Book Review: The Making of the Roman Army
I recently finished up "The Making of the Roman Army: From Republic to Emprie" by Lawrence Keppie.
This is a good overview book of the evolution of the Roman army. It begins with the Early Republic, which is made up of citizen-soldiers (meaning only land-owning citizens - I don't recall if you could be a citizen of early Rome without owning land).
Hoplites
In its earliest known form, the Roman army consisted of hoplites, with supporting cavalry (the Equites). They learned this from the Etruscans. In standard deployment, each succeeding line from front to back was more heavily armored than those before it. The more heavily armored and further back in the deployment, the higher the social status and wealth of the citizen.
Early Legions
Due to fighting hoplites, the Romans evolved into the maniple system, where instead of unbroken lines, the army deployed in maniples, each headed by a centurian (literally, leader of a hundred, but maniples were 80 men in the known references). The lines were still split by quality of equipment, with the wealthiest in the rear. From front to back, the troops were:
The Equites (knights / cavalry; literally mounted men) were the highest ranked nobility (mostly senators and their relatives).
In the early republic, there was an expression "Now it's down the the triarii." This came from the fact that the triarii were almost always the last troops committed in battle. When they engaged the enemy, it was either the last push to break the enemy or a truly desperate situation (or both).
Men could be called into service for a maximum of 6 years. Military leadership was changed annually. This pushed experienced personnel out of the legions quickly. This system was designed for the defense of Rome, not for offensive operations and garrison duty. The system worked well enough when deployments were for campaigns and garrisons in Italy. As the Republic expanded, it became harder to maintain garrisons.
As the Republic expanded, it used more and more local auxilia as support troops, both offensively and defensively.
Late Republic
Around the time of Marius, service in the legions were reformed to be a career. The state began providing equipment, and all men were equipped identically. This increased flexibility, but reduced specialization.
This is when the prototypical legionnaire came into being. Legionary equipment was very similar to that of the Principes - the spear line was deprecated or fielded using auxilia.
The most commonly referenced auxilia was the cavalry. Roman cavalry was the Equites, which consisted of the children of the wealthiest Romans. They were among the weakest cavalry around, and the commanders were hesitant to risk major casualties among them. The Equites evolved into the senior officer class (and their runners, etc.). Caesar used almost exclusively Germanic cavalry in Gaul and the civil war. The German cavalry was among the best of the time, outside of the Parthians (who were in a class of their own).
Summary
Most of this, I already knew. This book is mostly about the Late Republic and Early Empire periods. This is largely due to a lack of sources for the Early Republic armies. There was far less written about the army at that time, and little of it survives. I find this unfortunate, as the Early Republic army is interesting both in its political/social structure and its military structure. The combination of diversity and flexibility in it allowed the Romans to conquer much of the Western Mediterranean.
One astounding part of this is that they were able to scrape up as many landed citizens as they did for as many centuries as they did (even with the amount of land required decreasing over time). Imagine what would happen if the US instituted a draft of only the top 20% of income earners.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some of the books and papers referenced. One thing I learned from reading this book is that their is in fact a periodical journal specializing in Roman military equipment. Talk about specialization!
This is a good overview book of the evolution of the Roman army. It begins with the Early Republic, which is made up of citizen-soldiers (meaning only land-owning citizens - I don't recall if you could be a citizen of early Rome without owning land).
Hoplites
In its earliest known form, the Roman army consisted of hoplites, with supporting cavalry (the Equites). They learned this from the Etruscans. In standard deployment, each succeeding line from front to back was more heavily armored than those before it. The more heavily armored and further back in the deployment, the higher the social status and wealth of the citizen.
Early Legions
Due to fighting hoplites, the Romans evolved into the maniple system, where instead of unbroken lines, the army deployed in maniples, each headed by a centurian (literally, leader of a hundred, but maniples were 80 men in the known references). The lines were still split by quality of equipment, with the wealthiest in the rear. From front to back, the troops were:
- Velites / funditores - the skirmishers. Shield and javelins or sling.
- Hastati - the light infantry. They carried 2 pila (javelins), had a oval shield (the scutum) instead of the hoplite's round shield, and they wielded a short stabbing sword.
- Principes - the heavy infantry. Similarly armed to the Hastati, but normally with better armor and training.
- Triarii - heavy spearmen. Similarly armored to the Principes, but primarily armed with a stabbing spear and a scutum. They deployed like traditional hoplies and were the last line.
The Equites (knights / cavalry; literally mounted men) were the highest ranked nobility (mostly senators and their relatives).
In the early republic, there was an expression "Now it's down the the triarii." This came from the fact that the triarii were almost always the last troops committed in battle. When they engaged the enemy, it was either the last push to break the enemy or a truly desperate situation (or both).
Men could be called into service for a maximum of 6 years. Military leadership was changed annually. This pushed experienced personnel out of the legions quickly. This system was designed for the defense of Rome, not for offensive operations and garrison duty. The system worked well enough when deployments were for campaigns and garrisons in Italy. As the Republic expanded, it became harder to maintain garrisons.
As the Republic expanded, it used more and more local auxilia as support troops, both offensively and defensively.
Late Republic
Around the time of Marius, service in the legions were reformed to be a career. The state began providing equipment, and all men were equipped identically. This increased flexibility, but reduced specialization.
This is when the prototypical legionnaire came into being. Legionary equipment was very similar to that of the Principes - the spear line was deprecated or fielded using auxilia.
The most commonly referenced auxilia was the cavalry. Roman cavalry was the Equites, which consisted of the children of the wealthiest Romans. They were among the weakest cavalry around, and the commanders were hesitant to risk major casualties among them. The Equites evolved into the senior officer class (and their runners, etc.). Caesar used almost exclusively Germanic cavalry in Gaul and the civil war. The German cavalry was among the best of the time, outside of the Parthians (who were in a class of their own).
Summary
Most of this, I already knew. This book is mostly about the Late Republic and Early Empire periods. This is largely due to a lack of sources for the Early Republic armies. There was far less written about the army at that time, and little of it survives. I find this unfortunate, as the Early Republic army is interesting both in its political/social structure and its military structure. The combination of diversity and flexibility in it allowed the Romans to conquer much of the Western Mediterranean.
One astounding part of this is that they were able to scrape up as many landed citizens as they did for as many centuries as they did (even with the amount of land required decreasing over time). Imagine what would happen if the US instituted a draft of only the top 20% of income earners.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some of the books and papers referenced. One thing I learned from reading this book is that their is in fact a periodical journal specializing in Roman military equipment. Talk about specialization!