Roman Republican Army. The military organization of Rome in the sacred legal aspect

By the 3rd century BC. Rome became the strongest state in Italy. In continuous wars, such a perfect instrument of offensive and defense was forged - the Roman army. Its total strength usually amounted to four legions, that is, two consular armies. Traditionally, when one consul went on a campaign, the other remained in Rome. When necessary, both armies operated in different theaters of operations.

With the legions were allied contingents of infantry and cavalry. The legion of the era of the Republic itself consisted of 4500 people, 300 of them were horsemen, the rest were infantrymen: 1200 lightly armed soldiers (velites), 1200 heavily armed soldiers of the first line (hastati), 1200 heavy infantry made up the second line (principles) and the last 600, the most experienced warriors represented the third line (triarii).

The main tactical unit in the legion was the maniple, which consisted of two centuries. Each centuria was commanded by a centurion, one of them was at the same time the commander of the entire maniple. The maniple had its own banner (badge). Initially, it was a bundle of hay on a pole, then a cast bronze image of a human hand, a symbol of power, began to be attached to the top of the pole. Below, military awards were attached to the flagpole.

The armament and tactics of the Roman army in ancient times did not differ significantly from those of the Greeks. However, the strength of the Roman military organization was in its exceptional flexibility and adaptability: in the course of the wars that the Romans had to fight, they borrowed the strengths of the armies of the enemy and changed their tactics depending on the specific conditions in which this or that war was fought.

Infantryman's armament. Thus, the traditional heavy armament of an infantryman, similar to the hoplite among the Greeks, has changed as follows. A solid metal shell was replaced by chain mail or plate, lighter and less restrictive of movement. Leggings were no longer used, because. instead of a round metal shield, a semi-cylindrical (scutum) appeared, about 150 cm high, covering the entire body of a warrior, except for the head and feet. It consisted of a plank base covered with several layers of leather. Along the edges, the scutum was bound with metal, and in the center it had a convex metal plaque (umbon). On the legs of the legionnaire were soldiers' boots (kaligi), and his head was protected by an iron or bronze helmet with a crest (for a centurion, the crest was located across the helmet, for ordinary soldiers - along).

If the Greeks had a spear as the main type of offensive weapon, then the Romans had a short (about 60 cm) sword made of high-quality steel. The traditional Roman double-edged, pointed sword (gladius) has a rather late origin - it was borrowed from the Spanish soldiers when the Romans experienced its advantages in hand-to-hand combat. In addition to the sword, each legionnaire was armed with a dagger and two throwing spears. The Roman throwing spear (pilum) had a long (about a meter), thin tip made of soft iron, ending with a sharply honed and hardened sting. From the opposite end, the tip had an inflow, where a wooden shaft was inserted and then fixed. Such a spear could also be used in hand-to-hand combat, but it was designed primarily for throwing: piercing the enemy’s shield, it bent so that it was impossible to pull it out and throw it back. Since several such spears usually hit one shield, it had to be thrown, and the enemy remained defenseless against the attack of a close formation of legionnaires.

Battle tactics. If initially the Romans acted in battle in a phalanx, like the Greeks, then in the course of the war against the warlike mountain tribes of the Samnites, they developed a special manipulative tactic, which looked like this.

Before the battle, the legion was usually built according to the maniples, in 3 lines, in a checkerboard pattern: the first was the maniples of the hastati, the second of the principles, and the triarii stood at a slightly greater distance from them. Cavalry lined up on the flanks, and in front of the front, light infantry (velites), armed with darts and slings, marched in loose formation.

Depending on the specific situation, the legion could form the continuous formation necessary for the attack, either by closing the maniples of the first line, or by pushing the maniples of the second line into the intervals between the maniples of the first. The maniples of the triarii were usually launched only when the situation became critical, usually the outcome of the battle was decided by the first two lines.

Having rebuilt from the pre-battle (chess) order, in which it was easier to follow the system, into the combat one, the legion moved at an accelerated pace towards the enemy. The velites made up the first wave of attackers: throwing darts, stone and lead slingshots at the enemy formation, they then ran back to the flanks and into the gaps between the maniples. The legionnaires, finding themselves 10-15 meters from the enemy, brought down a hail of spears-pilums on him and, drawing their swords, began hand-to-hand combat. At the height of the battle, the cavalry and light infantry protected the flanks of the legion, and then pursued the fleeing enemy.

Camp. If the battle went poorly, the Romans had the opportunity to find protection in their camp, which was always set up, even if the army stopped for only a few hours. The Roman camp was rectangular in plan (however, where possible, natural fortifications of the area were also used). It was surrounded by a moat and a rampart. The top of the shaft was additionally protected by a palisade and guarded around the clock by sentries. At the center of each side of the camp were gates through which the army could enter or leave the camp at short notice. Inside the camp, at a distance sufficient to prevent enemy projectiles from reaching there, tents of soldiers and commanders were set up - in a once and for all definite order. In the center stood the tent of the commander - the praetorian. In front of it was free space, enough to line up an army here if the commander required it.

The camp was a kind of fortress that the Roman army always carried with them. More than once it happened that the enemy, having already defeated the Romans in a field battle, was defeated when he tried to storm the Roman camp.

Subjugation of Northern and Central Italy. Constantly improving their military organization, using the troops of the conquered peoples (the so-called allies) for their own strengthening, the Romans at the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. conquered Central and Northern Italy. In the struggle for the South, they had to face such a dangerous and previously unknown enemy as Pyrrhus, the king of the Greek state of Epirus and one of the most talented commanders of the Hellenistic era.

1. Name the main periods of world history, highlight their characteristic features 3
2. What is anthropogenesis, what are its main stages? four
3. What is sociogenesis, what are its main stages? 6
4. Name the main theories of politogenesis, assess the degree of their reliability 7
5. Describe the main periods in the history of primitive society 9
6. What is the "Neolithic Revolution" and what are its consequences? eleven
7. In which states of the Ancient East did the despotic form of government reach its greatest development? What was it about? 12
8. How did the Egyptian version of the development of society and the state differ from the Mesopotamian? 13
9. Highlight the main forms of the states of the ancient world, determine their characteristic features and features 15
11. What are the differences between ancient civilization and ancient Eastern? 17
12. What are the causes and results of Akhenaten's religious reform in Egypt? 21
13. Name the main states of Ancient Mesopotamia, indicate their main features 24
15. Name the main civilizations of South and East Asia, evaluate their contribution to world history and culture 27
16. Why did the ancient civilization of Greece originate in Crete? Compare the Minoan Civilization and Civilizations of the Ancient East 30
17. Why did the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations die? 32
18. Describe the changes that took place in the political organization and economy of Greece in the XII-VIII centuries. BC. 34
19. What is a policy, what are its main types? 38
20. What are the main stages in the formation of the Athens policy 39
21. What are the features of the policy in Sparta? 42
22. Give a comparative description of Athens and Sparta 43
23. Why did the Peloponnesian War break out? How can you explain the victory of Sparta in this war? 45
24. Describe the features of the crisis of the policy in the IV century. BC. 47
25. Why the campaign against the Persians in the IV century. BC. it was Macedonia that headed it, and not any other state of Greece? fifty
26. Why did Greek civilization reach a higher level of political and economic development than any of the ancient Eastern civilizations? 53
27. What was the historical feature of the Hellenistic era? 55
28. Name the main states of the Hellenistic world, describe their political structure and level of economic development 56
29. What was the reason for the emergence of Christianity in the Middle East at the turn of the era? 59
30. Why was the Hellenistic civilization weaker than Rome? 62
31. Analyze the legends about the founding of Rome. What was the reason for their appearance? 65
32. Describe the royal period in the history of the Roman state. What were the functions of the Roman kings and why at the end of the VI century. BC. Rome renounced royal power? 67
33. What are the social and state structure of ancient Rome in the republican period? 70
34. List the main military campaigns of the Roman state in the 5th - 1st centuries. BC. What territories were conquered by Rome? Why were the Roman conquests so successful? 72
35. Describe the military reform Gaius Marius. How did it influence the development of Roman society and the state? 77
36. Name the commanders who ruled the Roman state in the 1st century. BC. Compare the political regimes established by them. What was the reason for the transfer of power in Rome to the military? 79
37. What was the reason for the transition of Rome from the Republic to the Empire? 82
38. How did the political system of the Roman Empire change during the 1st-5th centuries? 84
39. Why Rome is forced to abandon the conquests at the beginning of the II century. AD? How did this affect the development of civilization? 86
40. Describe the crisis of Roman society and the state in the III century. AD What was the reason for the appearance of "soldier emperors"? 88
41. What is tetrarchy? What was the reason for the establishment of such a system of power? 90
42. Why did the Roman emperors in the IV century. AD converted to Christianity and why didn't they do it sooner? 92
43. What are the main features of the late Roman society and state 95
44. Compare the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. What were the differences between the two parts of the once unified state? What was the reason for this and how did it influence their development? 98
45. List the causes of the fall of the Western Roman Empire 100

For many decades, the army of Rome knew no equal. The external enemies of the republic, and then the empire, collapsed one after another under the ramming of cohorts, overshadowed by the shadow of a golden eagle. The Romans thought through everything to the smallest detail and created an organizational masterpiece of their time, deservedly called the "war machine".

