More Important Topics of Cylinder

Early history

The Romans were originally a land power based in the Italian mainland, and were wary of the sea. In the First Punic War (264 BC - 241 BC), the Carthaginians, a power rooted in sea trade, were able to exploit their strength at sea in their struggles with the Roman Republic. Since most of the conflict in the war was overseas (especially in Sicily), Rome saw that it needed to build a fleet in order to develop

an effective military response. The result was the rapid construction in 260 BC of the first sizeable Roman fleet of about 150 quinqueremes and triremes, operating near the Strait of Messina between Sicily and the toe of Italy.

Rome worked to nullify the Carthaginian sea advantage by equipping their ships with the newly invented corvus, a plank with a spike for hooking onto enemy ships. This allowed the Romans to send their army to sea to board the attached enemy ships, avoiding the traditional battle tactics of ramming, in which they were far less experienced.

Although the first sea engagement, the Battle of the Lipari Islands in 260 BC, was a defeat for Rome, the forces involved were relatively small. The fledgling Roman navy won its first major engagement later that year at the Battle of Mylae. Through the course of the war, Rome continued to win victories at sea and gained naval experience. Their string of successes allowed Rome to push the war further across the sea to Carthage itself.

At the beginning of the Second Punic War (218 BC - 202 BC), the balance of naval power in the Western Mediterranean had shifted from Carthage to Rome. This caused Hannibal, Carthage's great general, to shift the strategy, bringing the war to the Italian mainland. After Rome's eventual victory over Carthage, there was no other sea power left to contend with Rome's marine might, and the Roman Navy was largely disbanded.

In the absence of a strong naval presence, piracy flourished throughout the Mediterranean. Periodically, Rome would organize expeditions to deal with pirates. In 67 BC, Pompey organized a naval force that effectively rid the Mediterranean of them for the time.

As the Roman Republic unraveled in the period of civil war, competing Roman forces once again built up their naval might. Sextus Pompeius, in his conflict with Octavian, amassed a fleet powerful enough to threaten the vital supply of grain from Sicily to Rome. Octavian, with the help of Marcus Agrippa, built a fleet at Forum Iulii, and defeated Sextus in the Battle of Naulochus in 36 BC, ending all Pompeian resistance.

Octavian's power was further cemented against the combined fleets of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra in the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. This last naval battle of the Roman Republic definitively established Rome, with Octavian in sole command, as the supreme naval power in the Mediterranean.

History and evolution

"The Roman Army" is the name given by English-speakers to the soldiers and other military forces who served the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. The Roman words for the military were often based on the word for one soldier, miles. The army in general was the militia, and a commander of military operations, magister militiae. In the republic, a general might be called imperator, "commander" (as in Caesar imperator), but under the empire, that term became reserved for the highest office.

The Romans only called themselves "Roman" in very formal circumstances, such as senatus populusque Romanus (SPQR), "the Roman senate and people" or when they needed to distinguish themselves from others, as in civis Romanus, "Roman citizen." Otherwise, they used less formal and ethnocentric terms, such as nostri, "our men", also in mare nostrum, "our sea", for the Mediterranean. The state was res publica, "the public thing", and parallel to it was res militaris, "the military thing", which could have a number of connotations.

Miles has no clear etymology. We know that Rome was originally an Etruscan city, Ruma, and the Etruscans were a war-like people. Many of the early families of Rome, including some of the most aristocratic families, were originally Etruscan. It would be surprising, then, if miles had an Indo-european etymology. We don't know enough Etruscan language to rule it in or out as Etruscan.

The Army came to dominate much of the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, including the province of Britannia and Asia Minor at the Empire's height. Little is known of the army under the monarchy. Even before the monarchy was overthrown in 509 BC, the army had become a citizen army. It remained a citizen army throughout most of the Republic, until becoming a professional army following the reforms of Gaius Marius c. 100 BC.

The army ended on a note less musical. Rome became what we would call a military dictatorship. The army began to play a part in selecting emperors, removing them typically by assassination. Imperator became a very risky office to hold. At last the senate refused to nominate any more candidates and left the selection totally up to the army, but the decision to do that did not bring stability in government.

