Being A Soldier In The Roman Army example essay topic

Throughout history there have been many great armies, however few compare to the great Roman army. The Roman army was the greatest fighting forces of its time and to this day it remains as a model for many armies of modern times. In its time, the Roman army wreaked havoc among its enemies. It was the most feared army of any nation.

Only the bravest generals dared to challenge the Romans. The Romans won so many wars due to the fact that they had some of the greatest weapons, generals, and tactics. The Roman army's greatest strength was its strong legions. The cavalry was auxiliary and was few in numbers. "Each legion contained 4800 men and was divided into ten cohorts, each cohort was divided into three maniple and each maniple was divided into two centuries. Each maniple was assigned two centurions".

In the earlier days of the Roman republic only Roman citizens were admitted to the army; all Roman citizens had to serve. As a Roman citizen it was their duty to protect their country. At the end of a war, the troops were disbanded and the soldiers returned to a normal life with honor. Being a soldier in the Roman army was part of the Roman way of life. It was unacceptable not to go to the army.

Once you entered the army you became a man, it changed you. You took up many responsibilities and it was your duty to make sure they were successful. In present times, in countries such as The United States of America, we take it for granted that we do not have to risk our lives for our country however, in Roman times, it was a great reality. The Roman army had many requirements. In order to be in the army you had to be between the ages of seventeen and forty-six. The physical specifications were: you had to be in good health and had to be an ideal height, approximately 5 ft 10 in.

"The Roman soldiers were required to be strong and agile in order to fight effectively with both a sword and spear". It was said that the Roman soldiers were not always large, when fighting their German enemies, the Roman soldiers encountered barbarians that towered over them. After the soldiers were examined for physical effectiveness, they underwent a more strict examination where they were asked many questions. Lazy men, thieves and the extremely immoral were picked out.

For those who were chosen, the next step was a very grueling process. Those accepted to the Roman army were to swear allegiance to Rome. After this ceremony they were sent to a special training camp where they were taught many skills including, digging ditches, building ramparts, and to look after their equipment. Some more important things they were taught were drilling, route marching with full equipment.

Soldiers were expected to be able to march four and a half miles per hour. The most important part of training was weapons training. They were taught how to fight with swords and spears and how to defend themselves with their shields. To be in the Roman army, you had to be an all around good person. If there were a part of you that was not up to standards then the Roman army would make sure that part was fixed immediately. The Roman soldier was trained to be a lot like a wolf.

Roman soldiers were taught to be honorable, always stay together, and to be extremely ferocious fighters even fighting to the last drop of blood. Legend has it that a pack of wolves raised the two founders of Rome. The Roman soldiers had many different ways of protecting themselves. The Roman soldiers were provided with armor, which consisted of a helmet, greaves, and a shield. The helmet was made of iron, or leather or cork strengthened with brass. "The greaves were made out of bronze.

They were used to protect the leg below the knee". The shield was made of wood and was covered with leather or iron plates. The shield was usually 4 ft. long and 2 ft. wide. The soldier's main weapons were a sword and a spear. The sword's blade was about 2 ft. long and a few inches wide. The soldier used the sword for cutting and thrusting.

The spear was made of iron and wood, which held the iron in place. The wood was 4.5 ft long and 2.5 in thick. The iron part of the sword was 4.5 ft long. When on the offensive, the Romans had many different strategies to help them win the battle. "Legions stood in three lines. The first line would attack the enemy and if that line was beginning to break or become tired then the second line would come in and fight and the first line would retreat.

The first and second lines would keep on fighting till they got tired and then the other line would take over. Meanwhile the third line stayed in reserve in case the enemy tried to outflank them". The first line was always the strongest line. This was because when they first attacked the enemy, they wanted to deliver a big blow to the enemy straight off. Cavalry was used to meet the enemy's flank and to destroy it. The most experienced legions were put on the wings because wings began the attack.

During battle, the general would pass from legion to legion addressing them with a speech of encouragement. These speeches were what helped fuel the Roman army's winning streak in battle. The Romans fought in many wars. By doing this they conquered many new lands, expanding the Roman Republic and changing history forever.

One very famous war was the Second Punic War. This was the second in a series of three wars between Carthage and Rome. It started when in 219 B.C., Hannibal captured the island of Saguntum on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Rome felt that Carthage was pushing too close to Roman territory so they demanded that Carthage withdraw at once, however, Carthage refused.

This was the start of one of the most famous large-scale wars of Rome". In 218 B.C., instead of going through the Mediterranean, Hannibal decided to lead his army of 92,000 over land, through Spain and the Alps into the top of the boot of Italy". This was an incredibly daring feat. He arrived with less than a third of his men. In 217 B.C. Hannibal managed to capture Capua, the second largest town in Italy.

Rome had three large defeats in three years and about a hundred thousand Roman soldiers had died. The Roman army realized that Hannibal could not be beat so they took a new approach to the war. They sent another front to Spain to fight Hasdrubal, Hannibal's brother. Another Scipio commanded that Roman front. Hasdrubal was kept too busy, to send Hannibal any reinforcements.

