostly by the wealthy, stately family or tribal members. The size fluctuated based on needs. Later on, after many years of warfare, Rome became exhausted, and therefore participation declined.  With a growing lack of numbers, the military base was adjusted. It opened up admission not to just Roman landowners, but non-romans as well. This paved the way for a professional career military force.

One Roman legion had approximately 5,000 men; It was comprised of about 10 Cohorts, commanded by a Legatus. The Legatus was usually a Senator, designated by the Emperor. Each Cohort held 6 Centuriae, and one Centuria held 10 sections of 8 men. These were commanded by the famous Centurion. These sections of 8 men were called Contubernium.

The Infantry would be divided into these varying levels of experience and age-type units, to accommodate the “lowering of quality of men,” since the military was opened up to non-romans.

Velites: young, agile, least trained men served as light infantry. They would be equipped with a couple of darts and javelins; and a light, round shield, and adorned in leather.

Hastati: The front line. Somewhat older, a little more experienced. They would form the basis of of the heavy infantry.

Principes: The real veterans. Heavily armored, heavily trained and experienced, they were the main component of the Roman Infantry. While legions would be accompanied by several auxiliary or cavalry units, this was their biggest and main fighting force.

Triarii: constitued the last line of defense. They were armed with spears and lent stability to formation. They were at the mercy of the general, and used whenever or wherever needed. Also a comforting feeling for the main body, knowing they have a bunch of spearmen behind them.

Weaponry

Gladius: A Roman short sword, made famous not only by the devastating effect it held with over two centuries of overpowering death, but also in the Gladiator games that were held. Fun fact: Romans developed training programs for the use of the Gladius around the same time the Gladiator games became public events in the Coliseum (Gabriel 108).

Pilum- Throwing spear, as shown above. This development helped to max casualties before the opposing force hit the front lines, effectively decreasing the blow and minimizing chance of routing.

Scutum: The Roman Shield. Fashioned in a semi-circular way so that missiles may be deflected away from the user. The round bronze “bump” in the center of the shield was used to bash enemy shields, breaking them or breaking the line. The bashing of the shield was usually followed by a very strong thrust upward of the Gladius; this move became dominating across the now almost Roman world.

Cassis: The name used for their helmets

Caligae: Roman boots. They varied in thickness of leather, with metal studs fastened on the sole, for trampling over downed enemies and also to help not wear the leather down. After development of the military all of this equipment became standard for soldiers and were essentially provided to them after the establishment of the “career” military force.