Size of the Roman army
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Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
is meant the changes (increases and reductions) in the number of its contingents: legions,
auxilia The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of inf ...
ries, Praetorian cohorts,
Urban cohorts The ''cohortes urbanae'' (Latin meaning ''urban cohorts'') of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police service. They were led by the urban prefect ...
, vigiles, and
naval forces A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inc ...
over the course of twelve centuries – from 753 BC to AD 476 (the
Fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Ancient Rome, Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rul ...
).


Regal period (753 – 509 BC)

After the founding of Rome, legend has it that the first king,
Romulus Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus ...
established the original Roman legion with 3,000 soldiers and 300
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
, which might have been doubled when the city of Rome was expanded by union with the
Sabines The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divid ...
, coming to a total of 6,000 infantry and 600 cavalry. By the time of Servius Tullius or perhaps the Tarquini the forces had increased once more, bringing the number of infantry to 17,000 and of cavalry to 1,800.


Republican period (509 – 31 BC)

We know from
Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...
that at the time of the Latin War (340–338 BC) there were normally two armies enlisted, composed of two legions of 4,200–5,000 infantry and 300 cavalry each, for a total armed force of 16,800–20,000 infantry and 1,200 cavalry. with an equal number of allied infantry and three times as many cavalry – i.e. 16,800–20,000 infantry and 3,600 cavalry (called
socii The ''socii'' ( in English) or ''foederati'' ( in English) were confederates of ancient Rome, Rome and formed one of the three legal denominations in Roman Italy (''Italia'') along with the Roman citizens (''Cives'') and the ''Latin Rights, Latin ...
).
Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...
, '' Ab Urbe condita libri'', 8.8.15.
At the time of the
Pyrrhic War The Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC) was largely fought between the Roman Republic and Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, who had been asked by the people of the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy to help them in their war against the Romans. A ski ...
, the Roman army in the field consisted of four armies, each of which contained two legions of
Roman citizen Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...
s and two units of allies. Each legion consisted of 4,200–5,000 infantry
Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
, ''
Histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
'', 6.20.8–9.
and 300 cavalry, while the allied units had an equal number of infantry but three times as many cavalry (900 cavalry per unit).
Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
, ''
Histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
'', 6.26.7.
The complete total, therefore, sums to around 80,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. Around the middle of the third century BC, the Roman army consisted of an occupation force in
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
and
Tarentum Tarentum may refer to: * Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras) **See also History of Taranto * Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...
(two legions of 4,200 infantry and 300 cavalry each), two consulary armies (both composed of two reinforced legions of around 5,200 infantry and 300 cavalry each) and about 30,000 allied soldiers (including 2,000 cavalry) in permanent active service, with another 90,000 in reserve, ready to intervene if necessary and made up of 50,000
Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...
and
Sabines The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divid ...
(including 4,000 cavalry), 20,000
Umbrians The Umbri were an Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th centuries BC on ...
and Sarsinans, 20,000 Veneti and Cenomani. The complete armed forces, therefore, could have reached 150,000 individuals, of which only 30,000 were Romans (6 legions). During the war against
Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
, the Roman army came to number 23 legions Giovanni Brizzi, ''Scipione e Annibale. La guerra per salvare Roma'', p.97. including Roman citizens and Socii (in 212–211 BC), deployed in
Italia Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, Illyricum,
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
,
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
,
Cisalpine Gaul Cisalpine Gaul ( la, Gallia Cisalpina, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the part of Italy inhabited by Celts (Gauls) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. After its conquest by the Roman Republic in the 200s BC it was con ...
and on the borders of
Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
. These numbered around 115,000 infantry and 13,000 cavalry (extrapolating from the numbers provided by Polybius), plus the small squadron of the
Scipiones The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any othe ...
in
Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...
, the fleets in the
Ionian sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including C ...
(50 ships) and around Sicily (100 ships). At the death of
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
there were 37 legions in the whole Roman world,L.Keppie, ''The making of the roman army, from Republic to Empire'', Oklahoma 1998, p.201. including 6 in Macedonia, 3 in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and 10 in the eastern provinces. We must not forget that these troops were extremely mobile, that their ''hiberna'' (winter quarters) were still rudimentary and little more than a "marching camp". At the end of
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
between
Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...
and Octavian there were around 60 legions, although few were at full strength.


