Structural history of the Roman military

The structural history of the Roman military concerns the major transformations in the organization and constitution of ancient Rome's armed forces, "the most effective and long-lived military institution known to history."^[1] From its origins around 800 BC to its final dissolution in AD 476 with the demise of the Western Roman Empire, Rome's military organization underwent substantial structural change. At the highest level of structure, the forces were split into the Roman army and the Roman navy, although these two branches were less distinct than in many modern national defense forces. Within the top levels of both army and navy, structural changes occurred as a result of both positive military reform and organic structural evolution. These changes can be divided into four distinct phases.

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Accensi

Accensi (Singular: accensus) were light infantry in the armies of the early Roman Republic. They were the poorest men in the legion, and could not afford much equipment. They did not wear armour or carry shields, and their usual position was part of the third battle line.^[1] They fought in a loose formation, supporting the heavier troops. They were eventually phased out by the time of second Punic war.

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.

Adsidui

Adsidui (also assidui ; sg. adsiduus or assiduus, latin for "diligent, loyal", and collectively, "tax-payers"^[1]) were, in Ancient Rome, the citizens who were liable to military service in the main line of battle, that is, for much of the history of the Roman republic, as legionaries. The adsidui were the members of the first five census classes, which were, according to the Roman historian Livy, created under the reign of Servius Tullius, the sixth legendary king of ancient Rome^[2]. Under Tullius' original organisation, the first class was made of the richest, and thus best-equipped citizens, with helmet, shield, greaves, cuirass, spear and sword. As one went down through the classes and the corresponding levels of wealth, equipment went lighter and lighter^[3]. According to Peter Connolly, the goal of Tullius' reform was to base military service on wealth, and not race, thus better integrating the Etruscans, who at that time ruled Rome, and the Romans themselves ; he points out, however, that in the beginning most members of the richest first class must have been Etruscans^[4].

Africa Province

The Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor. The Arabs later named roughly the same region as the original province Ifriqiya, a rendering of Africa.

Ala (Roman military)

An Ala (Latin for "wing", plural form: alae) was the term used during the mid- Roman Republic (338-88 BC) to denote a military formation composed of conscripts from the socii, Rome's Italian military allies. A normal consular army during this period consisted of 2 legions, composed of Roman citizens only, and 2 allied alae. Alae were somewhat larger than normal legions (ca. 5400 v. ca. 4,500 men). From the time of the first Roman emperor, Augustus (ruled 30 BC - AD 14), the term ala was used in the professional imperial army to denote a much smaller (ca. 500), purely cavalry unit of the non-citizen auxilia corps, see Ala (Roman cavalry unit).

Alans

The Alans or Alani (occasionally termed Alauni or Halani) were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.^[1][2][3]

Ammianus Marcellinus

Ammianus Marcellinus (325/330–after 391) was a fourth-century Roman historian. His is the second-to-last major historical account written during Antiquity (the last was written by Procopius). His work chronicled in Latin the history of Rome from 96 to 378, although only the sections covering the period 353–378 are extant.^[1]

Ancient Roman music

Less is known about Ancient Roman music than is known about the music of ancient Greece. There is a number of at least partially extant sources on the music of the Greeks. For example, much is known about the theories of Pythagoras and Aristoxenus (some of it from Greek sources and some through the writings of later Roman authors), and there exist about 40 deciphered examples of Greek musical notation. Very little survives about the music of the Romans, however. There are various reasons for this, one of which is that early fathers of the Christian church were aghast at the music of theatre, festivals, and pagan religion and suppressed it once Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire.^{[1][page needed]}

Ancient Rome and wine

Ancient Rome played a pivotal role in the history of wine. The earliest influences of viticulture on the Italian peninsula can be traced to Ancient Greeks and Etruscans. The rise of the Roman Empire saw an increase in technology and awareness of winemaking which spread to all parts of the empire. The influence of the Romans has had a profound effect of the histories of today's major winemaking regions of France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. In the hands of the Romans, wine became "democratic" and available to all, from the lowly slave to the simple peasant to the aristocrat. The Romans' belief that wine was a daily necessity of life promoted its widespread availability among all classes. This led to the desire to spread viticulture and wine production to every part of the Roman empire, to ensure steady supplies for Roman soldiers and colonists. Economics also came into play, as Roman merchants saw opportunities for trade with native tribes such as those from Gaul and Germania, bringing Roman influences to these regions before the arrival of the Roman military .^[1] The works of Roman writers—most notably Cato, Columella, Horace, Palladius, Pliny, Varro and Virgil—give insights on the role of wine in Roman culture and contemporary understanding of winemaking and viticultural practices. Many of the techniques and principles first developed in Roman times can be found in modern winemaking.^[2]

Apuleius

Apuleius (sometimes called Lucius Apuleius; c. 125 – c. 180) was a Latin prose writer. He was a Romanized Berber,^[1] from Madaurus. He studied Platonist philosophy in Athens; travelled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt; and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the attentions (and fortune) of a wealthy widow. He declaimed and then distributed a witty tour de force in his own defense before the proconsul and a court of magistrates convened in Sabratha, near Tripoli. This is known as the Apologia.