During the years of the empire, the army of Rome consisted of praetorian cohorts, legions, auxiliaries (auxiliary troops), numeri, and several other types of armed units.

To begin with, a few words about the Praetorians, in fact, the personal guard of the emperor. Their cohorts were called aquitatae and about 80% consisted of foot soldiers. Each consisted of 10 centuries, commanded by a tribune. The number of cohorts and their size could vary, but on average the Roman Empire had 9-10 cohorts of 500 people each. The general command of the Praetorians was carried out by two prefects-praetorians. The identification mark of the cohorts was the scorpion. Their main location was a military camp in the vicinity of Rome. Three cohorts urbanae were also located there. As the name implies, these units were responsible for the protection and order within Rome.

Praetorians. Column of Marcus Aurelius

The emperor's personal cavalry - eqiuites singulars Augusti (from 500 to 1000 people) and his personal bodyguards - the Germans from the Batav tribe, were also present in the capital of the empire. The latter were called corporis custodes and numbered up to 500 soldiers.

The most numerous and at the same time the most famous part of the Roman army is the legions (legio). During the reform period of the emperor Octavian Augustus (31 BC - 14 AD), there were 25 legions. Each had its own number and name, originating from the place of formation or on behalf of the one who formed the legion. The common emblem of the largest military formations of Rome was the golden eagles, which the soldiers treated as sacred relics.

Each legion consisted of approximately 5000 people (mostly infantry) and included 10 cohorts. The cohort was divided into six centuries, about 80 people each. The only exception was the first cohort. It consisted of five centuries twice the number, that is, approximately 800 people.

Centuria - cohort - legion

Each legion consisted of 120 horsemen. This has been the standard amount for a very long time. Only in the time of Emperor Gallienus (253-268 AD) did the legion's cavalry strength grow to 726 men.

Among the 59 centurions of the legion, the primipilus, who commanded the first centurion of the first cohort, was the highest in rank. The legion also included five tribunes angusticlavia from among the equestrian class of Rome and one or more six-month-old tribunes who commanded the cavalry. One man served as prefect of the camp. The Senate aristocracy, or even the emperor himself in the legion, was represented by one tribune of laticlavius. The commander of the legion until the time of Emperor Gallienus was the legate.

For about 200 years, from 28 BC. and until the end of the 2nd century AD, Rome lost eight legions for various reasons, but instead formed twice as many. This brought the total number of legions to 33.

List of destroyed or disbanded legions of the Roman Empire

List of newly formed legions of the Roman Empire

	Number and name	Year of creation of the legion
	Legio XV Primigenia
	Legio XXII Primigenia
	Legio I Adjutrix
	Legio VII Gemina
	Legio II Adiutrix	69-79 AD
	Legio IV Flavia Felix	69-79 AD
	Legio XVI Flavia Firma	69-79 AD
	Legio I Minervia
	Legio II Traiana Fortis
	Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix
	Legio II Italica
	Legio III Italica
	Legio I Parthica
	Legio II Parthica
	Legio III Parthica

The second component of the Roman army, comparable in number to the legions, were auxiliary troops - auxiliaries. As a rule, units of auxiliary troops, equal in number, marched with the legions in a military campaign. Each subdivision of the auxiliaries consisted of 500 to 1000 infantry or horsemen. The divisions into which the auxiliary troops were divided were in turn divided into cohorts, alas and numeri (units).

The most privileged among the auxiliaries were cavalry units - aly. Each of them consisted of 16–24 tours of 30–32 riders each. Aloy was commanded by a prefect or tribune. The unit could include both heavily armed horsemen like cataphracts, and light horsemen, unprotected and armed only with a shield and javelins. Among other things, there were exotic alas of dromedarii - camel riders for war in the deserts.

Ala auxiliaries. Trajan's Column

The infantry cohorts of the auxiliaries were divided into six or ten centuries, depending on whether they were five hundred or thousand. They, like the cavalry alas, were commanded by tribunes or prefects. The status of auxiliary cohorts depended on who they were staffed with. For example, part of the cohorts were recruited on a voluntary basis from the citizens of Rome and were equated in status with legionnaires. The cohorts, whose status was less honorable, were free inhabitants of the Roman Empire who did not have the title of citizen. Citizenship, together with the benefits due to him, was a reward for 25 years of service in the auxiliaries.

The infantry cohorts of the auxiliary troops differed greatly both in terms of armament and functional tasks. They could be heavy, as much as possible similar to legions. They could be "medium" in terms of the severity of weapons - as a rule, such units were recruited in different regions of the empire. The light infantry of the auxiliaries were armed with various throwing devices (Balearic slingers, Cretan and Syrian archers).

There could even be cohorts of mixed auxiliaries - they included both infantry and cavalry. If it was a cohort of five hundred, then it included six centurions on foot and three horse turms. If the thousandth, then 10 centuries of infantry and six turmes of horsemen.

Auxilarium with severed head in teeth. Trajan's Column

The detachments of the auxiliaries were called by the name of the people from which their original composition was recruited (cohorts Afrorum, Thracum, Dalmatorum, ala Hispanorum, Pannoniorum), or by the name of the unit commander (the most famous example is ala Siliana). Often the name of the emperor was added to the name, by whose will the cohort was created (cohorts Augusta, Flavia, Ulpia), honorary titles (Faithful, Pious, Victorious) and clarifications (sagittariorum - archers, veteran - veteran). Cohorts often moved around the Roman Empire, fighting, and could completely lose their original ethnic composition, as the losses were replenished right on the spot where the unit was at that moment.

A separate phenomenon in the Roman army were numeri. This unit name was used in two senses. The first is any unit that was not a legion, scarlet or cohort. An example is the legate's personal bodyguards. The second meaning referred to a detachment of warriors who were not Romans and retained their ethnic characteristics. This category appeared during the reign of Emperor Domitian (81–96 AD).

Horse ala and numeri. Trajan's Column

Numeri could be mounted, on foot, mixed and varied in number. Researchers explain the appearance of such units by the fact that in the 2nd century a stream of Roman citizens and stateless Romanized inhabitants of the empire poured into the ranks of the auxiliaries. It was considered undesirable to combine barbarians and Romans in one unit, so something new had to be created.

In fact, in the 2nd century, numeri became what auxiliaries used to be. These diverse divisions not only gave Roman tactics flexibility and variety. They performed a social function, contributing to the process of Romanization of the provinces.

If we estimate the total number of troops that the Roman Empire had in the 1st-2nd centuries AD, it will be seen that it was constantly growing. At the beginning of the reign of Octavian Augustus, the army consisted of about 125 thousand legionnaires, about the same number of auxiliaries, ten thousand Roman garrison and a fleet (most likely up to 40 thousand people). Total - about 300 thousand soldiers. By the end of the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211 AD), researchers estimate that the number of troops had grown to about 450,000.

Legion diagram. From P. Connolly's encyclopedia "Greece and Rome"

The legions were stationed in different provinces of the Roman Empire. Troops based in the hinterlands provided security in the region. And if the legion stood on the border, then the territory of the war invariably stretched around it, on which wars and skirmishes did not stop. When the peace of Pax Romana was once again disturbed, it was time for a new military campaign.

To be continued

Sources and literature:

1. Vegetius Flavius ​​Renat. Brief summary of military affairs / Per. from lat. S. P. Kondratiev.- VDI, 1940, No. 1.
2. Tacitus Cornelius. Annals. Small works. History/Edition prepared by A. S. Bobovich, Ya. M. Borovsky, G. S. Knabe et al. M., 2003.
3. Flavius ​​Joseph. Jewish War / Per. from Greek Ya. L. Chertka. SPb., 1900.
4. Le Boek J. The Roman army of the era of the early empire / Per. from fr. M., 2001.
5. Makhlaiuk A.V. Army of the Roman Empire. Essays on traditions and mentality. N. Novgorod., 2000.
6. Makhlaiuk A. V. Roman legions in battle. Moscow., 2009.
7. Connolly P. Greece and Rome. The evolution of military art over 12 centuries: Encyclopedia of military history: Per. from English. M., 2001.
8. Boltinskaya L. V. To the question of the principles of manning the Roman army under Julius Claudius (according to military diplomas) / / Issues of General History. Issue. 3. Krasnoyarsk., 1973. p. 18–23.

