The Republican Armies, 500-44 BCE

This is just an accumulation of some of my own knowledge and a small amount of research on the web to commemorate the release of RTW. Large influences include West Point Academy's Ancient and Medieval Warfare. Almost all information here could be found by using some of the historical sites listed on the .Org's front page. Corrections/additional comments from others would be welcome. The main source of discussion in this summary is the Roman heavy infantry, little information is included about allies and auxileries. If you have information on these as well, feel free to chide in.

Overview: The Roman army of the Republic takes on several different forms between the period of around the city's founding (500 BCE) and the death of Julius Caesar (44 BCE). However the main level of Roman divisional organization, the legion, actually evolved quite early in this period. While it might not have at all times been called a legion, the amount of soldiers in a divisional unit remained roughly the same (between 4000 and 6000) during this period. The style, organization, and evolution of the legion can be categorized into roughly three different types, which occupied three different eras. Different names have been given to them by different historians, but the names here are the same as those used in Ancient and Medieval Warfare. That is the Phalanx legion, the Manipular legion, and the Cohortal legion, which evolved respectively in the said period.

The Phalanx Legion: The early Roman legion was very little in terms of organization than its Greek counter-parts. It was a massive, deep formation of soldiers with interlocking shields, armed predominately with spears. The spears were pointed outwards in front of the formation, ready to mow down any soldiers who dared oppose it. The phalanx is essentially a mountain, extremely slow but nothing can withstand it. The core of the formation are the rich landowners, as in ancient societies often they were the only ones who could afford the armor and equipment required to fight in the phalanx. The majority of phalanx-using populations fought as skirmishers rather than heavy infantry. However it has major downfalls. The phalanx is solely designed for attacking the enemy from the front of the formation, the disadvantage is the tight formation restricts movement heavily, it takes a very long time to wheel around to face new directions, making it suspectible to flanking manouvers. In bronze age times often times two large forces at war would agree on a place and time to battle, and both sides would line up on either side of the battlefield and advance. For this the phalanx was perfect, however the Romans often times in the early Republic did not fight organized enemies with whom they had a predefined battle site. Largely because of this purpose, a new form of organization was required, which most believe was introduced gradually over a long period of time.

Manipular Legion: Throughout most of the Republic period this was the force used by Rome. It consisted largely of a three-line checkerboard formation, designed to give their enemies a two-punch killing blow on the field of battle. The primary unit of organization was the maniple, the amount of soldiers in which has often been debated, as some historians believe roman numbers fail to include cooks, blacksmiths and other essential personel which might be attached to the unit, but this summary is based on that a maniple consists of around 160 fighting men on the field. The maniple is then divided into two centuries, each of which consisted of 80 men. When deployed on the field, the legion consists of three main lines, around which the plan of battle is constructed. This organization appears to almost entirely have been based on age. In the front were the hastati, the most inexperienced regular soldiers of the army. They were generally equipped with body armor covering the upper body, a large square shield, a javelin, an iron helmet, and the gladius shortsword. Behind the hastati were the principes, who were similarily equipped only with weapons of slightly better quality. Also, the principes were slightly older and had more experience. Behind them were the triarii, the oldest veterans and the last remnants in the legion of the Greek phalanx. They were equipped differently than the others, having heavier armor and a different primary weapon, a large spear called the hasta. Also the triarii maniples might have been slightly smaller in size, having about 130 men per maniple rather than 160. In addition to this, there would be about 300 horsemen and a large assortment of velites (skirmishers). The formation would be arranged much like the following, with the hastati in front, principes second, and triarii third, with each - signifying a space between maniples. Each [ signifies a century.

[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]
--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]
[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]--[]

The velites would be out front in a loose formation, armed with javelins, and would usually skirmish with the enemy before the main battle. After the skirmish was over, the hastati would attack first, throwing their javelins and then charging to meet the enemy. Next, the principes would attack, throwing their own javelins and filling the gaps in the formation. The triarii would remain in the rear, if the hastati and principes were thrown back they would cover their retreat, if not, they could be used to prevent flanking maneuvers by the enemy or launch some of their own. All in all, excluding velites, the legion had about 4800 men.

