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ANCIENT WARFARE
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PART II-B: ANCIENT ROMAN MILITARY
(continuation)
1st Century Roman Galleon as depicted on a Roman Coin
Roman Navy
The main function of the classis or fleet was to combat piracy and to support the operations of the other armed services. The imperial navy maintained two larger fleets based in the Mediterranean with smaller squadrons operating on the North Sea, Black Sea and the major rivers. Ravenna and Misenum were the main naval bases in the mare nostrum though ships were regularly detached to other ports. There existed some dedicated fleet installations along the river Rhine and Danube, but most were attached to bases of the frontier armies. The ships used by the imperial navy comprised both oared warships and transports as well as sailing craft used mainly for logistical support. The vessels of the Roman navy were not manned by the slave rowers of popular imagination. All personnel serving in the imperial fleet were classed as soldiers, regardless of their function. Though the fleet had its own marines, these troops were used for boarding parties rather than amphibious assaults. The status of the sailors and marines of the Roman navy is somewhat unclear, though the fleet is generally regarded as the least prestigious branch of service. The fleet recruited freeborn citizens and peregrini as well as freedmen. Soldiers that did not possess Roman citizenship received this privilege after a minimum of 25 years of service.
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Prow of ship depicted on a Roma bronze coin
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A ship's crew, regardless of its size, was organised as a centuria with one officer responsible for sailing operations and a centurio for the military tasks. Among the crew were usually also a number of principales and immunes, some of which were identical to those of the army and some of which were peculiar to the fleet. Command of fleets was given to equestrian praefecti, those of the fleets based at Ravenna and Misenum having the largest prestige. The total strength of the Roman navy is not known with any exactitude, though it was reportedly some 40.000 strong during the reign of Diocletian. The Ravenna and Misenum fleets were each at least numerous enough to furnish the required number of men for a new legio. Naval forces were used to create both auxiliary units, the cohortes classiariorum and cohortes classicae, and legionary formations, the legiones I and II Adiutrices. In addition men were also transferred to the auxilia or legiones on an individual basis. The fleet squadrons in at least the Danubian provinces may have recieved direct support from army units, as there is evidence available that a number of legionary soldiers received training as epibatae or liburnarii for service as marines.
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Ancient Romans, like other ancient civilizations, had a large and powerful navy. The Roman Navy was under the control of the army. Their ships were built by copying the example of captured Carthaginian vessels, combined with the expertise supplied by the Greek cities of southern Italy. Initially ancient Romans were more of an agricultural society, its people having no great love of the sea. As Romans were surrounded by other Mediterranean nations who already obtained large fleets and had a lot of experience in seafaring, it eventually became a necessity for them to build a strong navy. Ancient Romans were conquerors. They set out with large armies and navys to rule the world. Their navy played a vital role in protecting their governments - and in the conquest of new territories. Rather unexpected success in battle was obtained by a logical Roman idea that a warship was little more than a floating platform on which the soldiers could be brought into close contact with the enemy. For this purpose they invented a huge boarding plank with a large spike on the end, which could be raised and lowerd like a drawbridge. Before battle it would be raised and then dropped onto an enemy's deck. The spike would embed itself into the opponent's deck planking and the legionaries could board the enemy vessel across it. This elaborate contraption was called the raven or - corvus This invention gave Rome five victories at sea. However, it is believed that it's weight, carried above the water line, also made the ships unstable, and could in rough seas cause them to capsize. In effect, much of this achievement of their sea victories was minimized by the losses the Romans hence suffered at sea. Partially the corvus might well be responsible for some of these losses. But generally it was the inept way the Romans handled their vessels as well as their ill fortune in running into several tempests.
