Curiosities of ancient Rome (Army)
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Method for quick siege
In 60 CE, during the reign of Emperor Nero, the commander of the Roman army – Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo besieged the Armenian capital of Tigranocerta. During the siege, one of the Roman catapults threw the severed head of an Armenian ... Read more
Elephants in Roman army?
Romans rarely used elephants in battle. Several pieces captured on Pyrrhus were present at the triumph of Manius Curius Dentatus in Rome in 275 BCE. However, it is not known what happened to these animals later. Perhaps they shared the ... Read more
Conducting trenches
Trenching was an important method of siege warfare in antiquity. According to legend, during the siege of the Etruscan capital Veii in 396 BCE, Roman soldiers digging the tunnel heard a bard over them proclaiming that the victory would be ... Read more
Short javelins – plumbatae
In the Roman legion, apart from the usual javelins (pilum), a type of short javelin (plumbatae) was also used. Plumbata was a kind of a dart approximately 60 cm with a lead load (ball), thanks to which the dart was ... Read more
Velites – young javelin throwers
Velites, Roman javelin throwers, composed of young and poor men, could not afford to buy Roman armour (lorica hamata), worn by professional legionaries. Therefore, they put on animal skins to emphasize their strength and prowess. In addition, it was believed ... Read more
Evolution of patronage in late Roman Empire
In Roman society, the existence of a patron-client relationship was common. Most often, a poor citizen or a liberator submitted to a higher-ranking Roman who, through his position and property, could act in favour of the client. In return, the ... Read more
Importance of belts in Roman army
Balteus took the form of a belt decorated with silver plates or embossed with bronze. It was a symbol of a legionary, so taking it off meant “suspension” “in being a soldier. During the year of the four emperors, in ... Read more
Attempts to reorganize front in Dacia and trick
At the end of the 80s of the 1st century CE, the Romans fought the Dacian kingdom, which, led by Diurpaneus, inflicted two defeats on the Roman legions. The fear of losing Rome’s prestige caused Domitian to withdraw from further ... Read more
Prohibition of service in Roman legions
In the light of social norms or Roman law, from the earliest years of its existence, the Roman state limited access to military service. Only Roman citizens (cives Romani) had the right or duty to serve in the legions, and ... Read more
Camp life of Romans
In each Roman military camp, latrines were built, fed with running water from nearby streams. The analysis of the contents of the septic tank rinsed from these sanitary facilities allowed archaeologists to reconstruct the diet of Roman soldiers (it turns ... Read more
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