Arch of Constantine

The Arch of Constantine (Italian: Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. Dedicated in 315, it is the latest of the existing triumphal arches in Rome, from which it differs by spolia, the extensive re-use of parts of earlier buildings.

Aristotle

Aristotle (Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης, Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings constitute a first at creating a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics.

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.

Attila the Hun

Attila (pronounced /ˈætɨlə/ or /əˈtɪlə/; 406 – 453), widely known as Attila the Hun, was the Emperor of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire which stretched from Germany to the Ural River and from the River Danube to the Baltic Sea (see map below). During his rule, he was one of the most fearsome of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires' enemies: he invaded the Balkans twice and marched through Gaul (modern France) as far as Orleans before being defeated at the Battle of Chalons. He refrained from attacking either Constantinople or Rome. His story, that the Sword of Attila had come to his hand by miraculous means, was reported by the Roman Priscus.

Auctoritas

Auctoritas is a Latin word and is the origin of English "authority." While historically its use in English was restricted to discussions of the political history of Rome, the beginning of phenomenological philosophy in the twentieth century changed the use of the word substantially.

Augustus

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 31 BC until his death in AD 14.^{[note 1]} Born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, he was adopted by his great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar in 44 BC, and between then and 31 BC was officially named Gaius Julius Caesar. In 27 BC the Senate awarded him the honorific Augustus ("the revered one"), and thus consequently he was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus.^{[note 2]} Because of the various names he bore, it is common to call him Octavius when referring to events between 63 and 44 BC, Octavian (or Octavianus) when referring to events between 44 and 27 BC, and Augustus when referring to events after 27 BC. In Greek sources, Augustus is known as Ὀκτάβιος (Octavius), Καῖσαρ (Caesar), Αὔγουστος (Augustus), or Σεβαστός (Sebastos), depending on context.

Augustus (honorific)

Augustus (plural augusti), Latin for "majestic," "the increaser," or "venerable", was an Ancient Roman title, which was first held by Caesar Augustus and subsequently came to be considered one of the titles of what are now known as the Roman Emperors. The feminine form is Augusta.

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.

Balearics

The Balearic Islands (Catalan and official:^[1] Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

Ballistae

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]

Bas-relief

A relief is a sculptured artwork where a modelled form is raised, or, in a sunken-relief, lowered, from a plane from which the main elements of the composition project (or sink). Reliefs are common throughout the world, for example on the walls of monumental buildings. The frieze in the classical Corinthian order is often enriched with bas-relief (low relief). Alto-relievo (high-relief) may be seen in the pediments of classical temples, e.g., the Parthenon. Several panels or sections of relief together may represent a sequence of scenes.

Bastarnae

The Bastarnae or Basternae were an ancient tribal group of probably mixed Celtic and Germanic origin which, between not later than 200 BC and until at least 300 AD, inhabited the region between the eastern Carpathian mountains and the Dnieper river (corresponding to the modern Republic of Moldova and western part of southern Ukraine). A branch of the Bastarnae, called the Peucini by Greco-Roman writers, occupied the region north of the Danube river delta.

Battle of Adrianople

The Battle of Adrianople (August 9, 378), sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between a Roman army led by the Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic Alans, and various local rebels) led by Fritigern. The battle took place about 8 miles or 13 kilometers north of Adrianople (modern Edirne in European Turkey, near the border with Greece and Bulgaria) in the Roman province of Thracia and ended with an overwhelming victory for the Goths.^[1][2]

Berlin

Berlin (English pronunciation: /bɝːˈlɪn/; German pronunciation: [bɛɐˈliːn]  ( listen)) is the capital city and one of 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union.^[2] Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Area, comprising 5 million people from over 190 nations.^[3] Geographically embedded in the European Plains Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one third of the city´s territory is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.^[4]

Borders of the Roman Empire

The borders of the Roman Empire, which fluctuated throughout the empire's history, were a combination of natural frontiers (most notably the Rhine and Danube rivers) and man-made fortifications (limes), which separated the lands of the empire from the "barbarian" countries beyond.

Breastplate

A breastplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. A breastplate is sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing.

Brian Campbell

Brian Wesley Campbell (born on May 23, 1979, Strathroy, Ontario) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

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.

Buckler

A buckler (French bouclier 'shield', from Old French bocle, boucle 'boss') is a small shield, 15 to 45 cm (6 in to 18 in) in diameter^{[citation needed]}, gripped in the fist; it was generally used as a companion weapon in hand-to-hand combat during the Middle Ages, as its size made it poor protection against missile weapons (e.g., arrows) but useful in deflecting the blow of an opponent's sword or mace. There are two major forms of medievally documented bucklers. The first is a simple round shield with the fist positioned directly behind the boss with a variety of shapes of face and depths of rim. These could also have projections from the top and bottom as in Hans Talhoffer's Fechtbücher or serrated rings around the boss as in one example in the Wallace Collection. The second major form is a corrugated rectangle as suggested by Achille Marozzo in his Opera Nova.

