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The military of ancient Rome was one of largest pre-modern professional standing armies that ever existed. At its height, protecting over 7,000 kilometers of border and consisting of over 400,000 legionaries and auxiliaries , the army was the most important institution in the Roman world.
The term late Roman army is often used to include the East Roman army. The army of the Principate underwent a significant transformation, as a result of the chaotic 3rd century . Unlike the Principate army, the army of the 4th century was heavily dependent on conscription and its soldiers were more poorly remunerated than in the 2nd century.
In the military of ancient Rome, heavy infantry made up most of the Roman army. The heavy infantry of the pre-Marian Roman Republic included the hastati , principes , and triarii (although depending how the hastati were armed and armored, they could also be considered light infantry).
From its origin as a city-state on the peninsula of Italy in the 8th century BC, to its rise as an empire covering much of Southern Europe, Western Europe, Near East and North Africa to its fall in the 5th century AD, the political history of Ancient Rome was closely entwined with its military history.
The Imperial Roman Army was the military land force of the Roman Empire from 27 BC to 476 AD, [1] and the final incarnation in the long history of the Roman army. This period is sometimes split into the Principate (27 BC – 284 AD) and the Dominate (284–476) periods. Under Augustus (r.
Archaeologists found a 2,000-year-old Roman camp 7,000 feet up in the Swiss Alps, with sling bullets from the Roman 3rd Legion. Archaeologists Found an Ancient Roman Military Camp Hiding 7,000 ...
Roman military engineering was of a scale and frequency far beyond that of its contemporaries. Indeed, military engineering was in many ways endemic in Roman military culture, as demonstrated by each Roman legionary having as part of his equipment a shovel, alongside his gladius (sword) and pila ( javelins ).
In the early 1st century BC horse archers were already in widespread use and even supported Roman campaigns against the Germanic tribes in the Central Europe. [4] The normal weapon of Roman archers, both infantry and cavalry units, was the composite bow, [5] although Vegetius recommended training recruits "arcubus ligneis" (with wooden bows ...