Chpt 14

1. Lean, Mean, Conquering Machine
Chapter 14

2. In this presentation you will
learn:
the classes of soldier
the length of service for a
soldier
the pay of a soldier
the organization of the army
the officers/commanders of
the army
the equipment used by a
soldier
the tactics of the army
special forces
Focus

3.  Originally based on what the could bring so the wealthier
you were the higher your ‘rank’
 Senators were leaders
 Equites were the wealthiest who could provide a horse and
constituted the cavalry
 1st
heavy infantry (the best armed)
 2nd
heavy infantry (no breastplate)
 3rd
lightly armed (spears and javelins)
 4th
lightly armed (spears and javelins)
 5th
armed with stones/slingshots
 Each of the above classes had
seniores: veterans (aged 47-60)
iuniores: rookies (aged 17-46)
 Proletarii: the poorest citizens excused
from service
Classes

4. in 390BC we go to Maniples not classes
hastii: the youngest troops
principes: middle aged; prime fighting age
triarii: oldest
rorarii: the old 4th
class (spears/javelins)
velites: the poorest with weapons but no armor
Marius changed it again
he liked cohorts and armed everyone with a sword
and pilum (spear) so that the velites were no more
and the differences amongst the hastii, principes
and triarii dwindled as well.
this also meant a shift from a citizen army to a
professional one.
Change of Classes

5.  originally men served the length of a
campaign season (the non farming
months)
 as times changed so did the length of
service (16-25 years)
 after Marius 20+ years was not
uncommon
 Praetorian Guards served less time
(12-16 years)
 Auxiliaries served between 25-30 years
Duration

6.  First earnings were nothing and soldiers paid for their food, clothing and
equipment
 After 390BC, soldiers received a stipend (daily cash)
the stipend ranged from ½ to 1 ½ denarii depending on rank with food
deducted from the pay
 By the 50’s BC the stipend was seen more as an allowance and was fixed
at 112.5 denarii a year for legionaries with food deducted from it
 Julius Caesar doubled pay to 225 denarii
 Augustus increased the pay of centurions to 3750-15,000 denarii
 Domitian increased the pay for legionaries to 300 denarii
 Domitian increased the pay for the Praetorian Guard to 1000 denarii
 Domitian increased the pay for centurions to 5,000 – 20,000 denarii
 Soldiers could also expect to “earn” money from booty captured in war
 Soldiers might be given a ‘bonus’ for their loyalty from Caesar onward
 Soldiers could also expect gifts of land on retirement
Pay

7. The divisions of the army changed but
here is the now thought of standard by
the time of Julius Caesar
*the first cohort was ‘doubled’ and
consisted of 5 centuries or 800 men
In addition each century had a leader
called a centurion (59-60)
Plus there was the cavalry of about 120
men
Thus a legion had around 5300 men
contubernia 8 men who shared a tent and
a mule
century 10 contubernia (80 men)
cohort 6 centuries (480 men)
legion 9 regular cohorts + the first
cohort (5120 men)
Organization

8. tesserarius daily password
imaginifer carried the image of the emperor
signifer carried the legion’s standards (flags)
aquilifer: the eagle standard (very prestigious)
optio rear officer (second in command to the centurion)
centurion commanded the centuries; trained the men
primus pilus centurion of the first cohort
praefectus
castorum
camp prefect/leader of the camp
tribunes selected the centurions; 5 were Equestrian
legatus overall commander of the legion appointed by the emperor
magister equitum assistant to the dictator
dictator a commander of chief appointed in times of emergency
emperor/king commander in chief during their respective eras
Officers

10. caligae hobnail boots
galea helmet with cheek and neck guards
lorica hamata shirt of chain mail
lorica segmenta “plate armor” overlapping pieces of iron
lorica squamata “scale armor” overlapping scales of iron or bronze
resembling
pugio dagger
gladius sword
pilum javelin/spear
scutum shield
Equipment

11. A Roman soldier was expected to carry all
of his own personal items, like the
weapons from the previous slide and
additional equipment. He had to carry his
luggage, stakes for camp, bronze mess
tin, cooking pot, rations for 3-20
(depending on the era) days, a saw,
basket, pickax, sickle, leather strap and
chain, shovel. The weight of the pack has
been estimated at 66-100 lbs! Also
soldiers were expected to march 18 miles
a day, up to 30 if in a hurry!
A Soldier’s Pack

12.  Phalanx: shields were
overlapped and spears
extended
 Testudo: shields were
overlapped on all sides
 Circumvallation: surrounding an
area with ramparts and
trenches, cutting it off
If storming a town did not work,
the Romans starved it!
For sieges, battering rams,
towers and catapults were all
used.
Tactics

13. Praetorian Guard
 The personal body guard
of the general and later
the emperor
 Recruited only from
Italy
 Served shorter lengths
 Higher Pay
Auxiliaries
 The specialist needed in
an army
 Cavalry and archers
 Recruited from allies or
paid soldiers
 Granted citizenship
after service
 Longer lengths of
Navy
 The poorest citizens often
became sailors.
 Were ranked far below
soldiers
 Lower pay and longer
terms of service
 Not particularly great
 Best maneuver was to use
the ship as a platform to
land soldiers
Special Forces

14. Assignment
Now that you know all about the Roman Army, it
wants you! That’s right....it is time for you to
create a recruitment poster. Your poster must
list what you can bring to the army, what you
will carry, the size of your legion, how long you
will serve and what salary you expect plus a
graphic. Your poster should be appealing to the
eye. Additionally, it should look like you took
your time and put some effort into it. Your
poster may be submitted through the
assignment page as a word document or any
other format...as long as it can be readily
opened.