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The Roman Legion (legio) was the basic and largest tactical unit of the Roman army consisting primarily of heavy-armed infantry. The name literally means “abstraction.” In the early period of the Roman state’s existence, the legion meant the whole army, i.e. all men called to arms. For many centuries, only Roman citizens could serve in the legions, but with the development of the empire, men who were not fully Romanized were also reached. Legia, because it was also adopted to be called this unit, was modernized many times in various periods of the Roman state.
Monarchy period
Database presenting data collected so far about the number and history of individual legions.
The Roman army of the early kingdom was very close to the Greek army in both strength and armed terms. The fighting style was also similar, because phalanx was often used. However, the apparent weaknesses of the hoplite formation forced the Romans to seek new solutions. Changes took place gradually. One legion per year began to be issued, which constituted the entire army of the state. The legion included light infantry and cavalry, whose role was later replaced by allied troops.
The original Roman army consisted only of landowners. The Roman population, divided into three tribus, undertook to issue 3,000 (1000 from each tribus) walkers (peditates), supplemented with a troop of 300 horsemen (100 from each tribus). Each ward, issued by one tribus, was divided into 10 centuries with 100 soldiers. So the legion during the early monarchy had 3300 soldiers (3000 infantry and 300 cavalry). Infantry was commanded by tribunus militum, while driving by tribunus celerum.
However, ways to strengthen Rome’s combat strength were still sought. According to legend, an important reform was carried out by the King of Rome himself, Servius Tulius in the sixth century BCE He divided the population of Rome into five property classes. The first class was equipped with a spear, sword, helmet, armor and a round shield (clipeus); the second and third had weaker armor than the first; the fourth might not have armor, for all it needed was a small shield, a spear and a javelin; the fifth, final class is the firing squad. The Roman army still consisted of only one legion, but its number doubled. The infantry had 6,000 soldiers, divided into 60 centuries. Roman ride was set at 600 horsemen, divided into 6 centuries. However, to increase cavalry strength, Serwiusz Tulius decided to add 1200 additional riders to the formation. Cavalry in the legion was 1,800 men divided into 60 smaller units turmae, 30 horsemen each. To sum up, at the end of the monarchy the Roman legion consisted of 7800 soldiers (6000 infantry and 1800 cavalry).
Early republic period
With the establishment of the republic, the reform of the Roman army, previously adapted to monarchy, had to be carried out. Two consuls appointed by the state and responsible for border protection needed two separate armies. To this end, the existing one legion was divided into two separate, where each was assigned to one of two consuls. The existence of only two legions allowed consuls until the 4th century BCE to conduct modest but effective warfare in areas not far away from the capital. However, with the expansion of the Apennine Peninsula at the beginning of the 4th century BCE, it was decided to increase consular armies to two legions. During the campaign, the legions were also further strengthened with meals demanded by the Romans from their allies.
Men aged 17 to 60 were subject to the general duty of military service. Men aged 17 to 45 (iuniores) were sent to the front. Men over 46 (seniores) served in cities and were a reserve for the main army. Relief from duty (mission honesta) followed 20 walking or 10 horse riding trips. In the early Republic, military service was not paid in the form of pay, and was received as a civic duty.
The turning point was 331 BCE, when the army tribune was introduced in the army, initially responsible for commanding the legion. In addition, the existing compact front line used, for example, by the Greeks was abandoned, and the focus was on the manipular system, i.e. dividing the army into manipulators, smaller tactical units, which allowed to make the army more flexible. Each manipulation consisted of 2 centuries. The centuria was 60 soldiers, which together resulted in 120 men in manipulas (the exception were triaria, of whom 60 were manipulates, and one centuria was 30 people). In the legion there were usually 15 maniples hastati, 10 manipulators pricipes and triaria, 1200 velites (