Books: The Old Roman World

J >> John Lord >> The Old Roman World

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[Sidenote: Organization of the legion.]

[Sidenote: The Hastati.]

[Sidenote: The Principes and Velites.]

[Sidenote: The Triarii.]

[Sidenote: The Pilarii.]

[Sidenote: The Equites.]

The Roman legion, whether it was composed of four thousand men, as in
the early ages of the republic or six thousand, as in the time of
Augustus, of was divided into ten cohorts, and each cohort was composed
of Hastati, Principes, Triarii, and Velites. The soldiers of the first
line, called Hastati, consisted of youths in the bloom of manhood, and
were distributed into fifteen companies or maniples. Each company
contained sixty privates, two centurions, and a standard-bearer. Two
thirds were heavily armed, and bore the long shield, the remainder
carried only a spear and light javelins. The second line, the Principes,
was composed of men in the full vigor of life, divided also into fifteen
companies, all heavily armed, and distinguished by the splendor of their
equipments. The third body, the Triarii, was also composed of tried
veterans, in fifteen companies, the least trustworthy of which were
placed in the rear. These formed three lines. The Velites were light-
armed troops, employed on outpost duty, and mingled with the horsemen.
The Hastati were so called because they were armed with the hasta; the
Principes, for being placed so near to the front; the Triarii, from
having been arrayed behind the first two lines as a body of reserve,
armed with the pilum, thicker and stronger than the Grecian lance,--four
and a half feet long, of wood, with a barbed head of iron,--so that the
whole length of the weapon was six feet nine inches. It was used either
to throw or thrust with, and when it pierced the enemy's shield,
[Footnote: Liv. viii. 8.] the iron head was bent, and the spear, owing
to the twist in the iron, still held to the shield. [Footnote: Plut.
Mar. 25.] Each soldier carried two of these weapons. [Footnote: Polyb.
vi. 23.] The Principes were in the front ranks of the phalanx, clad in
complete defensive armor,--men in the vigor of strength. The Pilarii
were in the rear, who threw the heavy pilum over the heads of their
comrades, in order to break the enemy's line. In the time of the empire,
when the legion was modified, the infantry wore cuirasses and helmets,
and two swords; namely, a long one and a dagger. The select infantry
carried a long spear and a shield, the rest a pilum. Each man carried a
saw, a basket, a mattock, a hatchet, a leather strap, a hook, a chain,
and provisions for three days. The Equites wore helmets and cuirasses,
like the infantry, with a broad sword at the right side, and in their
hand a long pole. A buckler swung at the horse's flank. They were also
furnished with a quiver containing three or four javelins.

[Sidenote: The artillery.]

[Sidenote: The Testudo.]

[Sidenote: The Helepolis.]

[Sidenote: The Turris.]

[Sidenote: Scailing-ladders.]

The artillery were used both for hurling missiles in battle, and for the
attack of fortresses. The _tormentum_, which was an elastic
instrument, discharged stones and darts, and was continued until the
discovery of gunpowder. In besieging a city, the ram was employed for
destroying the lower part of a wall, and the balista, which discharged
stones, was used to overthrow the battlements. The balista would project
a stone weighing from fifty to three hundred pounds. The _aries_,
or battering-ram, consisted of a large beam made of the trunk of a tree,
frequently one hundred feet in length, to one end of which was fastened
a mace of iron or bronze, which resembled in form the head of a ram, and
was often suspended by ropes from a beam fixed transversely over it, so
that the soldiers were relieved from supporting its weight, and were
able to give it a rapid and forcible motion backward and forward. And
when this machine was further aided by placing a frame in which it was
suspended upon wheels, and constructing over it a roof, so as to form a
_testudo_, which protected the besieging party from the assaults of
the besieged, there was no tower so strong, no wall so thick, as to
resist a long-continued attack. Its great length enabled the soldiers to
work across the ditch, and as many as one hundred men were often
employed upon it. The Romans learned from the Greeks the art of building
this formidable engine, which was used with great effect by Alexander,
but with still greater by Vespasian in the siege of Jerusalem. It was
first used by the Romans in the siege of Syracuse. The _vinea_ was
a sort of roof under which the soldiers protected themselves when they
undermined walls. The _helepolis_, also used in the attack of
cities, was a square tower furnished with all the means of assault. This
also was a Greek invention, and that used by Demetrius at the siege of
Rhodes, B.C. 306, was one hundred and thirty-five feet high and sixty-
eight wide, divided into nine stories. Towers of this description were
used at the siege of Jerusalem, [Footnote: Josephus _B. J._, ii. 19.]
and were manned by two hundred men employed upon the catapults and rams.
The _turris_, a tower of the same class, was used both by Greeks and
Romans, and even by Asiatics. Mithridates used one at the siege of
Cyzicus one hundred and fifty feet in height. This most formidable
engine was generally made of beams of wood covered on three sides with
iron and sometimes with raw hides. They were higher than the walls and
all the other fortifications of a besieged place, divided into stories
pierced with windows. In and upon them were stationed archers and
slingers, and in the lower story was a battering-ram. They also carried
scaling-ladders, so that when the wall was cleared, these were placed
against the walls. They were placed upon wheels, and brought as near the
walls as possible. It was impossible to resist these powerful engines,
unless they were burned, or the ground undermined upon which they stood,
except by overturning them with stones or iron-shod beams hung from a
mast on the wall, or by increasing the height of the wall, or the
erection of temporary towers on the wall beside them.