Introduction

1.1 Reform Mary

1.2 High command

1.3 Legions

1.4 Praetorian Guard

1.5 Roman garrison

2.1 Recruitment and training

2.3 Everyday life

Chapter III. Fleet

3.1 Roman navy

3.2 Rome's heavy fleet

4.2 Defensive weapons

4.3 Equipment weight

5.1 Battle of Cannae

5.2 Battle of Cynoscephalae

5.3 Battle of Karrha

Conclusion

Bibliography

Application

Introduction

and II centuries. AD in the history of the Roman state - the era of a gradual transition from a policy of territorial expansion to defense. It was a period of maximum power and the beginning of the inevitable decline of ancient civilization.

By the beginning of the new millennium, Rome had extended its power to the entire Mediterranean. In the 1st century the conquests continued. Octavian Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) completed the conquest of Spain. Through the efforts of his successor Tiberius (14-37), the power of Rome extended to the Danube. Under Claudius (41-54), the eagles of the Roman legions established themselves beyond the English Channel. Under Mark Ulpia Trajan (98-117), Dacia submitted to Roman weapons. This was the last major conquest.

At the beginning of the II century. The empire reached the zenith of its power. The process of expansion of the territory has stopped. Even the new Hannibal, if there was one among the enemies of Rome, could not now lead his army to the gates of the "Eternal City". Pax Romanum ("Roman world"), stretching from the Baltic to the African deserts, from Ireland to the Caucasus, became more and more isolated in itself. Since that time, the borders of the empire began to be covered with solid defensive structures.

Naturally, to protect such vast lands, the state inevitably had to rely on an impressive military force. In countless wars of previous centuries, a military structure was formed, the most perfect of those that the ancient world knew - the Roman army. Thanks to the army, and even a well-established administrative system, a motley conglomerate of regions (provinces), inhabited by a variety of peoples who worshiped different gods, became a single empire.

Speaking about the army of Rome in the 1st-2nd centuries ... we must not forget that it was not only a military, but also a political force, which often played a decisive role in that fierce struggle for power that flared up in Rome in the 1st century. BC. - I century. AD Each of the contenders for power in the state increasingly relied on the legions that joined him, winning their loyalty with flattery and gifts. Neither Caesar, nor Pompey, nor Mark Antony, nor Octavian Augustus disdained such methods. They tried to gather under their banners as many troops as possible. The number of legions was far from the last argument in the division of power, falling out of the hands of the decrepit republic. Since the period of civil strife ( civil wars) the demands of the soldiers for increased pay, the distribution of extraordinary awards or premature resignation began to make tangible adjustments to the course of many events. It often happened that the legions, attracted by more generous promises, abandoned their former master and went over to his enemy.

Tasks and purpose of the study.

The object is the development of the Roman army during the existence of the Roman state, as a generally recognized military-political force.

Research objectives:

· Show changes and innovations to the legions throughout the history of Rome

· consider the originality and features of the auxiliary services of the legions

· study the roman fleet

· consider the camp of the legion and the life of the legions in peacetime

· show the importance of strategy and tactics in the battles of the Roman legions

In writing this work, I relied on the following sources:

Winkler P. fon. Illustrated history of weapons. - The book is an illustrated work that combines unique information about edged, throwing and firearms, which people of the ancient world and the Middle Ages, including our ancestors in Russia, fought with.

Brief essay on Roman antiquities / Comp.N. Sanchursky. - Tutorial for gymnasiums, progymnasiums and self-study, it went through more than five editions only in pre-revolutionary times. The idea of ​​compiling a Brief Essay on Roman Antiquities belonged to a special commission of the St. Petersburg Educational District and was carried out by a team of authors headed by the former district inspector N.V. Sanchursky. The book to this day is an indispensable tool in the study of ancient Roman history. It is addressed to teachers and students of higher educational institutions, students of gymnasiums, lyceums, schools, and a wide range of readers.

Mashkin N.A. History of ancient Rome. - This source represents the history of ancient Rome, completing the history of antiquity, is one of the important stages of world history. The book tells about the source study and historiography of ancient Rome, pre-Roman Italy, the era of the early republic, the era of civil wars, the era of the early and late empire. The textbook was subjected to some reduction due to material that went beyond the boundaries of the university course in the history of ancient Rome. Some changes and clarifications were also made, which in no way change the main provisions of the textbook. When making most of the clarifications, the material of both printed and unpublished works of N.A. Mashkin. The preparation of the text for publication and its editing were carried out by A.G. Bokshchanin with the participation of M.N. Mashkin.

Suetonius Gaius Tarquil. Life of the Twelve Caesars. - The book aims to highlight the "Life of the Twelve Caesars" not so much as a historical, but as a literary monument. Therefore, the question of how true the images of emperors drawn by Suetonius correspond to reality is hardly touched upon here: the details and parallels given from other sources should only complement the general picture of the first century of the empire that had developed in Roman historiography by the beginning of the 2nd century BC. AD and remained decisive for all the ideas of posterity about the first Caesars. Of the realities in the notes, the most famous ones are not explained, references to which can be made in any textbook (consul, praetor, triumph, province, etc.). All the most important dates are listed in the chronological index, all names - in the name index, most geographical names - on the map at the end of the book.

Tacitus Cornelius. Works. - Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (Cornelius Tacitus) (c. 55 - c. 117 AD) - an ancient Roman historian and one of the great representatives of world literature. Tacitus was born around 55 AD. According to the tastes of the age, he received a thorough but purely rhetorical education. In 78 he married the daughter of the famous commander Agricola; A rich life experience, imprinted in his highly tuned soul; vivid memories of older contemporaries about the beginning of the empire, firmly assimilated by his deep mind; a careful study of historical monuments - all this gave him a large stock of information about the life of Roman society in the 1st century. AD Imbued with the political principles of antiquity, faithful to the rules of ancient morality, Tacitus felt the impossibility of implementing them in the public arena in an era of personal rule and depraved morals; this prompted him to serve the good of the motherland with the words of the writer, telling fellow citizens about their destinies and teaching them goodness by depicting the surrounding evil: Tacitus became a moralist historian.

Flavius ​​Joseph. Jewish War. - "Jewish War" - the most valuable source on the history of Judea and the uprising of the Jews against the Romans in 66-71. - from a direct participant and leader of the uprising. It was first described by Josephus Flavius ​​(37-100), the famous Jewish historian and military leader, eyewitness and participant in the events. Before him, the Jewish wars were, as a rule, described in the spirit of the sophists and by such people, of whom some, not being witnesses of the events themselves, used inaccurate, contradictory rumors, while others, although they were eyewitnesses, distorted the facts either out of flattery towards the Romans, or out of hatred for the Jews, as a result of which their writings contain now censure, now praise, but by no means a real and accurate history. The original work of Josephus is written in Greek., Peter. Greece and Rome at War. Englewood Cliffs N.T. - It is an encyclopedia of the military history of Greece and Rome. Tells about the evolution of military art over 12 centuries.

In addition, Internet sources devoted to the history of the Roman army in the imperial era were used when writing the work.

army ancient rome legion

Chapter I. Composition and organization of the army

The army consisted of heavily armed legionary infantry (milites legionarii), lightly armed infantry and cavalry. Lightly armed infantrymen (archers, slingers, javelin throwers) and horsemen were called auxiliary troops (auxilia) and were divided into detachments of 400-500 people. In the infantry, the detachments were called cohorts (cohortes), in the cavalry, alams (alae).

1.1 Reform Mary

The emperors inherited from the Roman Republic a fully combat-ready army. The most important milestone in its history was the reform carried out at the consulship of Gaius Marius (first elected consul in 107 BC). The essence of the reform was the abolition of the property qualification for recruitment into the army and the introduction of regular pay for service. Previously, each warrior had to possess some kind of property. They were mostly peasants who owned small plots of land. In the process of the total ruin of the peasants, who were forced out of the markets by the owners of large land plots (latifundia), who used the free labor of a mass of slaves, the number of Roman citizens who had the property qualification necessary for military service became by the end of the 2nd century. - the beginning of the 1st c. BC. rapidly decline. It could come to the point that the invincible Roman legions would have no one to equip. There was another important circumstance. According to the old laws, after the end of the war, the soldiers returned to their peaceful activities, which affected the combat capability of the troops, because the training of the soldiers was interrupted. In addition, not everyone showed a willingness to leave the house, no matter how good a citizen he was. It often happened that an unbending Roman warrior could, returning to his native hearth, see his house and plot of land seized by a rich and powerful neighbor. Homeless and hungry quirites (full-fledged Roman citizens) with numerous families joined the crowds of unemployed mob, who gathered in large numbers in large cities and, above all, in Rome. These beggars, who defeated all the enemies of Rome, became very dangerous for the rich because of their large number and aggressiveness.

The decision to recruit volunteers who were ready to serve the fatherland for some reward removed this problem. After the reform, the Roman army turned from a militia into a standing professional army (exercitus perpetuus). All soldiers (except for foreign mercenaries, recruited as needed) were constantly in camps, where they underwent military training.

