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Curiosities of ancient Rome (Army)
The world of ancient Romans abounded in a number of amazing curiosities and information. The source of knowledge about the life of the Romans are mainly works left to us by ancient writers or discoveries. The Romans left behind a lot of strange information and facts that are sometimes hard to believe.
Hoplites in Roman army
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.
Did Roman legionaries sing songs during march?
Life in the army has always been hard and required soldiers to have strong will, perseverance and physical strength. Long and demanding marches caused the soldiers to try to diversify time in various ways, including singing. Did Roman legionaries do the same?
Archimedes and mirrors
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!
Professional army was founded by Augustus
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.
Romans took weapons from other peoples
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.
“Marius’ mules”
The Roman army has evolved many times over the course of history. The equipment (except armour) of Roman soldiers was originally, as was the case in all armies of the then world, on carts or mules/donkeys. Gradually, however, there was a need to improve military mobility, shorten the entire marching column, and abandon the use of too many draft animals and rolling stock.
Acies triplex
Acies triplex, the triple formation, was a military formation used by the Roman legions of the republic period. It was introduced as a result of the reform of the Roman army in the 4th century BCE (so-called Camillian reform), which transformed the structure of the Roman army from a rigid phalanx to a much more flexible manipulative. Acies triplex was formed according to the quincunx – scheme of a five-element geometric pattern.