The Romans attacked Hannibal and his army, however, whenever he retaliated the Romans would purposely retreat right away. Hannibal remained on the Italian peninsula without much more progress till 211 B.C. when Rome recaptured the city of Capua. Hannibal remained in Italy until 203 B.C. when he was ordered to return to Africa. In 206 B.C. Publius Scipio won a battle at L lipa and forced the Carthaginians out of Spain. When Scipio returned to Rome, everyone in Rome loved him. Scipio had the idea of attacking Carthage itself.

Many generals opposed him, feeling it was too dangerous but also partly because they were jealous of him. The senate refused to assign him an army, however, thousands of men volunteered to join his army. In 204 B.C. Scipio sailed for the Carthaginian mainland in Africa. "The final battle of the war was fought at Zama, 100 miles southwest from Carthage on October 19,202 B.C". Although Hannibal was probably the greatest general of that time, Scipio was very close and he had a much greater army. By the end, the Romans were the victors and Carthage was forced to surrender and gave Rome its navy, Spain and its Mediterranean islands.

It was a great loss to the Carthaginians. At the end of the Second Punic War, Rome had accomplished much. They gave themselves a reputation as the most powerful civilization in the world. They had everything that contributed to a great army, great leadership, disciplined soldiers and good weapons. It can easily be said that Hannibal was the greatest general of his time. Hannibal lost for many reasons though.

Scipio, the Roman general who defeated Hannibal at Zama was a very good general as well and he had a much greater army. "Most of Hannibal's army was Italian and Carthaginian mercenaries who could not be relied on to the end". Scipio's army was willing to fight to the last drop of blood and that is one thing that determines the outcome of a battle. The Second Punic War was a war that would deeply prepare Rome for other ensuing wars. In 390 B.C., the Gauls made a big mistake by going into Rome and plundering the city, humiliating Rome.

However this would motivate them in later years to retaliate. When Julius Caesar first arrived in Gaul his goals were to give himself a name and to build himself a large personal army. Julius Caesar believed that it was Rome's destiny to dominate people who were considered inferior. Caesar even thought that one day the Gauls would thank the Romans for making them civilized.

In 58 B.C. Julius Caesar took over three legions. He also collected another legion as he went along and had a steady shipment of recruits coming in as well. In April of 58 B.C. Julius Caesar and his army attacked the Helvetii, the Helvetii had fifty thousand warriors while the Romans only had about 23,000. This was Caesar's first battle and a very important one.

The enemy was very distracted on trying to defend their wagon train. After many failed charges the Helvetii finally retreated to their wagon train. The Romans viscously attacked them all day and night. By the end, between 60,000 and 80,000 people of the Helvetii tribe were slaughtered. Caesar did not attack all Gauls. He signed alliances with some tribes because it was very wise, strategically.

One such example was that some Gauls called to Caesar to band against Ariovistus. Caesar agreed and soon him and Ariovistus were exchanging threats. Julius Caesar defeated him near modern Bes ancon and drove him across the Rhine. "From then on Julius Caesar played the role of the protector and patron of the tribes of central Gaul".

In 57 B.C. Caesar conquered all of northern Gaul. In 56 B.C. the tribes of Northwestern Gaul revolted, but they were crushed by Caesar and sold into slavery. In 54 B.C. Julius Caesar led his army into Britain crossing the Thames River and defeating any opposition, which was led by Cassivelaunus. Caesar forced them to pay an annual tribute and then returned back to Gaul. By 50 B.C. all of Gaul was controlled by the Romans and Caesar got all of the glory he had wanted when he started his campaign. The conquest of Gaul is one of the greatest portrayals of how unstoppable an army can be.

The Roman army was so much greater than the Gauls in many ways. The Romans had such great leadership from Julius Caesar. At times he did seem to be very sly, but the Roman soldiers trusted him dearly that he would get them out of battle alive. The Romans also had great tactics. The Gauls were described as being very unorganized and without any battle plan so they were slaughtered by the Romans, who had ever single step planned out. The Roman army was an indestructible fighting machine.

This was due to the fact that they had very advanced weapons, great generals, great soldiers and fantastic tactics and strategies. The Romans were put in battle many times outnumbered however they still managed to win the battle. Because of their ability to fight like a pack of wolves, the Romans were unstoppable.

Bibliography

Asimov, Isaac. The Roman Republic, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966 Connolly, Peter.
The Roman Army, Morristown, New Jersey: Silver Burdett Company, 1975 Judson, Harry Pratt.
Caesar's Army, New York: Bible and Tanned, 1972.
Nardo, Don. Caesar's Conquest of Gaul, San Diego, California: Lucent Books, 1996 Nardo, Don.
The Punic Wars, San Diego, California: Lucent Books, 1996 Siskins, Michael.
The Roman Army from Caesar to Trojan, New York: Osprey Publishing Ltd, 1974.