Do Roman Reenactors Use Real Animal Heads And Skins
Past Donald L. Wasson
Professor of Ancient/Medieval History
Lincoln Higher
Introduction
From the days of the hoplites through the creation of the legionary until the fall of the Roman Empire in the west, the Roman regular army remained a feared opponent, and the Roman legionary'south weapons and armor, albeit with small-scale modifications, remained the same: a spear, a sword, a shield, and a helmet.
Although the Early Republic achieved victory with a citizen-based militia, existent success came with the creation of the famed legion. Major tactical changes came during the final days of the Late Republic, particularly during the leadership of Gaius Marius (c. 157-86 BCE), and after reforms were initiated by the first Roman emperor Augustus (r. 27 BCE – 14 CE).
From Citizen Militia to Legions
Initially, the Roman army consisted of a citizen militia and was recruited from the propertied citizenry. They served unpaid only for the duration of the war. It was not until the Late Commonwealth and the consulship of Gaius Marius (c. 157-86 BCE) that the part-time militia became a full-fourth dimension, professional person army. The Roman soldiers or hoplites (named for their circular shield or hoplon) were basically heavily armed spearmen. They used a shield measuring 3 anxiety (c. 90 cm) in bore and held past a handgrip and strap, a bronze helmet that covered the face and summit of the caput, greaves for the lower legs (some used shin guards), and a cuirass of bronze or stiffened linen to protect the chest. Their principal weapons were an eight-human foot (c. 2,5 m) spear used primarily for thrusting, not throwing, and a short slashing sword.
The militia adopted the phalanx formation from the Greek colonists; still, eventually, the phalanx which was intended for more open spaces would prove to be ineffective. While each soldier had to provide and maintain his own equipment, a number of reforms during the 6th century BCE reign of Servius Tullius (578-535 BC) came in their formation. Citizens were divided into classes based on wealth. Each class was then obligated to provide its own military equipment. In that location was a direct link between citizenship, belongings, and the war machine.
The Punic Wars of the tertiary and 2nd centuries BCE against Carthage saw the advent of the famed legion. The army was now divided into three distinct divisions, and each partition was then separated into centuries (roughly 100 men) but they were still comprised of just propertied citizens. Each legion numbered four,200 infantrymen and 300 cavalrymen. The first group or segmentation positioned in the forefront closest to the enemy was the hastati. They consisted of the youngest propertied citizens commonly in their late teens and early on twenties and numbered around 1200. The 2nd group was the slightly older principes, ordinarily in their late twenties or thirties as well numbering around 1200. In the rear came the triarii, the veterans, numbering around 600 who simply fought in the extreme.
Everyone wore bronze helmets and breastplates (the wealthier wore postal service cuirass) and carried a semi-cylindrical shield. The hastati and principes carried ii javelins or pila. Each pilum had a four-pes (c. one,ii chiliad) shaft with a 2-foot (c. sixty cm) fe shank and tapered point. Information technology had a throwing range of 100 anxiety. The pilum would remain in the legionary's arsenal of weapons for over v centuries. At that place were as well the velites recruited from the poorest of propertied citizens who served as light infantry. They used a light javelin and carried a lighter circular shield because a heavier one proved too cumbersome. A few had helmets but almost wore wolf skins over their caps and so the officers could identify them in battle.
Effectually the 3rd century BCE, after the wars with Carthage, the Roman army adopted the Spanish sword or gladius hispaniensis which replaced their thrusting weapon. The newly equipped Roman soldier also carried a pugio or dagger usually worn on the correct hip with the gladius on the left. Defensively, they wore mail service trunk armor or cuirass, a helmet (various styles existed), and carried a semi-cylindrical shield (four ft. by 2 ½ ft.) or scutum made of plywood and covered with calfskin. Those also poor to afford a mail cuirass would wear a plate strapped across their chest. The cavalry carried a smaller, lighter shield.
