10 Horrifying Facts about the Roman Legions 10. Their Military Training Around Rome’s beginnings, its army was only
comprised of local farmers, who would be hurriedly called into action, fighting skirmishes with
neighboring settlements. All of this would change in 390 BC however,
when an army of Gauls utterly defeated the Romans, and then descended upon the city itself. They continued on sacking and pillaging Rome
for the next 6 months until finally they were paid off to leave. The Romans got a wake-up call which would
change their destiny forever. They then spent the next following centuries
perfecting their Legions by systematically training and organizing a professional military
machine like nobody had ever seen before. There were endless drills, and marches to
the point of exhaustion. Roman soldiers were attending weapons training
every morning and practiced melee combat with wooden swords, spears and shields, twice as
heavy as their real counterparts. Part of their daily training also involved
a 19 mile-long march to be completed in five hours, while carrying a full pack of weapons,
shield, food rations, cooking supplies and a short spade, along with their own personal
kit. No other army in the world at the time would
receive such a rigorous training, which gave the Roman Legions a tremendous advantage in
waging war. 9. Discipline through fear Following orders to the letter and not questioning
one’s superiors is something which most don’t naturally have built into their consciousness. Severe punishments for even the slightest
of offenses, was something common within any Roman Legion. Soldiers would often times be stoned to death
by their comrades for cowardice in battle or even for falling asleep at their posts
while on sentry duty. Minor offenses were handled by the Centurions
(military officers), who always carried vine branches in order to strike at their legionnaires. And since these officers were held directly
responsible for the behavior of the men serving under them, whippings were commonplace in
a Roman military camp. This ruthless treatment nevertheless proved
useful time and time again, as the men became more reliant and trusting of each other for
their very survival in the extremely harsh conditions they endured at the fringes of
the empire. In short, this discipline instilled through
fear gave Roman soldiers a far better chance at survival if they blindly obeyed their superiors,
than if they did not. 8. The Decimation One particularly brutal punishment for any
Legion was the Decimation, and was as bad as it actually sounds. The word itself comes from this Roman military
disciplinary measure, used on large groups of soldiers guilty of capital offenses like
mutiny, treason or desertion. Decimation is derived from Latin meaning "removal
of a tenth". The way they went about it was to have the
guilty men divided into groups of ten, and to have them draw straws. The soldier who drew the short straw was to
be killed by the other nine, by clubbing him to death. And since the decision of who will die was
left to chance, all soldiers were liable for execution, regardless of their level of involvement,
rank or distinction. But because killing off ten percent of the
army is almost never a good idea, the Decimation never became common practice. 7. Weapons and Armor As Rome expanded its borders, the army become
more standardized, with the equipment being provided by the state. Their first line of defense was the chainmail
shirt. The main advantages of the chainmail were
its light weight and that it offered good protection against slashing swords. During the 1st century AD however, the chainmail
was partially replaced by segmented plate armor. Though heavier and with a higher maintenance,
plate armor offered a great deal more protection against piercing attacks. The Roman helmet was redesigned and improved
over the centuries. It was fashioned in such a way as to offer
maximum protection, but without blocking the senses. It had large cheek pieces as to protect the
side of the face, but not to cover the ears, so the soldiers could hear the commands given
by the Centurions. The crests, often times made out of horsehair
or sometimes feathers, had the purpose of making the wearer appear larger and fiercer,
as well as to distinguish between the ranks. Further protection came from the Roman shield. It was made of layers of wood glued together
and covered with leather and metal. The shield was also curved, thus offering
more protection to the sides. Due to its size, the shield was also used
as an offensive weapon, and worked perfectly in combination with the Roman short sword. 6. Battle Tactics and Formations But what truly made the Roman Legions the
best fighting force throughout the ancient world, were the structured nature of the army,
and the formations they used in battle. A Legion was comprised of 4,800 men, divided
into 10 Cohorts of 480, which in turn contained 6 Centuries of 80 soldiers, each commanded
by a Centurion. This highly structured form offered the army
both unity among the ranks, as well as a great deal of coordination on the battlefield. Most of the barbarians the Romans were in
conflict with fought in loose arrangements and each warrior sought individual glory. But every one of the 4,800 soldiers in a Roman
Legion had a precise role to play in a master strategy. A typical assault would begin at long range,
using catapults which shower the enemies with boulders and iron bolts. Next the legionaries would launch their javelins. Made of a wooden handle and a long iron head,
the Pilum, as it was called by the Romans, would bend on impact, preventing the enemy
from throwing it back. Then the soldiers would stand shoulder to
shoulder, swords out, and began their advance as a moving wall of death and destruction. With the shield extending from their chins
almost down to their ankles, there wasn’t much a group of disorganized tribesmen could
do. 5. Sea Battles Fought on “Land” A shortage of skilled Roman soldiers came
in the form of sea warfare. As Rome took control of most of the Italian
Peninsula, they turned their attention out to sea. Here they met the Carthaginians and in 264
BC the First Punic War had begun. This 23-year-long conflict between the two