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Roman Galleons in Wall Fresco From Pompeii 70 AD
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During the civil war between Caesar and Pompey it became clearly demonstrated the true significance of sea power. At one time there had been as many as a thousand ships engaged in the Mediterranean. As the struggle continued Pompey's son, Sextus, acquired a fleet sufficient to keep Octavian at bay and endanger the grain supply to Rome. Octavian and Agrippa set to work to construct a large fleet at Forum Iulii, and train the crews. In 36 BC Sextus was finally defeated at Naucholus and Rome became, once more, mistress of the western Mediterranean. The final event of the civil war was the Battle of Actium, which destroyed Antony. Octavian was left with some 700 ships of various sizes, ranging from heavy transports to light galleys (liburnae, which were his private property and which he manned with slaves and freedmen of his personal service. - No Roman citizenry ever handled an oar ! These ships formed the first standing fleet, the best ships forming the first permanent squadron of the Roman Navy and established at Forum Iulii (Fréjus). Caesar Augustus saw, as with the army itself, the need for a permanent arrangement for maintaining the peace, but the most strategic and economical situations for the main bases had yet to be evolved. Forum Iulii controlled the north-western Mediterranean, but soon further bases were needed to protect Italy itself and the corn supply to Rome and the Adriatic. an obvious choice was Misenum on the Bay of Naples, and considerable harbour works and buildings were started by Augustus, the port thereafter remaining the most important naval base throughout Imperial times. Augustus also constructed a new naval harbour at Ravenna at the head of the Adriatic, helping to deal with any potential trouble form Dalmatia and Illyria, should it arise. Another important area which Augustus felt needed special care and protection was Egypt, and it is probable that he founded the Alexandrine Fleet. For services to Vespasian in the civil war it was rewarded with the title Classis Augusta Alexandrina.
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The Marsala Punic War Ship 240 BCE
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During the First Punic War, Rome proved itself capable of launching a fleet capable of checking an established naval power such as Carthage. It brought final victory to Octavian, Ceasar's son, who would go on to become the first Emperor of Rome. Romans called the Mediterranean Mare Nostrum meaning Our Sea. The navy was essential for trade and commerce, as ancient Romans had incredible trade routes. Many of the strategies and skills used by their navy are still valid for today's modern fleets.
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Recruitment was strictly based on citizenship and wealth. The assumption being that only a man with property to lose could be expected to defend it effectively, not to mention arming and equipping himself at his own expense. These citizens were in turn classified by their wealth into 5 classes of soldier. The wealthiest class formed the basis of the Legion, armed and equipped in the manner of a Greek hoplite. The remaining four classes made up the rest of the army in descending order of quality of arms and armour. Officers were selected from leading citizens, and enrolled into the Order of Knights, or Equites. Again at their own expense, but they were provided with a horse from the public purse. At this stage, the army was very much a defensive formation, called up as and when required. A key moment in Roman history was the introduction of the census (the counting of the people) under Servius Tullius. With this the citizens were graded into five classes, from these classes were in varying degrees recruited the ranks of the army. Troops provided their own weapons and armor, and to do this a certain amount of wealth was necessary. In the beginning it seems that there different forms of equipment necessary for those of the five classes.The most wealthy, the first class, were the most heavily armed, equipped like the Greek hoplite warrior with helmet, round shield, greaves and breastplate, all of bronze, and carrying a spear and sword. The lesser classes bore lesser armament and weaponry, the fifth class carrying no armour at all, solely armed with slings. By Polybius's time these distinctions between the equipment and service of the members of the variosu census classes were long gone, and it is not clear when the troops came to be distinguished on the basis of age rather than census qualification (see below). The army officers as well as the cavalry were drawn from leading citizens who were enrolled as equestrians (equites). All in all the Roman army consisted of 18 centuries of equites, 82 centuries of the first class (of which 2 centuries were engineers), 20 centuries each of the second, third and fourth classes and 32 centuries of the fifth class (of which 2 centuries were trumpeters). While some minor form of pay was provided, a major source of remuneration for the soldiers was in the form of receiving a share in the booty. When a general was victorious he often wound up with large amounts of booty, some of which he would give to the state, and spend some on prestigious projects like temple building. But some had to be shared with the soldiers. The major reason that L. Aemilius Paullus enslaved 150,000 Epirotes after his defeat of Perses was the need to satisfy the soldiers, who had not received a satisfactory share of the plunder so far.
