Roman citizen
- Physically fit and 1.6m tall
- Most soldiers joined between 18-20 years old
- You were expected to stay in the army for 25 years
Training & Work
- Used fighting methods of Greeks (phalanx) but developed own methods in LEGIONS
- Legions divided into ‘maniples’ (cohorts) which moved in lines effectively in hilly terrain
- LEGION: basic unit was 80 men
(6 = a cohort) and 10 cohorts made up a full legion of 4800 men - War was a major part of life in the first 300 years of the Republic
- Men carried a 25 kg pack on his back
- Failure to perform duties or cowardice were corrected by stoning or even execution of 1 in every 10 men
- Policy of “divide and conquer”
- To move armies around so quickly, Romans built roads, bridges, aqueducts
- Built war machines (catapult which could hurl a 27 pg boulder 500m and battering ram which took 1000 men to mobilize it for action)
Roman Siege Equipment
- Romans developed their weapons from Macedonia, Carthaginian, and Spanish originals.
- Ballista
- A type of catapult.
- Shoots arrows, fireballs and other projectiles
- Battering Ram
- Protected against enemy fireballs and molten lead
- Roof, wet animal skin
- Swung back and forth against the defending town’s gate until the gate gave away
- Assault Tower
