55. THE ROMAN ARMY
THE LEGION
While the Romans were conquering Italy, they were making many improvements in their army. All citizens between the ages of seventeen and forty-six were liable to active service. These men were mainly landowners—hardy, intelligent peasants—who knew how to fight and how to obey orders. An army in the field consisted of one or more legions. A legion included about three thousand heavy-armed footmen, twelve hundred light infantry, and three hundred horsemen. After the conquest of Italy the states allied with Rome had to furnish soldiers, chiefly archers and cavalry. These auxiliaries, as they were called, were at least as numerous as legionaries. The Romans, in carrying on war, employed not only their citizens but also their subjects.
METHOD OF FIGHTING
The legion offered a sharp contrast to the unwieldy phalanx. [32] Roman soldiers usually fought in an open order, with the heavy-armed infantry arranged in three lines: first, the younger men; next, the more experienced warriors; and lastly the veterans. A battle began with skirmishing by the light troops, which moved to the front and discharged their darts to harass the enemy. The companies of the first line next flung their javelins at a distance of from ten to twenty paces and then, wielding their terrible short swords, came at once to close quarters with the foe. It was like a volley of musketry followed by a fierce bayonet charge. If the attack proved unsuccessful, the wearied soldiers withdrew to the rear through the gaps in the line behind. The second line now marched forward to the attack; if it was repulsed, there was still the third line of steady veterans for the last and decisive blow.
[Illustration: A ROMAN STANDARD BEARER (Bonn Museum) From a gravestone of the first century A.D. The standard consists of a spear crowned with a wreath, below which is a crossbar bearing pendant acorns Then follow, in order, a metal disk, Jupiter's eagle standing on a thunderbolt, a crescent moon, an amulet, and a large tassel.]
FORTIFIED CAMPS
A very remarkable part of the Roman military system consisted in the use of fortified camps. Every time the army halted, if only for a single night, the legionaries intrenched themselves within a square inclosure. It was protected by a ditch, an earthen mound, and a palisade of stakes. This camp formed a little city with its streets, its four gates, a forum, and the headquarters of the general. Behind the walls of such a fortress an army was always at liberty to accept or decline a battle. As a proverb said, the Romans often conquered by "sitting still."
DISCIPLINE: REWARDS AND HONORS
Roman soldiers lived under the strictest discipline. To their general they owed absolute, unquestioning obedience. He could condemn them to death without trial. The sentinel who slept on his watch, the legionary who disobeyed an order or threw away his arms on the field of battle, might be scourged with rods and then beheaded. The men were encouraged to deeds of valor by various marks of distinction, which the general presented to them in the presence of the entire army. The highest reward was the civic crown of oak leaves, granted to one who had saved the life of a fellow-soldier on the battle field.
THE TRIUMPH
The state sometimes bestowed on a victorious general the honor of a triumph. This was a grand parade and procession in the city of Rome. First came the magistrates and senators, wagons laden with booty, and captives in chains. Then followed the conqueror himself, clad in a gorgeous robe and riding in a four-horse chariot. Behind him marched the soldiers, who sang a triumphal hymn. The long procession passed through the streets to the Forum and mounted the Capitoline Hill. There the general laid his laurel crown upon the knees of the statue of Jupiter, as a thank offering for victory. Meanwhile, the captives who had just appeared in the procession were strangled in the underground prison of the Capitol. It was a day of mingled joy and tragedy.
MILITARY GENIUS OF THE ROMANS
The Romans, it has been said, were sometimes vanquished in battle, but they were always victorious in war. With the short swords of her disciplined soldiers, her flexible legion, and her fortified camps, Rome won dominion in Italy and began the conquest of the world.