In the end the empire broke in two and then spintered into rival, warring armies. By that time there were but few Romans in the Roman army. It consisted mainly of provincial troops, due to the practice of placating enemies by letting them serve in the army, which exerted military discipline over them.

Pre-Republican military evolution

Much like many other ancient cities of the time, the Roman Kingdom under the Etruscan kings had a citizen based army, a militia called up in times of war. King Servius Tullius was the first to create an organized census of his citizens to better facilitate the creation of armies, a system that would last until the end of the Roman Republic. Sometime during this period, the army adopted the Greek hoplite, a soldier who provided his own armour and was armed with a long spear, and used the Phalanx formation.

This development most likely came through Etruria, and it lasted well into the Republican era. It is also during this period that the pilum was most likely invented, giving the Roman army one of its first real contrast to its Greek counterpart. The king was the overall commander of the army, but members of the patrician families also had significant authority. It was also during the Kingdom that the army began to be organized into very specific and rigid sections, with the entire army being called the legio (legion).

The Republican Army

Sometime during the late Roman Kingdom or early Roman Republic the legio was split into two. Following the overthrow of the monarchy, executive authority rested in the annually elected consul position, of which there were two, each taking a part in the command of one of the two legions. This often lead to bickering, and in the mid-Republican years when larger armies began to be raised, such as during the Second Punic War, command often ended up falling to on consul on alternate days for the entire army, leading to debacles such as the one at the Battle of Cannae.

As the Republic developed, the necessity of reform was evident. The availible manpower began to dwindle as the numbers of landholding men decreased and the number of men required to defend Rome's increasing territory increased.

The popular and successful consul Gaius Marius put foreward a number of reforms, or perhaps more appropriately began to ignore the law, and recruited men from outside the landowning class, of which there were a growing number. This lead to a more professional army, but started a long trend that could be viewed as a negative one, as the army stopped becoming part of the population, and became something entirely separate with goals and desires quite different from the average citizen of Rome.

Another important reform was the command structure of the army. In order to police the growing territory outside of Italy, Rome organized them into provinces and gave the command of which to a military governor called a proconsul. This man had absolute authority in the province, and even had the power to raise legions.

Although this could be said to be a requirement for policing their growing territory, ambitious proconsuls could easily abuse their power not only in their province, but use their men to undermine the Republic itself. The consuls could still only raise a single legion each, while proconsuls often had two or three under their command, a fact not missed by men like Julius Caesar.

The Imperial Army

During the reign of Augustus and Trajan the army became a professional one. Its core of legionaries was composed of Roman citizens who served for a minimum of twenty-five years. Augustus in his reign tried to eliminate the loyalty of the legions to the generals who commanded them, forcing them to take an oath of allegiance directly to him. While the legions remained relatively loyal to Augustus during his reign, under others, especially the more corrupt emperors or those who unwisely treated the military poorly, the legions often took power into their own hands.

Legions continued to move farther and farther to the outskirts of society, especially in the later periods of the empire as the majority of legionaries no longer came from Italy, and were instead born in the provinces. The loyalty the legions felt to their emperor only degraded more with time, and lead in the 2nd Century and 3rd Century to a large number of military usurpers and civil wars. By the time of the military officer emperors that characterized the period following the Crisis of the Third Century the Roman army was just as likely to be attacking itself as an outside invader.

Both the pre- and post-Marian armies were greatly assisted by auxiliary troops. A typical Roman legion was accompanied by a matching auxiliary legion. In the pre-Marian army these auxiliary troops were Italians, and often Latins, from cities near Rome. The post-Marian army incorporated these Italian soldiers into its standard legions (as all Italians were Roman citizens after the Social War). Its auxiliary troops were made up of foreigners from provinces distant to Rome, who gained Roman citizenship after completing their twenty five years of service.

This system of foreign auxiliaries allowed the post-Marian army to strengthen traditional weak points of the Roman system, such as light missile troops and cavalry, with foreign specialists, especially as the richer classes took less and less part of military affairs and the Roman army lost much of its domestic cavalry.

