The city of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, founded in a strategic location among a war-like people (the

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 ...

), needed to concern itself with military activity from the start. As Rome grew, its military needs changed. This article covers the military establishment of the Roman kingdom up to about 300 BC.

Initial army

Rome was probably founded as a compromise between Etruscan residents of the area and Italic tribes nearby. The kings were Etruscan. Their language was still spoken by noble families in the early empire, although sources tell us it was dying out. Under the first king, Romulus, society consisted of gentes, or clans, arranged in 80 curiae and three tribes. From them were selected 8000 pedites (

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

) and 800 celeres ( cavalry) of gentes-connected men. The decimal scheme seems already to have existed: one unit of fast troops for every 10 of foot. The Etruscans were heavily influenced by Greek culture, which can be viewed as dominating the eastern Mediterranean. At first, under the Etruscan Kings, the massive

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...

was the most desired battle formation. Early Roman soldiers hence must have looked much like Greek

hoplites Hoplites ( ) ( grc, ὁπλίτης : hoplítēs) were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields. Hoplite soldiers used the phalanx formation to be effective in war with fewer soldiers. The f ...

. However, for the military in ancient Rome, the armor and weapons they had at their disposal was dictated by social class.

Reforms of Servius Tullius

A key moment in Roman history was the introduction of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

(the counting of the people) under

Servius Tullius Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned from 578 to 535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, ...

. He had found that the aristocratic organization now did not provide enough men for defense against the hill tribes, and, consequently, he accepted non-aristocrats into the state and reorganized society on the basis of wealth, determined at the census. Citizens were graded into six classes by property assessment. From them were recruited militias according to the equipment they could afford and the needs of the state. From the wealthiest classes were recruited the heavily armed infantry, equipped like the Greek hoplite warrior with helmet,

round shield A round shield can refer to any type of hand-held shield that has a round shape. They come in highly varying sizes, and have, in different forms, been very popular in Europe, the Asia and the Americas, throughout the Bronze Age, the Classical per ...

(''

clipeus In the military of classical antiquity, a ''clipeus'' (, Ancient Greek: ἀσπίς) was a large shield worn by the Greek hoplites and Romans as a piece of defensive armor, which they carried upon the arm, to protect them from the blows of the ...

''),

greave A greave (from the Old French ''greve'' "shin, shin armour") or jambeau is a piece of armour that protects the leg. Description The primary purpose of greaves is to protect the tibia from attack. The tibia, or shinbone, is very close to the ski ...

s and

breastplate A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. A breastplate is sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing. It is ...

, all of bronze, and carrying a spear ('' hasta'') and sword (not the ''

gladius ''Gladius'' () is a Latin word meaning "sword" (of any type), but in its narrow sense it refers to the sword of ancient Roman foot soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those of the Greeks, called '' xiphe'' (plural; singular ''xi ...

''). In battle, they followed the principle of "two forward, one back." The first and second ''acies'', or lines of battle, composed of ''

principes ''Principes'' (Singular: ''princeps'') were spearmen, and later swordsmen, in the armies of the early Roman Republic. They were men in the prime of their lives who were fairly wealthy, and could afford decent equipment. They were the heavier in ...

'' and ''

hastati ''Hastati'' (singular: ''hastatus'') were a class of infantry employed in the armies of the early Roman Republic, who originally fought as spearmen and later as swordsmen. These soldiers were the staple unit after Rome threw off Etruscan rule. ...

'', were forward; the ''

triarii ''Triarii'' (singular: ''Triarius'') were one of the elements of the early Roman military manipular legions of the early Roman Republic (509 BC – 107 BC). They were the oldest and among the wealthiest men in the army and could afford high qua ...

'' or "third rank", containing the ''veterani'', or "old ones", was held in reserve. From the name, ''hastati'', one can deduce that the ''hasta'', a thrusting spear, was the weapon of choice. ''Triarii'' were equipped with a long spear, or pike, a shield and heavy armor. The remaining class or classes (''

rorarii ''Rorarii'' were soldiers who formed the final lines, or else provided a reserve thereby, in the ancient pre- Marian Roman army. They may have been used with the ''triarii'' in battle near the final stages of fighting, since they are recorded as be ...

'') were lightly armed with the javelin (''verutum''). They were no doubt used for skirmishing, to disrupt the enemy ranks before the main battle. The officers as well as the cavalry were either not in the six classes or were of the first class. The question remains open. If the nobility were above the six, they were drawn from the senatorial rank or rank of

equestrians Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

(''equites''), also known as knights.