Now the army received a stronger organization and a clear hierarchy of command personnel, as well as opportunities for the education and training of troops.

Campaigns promised booty, and the soldiers were ready to endure hardships. The authority of a successful commander among them could rise to a height unattainable for a non-military politician. But the soldiers, deceived in hopes of enrichment, could just as easily turn to rebellion against the previously idolized commander.

1.2 High command

The emperor had full military power. The control of the troops was carried out through the legates (legati) appointed by him. They were the highest direct commanders over the troops. In the time of Julius Caesar, legates were only commanders of the legions. The legates of the legions (legatus legionis) belonged to the class of senators and, as already mentioned, were appointed by the emperor himself. In some cases, the legate could combine the command of the legion with the post of governor of the province. Then the legion of such a legate, as a rule, was stationed far away in order to protect the legate from the temptation to use him to seize power in the province and betray the emperor, but this precaution did not always help.

Slightly lower in the service hierarchy were military prefects and tribunes. Prefects of higher rank commanded cavalry detachments (praefectus equitum), fleets (praefectus classis) or were direct assistants to the commander (praefectus fabrum) 3. Both those and others could command separate detachments. The Roman high command as a whole did not have the strict hierarchy that exists in modern armies, and had a slightly different character. The ranks of officers had not only military, but also managerial significance. It is almost impossible to distinguish between these values.

1.3 Legions

The legions were the main striking force and pride of Rome throughout almost its entire history. At the time Augustus came to power, the Roman army numbered more than 60 legions - an exorbitant number for the state treasury, generated by countless civil wars, when each contender for power created new legions. These legions were far from equal in terms of the quality of training. Remaining at the pinnacle of power in splendid isolation, Octavian Augustus retained only 28 legions. The total size of the army during this period fluctuated between 300-400 thousand people, of which about 150 thousand were legionnaires, i.e. heavily armed infantry.

But even the reorganized Roman army sometimes suffered serious setbacks. After the defeat by the Germans in the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9), three legions (XVII, XVIII and XIX) under the command of Varus did not begin to restore them.

By the end of the reign of Augustus, there were 25 legions in the army (after the death of three legions in the Teutoburg Forest). The rulers who inherited his power did not greatly change their number, especially since Rome had few territorial claims. In the 1st century - the beginning of the II century. conquests were "limited" to Dacia, Britain, Mauritania. Temporarily, and even then rather symbolically, Parthia was subordinated. Subsequently, the empire had to defend itself more.

Two legions for the conquest of Britain in 42 were created by Claudius. After the turbulent 69, when several emperors were replaced in a row, nominated by legions stationed in different parts of the empire, two of the four German legions were left. Only at the beginning of the reign of Domitian (81-96) was another legion created. The total number of legions reached 30. Subsequently, in different wars, two legions were lost. Emperor Trajan, in order to strengthen the army during unrest in the eastern provinces (132-135), created two more legions that bore his name. Two Italian legions in 165 were recruited by Marcus Aurelius (161-180). Septimius Severus (193-211) created three Parthian legions intended for the war with Parthia.

Secondary to the heavily armed legionary infantry, although no less numerous, were the auxiliary troops (auxilia). Actually, it was the legionnaires who were originally considered the army. But over time, the level of training of legionnaires and "oxilarii" (auxiliary troops) began to more or less equalize.

During the Civil Wars of the 1st c. BC. Roman citizens were finally forced out by foreign mercenaries from the cavalry. This is not surprising when you remember that the Romans were never good horsemen. Therefore, the needs of the army in the cavalry were replenished by hiring Gallic and German cavalry. Cavalry and lightly armed infantry were also recruited in Spain.

The number of auxiliary troops, both infantry and cavalry, was, as a rule, equal to the number of heavily armed legionnaires and sometimes even exceeded it.

During the Punic Wars (264-146 BC), Rome began to use units in the army, formed from the inhabitants of the Mediterranean, who perfectly owned one or another type of weapon (archers from Crete, prashniks from the Balearic Islands). Since the Punic Wars, Numidian light cavalrymen have played a large role in the Roman armies. The custom of recruiting warriors who were well versed in their "national" weapons was preserved under the emperors. Later, when the expansion of the empire's borders ended, the function of direct border protection fell precisely on the auxiliary troops. The legions were located in the depths of the province and constituted a strategic reserve.

1.4 Praetorian Guard

The Roman Empire had at its disposal not only the legions stationed in the provinces. To maintain order in Italy itself and to protect the emperor, Augustus created 9 cohorts of the Praetorian Guard (cohortes practoriae), totaling 4,500 people. Subsequently, their number increased to 14 cohorts. At the head of each of the cohorts was the praetorian prefect (praefectus praetorio). These selected troops were formed from the Praetorian cohorts that existed at the end of the Republican period with each general for his protection. Praetorians had a number of privileges: they served 16 years, and not 26, as ordinary legionnaires, and had a salary 3.3 times higher than the salary of a legionnaire. Each Praetorian cohort consisted of 500 men. At the beginning of the III century. this number was increased to 1,000, possibly 1,500.

Augustus never kept more than three Praetorian cohorts in Rome; he sent the rest to lodge in nearby cities. Under Tiberius, the Praetorians were gathered and placed under a single command in Rome in one camp. These warriors, spoiled by the attention of emperors, were reluctant to go on military campaigns, but they participated in conspiracies with great enthusiasm and more than once played a decisive role in the overthrow of one emperor and the accession of another. The soldiers in the Praetorian cohorts were recruited mainly from the inhabitants of Italy and some of the neighboring provinces, long annexed to Rome. However, after the end of the II century. the Praetorians once again tried to nominate "their" emperor. Septimius Severus dismissed them and recruited them again, but from the Danubian legions devoted to him. The praetorian cavalry was formed from soldiers of the praetorian foot cohorts who had served at least four or five years.

When on duty in the palace, the Praetorians wore togas (traditional clothing of the Roman rich and nobility), like eminent dignitaries. On the Praetorian banners were placed portraits of the emperor and empress, as well as the names of the victorious battles of the emperor.

To reinforce the Praetorian cavalry, the imperial auxiliary cavalry (equites singulares) was created, recruited from the best horsemen of the auxiliary cavalry by the emperor himself or his representatives.

For the personal protection of the emperor and members of the imperial family, bodyguards were recruited from the barbarians. Especially often the Germans were chosen for this role. The emperors understood that too close proximity to the Praetorians was not always safe.

1.5 Roman garrison

The city garrison (cohortes urbanae) was under the command of the city prefect (praefectus urbi). This position was considered honorary for retired prominent senators. The city cohorts were created simultaneously with the Praetorian ones, and their first numbers (X-XI) followed immediately after the Praetorian numbers (I-IX). Claudius increased the number of urban cohorts. Under Vespasian (69-79), four cohorts were stationed in Rome, the rest were sent to Carthage and Lugudunum (Lyon) to guard the imperial mint. The organization of the urban cohorts was the same as that of the Praetorian Guard. Served in them, however, 20 years. The pay was two-thirds higher than that of the legionnaire.

The municipal guard (cohortes vigilum) performed the functions of night guards and fire protection. These cohorts also owe their origin to Augustus. In total, 7 of them were formed (originally from freed slaves), one for two of the 14 districts of the city. Commanded cohorts of praefectus vigilum. They served 7 years.

1.6 Distribution of troops by province

The total size of the army was insufficient to defend the vast expanses of the empire. Therefore, a reasonable distribution of forces was of paramount importance. Even under Julius Caesar (c. 46-44 BC), troops were withdrawn from Italy and located near the borders, where there was a danger of enemy invasion, and in the recently conquered provinces. Augustus and his successors. followed the same concept.

It is quite natural that over the course of two centuries these "sore points" of the empire changed their location. In the 1st century AD the main attention of the emperors was riveted to the Rhine, where at that time about 100 thousand Roman soldiers were concentrated, including 8 legions. However, the strategic importance of this frontier was gradually weakened. Already under Trajan (98-117), there were much fewer troops there - 45 thousand people. At this time, in connection with the ongoing wars in Dacia and Panonia, the "center of gravity" of hostilities moved to the Danube. In 107, up to 110 thousand soldiers stood on the banks of this river, almost along its entire length. Five legions were in Moesia, three in Dacia, four in Panonia.

On the most vulnerable sections of the border, Rome also tried to use detachments of foreign mercenaries. In the first two centuries of the reign of emperors, there were still not so many of them as later, when foreigners gradually began to oust the native Romans from the ranks of the army, but in the I-II centuries. this process has already begun.

Three legions were concentrated against the Parthians in Syria. During the reign of the Flavian dynasty (69-96), two more were added to them, formed in Cappadocia. After the conquest of Arabia in 106, one legion was sent to this province.