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors. It was called the Roman Empire, and also as Romania (Greek: Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía), by its inhabitants and its neighbours. As the distinction between "Roman Empire" and "Byzantine Empire" is purely a modern convention, it is not possible to assign a date of separation, but an important point is the Emperor Constantine I's transfer in 324 of the capital from Nicomedia (in Anatolia) to Byzantium on the Bosphorus, which became Constantinople (alternatively "New Rome").^{[n 1]}

Byzantine army

The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman and older Hellenistic Greek armies, the Byzantine army maintained a similar level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization. It was among the most effective armies of western Eurasia for much of the Middle Ages.

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.

Carpians

The Carpi or Carpiani were an ancient tribe (perhaps Dacian-speaking), that resided, between not later than ca. AD 100 and until at least ca. AD 300, in the eastern Carpathian Mountains, and in what became later the Principality of Moldavia (modern eastern Romania, Moldova, and small neighboring areas of Ukraine). The Carpi were one of the tribes of Dacia that apparently escaped subjugation by the Roman Empire when it annexed the central part of Dacia in AD 106. However, it is possible that the Carpi did not enter the Dacian region until (and maybe because of) the Dacian Wars (101-106), as they are not mentioned in the classical sources until the mid 2nd century.

Carthage

Carthage (Arabic: قرطاج Qarṭāj‎, Ancient Greek: Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Berber: Kartajen, Latin: Carthago or Karthago, from the Phoenician 𐤕𐤔𐤃𐤇 𐤕𐤓𐤒 Qart-ḥadašt meaning New City, implying it was a 'new Tyre'^[1]) refers to a series of cities on the Gulf of Tunis, from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BCE to the current suburb outside Tunis, Tunisia.

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]

Catullus

Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84 BC – ca. 54 BC) was a Roman poet of the 1st century BC. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art. Catullus invented the "angry love poem."

Centimeter

A centimetre (American spelling: centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the current SI base unit of length. Centi is the SI prefix for a factor of 10⁻².^[1] Hence a centimetre can be written as 10 × 10⁻³ m (engineering notation) or 1E−2 m (scientific E notation) — meaning 10 × 10¹ mm or 1 m/100 respectively,centimetre-gram-second system of units.

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero (pronounced /ˈsɪsɨroʊ/; Classical Latin: [ˈkikeroː]; January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He was member of a wealthy family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.^[1][2]

Cilicia

In antiquity, Cilicia (Armenian: Կիլիկիա Greek: Κιλικία, Middle Persian: klkyʾy, Parthian: kylkyʾ, Turkish: Kilikya) now known as Çukurova, was a commonly used name of the south coastal region of Asia Minor south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire. Cilicia extends inland from the southeastern coast of modern Turkey, due north and northeast of the island of Cyprus and comprises about a third of the land area of modern Anatolia.

Circus (building)

The Roman circus was a large open-air venue used for public events in the ancient Roman Empire. The circuses were similar to the ancient Greek hippodromes, although serving varying purposes. Along with theatres and amphitheatres, Circuses were one of the main entertainment sites of the time. Circuses were venues for chariot races, horse races, and performances that commemorated important events of the empire were performed there. For events that involved re-enactments of naval battles, the circus was flooded with water.

Cisalpine Gaul

Cisalpine Gaul (Latin: Gallia Cisalpina, meaning "Gaul on this side of the Alps") was the Roman name for a geographical area (later a province of the Roman Republic), in the territory of modern-day northern Italy (including Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto), inhabited by the Celts.

Classical Latin

Classical Latin in simplest terms is the sociolinguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it. Any unabridged Latin dictionary informs moderns that Marcus Tullius Cicero and his contemporaries of the late republic while using lingua Latina and sermo Latinus to mean the Latin language as opposed to the Greek or other languages, and sermo vulgaris or sermo vulgi to refer to the vernacular of the uneducated masses, regarded the speech they valued most and in which they wrote as Latinitas, "Latinity", with the implication of good. Sometimes it is called sermo familiaris, "speech of the good families", sermo urbanus, "speech of the city" or rarely sermo nobilis, "noble speech", but mainly besides Latinitas it was latine (adverb), "in good Latin", or latinius (comparative degree of adjective), "good Latin."

Clibanarii

The Clibanarii or Klibanophoroi (Greek: κλιβανοφόροι, meaning “camp oven-bearers” from the Greek word κλίβανος meaning "camp oven" or "metallic furnace") were a Sassanid Persian, late Roman and Byzantine military unit of heavy armored horsemen. Similar to the cataphracti, the horsemen themselves and their horses were fully armoured. There are several theories to the origins of this name, one being that the men were literally nicknamed “camp oven bearers” (due to the amount of armour they wore that the troops heat up very quickly in the heat of battle) or that the name is derived from Persian word griwbanwar or griva-pana-bara meaning "neck-guard wearer"

Cohortes urbanae

The cohortes urbanae (Latin meaning urban cohorts) of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the praetorian guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police force. They were led by the urban prefect.