At the beginning of the Imperial period the number of legions was 60, which Augustus more than halved to 28, numbering at approximately 160,000 men. As more territory was conquered throughout the Imperial period, this fluctuated into the mid-thirties.

At the same time, at the beginning of the Imperial period the foreign auxiliaries made up a rather small portion of the military, but continued to rise, so that by the end of the period of the Five Good Emperors they probably equalled the legionnaires in number, giving a combined total of between 300,000 and 400,000 men in the Army.

Under Augustus and Trajan, the army had become a highly efficient and thoroughly professional body, brilliantly led and staffed. To Augustus fell the difficult task of retaining much that Caesar had created, but on a permanent peace-time footing. He did so by creating a standing army, made up of 28 legions, each one consisting of roughly 6000 men. Additional to these forces there was a similar number of auxiliary troops.

Augustus also reformed the length of time a soldier served, increasing it from six to twenty years (16 years full service, 4 years on lighter duties). The standard of a legion, the so-called aquila (eagle) was the very symbol of the unit's honour. The aquilifer was the man who carried the standard, he was almost as high in rank as a centurion.

It was this elevated and honourable position which also made him the soldiers' treasurer in charge of the pay chest. A legion on the march relied completely on its own resources for weeks.

In addition to his weapons and armour, each man carried a marching pack that included a cooking pot, some rations, clothes and any personal possessions. Furthermore, to make camp each night every man carried tools for digging as well as two stakes for a palisade. Weighed down by such burdens it is little wonder that the soldiers were nicknamed 'Marius' Mules'.

There has over time been much debate regarding how much weight a legionary actually had to carry. Now, 30 kg (ca. 66 lbs) is generally considered the upper limit for an infantryman in modern day armies. Calculations have been made which, including the entire equipment and the 16 day's worth of rations, brings the weight to over 41 kg (ca. 93 lbs). And this estimate is made using the lightest possible weights for each item, it suggest the actual weight would have been even higher.

This suggests that the sixteen days rations were not carried by the legionaries. the rations referred to in the old records might well have been a sixteen days ration of hard tack (buccellatum), usually used to supplement the daily corn ration (frumentum). By using it as an iron ration, it might have sustained a soldier for about three days. The weight of the buccellatum is estimated to have been about 3 kg, which, given that the corn rations would add more than 11 kg, means that without the corn, the soldier would have carried around 30 kg (66 lbs), pretty much the same weight as today's soldiers.

The necessity for a legion to undertake quite specialised tasks such as bridge building or engineering siege machines, required there to be specialists among their numbers. These men were known as the immunes, 'excused from regular duties'.

Among them would be medical staff, surveyors, carpenters, veterinaries, hunters, armourers - even soothsayers and priests. When the legion was on the march, the chief duty of the surveyors would be to go ahead of the army, perhaps with a cavalry detachment, and to seek out the best place for the night's camp.

In the forts along the empire's frontiers other non-combatant men could be found. For an entire bureaucracy was necessary to keep the army running. So scribes and supervisors, in charge of army pay, supplies and customs. Also there would be military police present.

As a unit, a legion was made up of ten cohorts, each of which was further divided into six centuries of eighty men, commanded by a centurion. The commander of the legion, the legatus, usually held his command for three or four years, usually as a preparation for a later term as provincial governor. The legatus, also referred to as general in much of modern literature, was surrounded by a staff of six officers.

These were the military tribunes, who - if deemed capable by the legatus - might indeed command an entire section of a legion in battle. The tribunes, too, were political positions rather than purely military, the tribunus laticlavius being destined for the senate. Another man, who could be deemed part of the general's staff, was the centurio primus pilus.

This was the most senior of all the centurions, commanding the first century of the first cohort, and therefore the man of the legion, when it was in the field, with the greatest experience (in Latin, "primus pilus" means "first javelin", as the primus pilus was allowed to hurl the first javelin in battle). The primus pilus also oversaw the everyday running of the forces.

