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The Roman Military was the strongest, most well equipped, feared, and most important of all mobile armies that the ancient world had ever seen. Besides being such a strong disciplined army, it was a very mobile army. The Roman army was also equipped with some of the most high tech equipment of the time. From their armor to their siege equipment to their very tactics, all was the best or close to the best. Over hundreds of years the Roman army slowly built up its empire, gaining more and more land, slaves, and riches from its fallen enemies. At its highest peak it would stretch from Europe to Jerusalem to North Africa, controlling a very large percent of the world's trade. It went from just another city state on the roman peninsula, to a main super power, to the greatest empire the world had ever seen. It was all owed to the mighty Roman Army. The Soldiers were the private armies of those who paid them. The Emperor's main power came from his privately owned army which he paid from his money. The soldiers would make a personal allegiance to him; these soldiers would be called Imperial Provinces, which were the majority of the army. The soldiers would spend at least sixteen or more years in the army before they could leave. To keep soldiers loyal for so long it was necessary to give lots of bonuses and rewards to those that did well. Some examples of rewards would be six years payment given at once. The main type of soldiers would be that of the legions, the auxiliaries, the fleet, and the Imperial Guards. These are also the reasons Rome had so many civil wars for power. Many rich generals had their eyes on the crown and fought for it with their paid armies. The Roman Armies were broken up into legions, that contained about five thousand to six thousand trained soldiers of different ranks. The legions contained everything they needed; they were like a small army on the move. A real army would contain about thirty or so legions. With in the legions were Heavy Infantry (most common), Light Infantry, Archers, Calvary, Doctors, Builders, and a lot more. These legions could survive on their own with out outside help for a while. The Legions were given numbers and letters to tell them apart for the leader to know what he wants to do for each one. |