[Sidenote: The advantages of defenders.]

[Sidenote: Ordinary way of capture.]

[Sidenote: Strength and advantage of fortresses.]

Thus there was no ancient fortification capable of withstanding a long
siege when the besieged city was, short of defenders or provisions. With
equal forces an attack was generally a failure, for the defenders had
always a great advantage. But when the number of defenders was reduced,
or when famine pressed, the skill and courage of the assailants would
ultimately triumph. Some ancient cities made a most obstinate
resistance, like Tarentum; Carthage, which stood a siege of four years;
Numantia in Spain, and Jerusalem. When cities were of immense size,
population, and resources, like Rome when besieged by Alaric, it was
easier to take them by cutting off all ingress and egress, so as to
produce famine. Tyre was only taken by Alexander by cutting off the
harbor. Babylon could not have been taken by Cyrus by assault, since the
walls were three hundred and thirty-seven feet high, according to
Herodotus, and the ditch too wide for the use of battering-rams. He
resorted to an expedient of which the blinded inhabitants of that doomed
city never dreamed, which rendered their impregnable fortifications
useless. Nor would the Romans have probably prevailed against Jerusalem
had not famine decimated and weakened the people. Fortified cities,
though scarcely ever impregnable, were yet more in use in ancient than
modern times, and greatly delayed the operations of advancing armies.
And it was probably the fortified camp of the Romans, which protected an
army against surprises and other misfortunes, which gave such efficacy
to the legions.

[Sidenote: The Tribunes.]

[Sidenote: The Centurions.]

[Sidenote: Gradation of ranks.]

The chief officers of the legion were the tribunes, and originally there
was one in each legion from the three tribes--the Ramnes, Luceres, and
Tities. In the time of Polybius the number in each legion was six. Their
authority extended equally over the whole legion; but, to prevent
confusion, it was the custom for these military tribunes to divide
themselves into three sections of two, and each pair undertook the
routine duties for two months out of six. They nominated the centurions,
and assigned to each the company to which he belonged. These tribunes,
at first, were chosen by the commander-in-chief,--by the kings and
consuls; but during the palmy days of the republic, when the patrician
power was preeminent, they were elected by the people, that is, the
citizens. Later they were named half by the Senate and half by the
consuls. No one was eligible to this great office who had not served ten
years in the infantry or five in the cavalry. They were distinguished by
their dress from the common soldier. Next in rank to the tribunes, who
corresponded to the rank of brigadiers and colonels in our times, were
the centurions, of whom there were sixty in each legion,--men who were
more remarkable for calmness and sagacity than for courage and daring
valor; men who would keep their posts at all hazards. It was their duty
to drill the soldiers, to inspect arms, clothing, and food, to visit the
sentinels, and regulate the conduct of the men. They had the power of
inflicting corporal punishment. They were chosen for merit solely, until
the later ages of the empire, when their posts were bought, as in the
English army. These centurions were of unequal rank,--those of the
Triarii before those of the Principes, and those of the Principes before
those of the Hastati. The first centurion of the first maniple of the
Triarii stood next in rank to the tribunes, and had a seat in the
military councils, and his office was very lucrative. To his charge was
intrusted the eagle of the legion. [Footnote: Liv. xxv. 5; Caes.
_B.C._, vi. 6.] As the centurion could rise from the ranks, and
rose by regular gradation through the different maniples of the Hastati,
Principes, and Triarii, there was great inducement held out to the
soldiers. In the Roman legion it would seem that there was a regular
gradation of rank although there were but few distinct offices. But the
gradation was not determined by length of service, but for merit alone,
of which the tribunes were the sole judges. Hence the tribune of a Roman
legion had more power than that of a modern colonel. As the tribunes
named the centurions, so the centurions appointed their lieutenants, who
were called sub-centurions.

