Military of ancient Rome

The military of ancient Rome encompasses the combined military forces of Rome from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Originally, the Roman military consisted entirely of the Roman army, but a small navy was first added during the Samnite Wars and later significantly expanded to include specialized ranged Navy and Land Artillery.

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Adrian Goldsworthy

Adrian Goldsworthy (born 1969) is a British historian and military writer. Goldsworthy went to college in Westbourne School, Penarth. Later, after studying ancient and modern history at St John's College, Oxford, he completed a D.Phil in ancient military history from Oxford University in 1994, using his doctoral thesis in his first book, The Roman Army at War 100 BC - AD 200. Goldsworthy was a Research Fellow at Cardiff University for two years and has taught in different university departments where he has produced various articles on Greco-Roman warfare.

Ancient China

Chinese historiography
Timeline of Chinese history
Dynasties in Chinese history
Linguistic history
Art history
Economic history
Education history
Science and technology history
Legal history
Media history
Military history
Naval history

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones

Arnold Hugh Martin (A.H.M.) Jones (9 March 1904 - 9 April 1970) was a prominent 20th century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire.

Arnold J. Toynbee

Arnold Joseph Toynbee CH (April 14, 1889 – October 22, 1975) was a British historian whose twelve-volume analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations, A Study of History, 1934-1961, was a synthesis of world history, a metahistory based on universal rhythms of rise, flowering and decline, which examined history from a global perspective.

Auxilia

Auxiliaries (from Latin: auxilia = "supports") formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate (30 BC–284 AD), alongside the citizen legions. By the 2nd century, the auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all the Roman army's cavalry and more specialised troops (especially light cavalry and archers). The auxilia thus represented three-fifths of Rome's regular land forces at that time. Like their legionary counterparts, auxiliary recruits were mostly volunteers, not conscripts.

Auxiliaries (Roman military)

Auxiliaries (from Latin: auxilia = "supports") formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate (30 BC–284 AD), alongside the citizen legions. By the 2nd century, the auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all the Roman army's cavalry and more specialised troops (especially light cavalry and archers). The auxilia thus represented three-fifths of Rome's regular land forces at that time. Like their legionary counterparts, auxiliary recruits were mostly volunteers, not conscripts.

Ballista

The ballista (Latin, from Greek βαλλίστρα - ballistra^[1] and that from - βάλλω ballō, "to throw"),^[2] plural ballistae, was a weapon developed from earlier Greek weapons. It relied upon different mechanics, using two levers with torsion springs instead of a prod, the springs consisting of several loops of twisted skeins. Early versions ejected heavy darts or spherical stone projectiles of various sizes for siege warfare. It developed into a smaller sniper weapon, the Scorpio,^[3] and possibly the polybolos.

Barbarian

Barbarian is a term for an uncivilized person, often used pejoratively, either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage. In idiomatic or figurative usage, a "barbarian" may also be an individual reference to a brutal, cruel, warlike, insensitive person.^[1]

Battle of Alesia

The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia took place in September, 52 BC around the Gallic oppidum of Alesia, a major town centre and hill fort of the Mandubii tribe. It was fought by the army of the Roman Republic commanded by Julius Caesar, aided by cavalry commanders Mark Antony, Titus Labienus and Gaius Trebonius, against a confederation of Gallic tribes united under the leadership of Vercingetorix of the Averni, and was the last major engagement between Gauls and Romans, marking the turning point of the Gallic Wars in favour of Rome. The siege of Alesia is considered one of Caesar's greatest military achievements, and is still one of the classic examples of siege warfare and circumvallation.

Britannia

Britannia was the term used by the Romans to refer to the Roman province covering much of the island of Great Britain. The area beyond the Antonine Wall belonging to the Picts in the north was known as Caledonia. The name itself derives from Pretannia,^[1] Diodorus's rendering of the indigenous name for the Pretani people whom the Greeks believed to inhabit the British Isles.^[2][3][4] Britannia was personified as a goddess by the Romans, and in more recent times has become a figure of national personification of the United Kingdom.