The troops were also in less dangerous directions. In such provinces as Spain, North Africa, Egypt, which had long been annexed to the empire, there were troops, but the full legions were almost never stationed there. Of the "secondary" regions, from the point of view of the likelihood of large-scale hostilities, the exception was Britain, where there were always three legions out of four that participated in the conquest of the island, which was a clear disproportion in relation to the area of ​​this province. This is due to the fact that the British were relatively recently subjugated and isolated uprisings against the Romans broke out from time to time.

As for Gaul, since it received the status of a province (16 BC), detachments were sent there if necessary from Germany or Spain.

Chapter II. Daily life of warriors

2.1 Recruitment and training

After the reforms of Mary, the Roman army became mercenary. The legionary infantry could be formed only from Roman citizens, while the auxiliary troops consisted of representatives of the peoples conquered by Rome. After the Civil Wars BC. all Italians living south of the Po River were granted Roman citizenship. This meant that the distinction between Roman and allied legions no longer existed. Civil rights gradually began to be given to the western provinces (Spain, Southern Gaul, "Province" - the current historical region of France - Provence). In the East, the institution of citizenship did not have such a distribution, therefore, in order not to conflict with the law, recruits from those parts received this status upon joining the legion. Such measures made it possible to expand the army's access to human resources.

So, recruitment into the Roman army as a result of the reforms of Mary was distinguished primarily by the fact that instead of compulsory conscription, the principle of voluntariness was introduced. But due to the fact that the level of this very voluntariness among citizens in the I-II centuries. left much to be desired, the authorities very soon began to resort to the services of the inhabitants of the most Romanized provinces, such as Dalmatia or Gaul. In the event that there were not enough volunteers, forced recruitment was used. At the same time, in order not to provoke unrest, the authorities, as a rule, did not skimp on good promises. Josephus testifies: “After the war against Antiochus, most of the Roman citizens, however, began to evade service. To replenish the army, they had to use the services of special recruiters from the poor. only officers.

At the beginning of the II century. Emperor Hadrian ordered to recruit not only Roman citizens, but also residents of the provinces. A good help for replenishing the legions was the existence in the provinces that did not have civil status, the sons of legionnaires and "oxilaries", who inherited civil rights from their fathers who had served in the army. Some of the benefits associated with the opportunity to enrich themselves in the war, in principle, attracted the provincials to the service more than the inhabitants of Italy, therefore, in the army of the former, as a rule, there were more than those from this beautiful peninsula, from which it was so hard for them to part. Nevertheless, among the soldiers of the legions, native Italians were always found. Speaking about the ethnic composition of the legions, one should not forget that they were often joined by local residents of those regions where permanent camps were located. In any case, it is known that during the reign of Hadrian, approximately 70% of the legionnaires came from the western provinces (Germany, Gaul, Britain).

Before becoming a legionnaire, a volunteer had to first get a letter of recommendation from a member of his family already in the army, or, in the absence of such, from some third person holding even a minor government post. With this document, the volunteer appeared before a kind of draft board or council (probatio), whose members were the officers of the legion. Such commissions were often chaired by the provincial ruler. During the test, both the physical and personal qualities of the recruit were tested. The selection was made very carefully, since the power of the legion and the army as a whole was directly dependent on the qualities of the future soldier. Quite high requirements were also made when joining the auxiliary cavalry.

A recruit (tiron) had to have a minimum height of about 1.75 m, have a decent appearance and a strong build. These simple conditions require some comments. According to outside observers, the inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula were short people. This was especially often noticed by tall Gauls and Germans. This may partly be the reason why the proportion of "Italics" in the legions was gradually declining.

After passing the tests of the commission, a recruit at the age of about 18 had to take an oath (sacramentum). From the modern oath "sacramentum" differed in its religious meaning. It was not only a legal act confirming the acquisition of the status of a soldier, but a kind of expression of some kind of mystical connection between a recruit and his commander. For the superstitious Romans, all these rituals had a deep meaning. At the end of the ceremony, the future soldier was enrolled in the legion in which he was to serve. Then he was given a small amount of money (viaticum), after which, under the protection of an officer, along with other recruits, he went to his legion. Upon arrival at the camp, a freshly minted warrior was assigned to a certain century. His name, age, special signs were entered in the lists of the unit. After that, the grueling phase of training began.

Flavius ​​Josephus notes: "... they win battles with such ease; for confusion never occurs in their ranks and nothing takes them out of their usual battle formation; fear does not deprive them of their presence of mind, and excessive tension does not exhaust their strength." He explained these advantages of the Roman soldiers by constant exercises and exercises, which were the lot of not only beginners, but also gray-haired veterans (however, for a certain amount of money handed to the centurion, one could always avoid especially tedious duties). However, for most legionnaires, regular bribes were beyond their means. Moreover, checks and inspections followed one after another. Officials also did not sit idle.

The high command, up to the emperor, personally inspected the legions and closely monitored the state of military training.

Initially, education was not systematic, but from about the beginning of the 1st century. BC. it has become an indispensable element of military life.

The primary training of a legionnaire was the same that to this day forms the basis for the training of recruits in most armies of the world. And until the recruit was familiar with the basics of discipline and combat, he could not be put into service under any circumstances.

Three times a month the soldiers made marches, 30 km each. Half the way was done by walking, half by running. Soldiers were trained to keep a place in the ranks during movement and rebuilding. Ultimately, it was thanks to the high combat training that the legion was able to carry out all its rebuilding and movement with almost mathematical accuracy. But to achieve this was quite difficult. It is unlikely that one day it will be possible to count the number of sticks broken off by the centurions when the soldiers comprehended this science. The precise execution of rebuilds was highly valued by the Romans and was considered the main key to achieving victories.

Legionnaires had to be able to march in two different rhythms. The first of these is the "military step". In this rhythm, the unit had to cover about 30 km in 5 hours on level ground. The second - "long step" - allowed for the same time to overcome more than 35 km.

Drill training was supplemented by physical exercises that included jumping, running, throwing stones, wrestling and swimming. Everyone from beginners to officers did these exercises.

But the main attention was paid to the construction of the camp. The soldiers were required to do the work correctly and, most importantly, quickly. For this purpose, recruits had to build many "boot camps". If in common practice the legions built them once a day, then the recruits had to do it twice. Build and shoot again.

Recruits were also trained in horseback riding. Through these classes, carried out both in full equipment and without it, all soldiers had to go through.

Later, newcomers were taught how to use weapons. This part of the training largely repeated the methods of training in gladiator schools. Weapons for training were wooden, shields were wicker. In size and shape, they were quite identical to the real ones, but almost twice their weight. For practicing blows, a wooden pole was used dug into the ground in the height of a man. On it, the legionnaire practiced blows on the imaginary head and legs of the enemy. The main purpose of the exercise was to work out the blow so that when it was applied, the lunge was not too deep, since this increased the likelihood of hitting the attacker's right side, which was not protected by a shield. Pilum throws were also practiced at different distances and for different purposes.

At the next stage, the future legionnaire moved on to that stage of training, which, like the gladiators, was called armatura. From that moment on, military weapons began to be used for training. The legionnaire received a sword, one or more pilums and a shield.

Weapon skills were developed in fights with swords or spears, the tips of which were covered with wooden tips for safety. To maintain excitement, rewards for the winners of the duel and punishments for the losers were widely used. The successful received a double ration, while the losers had to be content with barley instead of the usual grain.

Exercises with weapons were aimed at tempering not only the body, but also the spirit of the soldiers. Flavius, apparently observing them closely, believed that "they resemble either bloodless battles or bloody exercises." Looks like they've been working hard.

During training trips, beginners got acquainted with tactical methods of combat, as well as with various types of formations.

At the end of this stage, the soldiers parted with the status of recruits and joined the legion. Nevertheless, throughout the rest of their service, they were expected to do the same exercises and activities that were devoted to most of every day, except for holidays. The maniples and centuries were engaged in drill training and, divided into two groups, fought among themselves. The riders practiced jumping with obstacles, practiced the attack on the infantry. Cavalry and infantry in full marching gear will make three 15-kilometer marches a month.

The practice of constant training was such a characteristic feature of Roman military life that even Seneca, who was so far from the bustle of everyday life in his writings, noted: “Soldiers in peacetime go on a campaign, although not against the enemy, pour yours, exhaust themselves with unnecessary work, so that I had enough strength to do what I needed."

2.2 Military discipline. Punishments and rewards

No other army of antiquity had such strict discipline. Its main expression was unconditional obedience to orders. The maintenance of strict order, first of all, was facilitated by the fact that the soldiers were never left idle. In addition, the well-known principle of "carrot and stick" was applied in the army with unchanging consistency.

Military laws punished by death not only for desertion and leaving the formation during the battle, but also for less significant offenses, such as leaving a guard post, losing weapons, theft, false testimony against a comrade, cowardice. Less significant crimes were punished by reprimands, reduction of salaries, demolition, assignment to hard work and corporal punishment. There were also shameful punishments. For example, Augustus ordered the delinquent to stand in front of the praetorium all day, sometimes in one tunic and with a combat belt.