[Sidenote: Change in the organization of the legions.]

There was a change in the constitution and disposition of the legion
after the time of Marius, until the fall of the republic. The legions
were thrown open to men of all grades; they were all armed and equipped
alike; the lines were reduced to two, with a space between each cohort,
of which there were five in each line; the young soldiers were placed in
the rear, and not the van; the distinction between Hastati, Principes,
and Triarii ceased; the Velites disappeared, their work being done by
the foreign mercenaries; the cavalry ceased to be part of the legion,
and became a distinct body; and the military was completely severed from
the rest of the state. Formerly no one could aspire to office who had
not completed ten years of military service, but in the time of Cicero a
man could pass through all the great dignities of the state with a very
limited experience of military life. Cicero himself served but one
campaign.

[Sidenote: Changes under the emperors.]

[Sidenote: Pay of soldiers.]

Under the emperors, there were still other changes. The regular army
consisted of legions and supplementa,--the latter being subdivided into
the imperial guards and the auxiliary troops. The auxiliaries (Socii)
consisted of troops from the states in alliance with Rome, or those
compelled to furnish subsidies. The infantry of the allies was generally
more numerous than that of the Romans, while the cavalry was three times
as numerous. All the auxiliaries were paid by the state; the infantry
received the same pay as the Roman infantry, but the cavalry only two
thirds of what was paid to the Roman cavalry. The common foot-soldier
received in the time of Polybius three and a half asses a day, equal to
about six farthings sterling money; the horseman three times as much.
The Praetorian cohorts received twice as much as the legionaries. Julius
Caesar allowed about six asses a day as the pay of the legionary, and
under Augustus the daily pay was raised to ten asses--little more than
four pence per day. Domitian raised the stipend still higher. The
soldier, however, was fed and clothed by the government.

[Sidenote: The Praetorian cohort.]

The Praetorian cohort was a select body of troops instituted by Augustus
to protect his person, and consisted of ten cohorts, each of one
thousand men, chosen from Italy. This number was increased by Vitellius
to sixteen thousand, and they were assembled by Tiberius in a permanent
camp, which was strongly fortified. They had peculiar privileges, and
when they had served sixteen years, received twenty thousand sesterces,
or more than one hundred pounds sterling. Each Praetorian had the rank of
a centurion in the regular army. Like the body-guard of Louis XIV., they
were all gentlemen, and formed gradually a great power, like the
janissaries at Constantinople, and frequently disposed of the purple
itself. It would thus appear that the centurion only received twice the
pay of the ordinary legionary. There was not therefore so much
difference in rank between a private and a captain as in our day. There
were no aristocratic distinctions in the ancient world so marked as in
the modern.

[Sidenote: The Roman camp.]

[Sidenote: The guardianship of the camp.]

[Sidenote: The breaking up of the camp.]

Our notice of the Roman legion would be incomplete without allusion to
the camp in which the soldier virtually lived. A Roman army never halted
for a single night without forming a regular intrenchment capable of
holding all the fighting men, the beasts of burden, and the baggage.
When the army could not retire, during the winter months, into some
city, it was compelled to live in the camp. It was arranged and
fortified according to a uniform plan, so that every company and
individual had a place assigned. We cannot tell when this practice of
intrenchment began; it was matured gradually, like all other things
pertaining to the art of war. The system was probably brought to
perfection during the wars with Hannibal. Skill in the choice of ground,
giving facilities for attack and defense, and for procuring water and
other necessities, was of great account with the generals. An area of
about five thousand square feet was allowed for a company of infantry,
and ten thousand feet for a troop of thirty dragoons. The form of a camp
was an exact square, the length of each side being two thousand and
seventeen feet. There was a space between the ramparts and the tents of
two hundred feet to facilitate the marching in and out of soldiers, and
to guard the cattle and booty. The principal street was one hundred feet
wide, and was called Principia. The defenses of the camp consisted of a
ditch, the earth from which was thrown inwards, and strong palisades of
wooden stakes upon the top of the earthwork so formed. The ditch was
sometimes fifteen feet deep, and the vallum or rampart ten feet in
height. When the army encamped for the first time the tribunes
administered an oath to each individual, including slaves, to the effect
that they would steal nothing out of the camp. Every morning at
daybreak, the centurions and the equites presented themselves before the
tents of the tribunes, and the tribunes in like manner presented
themselves to the praetorian, to learn the orders of the consuls, which
through the centurions were communicated to the soldiers. Four companies
took charge of the principal street, to see that it was properly cleaned
and watered. One company took charge of the tent of the tribune, a
strong guard attended to the horses, and another of fifty men stood
beside the tent of the general that he might be protected from open
danger and secret treachery. The velites mounted guard the whole night
and day along the whole extent of the vallum, and each gate was guarded
by ten men. The equites were intrusted with the duty of acting as
sentinels during the night, and most ingenious measures were adopted to
secure their watchfulness and fidelity. The watchword for the night was
given by the commander-in-chief. "On the first signal being given by the
trumpet, the tents were all struck and the baggage packed. At the second
signal, the baggage was placed upon the beasts of burden; and at the
third the whole army began to move. Then the herald, standing at the
right hand of the general, demands thrice if they are ready for war, to
which they all respond with loud and repeated cheers that they are
ready, and for the most part, being filled with martial ardor,
anticipate the question, 'and raise their right hands on high with a
shout.'" [Footnote: Smith, _Dict. of Ant._, art. _Castra_.]