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| Punishments and Rewards (click on underlined text for links to graphics) Punishments: When the Roman soldier enrolled in legionary service, he swore a solemn military oath (sacramentum) originally to the Senate and Roman People, later to the general and the emperor, that he would fulfill his conditions of service even to the point of death; in effect, he gave up his citizen's right of appeal for any death sentence. Discipline in the army was quite rigorous, and the general had life-and-death power over his soldiers. The most lenient sentences, for minor offences, involved food rationing, hitting with the centurion's staff, or public flogging. More serious offences could lead to fines and deductions from pay, reductions in rank, loss of advantages from length of service, or even a dishonorable discharge (missio ignominiosa). For the most serious offences, such as desertion, a soldier could be summarily executed. The worst punishment of all was decimation, usually applied to a whole cohort, in which every tenth man in the unit was randomly selected to be clubbed or beaten to death by the other soldiers. Rewards: Rewards were generally allocated on the basis of the rank of the recipient with the exception of one decoration, the “civic crown” of oak leaves (corona civica), which could be awarded to a soldier of any rank who saved the life of a citizen. Legionary soldiers and noncommissioned officers below the rank of centurion were entitled to receive monetary bonuses, part of the booty and spoils after a conquest, and various decorations, such as a gold necklet (torques) or armband (armilla), or gold, silver, or bronze sculpted disks (phalerae) that were worn on the breastplate during parades and other dress occasions. Upon his honorable discharge (missio honesta), a legionary soldier received permission to marry, a pension, and sometimes a grant of land. Auxiliaries frequently received a diploma, two small engraved bronze tablets bound together with bronze threads; these recorded the privileges granted to the soldier on his discharge, which often included citizenship and the right to contract a legal marriage. Besides the above decorations, centurions were entitled to various other crowns, including a plain gold crown (corona aurea) and the mural crown (corona muralis), given to the first man over the walls of a besieged city. Higher officers could be awarded a ceremonial silver spear (the hasta pura) or a small silver replica of a standard or flag (the vexillum). The highest military decoration was the siege crown (corona obsidionalis), made or grass or other vegetation and awarded to the officer responsible for delivering a besieged army. Victorious generals received the most tangible awards as well as the highest honors. They frequently set up a trophy (tropaeum) in a prominent location, displaying enemy shields, weapons, and armor captured in battle. Generals could also claim the largest share of the booty and spoils from conquered cities and tribes, including captives who could be sold into slavery. These could include women and children, though the most prominent captives, such as chieftains or rulers, would be retained to march in the general's triumphal procession, with the possibility of subsequent execution. The greatest reward of all was the triumph (triumphus), an elaborate procession through the city of Rome to Jupiter's temple on the Capitoline hill. During the Republic a triumph could be awarded only to a victorious general (who was termed imperator or triumphator) upon permission of the Senate; during the Empire, triumphs were reserved for the emperor or members of the imperial family. The procession began with hornblowers and priests and sacrificial animals, usually pure white bulls raised especially for such occasions. Next came bearers carrying masses of booty and spoils and chained captives, the more prominent, the better. At the end of the procession marched the victorious soldiers in parade dress, followed by the lictors, senators, and the imperator himself. For this occasion he was dressed in gilded shoes and purple garments embroidered with gold (the tunica palmata and the toga picta). He rode in a special gilded chariot pulled by 4 horses; he carried a small ivory scepter topped with the image of an eagle and wore a crown of laurel leaves. Since all these trappings put the triumphator in a godlike position, behind him in the chariot stood a public slave who held a gold crown over his head and repeatedly reminded him that he was only a mortal. Triumphs were so significant that they were often represented on coins and other objects, such as this coin of Sulla, a coin of Octavian, a cameo of an emperor (probably Hadrian) whose chariot is pulled by eagles and whose head is crowned by the goddess Roma, and even a honey-cake mold depicting the triumph of Marcus Aurelius, whose head is crowned by a winged victory. The triumphal arch provided a more permanent record to commemorate a great victory; these were often topped with an image of the emperor or general driving the triumphal four-horse chariot (quadriga), as can be seen on this coin of Octavian.
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Continuation of Part II: Ancient Roman Military
Roman Tactics
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