Reforms of Camillus

All in all the Roman army consisted of 18 centuries of ''equites'', 82 centuries of the first class (of which 2 centuries were engineers), 20 centuries each of the second, third and fourth classes and 32 centuries of the fifth class (of which 2 centuries were trumpeters). Even these measures were inadequate to the challenges Rome was to face. They went to war with the

Hernici The Hernici were an Italic tribe of ancient Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Fucine Lake and the Sacco River (''Trerus''), bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north. For many years of the ear ...

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

and

Latini The Latins (Latin: ''Latini''), sometimes known as the Latians, were an Italic tribe which included the early inhabitants of the city of Rome (see Roman people). From about 1000 BC, the Latins inhabited the small region known to the Romans a ...

(Italics), undertook the reduction of Etruria and endured an invasion of

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

under

Brennus Brennus or Brennos is the name of two Gaulish chieftains, famous in ancient history: * Brennus, chieftain of the Senones, a Gallic tribe originating from the modern areas of France known as Seine-et-Marne, Loiret, and Yonne; in 387 BC, in t ...

. Into the gap stepped one of the great generals Rome seemed able to produce at critical moments:

Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus (; c. 446 – 365 BC) was a Roman soldier and statesman of the patrician class. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of ''Second Founder ...

. He held various offices, such as ''

interrex The interrex (plural interreges) was literally a ruler "between kings" (Latin ''inter reges'') during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent. History The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created follow ...

'' and

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

, but was never king himself. In the early fourth century BC, Rome suffered its greatest humiliation when Po valley Celts under Brennus sacked Rome itself. The Romans wanted to abandon the city and resettle at Veii (an Etruscan city), but Camillus prevented it. If Rome was to re-establish her authority over central Italy and be prepared to meet any similar disasters in future, some reorganization was needed. These changes were traditionally believed to have been the work of Camillus, but according to another theory, they were introduced gradually during the second half of the fourth century BC. Italy was not governed by city states like Greece, where armies met on large plains, deemed suitable by both sides, to reach a decision. Far more it was a collection of hill tribes using the difficult terrain to their advantage. Something altogether more flexible was needed to combat such foes than the unwieldy, slow-moving phalanx. The ''legio'', or "levy", was introduced at this time, with a structure of ''manipuli'' ("handsful"). The infantry adopted a looser fighting formation distinct from the earlier tightly packed hoplite shield wall, and soldiers began to carry javelins. In this formation, the Romans became more like their Gallic adversaries than Greek hoplites.

Conscription

When it was time to draft additional soldiers into the military, they would look to their citizens for assistance in the defense of Rome. In the writings of Polybius it was in the natural order of a Roman citizen to fight in the military. However, the military was divided by class and wealth. The poorer citizens made up most of the light infantry (''

velites ''Velites'' (singular: ) were a class of infantry in the Roman army of the mid-Republic from 211 to 107 BC. ''Velites'' were light infantry and skirmishers armed with javelins ( la, hastae velitares), each with a 75cm (30 inch) wooden shaft the ...

'') of the legion. The higher class ''equites'' were drafted into the cavalry because they could afford a horse.

Organization

The Roman army was divided into 30 legions. Each legion was made up of about 4000 to 5000 legionaries. Each legion was made up of 10 cohorts, each cohort consisting of 480 legionaries. A cohort was made up of six groups (centuries) of 80 men. Each century was led by a centurion and was further divided into eight groups called '' contubernia''. While in this stretch the centurion, was stead to lead 100 legionaries. Centurions have been thought to lead from the writings of Polybius the centuries, and have been keen in the Roman military stance of tactics, leadership and knowledge of their troops. The centurion was a key part of the Roman military because he provided leadership to the troops that were divided among cohorts and legions, however it gave them the morale for each to be a decisive point in their ranks because of the centurion. Non-citizens could fight for Rome as well; however, they were paid less and were not given the best armor and weaponry. These soldiers were called auxiliaries.

Framework for combat

That there are multiple degrees of influence on this subject it is based on the individual soldier to the legion then also compared to the ways of combat being in melee or by ranged combat each being in a different respect. For individual experience it is framed as for legionaries that you will be very aggressive and fight for a time of 15 to 20 minutes and trying to stay alive while doing this and going to rest and let the for the formations re-rank and let them rest; which is an achievement that is very worthy to fight hand to hand in combat with more than likely overwhelming odds and trying to stay alive while still fighting and keeping a line in the battlefield is quite a feat. However ranged combat would be common in the legion, however it isn't truly elaborated on.

References

J. (2013). James. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from http://primaryfacts.com/1179/roman-army-facts/

Military establishment of the Roman Republic The structural history of the Roman military concerns the major transformations in the organization and constitution of ancient Rome's armed forces, "the most effective and long-lived military institution known to history."''Encyclopædia Brita ...

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