Cohortal Legion: The Cohortal Legion is called so because of the same reason as the Manipular, the main unit of organization was the Cohort. This legion, like the previous, was a result of a large number of reforms over the army, however those for the Cohortal legion took place in a much shorter period of time and many them were instituted by the same man, Marius. The process of creating a Cohortal legion had already began some time before, however, and legions with a Cohortal level of organization had already been used before Marius. The main difference was the form of recruitment. The Cohortal legion was one of the the first professional armies in history, all of its soldiers having been recruited, trained, and equipped by the state rather than their own means, negating the importance of the nobility in the military. The Cohort was a unit of organization larger than the maniple, consisting of about 600 heavy infantry soldiers, divided further into 6 centuries each led by a centurion. The legion all in all had about 6000 soldiers, around 10 cohorts. Each cohort was a small army in and of itself and could break off and perform military manouvers without the rest of the army, which was one of the greatest advantage of the legion. For instance, if the main force was engaged, a cohort could break off and perform a flanking manouver, an action previously impossible with a phalanx and difficult with the Manipular legion. Like the maniple, the Cohortal legion was organized into a checkerboard pattern, to allow the filling of gaps but also for each line to form together in a single front if need be. This time a + signifies a gap between lines. A set of -'s signifies a cohort.

------+++------+++------+++------
+++------++++------++++------
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Generally, each cohort would be about 100 ranks wide and 6 ranks deep, with each century forming a line. Usually the first cohort in the formation (the one on the front left I believe) was the most experienced and being placed in the first cohort was much like being placed along the right side of a phalanx, it was a position of honor. The soldiers themselves were armed much like the hastati and principes of the earlier legion, with a javelin (or pilum), a large square shield, a gladius, and armor covering the upper body. Auxileries (cavalry and missile units) were generally not included in the legion count.

Conclusion: The Marian reforms helped create one of the best fighting forces in the world by the end of the Republic. However, as cavalry of all sorts began to once again dominate the field as they had in Alexander's time during the Imperial phase, the heavy Roman infantry gradually began to evaporate into a lighter style of sloldier armed with a small spear and shield. The infantry had to become lighter in order to keep up and cope with the cavalry, and by the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the legionary soldier was almost in no way identifyable with the Cohortal soldiers at the end of the Republic.

Three things I'd like to add.

Lorica segmentata is a term which was fabricated in the 19th century, and there is no evidence of the Romans ever using the term. It's like the term 'Byzantines' for the eastern Romans in the middle ages. It's ok to use it, but there's a pretty large chance that the Romans wouldn't know what you'd be talking about if you ever asked them about it.

Also, this particular type of armor was not introduced until the time of emperor Claudius (that is the first time that it appears, and since the legion was state-equipped in that time, we can quite reasonably conclude that that was the time it was invented or perfected). Before this, all soldiers of the cohort-based legions (as well as the manipular legions) wore lorica hamata: chainmail.

Also, the Romans didn't possess the first professional army. Alexander the Great had commanded one, but he was preceded by the Persians, the Assyrians, and the Egyptians. Personally, I'm doubtful that the Egyptian professional army was worthy of the title; sure, it was state-equipped and served a set amount of time, but the Assyrian army was all that, plus state-trained and working together in such a way that could only be achieved by a proffessional army.



~Wiz

Alright, I edited the armor stuff, I haven't studied equipment extensively as I probably should have before I wrote this.

Although a question, were those armies actually "professional"? I know they might have had standard sizes and had some form of basic drill, but didn't the soldiers still supply their own equipment and work the fields during peace-time? Were they paid, drilled, and equipped by the state? Most of these are generally considered traits of a professional army, which is part of the reason why many armies (such as those used in the 30 years' war) aren't considered truly "professional" as they were not fully trained and supplied by the state.

Very nicely written article, Lonewolf. Except for the things already pointed out I can't find any mistakes. Your article is very well researched. Keep up the good work and keep the articles coming. I look forward to reading more..

Hmm, I suppose I could look some stuff up on Hellenistic Macedonian styles of war, that might also pertain to the period...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lonewolf371

Although a question, were those armies actually "professional"? I know they might have had standard sizes and had some form of basic drill, but didn't the soldiers still supply their own equipment and work the fields during peace-time? Were they paid, drilled, and equipped by the state? Most of these are generally considered traits of a professional army, which is part of the reason why many armies (such as those used in the 30 years' war) aren't considered truly "professional" as they were not fully trained and supplied by the state.

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What you mention is the problem with Ramses II's 'professional army'. Although they were drilled, they provided their own equipment and worked the fields in peace-time (not including units of the Royal Guard, of course).

However, the Assyrian army was a full-time affair, was drilled, state-equipped, and capable of stragetic and tactical moves that no-one else was capable of at the time.



~Wiz

Very well done article lonewolf thanks :rtwyes: