Imperial Roman Army – Training

Intro

“Put an equally brave, but untrained soldier in the front line, and he will look like a woman.” -Cicero

This gives a very good impression how the Romans thought about training.

Training served many purposes like,

  • ensuring combat readiness, discipline and unit cohesion
  • serving as a political tool in foreign and domestic affairs
  • improving and maintaining the infrastructure of the Empire

Basic Training

To become a fully enlisted soldier in the Army, every recruit had to pass basic training.
Basic training was performed daily for at least 4 months. (Davies: p. 14) It ensured that the recruit was fit for duty in the Roman Army, thus each recruit had to pass several proficiency tests. Recruits failing those tests would receive a different diet and notes in their records.

Training Content

Whereas basic training was probably more intensive and fundamental, the regular training was similar. It covered individual and collective aspects as well as combat and non-combat training.

Individual training:

  • weapons training, including close combat and ranged weapons
  • physical exercise like swimming, running and jumping

Collective training:

  • improving coordination like keeping the ranks close and parading
  • construction training like digging ditches and planting palisades
  • mock fights where one party tries to dislodge another party defending with shields

3 times a month infantry and cavalry together went on a route march (amubulation) with full equipment of about twenty miles. This march was not just going from one destination to another, it was basically a small military exercise that covered various maneuvers for the cavalry, crossing different terrain and after reaching the destination, a camp with ditches and ramparts was constructed.

Furthermore, large scale military exercise with other forces were conducted periodically and regular inspections served as quality control. We know from Emperor Hadrian that he visited and inspected large scale exercises. Giving reports on the performance of units, including praise and criticism. But Hadrian put a strong emphasis on training and discipline, thus he was probably an exception rather than the rule.

Training Infrastructure

To ensure the proper training, facilities and specialist are needed. There were different training grounds for the infantry and cavalry. Usually training was done outside, but in case of very poor weather special training buildings were available to perform the activities indoors.

Additionally, there were special areas for training aspects like camp-building, fort-building, siege-works, artillery practice and bridge-building.

Furthermore, there were several specialist for drill instructions, weapons and cavalry training.

  • Campidoctor : Drillinstructor
  • Doctor armorum or armatura: weapons instructor
  • Doctor cohortis: drillinstructor battalion (cohort)
  • Exercitatores & magister campi: cavalry instructors

Benefits of Training

Discipline & readiness

The constant exercises and marches helped in maintaining combat readiness, physical fitness and unit cohesion.
Or as Veranius put it: “Trained by sweating, puffing and panting, exposed to summer heat and bitter cold under an open sky, the soldiers become accustomed to the future hardships of real fighting.” (Davies:p. 137) (Q. Veranius)

Building Infrastructure

Additionally, soldiers were often used to build roads and other important buildings. Bohec states that the soldiers could build markets and whole cities. The construction of towers, forts and defense lines was performed by the infantry whereas the cavalry guarded them.
The construction and engineering aspects was an aspect of Imperial Roman doctrine. The fast construction of bridges and other structures should remind barbarians of their inferiority, thus deterring them from attacking.

Conclusion / Outro

“Exercises that do not involve the perils of a real battle, are a sufficient relaxation to soldiers, however weary they may be.” (Davies:p. 137) (Q. Veranius)
Training in the Imperial Roman Army was a crucial and complex process that didn’t just focus on the ability of the soldiers to fight in battle, but to succeed in enduring campaigns and thus maintaining the capabilities of the Empire to wage and win wars.

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Online Resources

The Military Institutions of the Romans (De Re Militari) By Flavius Vegetius Renatus-Translated from the Latin by Lieutenant John Clarke

Imperial Roman Army – Recruitment

Intro

The Imperial Roman Army has been and is still admired by many people as an excellent fighting force. There are many reasons why the Roman Army was so effective, one was its recruitment process (probatio) which consisted in determining if a potential recruit fulfilled the necessary criteria to serve in the Imperial Roman Army.

Requirements

There were physical, mental and legal requirements for joining the Imperial Roman Army. Note that the requirements were the highest for elite units like the Praetorians and Legionaries.

Physical Requirements

Height

Let’s start with the physical requirements a soldier needed to be of a certain height. The values for a Legion soldier were at least 1.72m or 5ft 8 inches in height. For soldiers of the first cohort or cavalry even up to 1.78m or 5ft 10 inches. If you think these values are too high, you are probably right, modern scholars assume that these values are probably idealized.

Strength, Stamina, Agility and Eyesight

Other important physical attributes were of course strength, good posture, stamina, agility and eyesight. There is one known example of a soldier being dismissed due to weak eyesight.

Age

Finally, the maximum age for joining was around 35 years, whereas the minimum age was about 13 years. But these are extreme examples, most recruits joined between the ages of 18 and 23 years. Note that the service period lasted for 16 to 30 years depending on the branch of the Army.

Mental Requirements

Next are the mental requirements, these were probably of lesser importance, but legally it was allowed to discharge a soldier based on physical or mental defects.
Education was probably not a major requirement for the common soldiers, but since commands were given in Latin a recruit had to have a sufficient understanding of it.
Furthermore, since the Army needed specialist a good education probably could tip the balance. For instance specialist posts like the signifier, who were in charge of the accounts and funds, required well educated people with good legal records, which brings us to the next point the legal requirements.

Legal Requirements

Slaves, former slaves – the so called “freedmen” were not allowed to join the Army, only in dire situation were they conscripted. Only freeborn men were allowed in the Roman Army and to join the Legionary Units the recruit also needed the Roman Citizenship.
There were other legal requirements too, we can assume that most crimes would prevent joining the Roman Army. Trajan ruled that convicts of capital offenses, adultery or any other major crimes were not allowed to serve.

Note that modern scholars have different views on how thorough or superficial these legal examination were performed.
Finally, there are some examples that a recruits used letters of recommendations in order to provide references for their “good character”, this is also a debated topic, since only a few of those letters are known.

Probatus (approved)

But even after passing these requirements the recruit wasn’t a full soldier yet, he was now considered “probatus”, which meant he was approved for training in which he needed to pass several proficiency tests. Note that in this period the punishment for failing in discipline or even criminal acts like selling military equipment was less severe and even pardoned.

Signatus (“enlisted”)

After the recruit trained for at least 4 months and passing all proficiency tests, he was “signatus”, thus he became fully enlisted. The name of the recruit with his age and any distinguishing marks would be added to the unit’s record. Now he was considered a full soldier and the recruitment process was over.

Conclusion

Although not all information is undisputed it is clear that the Roman recruiting process was systematic and well organized in order to ensure a constant flow of high-quality recruits to keep the ranks filled. Nevertheless, these new troops also needed further training, which will be topic of another video.
Thank you for watching and see next time!

Related Articles

Imperial Roman Army – Organization & Structure
Imperial Roman Army – Training

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Online Resources

The Military Institutions of the Romans (De Re Militari) By Flavius Vegetius Renatus-Translated from the Latin by Lieutenant John Clarke

Ancient Roman units of measurement

Imperial Roman Army – Organization & Structure

Intro

The Roman Imperial Army consisted of

  • Provincial Armies
  • Garrison in Rome
  • And the Navy

The brunt of the forces was in the Provincial armies that were made up by the legions and their auxiliaries in total around 240k men. The Garrison in Rome was about 15k men, although few in numbers these units were the most powerful in political terms. Finally, the Navy consisted of about 45k men.

Base Organization

  • Garrison in Rome
    • Praetorian Cohorts
    • Urban Cohorts
    • The Vigiles
  • Provincial Armies
    • Legions
    • Auxiliaries
  • Navy

Garrison in Rome

Let’s start with the Garrison in Rome. They consisted of the Praetorian Cohorts, the Urban Cohorts and the Vigiles.

Praetorian Cohorts

The Praetorian Cohorts were the guards of the Emperor and went on campaigns with him. These were elite soldiers that were ideally suited for peaceful and less peaceful duties. Due to their proximity to the Emperor and military power they had a major influence on who became the next Emperor. Thus, the first act of an Emperor usually consisted in ensuring the loyalty of the Praetorians, this was done in different ways such as paying large donations or replacing them with loyal legion units. [4 Symbols]
The number of Praetorians ranged widely from about 5 000 to 10 000 men.

