The Roman Empire has been seen as a role model more than once. The elite of many states proclaimed themselves the successors of the Romans, assuming the divine mission of recreating the world empire. She imitated state institutions, the customs of the Romans, architecture. However, few people managed to bring their army to perfection. The famous Roman legions, which created the largest state of the Ancient World, relied on a rare combination of high skill and the impeccable ability of each warrior to fight in any situation, regardless of the number of supporters. This was the secret to the greatest victories of Roman weapons.
The Romans knew how to quickly and accurately rebuild during battles. They could break up into small units and come together again, go on the attack and close in a dead defense. At any tactical level, they consistently carried out the orders of the commanders. The amazing discipline and sense of elbow of the Roman legionnaires is the result of a careful selection of physically developed people into the army.young people, the fruit of a system of teaching perfect martial arts. Vegetius's treatise "On Military Affairs" describes the discipline that prevailed among the Roman legionnaires. He wrote about the weapons skills brought to automaticity, unquestioning obedience and accuracy in carrying out orders, the high level of tactical literacy of each of the legionnaires, as well as their interaction with other military units. It was the greatest army that ever existed.
Initially, the entire Roman army was called the legion, which was a militia of free citizens selected on the basis of property. The army was assembled only for military training and during the war. The word legion comes from lat. legio - "military call". But such an army could not provide reliable protection for a state that was constantly waging wars of conquest. Its reorganization was carried out by the commander Gaius Marius. Even poor Roman citizens were now drafted into the professional army for a service life of 25 years. The order of supplying them with weapons was determined. As a reward for their service, veterans received land allotments and a cash pension. Allies were given Roman citizenship for service.
Roman legions got the opportunity to train according to the same standards, to have the same equipment. Legionnaires were trained throughout the year. One legion included about 6,000 men, 5,200 of whom were soldiers. It was divided into 10 cohorts of 6 centuries. The latter, in turn, were divided by 10 people into decuria. The cavalry was divided into turmes. The army has become more mobile, disciplined. In the republican period, a military tribune was at the head of the legion, in the imperial period, a legate. Each legion had its own name and number. According to written sources that have survived to this day, there were about 50 of them.
Roman legions thanks to the reforms in a fairly short period of time became a professionally trained unsurpassed army that increased the military power of the empire. The Roman army was excellently armed, distinguished by strict discipline, its commanders were fluent in the art of war. There was a special system of fines and punishments, based on the fear of losing the respect of their colleagues, patron, emperor. The Romans used a long tradition of punishing disobedient warriors: the execution of every tenth of the units into which the soldiers were divided was practiced. For legionnaires who evaded military service in the 3rd century. BC. The death pen alty was passed. Warriors who preferred suicide to captivity were glorified.
In the Roman army, the infantry was the main arm of the army. The actions of the ground forces were provided by the fleet. But the main tactical and organizational unit was the legion, which from the 4th century BC. e. consisted of 10 turmes (cavalry) and the same number of maniples (infantry). It also included a convoy, throwing and ramming machines. At some historical moments, the number of the legion increased.
Tactics, combat schedule, armament, rare defeats and the highest victories are described in the book by Makhlayuk A., Negin A. "Roman legions in battle". legionsnot without reason called the backbone of the greatest ancient state. They conquered half the world for the empire and are rightfully considered the most advanced and powerful fighting machine of that time. Surpass the legionnaires before the 18th century AD. e. no one succeeded.
The history of the Roman legions in all its grandeur is presented in the book of the Austrian writer Stephen Dando-Collins “The Legions of Rome. A complete history of all the legions of the Roman Empire, where he collected and systematized unique information about all these military units of Ancient Rome. Each of them is described from the moment of creation, their combat path, successes and defeats in battles are traced. The Roman legions have been studied from the conditions of selection to the methods of military training of legionnaires. The book presents a description of weapons, equipment, military distinctions, a system of awards and wages, features of discipline and punishments. The structure of the legions, the strategy and tactics of combat are analyzed in sufficient detail. This is a complete history guide including diagrams, maps, battle plans and photographs.