Imperial period


High empire (31 BC – AD 284)

In the time of
Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
, according to a recent study by Le Bohec, the legionary forces may have reached the considerable figure of 125,000 men, divided into 25 legions, and with additional auxiliary forces for a total of 250,000 soldiers (including around 30,000 cavalry). In addition to this there were 10,000 soldiers garrisoned in the
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
, including the
Praetorian guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...
, the
urban cohort The ''cohortes urbanae'' (Latin meaning ''urban cohorts'') of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police service. They were led by the urban prefect ...
s, vigiles, ''
equites singulares Augusti The ''equites singulares Augusti'' (lit: "personal cavalry of the emperor" i.e. imperial horseguards) were the cavalry arm of the Praetorian Guard during the Principate period of imperial Rome. Based in Rome, they escorted the Roman emperor whenev ...
'' and 40,000 marines in the navy.Y.Le Bohec, ''L'esercito romano d Augusto alla fine del III secolo'', Roma 2008, pp.34–36. Under
Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
the number of legions was brought to 30 (around 165,000 legionaries), while the number of auxiliaries was increased to 380 units (for a total of around 200,000–220,000 men, including 70,000 cavalry), totalling 360,000–380,000 soldiers. Holder's 2003 study broadly affirms these figures, finding that the Roman army contained about 380,000 soldiers: 154,000 legionaries and 223,000 auxiliaries (excluding the forces in Rome, the fleets of
Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
, Misenum, and smaller naval deployments on the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
,
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
,
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
coast,
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
coast and
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
): In the time of Emperor
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
, the Roman army reached around 500,000 total individuals, with 33 legions (182,000 legionaries) and more than 400 auxiliary units (around 250,000 auxiliariesJ.C.Spaul, ''Ala'', (1996), 257–60; ''Cohors 2'', (2000) 523–7; identifies 4 ''alae'' and 20–30 ''cohortes'' enlisted in the late second and early third centuries. of which around 75,000 served as cavalry). In the course of the Crisis of the third century, the legions reached 36 units – equivalent to 200,000 soldiers – so that more than 500,000 individuals were under arms.


Late Roman empire (284–337)