Mediterranean super powers was fought over control of the strategically-important islands
of Sicily and Corsica. While Carthage boasted a sizable military
fleet, Rome did not. Nevertheless, the Romans quickly countered
that disadvantage by building their own navy following a design stolen from the Carthaginians
themselves. Still lacking any real seafaring experience,
and while waiting for the ships to be built, the Legionnaires began practicing rowing in
unison while still on dry land. Since they were expert melee fighters, they
came up with an ingenious invention to turn sea battles into land battles. This secret weapon came in the form of the
Corvus, a boarding bridge 4 ft. wide and 36 ft. long, which could be raised or lowered
at will. It had small railings on both sides and a
metal prong on its backside which would pierce the deck of the Carthaginian ship and secure
it in place. With it the Romans were able to defeat their
enemy and win the war. 4. Bellum Gallicum The Gallic Wars, or Bellum Gallicum, were
a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman Legions under Julius Caesar against
the Gauls living in present-day France, Belgium and parts of Switzerland. These wars lasted from 58 BC to 52 BC and
culminated with a definite Roman victory and expansion of the Roman Republic over the whole
of Gaul. But these wars weren’t waged for the glory
of Rome per se, but rather for the political ambitions of Caesar himself. He recruited and paid his own Legions, which
made the soldiers highly devoted to him, and him alone. Even though the region was home to somewhere
around 15 to 20 million people, his successes were in large part due to the fact that the
Gauls was a conglomeration of loose tribal armies that lacked any real discipline and
cohesion. This way Caesar had to fight each band of
warriors as he encountered them, and the campaign stretched on for much longer than he initially
anticipated. Vercingetorix, "Victor of a Hundred Battles",
managed to finally rally the tribes against the Roman Legions, but it was too little too
late. At the battle of Alesia in 52 BC, Vercingetorix
almost prevailed against Caesar, but ultimately lost the battle. By the time the Roman conquest of Gaul had
ended, over one million Celts lay dead, and another 500,000 were sent into slavery. 3. Crucifixions The Romans were notorious for the ways in
which they treated and disposed of anyone who would stand in their way against total
domination. One particular way they dealt with the people
they thought threatened the Roman way of life, was by crucifixion. This particularly brutal form of punishment
was often used as a means of torture, as well as to send a message. Those people who were crucified were often
times accused of sedition, or conspiracy to rebellion. Jesus was crucified for the exact same reason,
and not for his religious teachings. The two men besides him were also considered
insurgents, not thieves. Though not the inventors of this horrific
practice, the Romans did excel in it. During Spartacus’ rebellion in 72 BC, 6,000
captured rebels were crucified. Since Rome’s population was about 40% slaves,
and Spartacus and the other rebels were slaves themselves, their crucifixion was a definite
message to those still living: “Do not stir dissent or this will be your end too.” 2. The Praetorian Guard The most powerful of all the Roman Legions
was the Praetorian Guard which was stationed in Rome itself. And often times, the Praetorians had the power
of life and death over the Emperors themselves. They came into being as elite soldiers protecting
generals during the Roman Republic. But the Praetorian Guard in itself didn’t
officially appear until Augustus became Rome’s first emperor in 27 BC. They acted as bodyguards to the Emperor, emergency
firefighters, the secret police, as crowd control, and even fought in the arena to show
off their prowess to the masses. But as Rome’s power grew, so did its corruption
and intrigue. And the Praetorian Guard was often times right
in the middle of all of it. Even though their task was to ensure the interests
of the Emperor, if those interests didn’t coincide with their own, they would just replace
him. Disgruntled Praetorians famously engineered
the assassination of Caligula in 41 AD. Many other emperors were killed by the Praetorians. In 193 AD, they even put the crown up for
auction. One man, Didius Julianus won by promising
them each a bribe of 5-years-pay. But since he couldn’t deliver, he too was
murdered 66 days later. In 306 AD, the Praetorians tried to play the
role of kingmaker one last time by supporting Maxentius as the western emperor in Rome. They were defeated by Constantine at the Battle
of Milvian Bridge in 312, and he then disbanded the Guard. 1. Making and Breaking the Empire Without a doubt, the Roman Empire in all its
might was made by the many Legions who fought and killed for it. But in the end, the army is what brought Rome
down. As we’ve seen up until now, Rome was a highly
militarized society with an army of about 130,000 soldiers. One man in eight was in the army. And while in the beginning only men with property
were allowed to fight for the glory of Rome, once it expanded beyond the Italian Peninsula,
the ranks were open to a great deal more people. Foreigners were employed as Auxiliaries, and
after 25 years of fighting, they would be granted citizenship. Since these men were not citizens of Rome,
they didn’t believe in the idea of Rome and the “civilization” it brought with
it; most never even seeing the city itself. Now, many soldiers had less interest in defending
it, and instead making their fortune through the spoils of war. Their loyalty was no longer to the city or
the Empire, but to the generals who they were serving under; like was the case with Caesar
and his Legions. Army generals then realized they could become
Emperor just by marching into Rome, which they often did. By 395 AD, the Empire would be divided into
the east and west and by 476 only its eastern part would survive. The Eastern Roman Empire would rule from Constantinople
and be a dominant force in the region for the following 1,200 years.
90 miles in 5 hours would require them to march at 18 mph. Preposterous.
Edit: Ok, he said 19 when I re-listened to it. That's more realistic.