The Late Republican Army
Existent changes came with the arrival of the consul Gaius Marius in 107 BCE. Realizing the demand for more soldiers, he went confronting tradition and recruited from the poorer and unpropertied citizens of Rome – the capite censi. They served not only for pay but also for the spoils of state of war. Following the Marian Reforms, the legion became more permanent with all equipment, weapons – armor, and wear – provided. The distinctions between age and experience were abolished. Everyone would be armed alike. All legionaries were considered heavy infantrymen and would be armed with a pilum and a gladius kept in a scabbard. The pilum, or throwing spear, would eventually autumn out of utilise in the 3rd century CE.
These new legionnaires were improve trained and more disciplined. The changes immune the legion to be more flexible and thereby more effective. One unique alternation came with the soldier existence required to carry his supplies on his back, hence the proper noun 'Marius Mule'. The basic unit or cohort replaced the earlier maniple and consisted of 480 men or six centuries of 80 men. Each legion was given a standard – a argent or gold (aureate) eagle – and a number.
The Romans oft copied weapons, both offensive and defensive, from their enemies, adopting such items as mail armor, cavalry harnesses, horned saddles as well every bit siege weapons such as battering rams and siege towers. Contact with the Parthians and the disastrous defeat of Crassus in 53 BCE showed them the usefulness of heavily armored cataphracts and mounted archers.
The Roman soldier also saw a number of changes in his attire: a new manner of concatenation armor of atomic number 26 and bronze (lorica hamata), cervix guards, cheekpieces on the helmet, a longer slashing sword (spatha), and besides new harnesses and saddles, horseshoes. Dismounted cavalrymen fought with a spear, an oval, carrying a flat shield fabricated of woods with a leather covering, and wearing an iron helmet with cheekpieces, a chain postal service cuirass, leather sandals (some wore spurs on their sandals), a scarf around the neck to keep the helmet from chafing, but no armor for the legs or feet, and lastly, a saddle cloth to preclude chafing of the equus caballus. Later, many cavalrymen would carry a long spear called a contus as well equally a spatha.
Augustan Reforms
After the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, where Anthony and Cleopatra were defeated, Augustus (r. 27 BCE – 14 CE) disbanded 32 of the 60 legions thereby discharging 260,000 men. The remaining 28 were reduced to 25 after the disastrous Battle of Teutoburg Woods in ix CE. Subsequently Arminius turned against Rome and defeated Publius Quinctilius Varus, Augustus wanted to ensure loyalty to him alone. With the regular army filling with recruits from the provinces, soldiers recruited from these areas could gain Roman citizenship subsequently their time in the regular army. A young man at the age of 13 could enlist as an apprentice and so serve for 36 years. He received a fixed pay albeit with deductions for food, supplies, and if applicable horses. He could besides receive incentives and rewards on the occasion of a Roman triumph, and at the fourth dimension of his discharge, he would receive state.
The Development of Armor
From the early days of the Roman Republic to the Imperial period, the legionary's bones weaponry evolved. His attire, however, remained about the same. All male person Roman citizens wore short-sleeved tunics, but a legionary's tunic was larger and longer than a civilian's and was gathered at the waist by two belts – i belt was used to secure the sword and the other belt was for the dagger. Later on, these two belts were replaced with just one that was fabricated broader to back up both. This broad belt, the cingulum militare, was an important symbol of a legionary'due south status and comprised of ane to nine straps and was usually ornate. They wore a patterned, rectangular cloak of heavy wool with a brooch to hold the ii sides together. Some preferred the sagum (like to a poncho). They also wore socks or undones and boots or caligae similar to sandals. Lastly, there is evidence that some soldiers fifty-fifty had underclothing or subigares and woolen breeches.
