The Roman Army in Ancient Times

Introduction

The roman army is considered, one of the best and most devolved ancient armies in the world. Some of their techniques were so good armies still use them to this day. The roman army was an elite force that trained all year even when they were not in battle. This is one of the reasons the won most of their battles as they were the only army that trained. The roman army started way back in 31 BC and fell in 337 AD. Some of the interesting roman generals were Julius Caesar (who later became a dictator of Rome), Scipio Africanus, Belisarius, Lucullus and Marcus Claudius Marcellus.

Significance of the Roman Army

The most significant factor in the expansion on Rome was the highly trained army. The roman army was a massive part of Rome and without it Rome would have fallen much earlier. The army had a highly disciplined soldiers and cruel but effective punishments. They were the first and only army of their time to insist on mandatory combat training for their soldiers. Instead of training almost half million roman soldiers in one go they had a helpful system. There were different sections of the roman army and they trained in a group called a century. There are about 80 soldiers in one century. The next group is called a cohort. 1 cohort contains about 6 centuries. Next is a Legion. Altogether a legion has about 5,500 soldiers. There were multiple legions too. This formation also helped in battle. An example is the Punic wars between Rome and Carthage. Rome one 2 of them because of their amazing formation and advanced weaponry. The romans had catapults that shot burning pots bull of oil at the enemy. The reason why they did this is so if it did not hurt anyone a on fire tree could fall on the enemy. This is just one example of their many amazing resources. But the romans also had a reputation for violence as they did not like to give the enemy any chances. Julius Caesar said, “I came, I saw, I conquered” (47 which suggests that The Roman Army was successful and did manage to conquer.

The Roman Army came up with all sorts of skills and strategies they used to keep fit, healthy and skilled on the battle field. Some of them were so good we still used them today. This includes many of their battle formations. The Romans were the only army at the time had had a battle formation and it worked effectively. Thanks to the romans we still train our armies rather than just putting s bunch of untrained solders on the field. Although there are a few things that have stayed the same many things have also changed. This includes, the fact that back then, woman was not allowed to serve in the army and now they can. Italy was one of the last countries to make it official that woman can fight. There have also been major weaponry and Armor changes as now mainly guns are used to fight. Armor is better quality and is Harder to see.

This is a Secondary Source Documentary on Ancient Rome and what life used to be like for them and how the roman army worked. Although, this was only published this year I consider it to be a reliable source as it was made by the CBBC, a government broadcasting channel that has carefully collected data through algologists and research.

This Primary Source is a mosaic of how gladiators used to fight in the Colosseum. Back them, watching gladiators fight to the death was like going to the football for us! (An exciting day out!). Sometimes popular roman soldiers would go in to the Colosseum to get more popular and a large quantity of money. This Source is not very reliable because it does not have any dates published, made or found.

The complete Roman Army: A book by Adrian Goldsworthy that was published in 2003.

This Secondary Source is a book published about the roman armies and what used to happen in them. This may include the Punic Wars and cruel punishments they put out is the fled from battle.

I consider this is be a Reliable source because this author has done research and is very educated in the topic. Also, false facts do not go in books.

Conclusion

So, there you have it, the roman army was one of the most elite, well trained armies of the ancient times. They were very significant as they expanded Rome to the entire of Italy and many things have changed since them, but some things have stayed the same. It was the best ancient army in the world and it started in 31 BC and fell in 337 AD. Some of the interesting roman generals were Julius Caesar (who later became a dictator of Rome), Scipio Africanus, Belisarius, Lucullus and Marcus Claudius Marcellus.

Bibliography

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