structural History
This describes the important historical conversions of the organisation and establishment of the Roman Army. The Roman military was divided into the Roman army and Roman navy. Structural changes in both because of positive military reform and through basic structural development.
Hoplite armies (509-315 BC)
Immediately after the end of Roman Kingdom, Roman soldiers were modelled similarly to those of the Etruscans, to the north, who themselves were styled in warfare similar to the Greeks. It was the sixth king of Rome, Servius Tullius, that brought in the phalanx formation to the Roman army. The front rank of the army were the wealthiest soldiers that had the best equipment. Each rank behind them were poorer soldiers and had less armour and equipment.
But there was a disadvantage to the phalanx, when it was only effective in large, open spaces and it left the Romans at a disadvantage when they had to fight in hilly landscape in the Italian central peninsula. So in the fourth century BC, the phalanx was abandoned and replaced by a more flexible formation. Marcus Furrius Camillus laid out this change in the army shortly after Rome was sacked by the Gauls in 390 BC. This formation came from the Samnites in the south, who were completely defeated in 304 BC at the end of the Second Samnite War.
But there was a disadvantage to the phalanx, when it was only effective in large, open spaces and it left the Romans at a disadvantage when they had to fight in hilly landscape in the Italian central peninsula. So in the fourth century BC, the phalanx was abandoned and replaced by a more flexible formation. Marcus Furrius Camillus laid out this change in the army shortly after Rome was sacked by the Gauls in 390 BC. This formation came from the Samnites in the south, who were completely defeated in 304 BC at the end of the Second Samnite War.
Manipular legion (315-107 BC)
During this time, an army formation of five thousand men formed a legion. This manipular army was based on social class, age and military experience. Maniples were units of 120 men each drawn from a single infantry class. The maniples were normally expanded into three individual lines based on the three heavy foot soldier types. Each first line maniple were leather-armoured foot soldiers wearing a bronze breastplate and a bronze helmet trimmed with three feathers 12 cm long and they carried an iron-clad wooden shield. Their weapons included a sword and two throwing spears. The second infantry line was armoured the same as the first infantry line. But the third infantry line was the only remaining structure from the hoplite-style troops in the Roman army. The only difference between them and the second line was that they threw a lighter spear. The major change in this was that the three infantry lines were based upon age and experience instead of social status. Young, ambiguous men would serve in the first line, older men with some military background would serve in the second line, and veteran soldiers of elderly age and experience would stay in the third line. The heavy infantry in the maniples also were supported by light foot soldiers and cavalry troops. Usually there were three hundred horsemen per manipular legion. Only the richest class of equestrians were able to be in the cavalry infantry. There were also additional soldiers that didn't take part a lot until they were used behind the third line. This additional formation were to substitute any places in the maniple that were gone. The light infantry comprised of one thousand and two hundred enamoured, bickering men who were younger and of the lower social classes. These foot soldiers were armed with a sword, a small shield and a few light javelins.
Rome's military alliance with the other peoples of the Italian peninsula meant that half of Rome's army originated from Rome's allied tribes. Rome's military allies were organised in alae, or wings, that were equal in manpower than the Roman legions but their cavalry numbered nine hundred as oppose to three hundred of Roman origin. The Roman navy started at around 300 BC. Forty years later, the navy was upgraded a lot because of the First Punic War. During the Punic Wars, the navy grew to a hundred thousand sailors and 400 ships but the navy declined its number and fizzled out after that.
The demands of the Punic Wars exposed the deficiencies of the manipular legion. Near the start of the Second Punic War, Rome was forced to ignore the rule that soldiers had to be both soldiers and property owners. During the Carthaginian Wars, the Roman territory's population declined a lot because of the wars' losses of soldiers. This caused the middle classes to collapse majorly. So the shortage of available troops put great pressure on Rome's allies for the recruitment of more of their soldiers. So the Romans had to start hiring mercenaries to fight with the legions.
Rome's military alliance with the other peoples of the Italian peninsula meant that half of Rome's army originated from Rome's allied tribes. Rome's military allies were organised in alae, or wings, that were equal in manpower than the Roman legions but their cavalry numbered nine hundred as oppose to three hundred of Roman origin. The Roman navy started at around 300 BC. Forty years later, the navy was upgraded a lot because of the First Punic War. During the Punic Wars, the navy grew to a hundred thousand sailors and 400 ships but the navy declined its number and fizzled out after that.
The demands of the Punic Wars exposed the deficiencies of the manipular legion. Near the start of the Second Punic War, Rome was forced to ignore the rule that soldiers had to be both soldiers and property owners. During the Carthaginian Wars, the Roman territory's population declined a lot because of the wars' losses of soldiers. This caused the middle classes to collapse majorly. So the shortage of available troops put great pressure on Rome's allies for the recruitment of more of their soldiers. So the Romans had to start hiring mercenaries to fight with the legions.
The legion after the reforms of gaius marius (107-27 BC)
Gaius Marius, a Roman consul, carried out a series of reforms on the Roman army in 107 BC. Any citizen of any class was allowed to enter the Roman army now. The three heavy infantry classes were fused to one single class of heavy legionary foot soldiers. All the soldiers that were citizens of Rome were now of the heavy infantry and only the non-citizen soldiers had to fight as the light foot soldiers. But the army's higher- level officers and the generals were still only patricians. Before the Marian Reforms, to be a Roman soldier was always a part-time job so Gaius Marius changed the job to full-time and gave the soldiers a standard pay. As a result, to join the army was mainly wanted by the poorest classes because of the offer of their standard pay. So then the working class required a more elevated position within the state. So in the late Republic, the legions were nearly completely heavy infantry. The legion principle sub-unit was a cohort and included 480 foot soldiers. The cohorts were divided into six centuries with eighty men each. Each century was separated even further into ten "tent groups" of eight men each. Now, the Roman cavalry was only an addition of the legion including a hundred and twenty men. Another reform was that the cavalry was used scouts and dispatch riders instead of fighting horsemen. Another group among the legions was the artillery group which comprised of sixty men. Each legion was partnered with the same number of allied troops. The dissipating cavalry was partly at a disadvantage when they went on campaigns to the East where the Parthian army includes mostly of cavalry.
The navy was upgraded a little again when Julius Caesar sent a navy fleet across the English Channel to invade Britannia and also when Pompey rid the Mediterranean of pirates with quite a large fleet. The Roman navy also improved rapidly at the time of the civil war between Pompey and Caesar on the Greek coasts.
The navy was upgraded a little again when Julius Caesar sent a navy fleet across the English Channel to invade Britannia and also when Pompey rid the Mediterranean of pirates with quite a large fleet. The Roman navy also improved rapidly at the time of the civil war between Pompey and Caesar on the Greek coasts.