Campaign history of the Roman military

From its origin as a city-state in Italy in the 8th century BC, to its rise as an empire covering much of Eurasia and North Africa and fall in the 5th century AD, the political history of Ancient Rome was typically closely entwined with its military history. The core of the campaign history of the Roman military is an aggregate of different accounts of the Roman military's land battles, from its initial defence against and subsequent conquest of the city's hilltop neighbours in the Italian peninsula, to the ultimate struggle of the Western Roman Empire for its existence against invading Huns, Vandals and Germanic tribes after the empire's split into East and West. These accounts were written by various authors throughout and after the history of the Empire. Despite the later Empire's encompassing of lands around the periphery of the Mediterranean Sea, naval battles were typically less significant than land battles to the military history of Rome, due to its largely unchallenged dominance of the sea following fierce naval fighting during the First Punic War.

Carburizing

Carburizing is a heat treatment process in which iron or steel is heated in the presence of another material (but below the metal's melting point) which liberates carbon as it decomposes. The outer surface or case will have higher carbon content than the original material. When the iron or steel is cooled rapidly by quenching, the higher carbon content on the outer surface becomes hard, while the core remains soft and tough.^[1]

Castra

The Latin word castra,^[1] with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. As the word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian (dialects of Italic) as well as in Latin,^[2] it probably descended from Indo-European to Italic. In classical Latin the word castra always means great legionary encampment, both marching, temporary ones and the fortified permanent ones, while the diminutive form castellum was used for the smaller forts, which were usually, but not always, occupied by the auxiliary units and used as logistic bases for the legions, as explained by Vegetius.^[3] A generic term is praesidium ("guard post or garrison"). The terms stratopedon ("army camp") and phrourion ("fort") were used by Greek language authors, in order to designate the Roman castra and the Roman castellum respectively. In English, the terms Roman Fortress, Roman Fort and Roman Camp are commonly used for the castra. However the scholars' convention always wants the use of the word Camp, Marching Camp and Fortress as a translation of castra and the use of the word Fort as a translation of castellum and this type of convention is usually followed and found in all the scholarly works.^[4]

Client states

A satellite state (sometimes referred to as a client state) is a political term that refers to a country which is formally independent, but under heavy influence or control by another country. The term was coined by analogy to stellar objects orbiting a larger object, such as smaller moons revolving around larger planets, and is used mainly to refer to Central and Eastern European countries ^[1] of the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War or to Mongolia between 1924 and 1990, for example.^{[citation needed]} As used for Central and Eastern European countries it implies that the countries in question were "satellites" under the hegemony of the Soviet Union. In some contexts it also refers to other countries in the Soviet sphere of influence during the Cold War - such as North Korea (especially in the decades surrounding the Korean War) and Cuba (particularly after it joined the Comecon). In Western propaganda, the term has seldom been used to refer to states other than those in the Soviet orbit. In Soviet propaganda, the term was used to refer to the states in the orbit of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.^{[citation needed]}

Corvus (weapon)

The corvus ("crow" in Latin) or harpago (probably the correct ancient name ^[1]) was a Roman military boarding device used in naval warfare during the First Punic War against Carthage.

Crisis of the Third Century

The Crisis of the Third Century (also "Military Anarchy" or "Imperial Crisis") (235–284 AD) was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague, and economic depression. The Crisis began with the assassination of Emperor Alexander Severus at the hands of his own troops, initiating a fifty-year period in which 20–25 claimants to the title of Emperor, mostly prominent Roman Army generals, assumed imperial power over all or part of the Empire. By 258–260, the Empire split into three competing states, with the Gallic Empire including the Roman provinces of Gaul, Britannia and Hispania; and the Palmyrene Empire, including the eastern provinces of Syria Palaestina and Aegyptus; becoming independent from the Italian-centered Roman Empire proper between them. The Crisis ended with the ascension of Diocletian.

Debasement

Debasement is the practice of lowering the value of currency. It is particularly used in connection with commodity money such as gold or silver coins. A coin is said to be debased if the quantity of gold, silver, copper or nickel is reduced.

Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon (April 27, 1737^{[notes 1]}  – January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. The Decline and Fall is known principally for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open denigration of organised religion, though the extent of this is disputed by some critics.^[1]

Edward Luttwak

Edward Nicolae Luttwak (born 1942) is an American military strategist and historian who has published works on military strategy, history and international relations.

England

England ( /ˈɪŋɡlənd/ (help·info)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.^[5][6][7] It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.