With the institution of the
Tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the '' augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares' ...
by
Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
, the total number of legions reached 53–56 in AD 300.J.R.González, ''Historia de las legiones romanas'', p. 709-710. The garrison of Rome underwent an important expansion (which may already have occurred during the third century). There were 10 Praetorian cohorts of 1,000 men each and 1,000 ''equites singulares'', for a total of 24,000 men.Y.Le Bohec, ''Armi e guerrieri di Roma antica. Da Diocleziano alla caduta dell'impero'', Roma 2008, pp.27–28. The fleet in this period is meant to have reached around 45,500 men, according to
John Lydus John the Lydian or John Lydus ( el, ; la, Ioannes Laurentius Lydus) (ca. AD 490 – ca. 565) was a Byzantine administrator and writer on antiquarian subjects. Life and career He was born in 490 AD at Philadelphia in Lydia, whence his cognomen ...
, a bureaucrat who wrote in the time of
Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
. The accession of
Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given na ...
to the throne and the revival of the dynastic monarchy saw the number of Roman legions increased for a final time to 64–67 by the time of his death in 337.J.R.González, ''Historia de las legiones romanas'', p. 711-712. The figure might be further augmented if the forces of Barbarian
foederati ''Foederati'' (, singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the ''socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign stat ...
are included as part of the Roman army. Thus, scholarly estimates of the number of soldiers of the first three centuries of the Roman empire can be summarised as follows: Thanks especially to the
Notitia dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of ...
(datable to the beginning of the fifth century), some modern authors, such as
A. H. M. Jones Arnold Hugh Martin Jones FBA (9 March 1904 – 9 April 1970) (known as A. H. M. Jones or Hugo Jones) was a prominent 20th-century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire. Biography Jones's best-known wor ...
have proposed a reconstruction of the dimensions of the Roman army in the time of Constantine, using the list of military units present in the eastern and western portions of the empire. Jones's proposal could be summarised thus: 600,000 soldiers total, including 104,000 comitatenses in the west, 113,000 comitatenses in the east, 135,000
limitanei The ''līmitāneī'' (Latin, also called ''rīpēnsēs''), meaning respectively "the soldiers in frontier districts" (from the Latin phrase līmēs, meaning a military district of a frontier province) or "the soldiers on the riverbank" (from the ...
in the west, and 248,000 in the east. This estimate was said to be affirmed by Agathias (''On the reign of Justinian'', 5.13) who wrote at the time of
Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
that in "earlier times" (which
A. H. M. Jones Arnold Hugh Martin Jones FBA (9 March 1904 – 9 April 1970) (known as A. H. M. Jones or Hugo Jones) was a prominent 20th-century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire. Biography Jones's best-known wor ...
suggests was before 395, most probably in the time of Diocletian and Constantine,), the army had numbered 645,000 soldiers. The estimate of Agathias and A.H.M. Jones has however been put into doubt by more recent studies which maintain that the figure of Agathias, even if it has some validity, would represent the official, not the actual size of Constantine's army. In fact, the units of the late empire contained fewer soldiers than they officially consisted of. Perhaps even a third of the official figure may have existed only on paper.Elton (1996) 89 Therefore, the 645,000 soldiers mentioned by Agathias may have been less than 400,000 in reality. This figure agrees well with the other total figures provided by ancient sources, such as the estimate of 389,704 soldiers given for the army of Diocletian by Agathias' contemporary
John Lydus John the Lydian or John Lydus ( el, ; la, Ioannes Laurentius Lydus) (ca. AD 490 – ca. 565) was a Byzantine administrator and writer on antiquarian subjects. Life and career He was born in 490 AD at Philadelphia in Lydia, whence his cognomen ...
(excluding the navy).John Lydus, ''De Mensibus'', 1.47. The number given by Lydus is considered more credible than that of Agathias by modern scholars because of its precision (the implication being that since it is not a round number it was perhaps found in an official document) and because it is ascribed to a specific point in time. Jones' estimate of 645,000 soldiers, moreover, is based on assumptions about the number of soldiers in each unit of ''limitanei'' which may be too high. Jones calculated the number of soldiers in Egyptian units under Diocletian using evidence found in
papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
records of military pay. However, a recent work by R Duncan-Jones, revising the calculations, has concluded that Jones over-estimated the size of the units by two to six times. For example, Jones had estimated that every legion on the frontier had around 3,000 soldiers, while units elsewhere were composed of 500 men each;Jones (1964) 681–2 according to the revisions of Duncan-Jones, on the other hand, the frontier legions had 500 men per unit as well, an ''ala'' only 160 and a unit of ''equites'' 80. While admitting the possibility that some of these units were detachments of larger units, it is probable that the actual number of soldiers in all units was a great deal smaller than in preceding periods. Duncan-Jones' estimates also conform with the results of numerous archaeological excavations along the imperial frontiers which suggest that the fortresses of the Late Empire were designed to accommodate smaller garrisons than those of the
principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...
. Where such sites can be identified with the forts listed in the
Notitia dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of ...
, the implication is that the resident units were very small indeed. Examples include the ''Legio II Herculia'', created by Diocletian, which occupied a fortress only 1/7 of the size of a typical legionary fort of the Principate, suggesting a unit of around 750 soldiers. At Abusina on the Rhine, the ''Cohors III Brittonum'' resided in a fort only a tenth the size of its old fort in the time of Trajan, suggesting that the cohort contained a mere 50 soldiers. This evidence must be used with caution insofar as the identifications of archaeological sites with the locations in the Notitia Dignatorum is often uncertain and also because the units in question could be detachments (The Notitia frequently mentions the same units in two or three different locations at the same time). Even so, the results of the excavations seem to suggest tiny dimensions for the units of the frontiers. Furthermore, more recent works suggest that the regular army of the second century was considerably larger than the circa 300,000 traditionally assumed, with the auxiliaries containing around 50% more troops than the legions, in contradiction to the beginning of the first century when the legions and auxiliaries were around the same number.Holder (2003) 120 The army of the Principate probably reached a peak of around 450,000 soldiers (excluding fleets and ''foederati'') towards the end of the second century.MacMullen 1979, 454. Further the evidence suggests that the actual numbers of the units were typically closer to the official numbers (say 85%) in the second century than in the fourth century.Goldsworthy (2003) 144–5 In any case, the estimates for the size of the army in the Principate are based on more certain evidence than the evidence for the late imperial army, which is far less certain.


Notes


Bibliography


Primary sources

*
Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally Anglicisation, anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Ancient history, antiquity (preceding Procopius). His w ...
, ''Histories'' *
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
, '' De bello Gallico''. *
John Lydus John the Lydian or John Lydus ( el, ; la, Ioannes Laurentius Lydus) (ca. AD 490 – ca. 565) was a Byzantine administrator and writer on antiquarian subjects. Life and career He was born in 490 AD at Philadelphia in Lydia, whence his cognomen ...
, ''De Mensibus'', 1. *
Notitia Dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of ...


*
Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
, ''Life of Romulus''. *
Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
, '' The Histories'', 6.19–42. * Vegetius, ''
De Re Militari ''De re militari'' (Latin "Concerning Military Matters"), also ''Epitoma rei militaris'', is a treatise by the Late Latin writer Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus about Roman warfare and military principles as a presentation of the methods and pr ...
''


Secondary sources

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External links

{{Portal, Ancient Rome, War
romanarmy.com






Military of ancient Rome