[Sidenote: Line of March.]

Josephus gives an account of the line of march in which the army of
Vespasian entered Galilee. "1. The light-armed auxiliaries and bowmen,
advancing to reconnoiter. 2. A detachment of Roman heavy-armed troops,
horse and foot. 3. Ten men out of every century or company, carrying
their own equipments and the measures of the camp. 4. The baggage of
Vespasian and his legati guarded by a strong body of horse. 5. Vespasian
himself, attended by his horse-guard and a body of spearmen. 6. The
peculiar cavalry of the legion. 7. The artillery dragged by mules. 8.
The legati, tribunes, and praefects of cohorts, guarded by a body of
picked soldiers. 9. The standards, surrounding the eagle. 10. The
trumpeters. 11. The main body of the infantry, six abreast, accompanied
by a centurion, whose duty it was to see that the men kept their ranks.
12. The whole body of slaves attached to each legion, driving the mules
and beasts of burden loaded with the baggage. 13. Behind all the legions
followed the mercenaries. 14. The rear was brought up by a strong body
of cavalry and infantry." [Footnote: Josephus, _B. J._, iii.
6, Section 2.]

[Sidenote: Excitements of military life.]

[Sidenote: Smallness of the Roman armies.]

[Sidenote: How battles were decided.]

From what has come down to us of Roman military life, it appears to have
been full of excitement, toil, danger, and hardship. The pecuniary
rewards of the soldier were small. He was paid in glory. No profession
brought so much honor as the military. And from the undivided attention
of a great people to this profession, it was carried to all the
perfection which could be attained until the great invention of
gunpowder changed the art of war. It was not the number of men employed
in the armies which particularly arrests attention, but the spirit and
genius which animated them. The Romans loved war, but so reduced it to a
science that it required comparatively small armies to conquer the
world. Sulla defeated Mithridates with only thirty thousand men, while
his adversary marshaled against him over one hundred thousand; and Caesar
had only ten legions to effect the conquest of Gaul, and none of these
were of Italian origin. At the great decisive battle of Pharsalia, when
most of the available forces of the empire were employed, on one side or
the other, Pompey commanded a legionary army of forty-five thousand men;
and the cavalry amounted to seven thousand more, but among them were
included the flower of the Roman nobility. The auxiliary force has not
been computed, although it was probably numerous. Caesar had under him
only twenty-two thousand of legionaries and one thousand cavalry. But
every man in both armies was prepared to conquer or die. The forces were
posted on the open plain, and the battle was really a hand-to-hand
encounter, in which the soldiers, after hurling their lances, fought
with their swords chiefly. And when the cavalry of Pompey rushed upon
the legionaries of Caesar, no blows were wasted on the mailed panoply of
the mounted Romans, but were aimed at the face alone, as that alone was
unprotected. The battle was decided by the coolness, bravery, and
discipline of veterans, inspired by the genius of the greatest general
of antiquity. Less than one hundred thousand men, in all probability,
were engaged in one of the most memorable conflicts which the world has
seen.

[Sidenote: Gradual organization of military power.]

[Sidenote: Magnanimity of the early generals.]

