Curiosities of ancient Rome (Army)

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.

The best slingshots came from the Balearic Islands, where mothers ordered their sons to shoot the plates with food. The young boys did not eat until they hit the target.

When we hear about Roman soldiers, we see in front of us a well-equipped Jewish legionary fighting in the formation testudo. We do not realize that one of the first types of a warrior in the Roman army was a heavy-armed hoplite who looked completely different from the legionary.

Archimedes was a brilliant Greek scientist who led engineering work to defend Syracuse during the second Punic war, in 214-212 BCE. The Romans storming the massive city walls had to deal with unusual Archimedes inventions, including mirrors!

The Roman army from the beginning of its existence was constituted by Roman citizens who had property/land allowing them to arm themselves in battle. The change occurred at the end of the 2nd century BCE, when Gaius Marius first extended his hand to people without land (proletarii), offering them military service and a form of existence.

Most equipment legionary was not a Roman invention. For example, pugio Romans borrowed from Iberian tribes. Also, gladius are modeled on Iberian swords; legionaries were equipped with this weapon for the first time during the Second Punic War by the Scipio Africanus Major.