If the offense was registered for the entire maniple or legion, every tenth, twentieth or hundredth, chosen by lot, was executed, the rest were transferred to barley bread.

More severe than military law was sometimes the unlimited personal power of the commanders, which they used, regardless of rank and merit. Augustus, who was famous for honoring the "traditional virtues of antiquity", would allow legates to see their wives only in winter. Roman horseman who cut off his sons thumbs to save them military service, ordered to sell at auction with all property. Tiberius punished the leader of the legion with dishonor because he sent several soldiers to accompany his freedman on a hunt. On the other hand, exemption from punishments, imposed dishonor and accusations in troubled times was a real measure designed to win over the troops to their side or strengthen their authority in calmer times.

Incentives could also be of various kinds: praise, promotion, increase in salary, participation in the division of booty, exemption from work in the camp, cash payments and insignia in the form of silver or gold wrists (armillae) worn on the forearm. There were also specific awards for different types of troops: in the cavalry - silver or gold neck chains (torques), in the infantry - chest silver or gold plywood with the image of a commander or the head of some deity.

Officers were awarded an honorary spear without a point (hasta pura) and an honorary personal flag - a small vexillum. The highest insignia were wreaths (sogopae), the most honorable of which was the triumphal laurel wreath (corona triumphalis). There were other wreaths: corona civica - for the salvation of a citizen, corona muralis - for the first to climb the wall, corona vallaris - for the first to climb the rampart of an enemy fortification, corona navalis - for the first to board an enemy ship.

The awards were handed out to the soldiers in the presence of the entire army.

From this point of view, the story of Josephus Flavius ​​about the ceremony organized by Titus after the capture and sack of Jerusalem is indicative: “He immediately ordered the persons appointed for this purpose to proclaim the names of those who had accomplished some brilliant feat in this war. Calling them by name, he praised those who approached and showed so much joy, as if their exploits had made him personally happy, he immediately laid on them golden wreaths, golden neck chains, presented them with large golden spears or silver banners, and elevated each of them to the highest rank. from the booty in gold, silver, clothing and other things.Having thus rewarded everyone according to their deserts, he blessed the whole army and with loud jubilant cries of the soldiers descended from the platform and proceeded to victorious sacrifices.A huge number of bulls, already standing at the altars, were slaughtered , and their meat was distributed to the army. He himself feasted with them for three days, after which part of the army was released, wherever it was for anyone. "

In honor of the commander who won a major victory, a thanksgiving service in temples (supplicatio) could be appointed. But the highest reward was a triumph - a solemn entry into Rome. According to tradition, the commander, invested with the highest military authority (imperium), had the right to it when he, as commander in chief, won a decisive victory on land or at sea in a declared war with an external enemy. According to this definition, in the I-II centuries. AD only the emperors, who were considered the supreme commanders of the armies, had the right to triumph.

According to ancient tradition, the commander had to remain outside the city until the day of the triumph. On the appointed day, he marched in solemn procession through the triumphal gates towards the Capitol. On this occasion, the streets were decorated with wreaths, the temples were opened. The spectators greeted the procession with shouts, and the soldiers sang songs.

At the head of the procession were government officials and senators, followed by musicians, then brought booty and images of conquered countries and cities. There were priests, young men in festive clothes, leading white bulls, appointed for sacrifice, and noble prisoners of war in chains. Next came the golden chariot of the triumphant, harnessed by four white horses. Lictors, musicians and singers walked ahead. The victor stood on a chariot, crowned with a laurel wreath, dressed in a purple tunic embroidered with gold (tunica palmata - the clothes of Capitoline Jupiter) and in a purple toga (toga picta) decorated with gold stars. In his hands he held a scepter of Ivory, decorated on top with a golden eagle, and a laurel branch. Behind the chariot stood a state slave, holding a golden crown above his head. The crowd greeted the victor with shouts: "Look back and remember that you are a man!"

The procession was closed by soldiers in laurel wreaths, with all the insignia. Arriving at the temple of Capitoline Jupiter, the victor laid his prey on the hands of the statue of God, said a prayer, made a sacrifice, and then distributed gifts and awards to the soldiers. This was followed by a feast.

The victorious commander (not the emperor) was granted only the right, on solemn occasions, to wear the triumphant decorations and signs that the Caesars had been rewarding since the time of Augustus. Among the decorations were chains embroidered with palm leaves tunics, togas (toga picta), laurel wreaths.

In honor of the victorious commander, monuments (tropaea) were erected, initially from melted down enemy weapons, and later from marble and copper, triumphal arches, columns, marble and bronze statues were erected. The armor taken from the enemy leader was sacrificed to Jupiter (luppiter Feretrius). In general, military booty went to pay salaries to the troops, and was also partly dedicated to the gods.

Of course, it wasn't just the winners who received the awards. So, for example, during the African triumph of Caesar, young Augustus was awarded, despite the fact that he did not participate in the war.

2.3 Daily life

Years of service in the army did not always fall on campaigns and battles. In the II century. army life was more measured. Expeditions became rare. The troops were mainly stationed in permanent camps, the way of life of which was very reminiscent of the life of most ordinary cities "Pax Romanum", with all the amenities of ancient civilization (baths, theaters, gladiator fights, etc.).

The everyday life of a legionnaire differed little from the everyday life of a soldier of any other era - exercises, guards, patrolling the roads. But in addition to military occupations, soldiers were required to perform numerous construction works. They erected camp buildings and fortifications, built roads, bridges, built border fortified lines and monitored their safety. Behind the main shaft with watchtowers, a military road was always built along which troops could be transferred along the border. Over time, such fortified lines strengthened the borders of the empire in the north of Britain - Hadrian's Wall, between the Dniester and Prut - the Trojan Wall and in Africa - the Tripolitan Wall.

An important aspect of the army's activity was its participation in the process of Romanization of the provinces in which it was stationed. After all, the army was used not only to carry out military work, but also to build canals, water pipes, water tanks, public buildings. Things got to the point that in the III century. the military often had to take over the full performance of a number of civilian functions. Legionnaires often became employees (secretaries, translators, etc.) in various local civilian departments. All this contributed to the spread of the Roman way of life, its organic interweaving with local customs and customs in territories that, as a rule, did not have a sufficiently high level of civilization before.

For service in the army, the legionnaire regularly received a salary (stipendium). The first time the fee for the service was raised by Caesar. Then it amounted to 226 denarii. Centurions traditionally received twice as much. They were paid every four months. Then, 150 years later, the fee was increased by Domitian. The next increase took place another hundred years later.

To pay for the troops, there was a kind of "tariff scale", according to which the infantryman of the auxiliary troops received three times less, and the cavalryman - two times less than the legionnaire, although the cavalryman's pay may have come close to the legionnaire's salary. Large cash rewards were paid to soldiers after victories or when a new emperor ascended the throne. Payments and gifts (donatives), of course, made the service more attractive.

This, of course, did not rule out mutinies in the army, which arose on economic grounds, and also because of the cruel discipline or the large amount of work that the legionnaires were burdened with. It is curious that Tacitus reports an uprising in the summer camp of the three legions that occurred immediately after the death of Augustus, among other things, demanding equal pay with the Praetorians. With great difficulty, it was possible to liquidate this uprising, satisfying the basic requirements of the rebels. Almost simultaneously, the Rhine legions revolted. Later, the rebellion of the legionnaires on the Upper Rhine was caused by the fact that they did not receive the rewards promised by Galba for the victory over the Gauls.

Soldiers often tried to save money, even though they had to provide their own food, clothing, shoes, weapons and armor (with discounts, but from their own pay), not to mention the so-called "New Year's dinner" for commanders and payments to the funeral fund. Food and clothing costs were constant. The weapon, of course, was purchased once. Some soldiers could afford to decorate their armor with gold and silver. Part of the money inevitably went to bribes. So, for example, not a single emperor could do anything about the "tradition" of paying centurions for vacations. So, giving "Caesar's Caesar's" on the battlefield, the centurion considered himself entitled to "centurion's" in the camp.

Half of any reward (donatives) was kept for the soldier until the day of his retirement. The legionnaires' savings were the responsibility of the standard bearers, who did this in addition to their other duties.

For food, the soldier received four measures (modius) of grain and a certain amount of salt every month. Grain (usually wheat) was ground by soldiers in hand mills, and bread was baked from flour. Only those serving in the navy received baked bread, because it was dangerous to make fire on ships. Meat played a secondary role. Vegetables, leguminous fruits and other products were given out only when there was a shortage of grain. The provinces were obliged to help in kind or money to support the troops. Provisions for the campaign were specially prepared for the municipalities (districts) and provinces.

The main quartermaster of the troops, i.e. the head of the economic part and the cash desk of the troops was the quaestor. Under his command were various lower officials in charge of the treasury and food, and scribes.