These cohorts were under the orders of one of two prefects. Each cohort was lead by a tribune and six centurions.

Urban Cohorts

Additionally to the Praetorians there were another 3 cohorts in the vicinity of Rome the so called Urban Cohorts. Each consisted of 500 men each. They mainly served as a police force within Rome, e.g., they dealt with the control of slaves and unruly citizens. Originally they were under the authority of the city administration, but in the 2nd century this was changed and they were more closely linked to the Emperor.

Vigiles

Finally, the vigils was a force of 7 cohorts with 1000 men each. Their main function was firefighting and patrolling the streets at night, nevertheless they were lead as a military unit.

Provincial Armies

Whereas the units in Rome were the most important in political terms, the most important military units were the provincial armies consisting of the legions and auxiliaries.

Legions

Every province that bordered to barbarian region had one or more legions stationed in it. They were commanded by a legate who also was the governor of the province. If a province had several legions stationed in it, the governor was also the army legate that had command over the legates for each legion. The legates were chosen carefully depending on the circumstances of the province, because being a legate was a step in political career not a military one. The other officers in the legion command were six military tribunes and the camp prefect. The military tribunes were split in two groups, one of them was from the highest social class and this was basically his apprenticeship in command. The other five tribunes were form the upper class and had no command authority but fulfilled administrative duties. The third in command was the camp prefect, which was a senior position in a military career and usually held by men in their fifties.
The number of legions only varied a little bit and was usually around 25 to 30 legions. A few were lost or disbanded. Probably the most notable loss occurred in the early Empire, when the Germans were less welcoming to other civilized cultures and destroyed three legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

A legion consisted of around 5000 men of mostly heavy infantry and some cavalry. The infantry was made up by 10 cohorts each with 6 centuries consisting of 80 men each. The attached cavalry unit had 120 men. Note that these numbers varied later on. Most notably, is doubling the number of soldiers in the first cohort.

Contubernia (8 men) x 10 = century; 2 x century = maniple (160). Century basic unit of the legion. Cohort = 6 centuries. 10x cohorts = Legion;
First cohort, 5 x double centuries; 5 x 180 = 800

Now a legion was an elite unit of mostly heavy infantry, thus it was important to conserve its forces and also to support it with more agile troops.

This is where the Auxiliaries come in.

Auxiliaries

Each legion had its own Auxiliaries attached. These were made up by men from the lower class that had no Roman citizenship. that was free, but had no Roman citizenship.
Their manpower was about equal to that of the legion, but without a central command structure beyond the cohort. Auxiliaries units were lighter, more mobile and also more expandable. They usually made first contact with the enemy, allowing the legate to conserve his legionnaires for the decisive engagements.

The Navy

Now, to the final the part to the Roman Navy, which was permanently established in beginning of the Empire. Nevertheless, it was never was as important as the legions. Furthermore, the information about the Navy in certain areas is scarce and quite disputed. Its main functions were securing the seas and to support the legions in various campaigns.
The Navy was organized into fleets, each fleet was commanded by a prefect and consisted of squadrons of probably 10 ships each. A captain commanded a ship, whereas a centurion was in charge of the crew.

Unlike in most movies, the rowers of Roman galleys usually were not slaves and were expected to take part in combat at sea and on land.
The two major fleets, where based on the Eastern coast and Western Coast. Each fleet consisted of about 50 ships mostly triremes. There were several smaller fleets mostly in important areas like Egypt, Rhodos and Sicily. But the Navy wasn’t limited to the sea. There were river fleets too, e.g., on the Danube. These rivers fleets were used for patrolling the borders and various support duties.

Some fleets were established temporarily to support campaigns of the Legion, e.g., a fleet used on the Rhine and German North Sea.

Summary & Conclusion

The Imperial Roman Army had to maintain order in a vast area with various different challenges and enemies. To adapt to these challenges a diverse force was needed, ranging from elite troops on the fringes of the Empire to firefighters within the walls of Rome. Considering the secondary role of the fleet in an Empire that covered the whole Mediterranean underlines that Rome was first and foremost a land power. Thus the quote “all roads lead to Rome” is not without merit.

Related Articles

Recruitment of the Imperial Roman Army
Imperial Roman Army – Training

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