Curiosities of ancient Rome (Army)

Octavian Augustus after taking power introduced many propaganda solutions that were to tie the people to the new ruler. He adopted republican titles, erected many monuments showing the divine grace resting upon him, and built magnificent buildings in the “Eternal City”.

Julius Caesar is one of the greatest leaders in world history. This is evidenced by his victories in Spain (61 BCE), the conquest of Gaul (58-50 BCE), the invasion of Britain (54-53 BCE) or, for example, military campaigns east of the Rhine (55 and 53 BCE). Especially, the expeditions against the Germanic tribes prove how bold and ambitious Caesar was, who for the purposes of the campaign decided on an extremely complicated move for those times – the construction of a bridge over one of the longest rivers in Europe.

With the addition of Egypt to the Roman Empire in 30 BCE, Augustus saw a number of problems related to the new province. Regular invasions by the Kushites began from the south, and Arab pirates lurked from the side of the Red Sea. In addition, due to the commercial dominance of the Himyarites and Sabaians in the Bab el Manbed strait, the Romans had a difficult opportunity to cruise on this important route to India.

Many fans of Roman films are astonished by the ideas of the producers that in the Roman army they placed soldiers from different continents. The rule was that only a Roman citizen could serve in the army, i.e. in the Roman legions. However, obtaining citizenship was not an impossible task.

In the late 2nd century CE, a senatorial decree entered into force allowing gifting the victorious gladiator a reward of 500 sesterces for a fight, if free human and 400 if he was slave. This amount was comparable to the teacher’s annual salary.

Tents were already in use in ancient times. Ancient Romans used them mainly in marching camps (castra aestiva), which were broken up during military campaigns every day. We owe a lot of information about their construction to the excavations in Vindolanda, near Hadrian’s Wall in England, where leather materials have also been preserved.

Decimation (from the word decimatio) was one of the most famous and harsh punishments used against a cowardly or rebellious group of soldiers in the Roman army.