Chapter III. Fleet

3.1 Roman navy

In Rome, the fleet did not fundamentally differ from the ships of Greece and the Hellenistic states of Asia Minor. The Romans have the same dozens and hundreds, oars as the main propulsion of the vessel, the same multi-tiered layout, approximately the same aesthetics of the fores and sternposts. The main, most accurate and widespread classification is the division of ancient warships depending on the number of rows of oars.

Ships with one row of oars (vertically) were called moners (moneris) or unirems, and in modern literature they are often referred to simply as galleys, with two - biremes or libournes, with three - triremes or triremes, with four - tetrares or quadriremes, with five - penters or quinqueremes, with six - hexers. However, further clear classification is "blurred". In ancient literature, one can find references to the hepter / septer, octer, enner, detsemrem (ten-row?) and so on up to the seven-cimrem (sixteen-row ships!). The only conceivable semantic content of these names is the total number of rowers on one side in one section (section) in all tiers. That is, for example, if in the bottom row we have one rower per oar, in the next - two, in the third - three, etc., then in total in five tiers we get 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15 rowers . Such a ship, in principle, can be called a quindecimreme. Roman ships were, on average, larger than similar Greek or Carthaginian ones. With a fair wind, masts were installed on the ship (up to three on quinquerems and hexers) and sails were raised on them. Large ships were sometimes armored with bronze plates and almost always hung with water-soaked oxhides before battle to protect them from incendiary projectiles.

Also, on the eve of a collision with the enemy, the sails were rolled up and placed in covers, and the masts were laid on the deck. The vast majority of Roman warships, unlike, for example, the Egyptian ones, did not have stationary masts at all. Roman ships, like Greek ships, were optimized for coastal naval battles rather than long raids on the high seas. It was impossible to ensure good habitability of a medium ship for one and a half hundred rowers, two to three dozen sailors and a centurion of the marine corps. Therefore, in the evening the fleet sought to land on the shore. Crews, rowers and most of the marines left the ships and spent the night in tents. In the morning they sailed on. The ships were built quickly. In 40-60 days, the Romans could build a quinquereme and fully put it into operation. This explains the impressive size of the Roman fleets during the Punic Wars. For example, according to my calculations (careful and therefore probably underestimated), during the First Punic War (264-241 BC), the Romans commissioned more than a thousand first-class warships: from trireme to quinquereme. Since they sailed only with a fair wind, and the rest of the time they used exclusively the muscular strength of the rowers, the speed of the ships left much to be desired. The heavier Roman ships were even slower than the Greek ones. A ship capable of 7-8 knots (14 km / h) was considered "fast-moving", and for a quinquer a cruising speed of 3-4 knots was considered quite decent. The crew of the ship, in the likeness of the Roman land army, was called the "centuria". There were two main officials on the ship: the captain ("trierarch"), responsible for the actual navigation and navigation, and the centurion, responsible for the conduct of hostilities. The latter commanded several dozen marines. Contrary to popular belief, in the Republican period (V-I centuries BC), all members of the crew of Roman ships, including rowers, were civilians. (The same, by the way, applies to the Greek navy.) Only during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) did the Romans resort to limited use of freedmen in the navy as an extraordinary measure. However, later, slaves and prisoners really began to be increasingly used as rowers.

Biremes and Liburnians.

Biremes were two-tier rowing vessels, and liburns could be built both in two- and in a single-tier version. The usual number of rowers on a bireme is 50-80, the number of marines is 30-50. In order to increase capacity, even small biremes and liburns were often completed with a closed deck, which was usually not done on ships of a similar class in other fleets.

Triremes.

The crew of a typical trireme consisted of 150 rowers, 12 sailors, approximately 80 marines and several officers. The transport capacity was, if necessary, 200-250 legionnaires.

The trireme was a faster ship than the quadri- and quinqueremes, and more powerful than the biremes and liburns. At the same time, the dimensions of the trireme made it possible, if necessary, to place throwing machines on it.

3.2 Rome's heavy fleet

Quadriremes.

Quadriremes and larger warships were also not uncommon, but they were built in large quantities only directly during major military campaigns. Mostly during the Punic, Syrian and Macedonian wars, i.e. in III-II centuries. BC. Actually, the first quadri - and quinquerems were improved copies of Carthaginian ships of similar classes, first encountered by the Romans during the First Punic War.

Quinquerems.

By themselves, the quinqueremes were so huge that there were no rams on them; they were replaced by numerous artillery mounts that made it possible to take on board large parties of paratroopers (up to 300 people). In the First Punic War, the Carthaginians could not try to match the strength of their ships with similar sea fortresses.

Hexers.

In the works of Roman authors, there are reports of more than five-tier ships in the Roman fleet, namely six and even seven-tier ones. Six-tiered ships include hexers. They did not stand on carpet production and were built extremely rarely. So, when in 117 AD. Hadrian's legionnaires reached the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, they built a fleet, the flagship of which was allegedly the hexer. However, already during the battle with the Carthaginian fleet at Eknom in the First Punic War, two hexers were the flagships of the Roman fleet.

Superheavy ships.

These include septers, enners and decimrems. Both the first and the second were never built en masse. Ancient historiography contains only a few scanty references to these ships. Obviously, Enners and Decimrems were very slow-moving and could not withstand squadron speed on a par with triremes and quinqueremes. For this reason, they were used as coastal defense battleships to protect their harbors, or to impose on enemy sea fortresses as mobile platforms for the siege of towers, telescopic assault ladders (sambuca) and heavy artillery. In a linear battle, Mark Antony tried to use decimrems (31 BC, the battle of Actium), but they were burned by the fast ships of Octavian Augustus.

Chapter IV. The evolution of legionnaire weapons

The very belonging of a person to the legionnaires was his attire. It differed in some parts from the simple attire of citizens. As such, this was established only with the introduction of the Marius reform and a number of subsequent reforms that made the army permanent.

The main differences were the military belt ("balteus") and shoes ("kaligi"). "Balteus" could take the form of a simple belt worn at the waist and decorated with silver or bronze plates, or two crossed belts tied at the hips. The time of appearance of such crossed belts is unknown. They could appear closer to the reign of Augustus, when additional protection appeared in the form of leather stripes on the sleeves and waist ("pterugs") (metal lining for such stripes was found near Kalkrize, where Varus was defeated). Probably, during the reign of Tiberius, blackening on silver, lead or copper began to be widely used in the manufacture of decorative belt overlays with a complex mosaic pattern.

Military footwear "kaligi" was another important attribute of belonging to the soldier class. The exact time of their introduction is unknown. They were the standard footwear for Roman soldiers from the reign of Augustus until the beginning of the 2nd century BC. AD These were sturdy sandals. Josephus Flavius ​​in his work - "The Jewish War" - said that, the creak of nailed soles and the tinkling of belts, spoke of the presence of soldiers. Archaeological finds throughout the empire testify to a great degree of standardization in the form of "kalig". This suggests that the models for them, and possibly other items of military equipment, were approved by the emperors themselves.

4.1 Offensive weapons

"Pilum" was one of the main types of weapons of the Roman legionnaire. Unlike the "gladius" - the sword, which had several distinct and consistent varieties, the "pilum" was preserved for six centuries in two main types - heavy and light. A dart with a total length of more than 2 m was equipped with a long iron rod with a pyramidal or two-thorn tip.

"Pilum" was a weapon that was used at a short distance. With its help, it was possible to pierce the shield, armor and the enemy warrior himself.

Several "pilums" with flat tips and the remains of a wooden shaft, found in Oberaden Fort Augusta in Germany, have survived. They could weigh up to 2 kg. However, those specimens that were found in Valencia and belonged to the period of the Late Republic had much larger arrowheads and significantly more weight. Some "pilums" were equipped with weights, probably made of lead, but no such specimens have been found by archaeologists. Such a heavy "pilum" in the hands of a Praetorian can be seen on a surviving panel from the ruined arch of Claudius in Rome, which was erected in honor of the conquest of southern Britain. A weighted dart weighed at least twice as much as a normal dart and could not be thrown long distances (the maximum throwing distance was 30m). It is clear that such weighting was done to increase the penetrating ability of the dart and was most likely used for combat on elevated ground and fortress walls.

Usually a Roman legionary is presented armed with a short and sharp sword, known as a "gladius", but this is a misconception.