The legionary's personal equipment became more protective. This was nigh evident in their helmets. One early style was the Montefortino with wide cheekpieces, a broader neck guard, and skilful protection from blows to the head. The Coolus was similar to its predecessor only with wider cheekpieces, a cervix baby-sit, and a reinforcing summit to the front of the helmet to protect against a possible assail. The Purple Gallic helmet had a broader, ribbed neck guard for greater strength while the Imperial Italic differed slightly from the Gallic, being less ornate. Lastly, the Intercisa was radically different from the others with the bowl consisting of two separate pieces joined by a ridge, a modest cervix guard with no reinforcement to the front or top. Some of the helmets were adorned with feathers or horsehair plumes.
The legionary of the Roman Empire had seen a number of style changes to the cuirass: the postal service armor (lorica hamata), the scale armor (lorica squamata), and the plate armor (lorica segmentata). Underneath the armor, for protection, he wore a padded garment, the thorumachus. Every bit before, a legionary was never without his shield, or scutum, oft adorned with his legion'south symbol and number. The shield had inverse trivial from the mid-Republic to the 3rd century CE, going from oval to rectangular. He also carried a leather encompass for his shield which was removed during a battle or triumph. All soldiers carried a haversack suspended from a long pole carried over his shoulder and containing surveying equipment, a pickaxe, and wooden palisades or stakes.
The Tardily Roman Army
Major changes appeared during the 4th century CE; some, in part, due to the Roman emperor Constantine I (r. 306-337 CE). Legionaries were now comitatenses, the mobile strategic reserve at the disposal of the emperor, or limitanei, commanded by a dux, who patrolled the garrisons on the frontier, rarely fighting very far from a Roman fort. The comitatenses were not tied to any one region. Instead of the Praetorian Guard, there was the majestic guard or scholae palatinae as well equally infantry units chosen the auxilia palatinae. There nevertheless were units of cataphracts and horse archers.
Past the early on 4th century CE, the new legionary saw a slight change in his attire. Although he wore little torso armor, he even so carried the spatha, a variation of the pilum called the speculum, an oval shield that held his leaded darts or plumbatae /martiobarbuli attached to the inside (these oft replaced the pilum), possibly shorter javelins, and wore the Intercisa helmet, a cloak held together by a brooch, trousers a long-sleeved tunic, and boots instead of the old caligae.
Conclusion
In his book The Complete Roman Ground forces, historian Adrian Goldsworthy said, "The Roman army played a cardinal role in the metropolis'due south history, creating and maintaining an Empire which came to encompass Europe" (7). The Roman army, in particular the legion, evolved from a citizen-based militia to exist a feared opponent to all who threatened their frontier borders. They protected an empire that some say made the Mediterranean Sea little more than a Roman lake. Goldsworthy speaks of "massive changes in their military institutions" (7). No doubt, their equipment, weaponry, and attire evolved over the centuries.
The Romans were wise enough to learn from their opponents, adopting larger more formidable assault weapons: the catapult, siege towers, cataphracts, and horse archers. While the Empire savage in the west, merely "… the eastern Empire with its upper-case letter at Constantinople endured, preserving many of Rome's military institutions until well into the Center Ages" (Goldsworthy, 7).
Bibliography
- Carlos Gómez (Editor). The Encyclopedia of the Ancient Roman Empire. Bister Books Ltd, 2019.
- Dando-Collins, Stephen. Legions of Rome. Thomas Dunne Books, 2012.
- Fields, Nic & Claw, Adam. Roman Auxiliary Cavalryman–193. Osprey Publishing, 2006.
- Goldsworthy, Adrian. The Consummate Roman Army. Thames & Hudson, 2011.
- Pollard, Nigel & Berry, Joanne. The Consummate Roman Legions. Thames & Hudson, 2012.
- Rodgers, Nigel. Roman Empire. Lorenz Books, 2006.
- Simon Angum & Phyllis Thousand. Jestice & Rob Southward. Rice. Fighting Techniques of the Ancient Globe. Metro Books, 2021.
- Whately, Conor. An Introduction to the Roman War machine. Wiley-Blackwell, 2020.
Originally published by the Earth History Encyclopedia, 02.24.2021, under a Artistic Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
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