Thus it was, by unparalleled heroism in war, and a uniform policy in
government, that Rome became the mistress of the world. The Roman
conquests have never been surpassed, for they were retained until the
empire fell. I wish that I could have dwelt on these conquests more in
detail, and presented more fully the brilliant achievements of
individuals. It took nearly two hundred years, after the expulsion of
the kings, to regain supremacy over the neighboring people, and another
century to conquer Italy. The Romans did not contend with regular armies
until they were brought in conflict with the king of Epirus and the
phalanx of the Greeks, "which improved their military tactics, and
introduced between the combatants those mutual regards of civilized
nations which teach men to honor their adversaries, to spare the
vanquished, and to lay aside wrath when the struggle is ended." In the
fifth century of her existence, the republic appears in peculiar
splendor. Military chieftains do not transcend their trusts; the
aristocracy are equally distinguished for exploits and virtues; the
magistrates maintain simplicity of manners and protect the rights of the
citizens; the citizens are self-sacrificing and ever ready to obey the
call to arms, laying aside great commands and retiring poor to private
stations. Marcus Valerius Corvus, after filling twenty-one curule
offices, returns to agricultural life; Marcus Curius Dentatus retains no
part of the rich spoils or the Sabines; Fabricius rejects the gold of
the Samnites and the presents of Pyrrhus. The most trustworthy are
elevated to places of dignity and power. Senators mingle in the ranks of
the legions, and eighty of them die on the field of Cannae. Discipline is
enforced to cruelty, and Manlius Torquatus punishes with death a
disobedient son. Soldiers who desert the field are decimated or branded
with dishonor. Faith is kept even with enemies, and Regulus returns a
voluntary prisoner to his deadly enemies.

[Sidenote: Results of different wars.]

After the consolidation of Roman power in Italy, it took one hundred and
fifty years more only to complete the conquest of the world--of Northern
Africa, Spain, Gaul, Illyria, Epirus, Greece, Macedonia, Asia Minor,
Pontus, Syria, Egypt, Bithynia, Cappadocia, Pergamus, and the islands of
the Mediterranean. The conquest of Carthage left Rome without a rival in
the Mediterranean, and promoted intercourse with the Greeks. The
Illyrian wars opened to the Romans the road to Greece and Asia, and
destroyed the pirates of the Adriatic. The invasion of Cisalpine Gaul,
now that part of Italy which is north of the Apennines, protected Italy
from the invasion of barbarians. The Macedonian War against Philip put
Greece under the protection of Rome, and that against Antiochus laid
Syria at her mercy; and when these kingdoms were reduced to provinces,
the way was opened to further conquests in the East, and the
Mediterranean became a Roman lake.

[Sidenote: Effect of Roman conquests on society.]

[Sidenote: Degeneracy of morals undermines military power.]

But these conquests introduce luxury, wealth, pride, and avarice, with
arts, refinements, and literature. These degrade while they elevate.
Civilization becomes the alternate triumph of good and evil influences,
and a doubtful boon. Successful war creates great generals, and founds
great families, increases slavery, and promotes inequalities. Demagogues
arise who seduce and deceive the people, and they enroll themselves
under the standards of their idols. Rome is governed by an oligarchy of
military chieftains, and has become more aristocratic and more
democratic at the same time. The people gain rights, only to yield to
the supremacy of demagogues. The Senate is humbled, but remains the
ascendant power, for generals compose it, and those who have held great
offices. Meanwhile the great generals struggle for supremacy. Civil wars
follow in the train of foreign conquests. Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Julius,
Antony, Augustus, sacrifice the state to their ambition. Good men
lament, and protest, and hide themselves. Cato, Cicero, Brutus, speak in
vain. Degenerate morals keep pace with civil contests. Rome revels in
the spoils of all kingdoms and countries, is intoxicated with power,
becomes cruel and tyrannical, and, after yielding up the lives of
citizens to fortunate generals, yields at last her liberties, and
imperial despotism begins its reign,--hard, immovable, resolute,--under
which genius is crushed, and life becomes epicurean, but under which
property and order are preserved. The regime is bad; but it is a change
for the better. War has produced its fruits. It has added empire, but
undermined prosperity; it has created a great military monarchy, but
destroyed liberty; it has brought wealth, but introduced inequalities;
it has filled the city with spoils, but sown the vices of self-interest.
The machinery is perfect, but life has fled. It is henceforth the labor
of emperors to keep together their vast possessions with this machinery,
which at last wears out, since there is neither genius to repair it nor
patriotism to work it. It lasts three hundred years, but is broken to
pieces by the Goths and Vandals.