Download by Luke The Roman army was the most powerful in Ancient World

by Luke
The Roman army was the most powerful in Ancient World. The Roman army had
about 140,000 soldiers in it and the soldiers were divided into legions. A legion has
about 6,000 men in it. At its height the Roman army had 26 legions. The legion was
divided into two cohorts. When the cohorts have too much it gets divided into a century.
When the century has a lot it will be divided into a contubernium. A contubernium has
eight men in it.
The Roman army had different kinds of officers and soldiers. Legate is an officer
who commands a legion. Tribute is an officer who helped the legate to run the legion.
Praefectuscastroram is a senior officer in charge of the training and organization of a
legion. Primuspilas is the senior centurion in a legion. Centurion is the leader of a
century. Legionary is a foot soldier. Auxiliary is a non-citizen who fought in the army.
Each legion had its own groups of auxiliary. Aquilifer is the standardbearer who carried
the legion’s precious golden eagle during battle. Cornicenc is a hornblower who sent
signals during battles. Signifer is a standard bearer who carried the emblem of a century.
The battle tactics are used in the army. The wedge is a V-shaped formation with
one man at the front. They use the wedge to break up and push back the opponents front
line. An orb is an outer circle. The Orb is used when the enemy is surrounds them. If the
legionary are ambushed by the enemy calvary, they form their shields and the pila into a
spiked wall.
The testudo made a missile proof of shields legionary advanced on enemy
grounds.
The uniforms and weapons were special to the army. The helmets were made of
iron and bronze. They had cheekguards to protect their face. They had a ridge on the
helmet to protect the neck. They had shields made out of ply-wood and covered with
leather to help protect them from getting stabbed. They had metal body suits. They had
a segmented breastplate so they could move more easily. Over that they had a shirt made
of thousands of metal rings. Then they tiny metal scales sewn on leather of fabric. The
swords were two feet long. It is also called a gladius. It was used for stabbing the
enemy. They kept the dagger on the left side so they could pull it our easier. The also
had javelins. The javelins are 6 _ feet long. The javelin is called pilum. Finally they
used short swords for stabbing up close.
Bibliography
Brocklehurst, Ruth. Roman Army. London: Usborne, 2003.
Chandler, Fiona, Sam Taplin, and Jane Bingham. Roman World. New York:
Scholastic,2001.