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The Roman Army
Be All You Can Be…
THE ROMAN ARMY

By the end of the civil wars the Roman
Army had changed dramatically

Service by all Roman citizens was
not practical.


Long term garrison troops
New terms of service were laid down
by Augustus and his military aide,
Marcus Agrippa

Army consisted of professional,
long-term soldiers who were paid
relatively good salaries



had to be Roman citizens
(later non-citizens were
allowed to enlist).
receive citizenship after 20
years of service
Given choice of 12,000
sesterces cash bonus or
its equivalent in land at
retirement
MILITARY STRENGTH



Augustus established 28 legions
 About 6000 men each
 Trajan increased number to 30
legions and Septimius Severus
increased it again to 33 legions
Most stationed along frontiers of the
empire
 2/3s in the western provinces and
the rest scattered in the east and
North Africa
Rome also had several fleets
 Two stationed along Italian coast,
squadrons stations off coasts of
Egypt and Syria, and one each on
Danube River, Rhine River, Black
Sea and the English Channel
LOYALTY

Army loyal to emperor in normal times

But no emperor ever took this
loyalty for granted
 He kept control by making sure that:
 All generals and many lesser
officers appointed by and
responsible to the emperor
 Commanders continually shifted
from place to place
 Governors were prohibited from
raising their own armies and
discouraged from contacting
each other

Not allowed to pay troops
or reward bonuses
SPIRITUAL CONNECTION

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All soldiers were spiritually bound to
the emperor
 Swore oath of allegiance when
they enlisted in which they
vowed:
 “to perform with enthusiasm
whatever the emperor
commands, never to desert, and
not to shrink from death on
behalf of the Roman state”
 Also observed numerous
religious holidays in which the
current emperors and selected
past emperors were honored
Not easy to incite soldiers to rebel
 Average rank-and-file soldier was
fairly trustworthy (during first
200 years of empire)
CONDITIONS
 Conditions of service were pretty
tolerable
 Soldiers were paid fairly well
 Dangers they faced were not
particularly great


Commanders were
expected to win through
caution rather than by
boldness
There were occasional
disasters

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Such as total destruction
of 3 legions commanded
by General Varus by
Germans during reign of
Augustus
But this was rare
ACTIVITIES

Most soldiers spent their long
service in peacetime activities

Going on marches and
training exercises

Building and maintaining
roads, forts, walls, and
bridges

Acting as police force in
territories where they were
stationed
 This job could get
burdensome
POLICE PROBLEMS


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Bandits and brigands were a problem
 As were pirates on the
Mediterranean Sea and major
rivers
Runaway slaves were another big
problem
 Special brigades created just to
catch them
Rebellions also sometimes occurred
 Usually broke out within first 20
years after a new territory had
been conquered
 Most rebellious people in the
empire were the Jews
 Masada Revolt (66-75 CE)
 Even worse revolt (133-135
CE)
THE PRICE OF REBELLION

Open challenge to imperial
system was simply not
allowed

If troops were called in to
quell a revolt or riot, they
could leave a town or city
in a shambles
 Destroyed Cremona,
Lyon, and Byzantium
after soldiers put
down minor revolts
THE FRONTIER

Emperors generally content to keep what they held

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Preferred diplomacy to war and usually garrisoned troops on established
frontiers rather than engage in more conquests
 They intelligently realized the technological, logistic, financial, and military
limits of Roman power and that it was wise to stay within them
Some exceptions
 Claudius’ conquest of Britain and Trajan’s conquest of Dacia
But they basically still realized that to conquer more territory would have been
a losing population in terms of money and manpower