1 Contubernium - 8 Men

10 Contubernia: 1 Century - 80 Men

2 Centuries: 1 Maniple - 160 Men

6 Centuries: 1 Cohort - 480 Men

10 Cohorts + 120 Horsemen: 1 Legion - 5240 Men *

1 Legion = 9 normal cohorts (9 x 480 Men) + 1 "First Cohort" of 5 centuries (but each century at the strength of a maniple, so 5 x 160 Men) + 120 Horsemen = 5240 Men

Together with non-combatants attached to the army, a legion would count around 6000 men. The 120 horsemen attached to each legion were used as scouts and dispatch riders. They were ranked with staff and other non-combatants and allocated to specific centuries, rather than belonging to a squadron of their own.

The senior professional soldiers in the legion was likely to be the camp prefect, praefectus castrorum. He was usually a man of some thirty years service, and was responsible for organization, training, and equipment.

Centurions, when it came to marching, had one considerable privilege over their men. Whereas the soldiers moved on foot, they rode on horseback. Another significant power they possessed was that of beating their soldiers. For this they would carry a staff, perhaps two or three foot long. Apart from his distinctive armour, this staff was one of the means by which one could recognise a centurion.

One of the remarkable features of centurions is the way in which they were posted from legion to legion and province to province. It appears they were not only highly sought after men, but the army was willing to transport them over considerable distances to reach a new assignment.

The most remarkable aspect of the centurionate though must be that they were not normally discharged but died in service. Thus, to a centurion the army was truly his life. Each centurion had an optio, so called because originally he was nominated by the centurion. The optiones ranked with the standard bearers as principales receiving double the pay of an ordinary soldier. The title optio ad spem ordinis was given to an optio who had been accepted for promotion to the centurionate, but who was waiting for a vacancy.

Another officer in the century was the tesserarius, who was mainly responsible for small sentry pickets and fatigue parties, and so had to receive and pass on the watchword of the day. Finally there was the custos armorum who was in charge of the weapons and equipment.

Second Line 10th Cohort 9th Cohort 8th Cohort 7th Cohort 6th Cohort

The first cohort of any legion were its elite troops. So too the sixth cohort consisted of "the finest of the young men", the eighth contained "selected troops", the tenth cohort "good troops". The weakest cohorts were the 2nd, 4th, 7th and the 9th cohorts. It was in the 7th and 9th cohorts one would expect to find recruits in training.

The last major reform of the Imperial Army came under the reign of Diocletian in the late 3rd Century. During the instability that had marked most of that century, the army had fallen in number and lost much of its ability to effectively police and defend the empire. He quickly recruited a large number of men, increasing the number of legionnaires from between 150,000-200,000 to 350,000-400,000, effectively doubling the number in a case of quantity over quality.

Weapons and equipment of the Army

Amentum (thrower)

Aquila (eagle)

Arcus (bow)

Ballista (catapult)

Bracae (trousers)

Caligae (boots)

Focale (scarf)

Funda (sling)

Galea (helmet)

Gladius (short sword)

Hasta (thrusting spear)

Lancea (lance)

Loculus (satchel)

Lorica hamata (chainmail armour)

Lorica segmentata (segmented armour)

Lorica squamata (scale armour)

Onager

Pilum (throwing spear)

Plumbata (dart)

Pugio (dagger)

Sagittae (arrows)

Sagum (cloak)

Scutum (cylindrical shield)

Siege engines

Siege hook

Spatha (long sword)

All the models were quilted inside, and had a thong that was happening across a ring subject to the later fin, and it was coming up to the side fins where they were sticking under the chin.

At the end of the Ist century A.D. they begin to aparecen some helmets with two reinforcements of steel in the shape of cross as measurement of protection from the weapon of the dácios (one of side to side and other of delate to behind), this one added in the first models is of coarse manufacture, but later it is a part of the original manufacture.

The centurions were taking in his helmets a few transverse combs (from ear to ear), nevertheless, it is not clear that the legionaries were taking combs, except perhaps sometimes special.

The first classification of Roman helmets corresponds to H. Russell Robinson, as well as of the chinstraps.

This one established four big groups, and inside every group it classified them with a letter for the deviations of the norm. Unfortunately the majority of models did not survive complete, so the pairing of helmet and chinstrap in much of them is for assumption.

Montefortino.

Origin: It is the most ancient model, and his name owes to itself the Italian city where the first one was found.

Period: From the IVth century B.C. until the Ist A.D., it was the model used by the consular armies of the republic, although the most probable thing is that once introduced other more modern, these models will only use the auxiliary troops.

It forms: They had form of sharp-pointed dome.

Materials: Realized in bronze.

Changes: of A to F.

Decoration: Without any decoration they were smooth enough except for any relief in the chinstraps, in the top part they take a support with conical form to hold a tuft of pens or of mane of horse.

Reinforcements: They present a small extension in the rear part to protect the neck, and in some models a frontal reinforcement, this one is thick and flat, or thin but with fold down.

Remarks: As system of subjection of the helmet a few small bolts existed in the chinstraps that thanks to some courts in the thongs of leather were allowing to hold the helmet.

Coolus

Origin: Inspired in I chat Gauls, his name owes to itself the original one found in the district of Coolus in the vale of Marne (region of the Champagne, to the north of France, and half of way entreParis and Germany).

Period: From the IIIrd century B.C. up to as minimum 79 A.D.

It forms: Semispherical.

Materials: Made of bronze.

Changes: of A the I.

Decoration: without any decoration they were smooth enough except for any relief in the chinstraps. They present a conical top in the top part as support for the comb, and also they can have pipes case in the wings.

Reinforcements: They have a reinforcement in the frontal part along the same one as the previous model and a protection of the neck slightly major than that of the Montefortino.

Gallic - imperial

Origin: Inspired by the helmets used by the Gauls.

Period: From the Ist century A.D. until the IInd A.D.

It forms: Semispherical.

Material: The model A can be of steel or brass, the Ist is always of brass, and the others of steel.

Changes: Of To the I.

Decoration: Sets with "eyebrows" recorded in relief in the frontal part, and small decorative rose windows in the helmet and the chinstraps of brass.

Reinforcements: In the hood, in the neck (bigger than in the previous model) staggered in relief, and in the ears (realized of brass).

Remarks: Sometimes they had a few hooks destined to fix the comb in the frontal and rear part, and also a rectangular piece in the top part with the same end.

Italic - imperial

Origin: Very similar to Gallic one, but due to the simplicity in the skill of construction and to almost disappearance of any decorative element, according to H. Russell Robinson he supposes that were constructed by italic blacksmiths.

Period: The ends of the Ist century A.D. until beginning of the IIIrd A.D.

It forms: Semispherical.

Material: I steel.

Changes: Of To to H.

Decoration: They lack the form of "eyebrow" of the models Gálicos.

Reinforcements: The frontal reinforcement is thinner than the previous model, and sometimes it is doubled 90th to give him more consistency.

Remarks: Several models use a system of fixation of the comb based on a flat piece in the shape of "Y" that was getting in the helmet in an orifice with form of "T", in which it was getting and then it was turning.

Made in only one piece of cloth, several types of military layers existed, the most common age the sagum that was submitting to the shoulders with a few brooches.

Another usual age one on that it was putting itself on the shoulders and was buttoning up ahead, covering arms and thighs; below the waist it was left opened to facilitate the movement of the legs. Some layers had hood. And also there was the paenula, a poncho or layer with a central hole for the head.

Tunic

Realized in wool or linen, it was consisting of Two rectangular pieces sewed by the sides and the shoulders and leaving not as gaps paragraph the arms and the head. They were also they cheat sleeves.

It was taking very free and was falling down up to the knees. The legionaries were surrounding her they cheat a belt (cingulum militare) from that it was hanging a christening robe of leather cheat metallic wall lights.

The neck was wide enough to extract an arm through it, but it was sticking to the neck behind so that it was not falling down on the arms. It is not clear if they were dyed in red or

were white, but it seems that for the daily use the dyed ones would give less problems.

Sandal (Caligae)

Cut in only one piece of hard leather, it was sewed behind and was joining a very thick sole of leather, reinforced with nails. Modern reconstructions suggest that the nails would last approximately 300 miles (slightly more than 48 km) from march in ways of gravel. Some writings indicate that a soldier they needed a pair of sandals a year.

In the armors of scales, these solapaban in such a way that the armor had in all his points one thickness of two scales. In the two first ones the armor was sewed to a shirt of cloth that was the one that was giving him form. In that of badges, these were supporting his position thanks to a few thongs of leather.

Up to Claudio's reign (41-54 A.D.), the legionaries took the

level of mesh, which then was replaced with the armor of badges. One century later the most flexible armor was implanted by means of scales.

Sword (Gladius) The sword was short, of straight rim and approximately 40-50 cm long of sheet.

In the Republic and beginnings of the imperial epoch it took

in the right side, but from the IInd century A.D. the swords used by the infantry were getting longer and lefthander changed nearby.

The shield was realized by wooden strips stuck down (as a plywood of three layers arranged 90th a layer with regard to other one), covered with leather or felt, and by a few metal reinforcements in the rims, and central other to protect the hand. With rectangular and curved form, it was weighing approximately 6 kilos and a half approximately 1 m long. East was fighting for a simple horizontal handle in the center of the shield.

In the Ist century A.D., a heavier javelin interfered, with a counterweight of just lead ahead wherefrom it was fighting. Designed to be thrown, and that the thin top was sticking in the shield so that the axis of iron was doubling remaining lit, and doing the unmanageable shield or that was returned by the enemy.

In the ancient Rome there was designated by the name of Guard or Cohort pretoriana the constituted one by select soldiers, whose mission was to look over the persons of the praetor and of the commander in chief of an army.

During the civil wars it increased the number of the soldiers who were integrating them.

The field occupied by this troop was called a camp

praetorian and his commander, designated for August, prefect of the pretorio.

There were two prefects of the praetorio. This charge, purely military, did not have at first big importance, but he acquired it in the epoch of Tiberio. The prefects of the praetorio turned little by little into the first ministers of the emperor.

The soldiers of the praetorians cohorts were receiving double pay and were enjoying privileges. On having left the cohort, every soldier was receiving 20,000 sesterces after 16 years of services.

The praetorian cohorts went so far as to have sufficient power to support or to defy an emperor, according to the cases.

Praetor

Praetor, from the Latin Práetor. Roman magistrate which hierarchy was immediately lower than that of the consul. Today minor judge.

In the first times of the Roman republic, the term praetor was serving to designate the consuls, because they were placed at the head of the armies. But in 366 B.C. I believe in Rome with the particular title of praetor, a new magistracy, which function was consisting of administering justice. The plebeian ones did not come to the pretura but up to 337 adC.

The Praetor in the ancient Rome

They were the managers of presiding at the courts, for one year, although finished this time they could turn in propretores and govern another year on a few certain territories. They were eight, and they could be considered to be the assistants of the consuls.

The praetor of Rome divided his functions from 246 adC: Praetor Urbanus dealt with the questions of the citizens; and Praetor Peregrinus of the questions caused between citizens and not citizens. The division of functions was necessary for the increase of the causes.

The consul lost the judicial civil functions in favor of a magistrate curul designated as Praetor, in term of one year, who was possessing the imperium and was appearing between the magistrates of major hierarchy. His appointment relapsed into the Elections Centuriados and with same ceremonial religiously that was used for the election of the consul. The ensign of his charge was the toga it alleges. The consular functions were corresponding to the Praetor also when the consuls were absent.

The Praetor was patrician up to 337 adC in that the plebeian ones could gain access to the pretura. Progressively the plebeian ones show the magistracy in the majority of the occasions.

Later there arose the second praetor (called Praetor Peregrinus) entrusted to solve the civil matters raised between citizens and not civil visitors. As the Roman domination spread out of Italy, there were created the provincial praetors, destined named to govern the conquered countries and to command the armies, when there were several fields of operations. The praetors then had the right to publish edicts.

On the door of his court there was a white stone, where every new praetor, on having entered functions, was doing granar his edict, that is to say, he was announcing the rules of right according to which admnistraría justice during the course of his magistracy.

