Roman Legion And Its Legionaries example essay topic

It was the loyalty to their generals and strict training that demonstrated the benefit of discipline for the Roman legionaries. Although training was intensive and obedience demanded more firmly, they created a better, well-rounded fighting machine for the Roman Empire. Proficiency that was almost unmatched made the individual legionaire deadly, but it was the devotion as a whole that made the entire legion formidable. Weapons, both of offense and defense, adapted throughout the course of Roman dominance in the early western world. In this paper, I will be focusing primarily on those which existed from about the 1st century A.D. until the 3rd century A.D. Also, it is important to note that there were different divisions in the great army of ancient Rome and each one carried with it different sets and combinations of weapons as well as different tactics. There were city guards, bodyguards to generals and the emperor, auxiliaries, light infantry, legionaries and cavalry.

Again, I will be directing my attention to one group in particular, the legionaries. The first defensive weapon was the helmet (cassis). Closely resembling a bowl, the cassis, made of iron or bronze, mainly protected the skull. The main features of the helmet were a neck guard that defended blows to the neck, cheek pieces which protected the sides of the face and a brow guard to defend against downward blows to the face. Many helmets had fixtures at the apex which allowed for the attachment of crests or accoutrements like dyed horsehair.

2 Typically, such a display was reserved for centurions or other high-ranking officers. There were three main types of armor that the Roman legionaire used: mail, scale and segmental. The most commonly depicted type being the segmental body armor (lorica segment ata). This type of armor provided shielding to the torso and some of the upper arms.

It was as effective as the older Greek breastplate (hop la) yet provided a greater amount of mobility. Segmental armor was comprised of curved, iron bands that overlapped one another and were fastened together with leather straps. This style of armor closely resembled the plates of armor that make up the shell of an armadillo. The legionaire's initial weapon was his spear. The Roman army used quite a range of different spears, but the one employed by legionaries was called a pilum.

The pilum resembled a javelin more than a spear; two-thirds of the lance was made of wood and the other third involved the metal tip and neck. "The tip was arrow-pointed and intentionally made of a sottish metal, so that it bent rather than broke. It was a weapon of offense, when in charge it was hurled at short range -". 3 The fact that the pila usually "self-destructed" on impact was key to its purpose. It was as much of a shock weapon - able to pierce shields and body armor - as it was a deterring force. Once lodged in an enemy's shield, the pilum rendered it awkward or unusable and often resulted, beneficially, in the shield being discarded.

Just as the citizens of the expanding Roman empire consisted of new peoples of different cultures - who had been conquered and assimilated into Roman society - so did the weaponry of the army of Rome consist of designs from newly conquered lands. 2 The Romans came to adopt a long, pointed sword called the gladius (Proper name, gladius Hispaniensis - meaning 'Spanish-sword'). This type of sword was a close-quarters weapon, meant for jabbing and piercing more so than swinging and hacking. Roman shields (scuta pl.) depended on multiple layers glued together for their strength. Usually, two or three layers of plywood were framed by a metal binding, some type of iron or copper alloy, and finalized by a layer of leather. These large, rectangular shields were semi cylindrical in shape and large enough to reach from the chin to the knees, protecting half of the body.

Legionaries would use their scutum in cooperation with their gladius in a repeating push-stab-push-stab combination. 2 This increased mobility on the battlefield would be central in the tactics of the Roman legionaries. As previously mentioned, legions were split up into squads whose weaponry dictated their purpose, whether it be to soften up the opponent, fiercely engage the enemy or finish off the remaining adversaries. A couple of such groups included ballistic force, use of large-scale missile projectors that were able to break up large chunks of the opposition while they were still at a distance, and cavalry, superior and intimidating troops who served to flank and / or finish off remaining enemies.

The most notable of these tactics was the Roman battle system of their foot soldiers in the legion. Men were divided in a number of basic, tactical units called maniples. A typical legion was "divided into three successive lines of ten maniples, each maniple separated from its like counterpart by about the width of its own formation". 4 The result was a checkerboard arrangement among the three different lines of soldiers.

This composition allowed men openings in the following lines for them to fall back through and recuperate while the next line continued the fight. If it so happened that the initial line were to fight again, their strength would be notably restored and the process could repeat itself until the enemy was defeated. "Exceptionally well drilled and trained, the legion was controlled with discipline and organisation that enabled it to maneuver smoothly on the battlefield and to keep up a constant replacement of the men actually in the fighting line". 1 The discipline and proficiency of this system, along with adaptability to suit the enemy, was what gave the Rome the edge in battles for many centuries A requirement for this system to be effective was space. Gone were the days of the Greek phalanx where soldier after soldier was closely "interlocked" with the shield next to him, a veritable wall of muscle with the sole purpose of flattening the opposition with some temporary thrashing thrown into the mix. The Romans were skilled not only as a group but as individuals and they needed space to be effective with their particular weapons.

To defend against missile attacks, the legionaries developed a tactic known as the testudo, or "tortoise", in which an advancing maniple would position their shields so that the ones on top overlapped each other and the ones surrounding the men stood right next to each other. The resulting assembly resembled that of a turtle's shell and was strong enough for a horse and cart to drive over. 3 During a siege, the testudo was also a method of gaining access to the enemy's entrances with the risk to the advancing troops minimized. The slight curvature of the shields allowed visibility, and therefore, mobility for the approaching ranks. 1 Tactical ingenuity, adaptability and discipline all contributed to the success fulness of the Roman legions. The combination of individual skill with established, group obedience provided the notion of unity among soldiers and faithfulness to generals.

Such loyalty would shape the political climate of Rome in the centuries to come and eventually lead to its downfall. Nevertheless, when it was successful, the Roman Legion, and its legionaries, was a testimony to the glory of Rome.

Bibliography

1 Featherstone, Donald, Warriors and Warfare in Ancient and Medieval Time (Great Britain, 1997) p.
74 2 Le Boh ec, Yann, The Imperial Roman Army (London, 1994) pp.
3 Mell ersh, H.E.L., Soldiers of Rome (Great Britain, 1964) pp.
38,114,156-157 4 Parker, Geoffrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare (United Kingdom, 1995), pp.