The Roman Conquest

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

The Roman legionaire was the result of many centuries of conquering warfare. Roman equipment was a combination of the best weapons, armor and shield that Rome had had to confront in many different battlefields.

Correct. Not just the best equipment, but the best equipment to work with one another. And the best large range trainning.

They adopted the Iberian falcata after Cannae, and later on the mail armor the Celtic nobles wore.

Wrong. Don't believe what RTW says in the Scutarii description. Romans adopted the short straight hispanic sword known to them by Gladius Hispanniensis. The Falcata is a quite different weapon: longer heavy-tipped sabre.

They also used their heavy shields as an offensive weapon, and the famous pilum. Maybe they weren´t more strong or agile than their enemies, but they had the best equipment by that time. Many times (not only Alesia) they were outnumbered by barbarian or eastern armies, but they won. And they won due to several factors, the most important one being the simple superiority of their infantry, and with this I mean their discipline and their equipment, not if they were veterans or not.

Read what I posted again. And please, pay attention to what I wrote this time...