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Army is a collection of curiosities about the ancient Roman army and its functioning. This category includes lesser-known facts, interesting information, and unusual details about the legions, weaponry, discipline, tactics, and daily life of soldiers of the Roman Empire.
Frumentarii was the secret Roman police. Initially, they were collecting taxes and spreading messages throughout the Empire. They were also responsible for controlling and regulating grain deliveries to the capital. Their role, however, evolved during the reign of Hadrian (117-138 CE), who abandoned the policy of expansion and focused on internal stabilization – for this purpose frumenatrii took over the role of the secret police.
According to Polybius1, during the period of the Republic, Roman legionaries in formation had about 180 cm of space (both depth and width), which was 3.24 square meters. A more reliable source of information – Vegetius2 – is to indicate a width of 90 cm and a depth of 200 cm, i.e. 1.8 square meters.
The Latin word musculus means “little mouse” as well as “muscle”. The ambiguity comes from the fact that some of the moving muscles under the skin look like little mice in motion. Interestingly, musculus was also a term for the Roman war machine.