This annual legislation had the advantage of following easily the progresses of the civilization; it served to perpetuate the jus civile and to regulate the step of this right to the jus gentium. In times of Adriano, legal expert Salvius Julianus assembled and arranged all the edicts of the praetors, this body of edicts received the name of perpetual edict.

When they were finding lagoons in the legislation, the praetors were writing the necessary rules on the case that was appearing; or if they were judging that those of the ancient right were not convenient to the new needs, without abrogating it expressly, they were adjusting his rigor. The praetors survived up to ends of the empire, but, little by little, deprived of his ancient attributions, finished with preserving only the commissariat of the games.

Banners of the Legions (Aignum, Aquilla and Vexillum) Aquila: instituted by Mario last year of the IInd century B.C., the eagle was the symbol of the legion and it was the most valued banner, the loss of the same one was considered to be a dishonor for the legion and for Rome. East was to the care of the first century of the first cohort of the legion.

Carried by the alquilifer (alquiliferi in plural) he was the bravest soldier of the whole legion. In times of Mario and César, the banners were made of silver.

Vexilla: it was a small banner with the name of the legion or of a unit, and it was used by units that were giving service far from his legion. The units of knighthood were taking a vexilla. The soldiers were named vexillarius (vexillarii in plural).

Signum: every century had its own banner so-called signum. There were two changes, one with a spearhead on

top of the banner and other with an open hand. The circular discs probably will identify the century and the cohort to which they belonged. The soldiers were the signifer (signiferi in plural).

Imago: in the imperial epoch the legions were taking a small bust of the emperor. One existed for legion, and the most probable thing is that it was with the legacy and other officials. The soldier was the imaginifer (imaginiferi in plural).

Draco: advanced good the empire a new called banner draco (of origin Dacio) it was adopted by the army. The banner was consisting of a head of dragon with a body of cloth that was swinging with the wind.

Some studies indicate that the draco would do a worrying sound when the wind was happening across. The soldier who was carrying it was called a draconarius (draconarii in plural). Both the infantry and the knighthood took a draco as one of his banners.

Other banners: Before Mario was doing the eagle the universal banner for all the legions, these had banners with wild boars, wolves, minotauros, bulls and eagles. It seems that the four first ones were the banners for hastati, princes, triarii and velites, and that the eagle, the most important, was always for the legion.

The imperial legions were taking the sign of the zodiac of the month in which the legion was formed. Some legions also had other symbols associated like the elephant or the dolphin.

Of Greek origin, the Romans could make use of the capacities of these powerful machines.

And was Julio Cesar the first general in using the artillery massively in open field.

With wooden bodies, the majority of the machines were based on the use of the torsion of big skeins of fibers, nerves, sinews, or manes of animals as driving force for the throwing of darts or big stones.

Crossbow: principal weapon of the Roman army, was throwing stones in a relatively horizontal trajectory.

The weight of the bullets was changing between the light one of little more of half a kilo, to of 800 g that might reach about 180 meters.

Also bullets have met calibers of 6,4 kg to 50 kg, up to the giant of 75 kg. They had one for cohort (10 for legion).

Scorpio: it was a weapon that was throwing arrows. This one had a metallic body, although in a beginning it was of wood and more voluminous.

The size of the arrows was not coming to 70 cm. His maximum scope would be of little more than 350 m, but naturally an effective shot had to be low, in any case to felling and a half it distances the bullet it would be capable of making a shield unusable, or of being lethal for an enemy without protection.

It is believed that every century had one, which it makes a number of 59 for legion.

Another type of machines of war that the Romans used were the used ones during a siege.

Onager and Onagri: the Onager was a machine that was throwing stones with a sling. Although it was known from the first times the empire did not extend his use up to brought in good. The reason can stem from the fact that the ballista was more effective although it was more

complicated to make and to support. The onager was a weapon of place more than a weapon for the field of battle. There existed bigger other, the onagri that was the double of big. When the arm was throwing the stone, this one would describe a parable similar to the one that realizes a current mortar. It is believed that his scope would be of approximately 30 m.

