Roman Soldier; and the army

The Roman Soldier Part One

The Roman soldier was armed with a military invention that they took from the Iberians: a sword called the Gladius. The Roman soldier was an elite military unit- the Roman soldier even had an even more elite group called the Trarii. I wanted to learn more about the ancient Roman soldiers and the Gladius, which is why I wanted to read this book.

The Roman Army was the standard and supreme army of the ancient world. The Roman army was made up of 250,000 -500,000 total men. The officers in the Roman army were usually tribunes or prefects. The Roman army was not well organized or well planned. The Roman Army consisted of as many as 500,000 men at one point; the officer class consisted of tribunes or prefects.

The Roman Army was made up of legions that patrolled the frontier. The Roman Empire had up to 250,000 soldiers- mostly stationed on their borders. The Roman Army reached its peak in the 2^nd century AD. The Roman Army also had Auxiliaries- noted by Hadrian, they had up to 380,000 men in total.[1] The entire Roman army by the 3^rd century may have been as high as half a million men, including the navy. The Roman Army between Augustus through the 3^rd century AD contained ~ 4,000 men in each legion. The Roman legion was built up of smaller units that solidified the whole.

The officers serving in the Roman Army were considered “equestrians” or the officer class. The Roman emperor Flavian worshiped the goddess Minerva as his main deity. The Auxiliaries mounted cavalry, they were usually prefects or tribunes. Infantry was set up as consisting of 500 men. The same problem that the Roman Legions faced was the Auxiliaries.  After Augustus, the names of the legions weren’t based on the senate; it was based on the emperor.[2] The Roman Army used Roman propaganda to stay in power during disasters.

Roman propaganda consisted of gladiators, animals, and recovering army standards- or recovering the Roman Eagle. The Roman army was not organized or well planned. The Roman army was disorganized, and their policies didn’t always make sense. [3] Gladiators were a form of propaganda because they were the main characters in major ancient-day versions of modern-day sporting events. Animals were thrown in the Colosseum to fight humans or gladiators- it was supposed to be an entertaining spectacle. Losing army standards in Rome was considered a major evil- and also one of the worst things that could happen to Rome.

The Roman Army consisted of 250,000-500,000 men. The Roman army had a Roman Eagle, which was the major standard for that legion; losing it was considered a major disaster. The Roman army was primarily used to patrol the frontiers and engage in wars of expansion. The Roman army was the largest army of the ancient period: it was not organized well, and it didn’t even always make sense. The Roman Army had ~ 250,000 Roman soldiers- the rest were the navy and the Auxilia.

Citations:

de la Bédoyère, Guy. Gladius: The World of the Roman Soldier. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020.  

[1] 1. Guy de la Bédoyère, Gladius: The World of the Roman Soldier (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020), [12:42].

[2] de la Bédoyère, Gladius, [12:42].

[3] de la Bédoyère, Gladius, [42:48].