They had three for legion. To open breaches in the defensive hostile belts they used the battering-ram, in his different forms and forms. Substantially it was consisting of a long and robust beam of wood where the end that was supporting the effort was redressed in metal, generally I shoe or bronze, with form sometimes of head of ram.

This one was pushed up to the base of the target of several ways, but the simplest and primitive system was the led one to the shoulder by soldiers who then were proceeding to strike the wall.

When the battering-ram was suspended to a wooden framework - aries pensilis-, the later part of the beam was sticking with cords, it was throwing itself of him, and was coming undone producing to him the blow against the target.

If it was provided with wheels or trunks to facilitate the displacement of the same one he was named aries subrolatus The most complex and sure system for the soldiers who were to the service of the battering-ram was the testudo arietata, the soldiers were protected under a mobile canopy of wood, re-dressed by materials resistant to the fire, and the percussion of the battering-ram was provoked across the employment of two strips of cords that was pulling the battering-ram pass behind against the target.

Procopio counts of a battering-ram moved by fifty men, and Vitruvio of other where hundred men were dedicated to his service. To defend itself from the action of the battering-rams, there was used an instrument similar to a big tongs or hook, which was trying to catch the head of the battering-ram, and to retain it raised to prevent the use of the same one.

For the assault of the hostile walls they used the mobile towers. These were constructed of wood, with a height superior to that of the walls to which one wanted to gain access, and were redressed in refractory material, there is even had news of towers redressed in metal. For his interior one was gaining access from one flat to other across stairs, and was getting ready of numerous loopholes by which the enemy could be whipped.

The towers were mounted on wheels or wooden trunks, and pushed by soldiers, or with the help of animals with pulleys and cranks. Some towers of big dimensions had in the base a battering-ram. These structures so big and heavy only could move on flat area, which needed from a preparation of the area, and of course the factor surprise was annulled in the attack, for what the enemy could try to dig pits or secret holes on the area, so that it

sank with the weight and to render useless it.

For the assault also there were used scales of wood, rope or leather. Vegezio also quotes the scalae speculatoriae, a species of barrow with a boarding nailed in the summit, on which a soldier was put by functions of observation.

Another machine to reach the hostile walls was the tolleno, a machine similar to an elevator, formed by a vertical beam in whose top end was finding another horizontal beam, the men were raised to a basket, and by means of the use of cords the basket was raised to the wished height.

To approach the hostile lines with the minor possible danger there was constructed a series of wooden mamparos, covered with skins. If they were fixed they were receiving the name of vinea, and if it was mobile, porticus. But the simplest was the turtle formed by the shields of twenty-four soldiers.

Other weapon of passive defense put opposite to the fortifications to avoid the hostile charges was: the tribulus, formed by four wooden arms or iron, with the sharp, tied tops so that it was falling down as it was always falling down one was finding a top up, also nails spread on the area were used, and that was trying to resist the charges of knighthood, or they were fixing to themselves in pits or covered big holes you stake with the top up, these were sharpened and warmed to the fire to harden them.

In the place of Alesia (the Galia), Julio Cesar designed a double line of fortifications that should serve to defend themselves from the attack of besieged in Alesia, as of those who came in help of the same ones. The legionaries dug a pit of 6 m wide, and to approximately 400 m of this one, another two parallel pits of 5 m. of breadth for to be protected from the exterior attack.

The most exterior pit was excavated in the shape of U and filled with water, and other in the shape of the Vth. The ground extracted from the pits was used to realize a few terraces crowned with a wooden palisade, and every 25 m raised towers of three flats of height .

On top of the palisade sharp stakes stuck horizontally, and in front of the pits there were excavated five trenches of 1,5 m deep, where there were placed lines of thick sharp-pointed branches forming a fence.

In front of this fence eight parallel tiers of holes were excavated, in whose interior thick sharp stakes stuck, and that were camouflaged by branches and weeds, and opposite to these there were placed thousands of wooden blockheads of 30 cm long with a tongue of iron, this it was standing out of the soil in the shape of hook, and was prepared to be trodden and to stick in the foot.