For the Romans, the word "gladius" was generalized and meant any sword. Thus, Tacitus uses the term "gladius" to refer to the long cutting swords with which the Caledonians were armed at the battle of Mons Graupius. The famous Spanish sword, "gladius hispaniensis", often mentioned by Polybius and Livy, was a piercing-cutting weapon. middle length. The length of its blade reached from 64 to 69 cm, and the width - 4-5.5 cm. The edges of the blade could be parallel or slightly narrowed at the handle. From about a fifth of the length, the blade began to taper and ended with a sharp end. Probably, this weapon was adopted by the Romans shortly after the battle of Cannae, which took place in 216 BC. Prior to that, it was adapted by the Iberians, who took the long Celtic sword as a basis. Scabbards were made from a strip of iron or bronze with wood or leather details. Up to 20 BC some Roman units continued to use the Spanish sword (an interesting specimen has come down to us from Berry Bow in France). However, during the reign of Augustus, it was quickly supplanted by the "gladius", a type of which is represented by finds in Mainz and Fulheim. This sword clearly represented a more developed stage of the "gladius hispaniensis", but had a shorter and wider blade, narrowed at the handle. Its length was 40-56 cm, with a width of up to 8 cm. The weight of such a sword was about 1.2-1.6 kg. The metal scabbard could be trimmed with pewter or silver and decorated with various compositions, often associated with the figure of Augustus. The short "gladius" of the type found at Pompeii was introduced quite late. This parallel-edged sword with a short triangular point was quite different from the Spanish swords and the swords found at Mainz/Fulheim. It was 42-55 cm long, and the blade width was 5-6 cm. Using this sword in battle, the legionnaires inflicted stabbing and chopping blows. This sword weighed about 1 kg. Finely decorated scabbards like those found at Mainz/Fulheim were replaced by leather and wood scabbards with metal fittings, which were engraved, embossed or minted with various images. All Roman swords of the period we are considering were attached to the belt or hung on a sling. Since the image of a "gladius" similar to that found in Pompeii is most often found on Trajan's column, this sword began to be perceived as the main weapon of a legionnaire. However, the time of its use in Roman units was very short compared to other swords. Introduced in the middle of the 1st c. AD, it went out of use in the second quarter of the 2nd century. AD An ordinary Roman soldier carried his sword on the right side. Centurions and higher officers carried the sword on the left, which was a sign of their rank.

Dagger.

Another borrowing from the Spaniards was the dagger ("pugio"). In shape, it looked like a "gladius" with a blade narrowed at the handle, the length of which could be from 20 to 35 cm. The dagger was worn on the left side (ordinary legionnaires). Beginning with the reign of Augustus, dagger hilts and metal scabbards were decorated with elaborate silver inlays. The main forms of such a dagger continued to be used in the III century. AD

4.2 Defensive weapons

Shield.

The legionnaire's traditional shield was a curved oval scutum. A copy from the Fayum in Egypt, dating back to the 1st century BC. BC, had a length of 128 cm and a width of 63.5 cm. It was made of wooden planks laid on top of each other in transverse layers. In the central part, such a shield had a slight thickening (the thickness here was 1.2 cm, and along the edges - 1 cm). The shield was covered with felt and calfskin, and weighed 10 kg. During the reign of Augustus, such a shield was modified, having received a curved rectangular shape. The only surviving copy of this form has come down to us from Dura Europos in Syria and dates back to about 250 AD. It was constructed in the same way as the Fayum shield. It was 102 cm long and 83 cm wide (the distance between the curved edges was 66 cm), but it was much lighter. With a thickness of 5 mm, it weighed about 5.5 kg. Peter Connolly believes that earlier examples were thicker in the middle and weighed 7.5 kg.

Such a weight of the "scutum" meant that it had to be held with a horizontal grip on an outstretched arm. Initially, such a shield was intended for the offensive. The shield could also be used to knock down an opponent. The flat shields of the mercenaries were not always lighter than those of the legionnaires. A rectangular shield with a curved top found at Hod Hill weighed about 9 kg.

Armor.

Most legionnaires of the Imperial period wore heavy armor, although some types of troops did not use armor at all. Caesar used unarmoured legionaries ("expediti") fighting as "antisignani". These were lightly armed legionnaires who started skirmishes at the beginning of the battle or served as reinforcements for the cavalry (for example, at Pharsalus). The relief from the headquarters of the legionnaires in Mainz depicts two legionnaires fighting in close formation. They are armed with shields and spears, but do not have protective armor - even heavily armed legionaries could fight "expediti". On two other reliefs from Mainz, you can see the armor of the established pattern, which was used by legionnaires. In one image, a legionnaire in armor "lorica segmentata", made of metal strips and plates, steps behind the "signifer". True, such armor was not used everywhere. Recent finds made at Kalkries, where the Varus army was defeated (Battle of the Teutoburg Forest), including a fully preserved breastplate with a bronze border, indicate that such armor appeared during the reign of Augustus. Other pieces of armor have been found at what once were Augustus bases near Haltern and Dangsteten in Germany. The shell provided good protection, especially for the shoulders and upper back, but, ending at the hips, left the lower abdomen and upper legs exposed. It is likely that some kind of quilted clothing was worn under the shell, softening blows, protecting the skin from scuffs and helping to ensure that the shell sat properly, and the breastplate and other plates were correctly positioned in relation to each other. The reconstruction of one of these armors showed that it could weigh about 9 kg. Another relief from Mainz depicts a centurion (his sword is on his left side) dressed in what at first glance appears to be a tunic. However, the cuts at the arms and thighs indicate that this is a chain mail shirt ("lorika hamata"), the cuts of which are necessary in order to facilitate the movement of the warrior. Many of these monuments depict details in the form of rings. Mail was probably the kind of armor that was widely used by the Romans. In the period we are considering, chain mail shirts were with short sleeves or without sleeves at all and could fall much lower than the hips. Most of the legionnaires wore chain mail with additional chain mail pads on the shoulders. Depending on the length and number of rings (up to 30,000), such chain mail weighed 9-15 kg. Chain mail with shoulder pads could weigh up to 16 kg. Usually chain mail was made of iron, but there are cases when bronze was used to make rings. Scale armor ("lorica squamata") was another common type, cheaper and easier to manufacture, but inferior to chain mail in strength and elasticity. Such scaly armor was worn over a shirt with sleeves, probably made of canvas lined with wool. Such clothing helped soften blows and prevented metal armor from being pressed into the body of a legionnaire. "Pterugs" were often added to such attire - linen or leather protective strips that covered the upper parts of the arms and legs. Such stripes could not protect from serious injuries. Until the end of the 1st century AD centurions could wear greaves, and even then, probably not in all cases. Hinged arm armor was used in the period we are considering by gladiators, but they did not come into widespread use among the troops until the reign of Domitian (81-96 AD).

Legionnaires used various types of helmets. During the time of the Republic, bronze, and sometimes iron, Montefortino helmets became widespread, which became the traditional helmets of legionnaires from the 4th century. BC. They consisted of a single bowl-shaped piece with a very small rear visor and side plates that covered the ears and sides of the face. Later versions of helmets, including the so-called "Culus" type, were used until the end of the 1st century BC. AD They were equipped with large plates to protect the neck. At the beginning of the reign of Augustus, and perhaps even during the period of the Gallic conquests of Caesar, Roman blacksmiths began to make iron helmets of the "Gallic Port" and "Agen" type for legionnaires. These so-called "Gallic imperial" helmets were of very high quality, fitted with a front and rear visor. Large side plates were also added to this helmet to protect the neck. Closer to the middle of the 1st c. AD a variety of such a helmet was made in Italian workshops. For their manufacture, iron and bronze were used (which was a step forward compared to the Montefortino-type helmet). Legionnaires' helmets were quite massive. The wall thickness reached 1.5-2 mm, and the weight was about 2-2.3 kg. Helmets and their side plates had felt pads, and the design of some helmets left a small space between the head and the canopy, which made it possible to soften the blow. Montefortino helmets were equipped with wide side plates that completely covered the ears, but the new Gallic Imperial helmets already had cutouts for the ears. True, with the exception of those cases when helmets were made for a soldier to order, the side plates could partially cover the ears of a legionnaire. The side plates covered the sides of the face well, but could limit peripheral vision, and the open front of the face became a target for the enemy. Batavian and Tungrian mercenaries fighting at Mons Graupius hit their British opponents in the face. Caesar recalled how the centurion Crastin was killed at the Battle of Pharsalus by a blow to the mouth with a sword.

4.3 Equipment weight

In addition to the emotional stress of combat, an Augustan legionnaire had to carry a significant amount of combat equipment. The armor "lorica segmentata" and the use of a curved rectangular "scutum" made it possible to reduce the weight of the equipment to 23 kg. On the march, the weight that the legionnaire had to carry increased due to his luggage, which included cooking utensils, a bag of provisions, spare clothes. All this property, the weight of which could exceed 13 kg, was placed in a leather bag with ropes and carried with the help of a T-shaped pole on the shoulder. Flavius ​​Josephus notes that, if necessary, the legionnaire also had to carry all the equipment for earthworks. This included a pickaxe, an axe, a saw, a chain, a leather belt, and a basket for carrying earth. Not surprisingly, Julius Caesar made sure that a certain part of the legionnaires on the march was not burdened with cargo and could quickly react in the event of an enemy attack.

The table shows the weight of the combat equipment that the legionnaire of the Augustan era had to carry. \

Equipment Approximate weight (in kg) Montefortino helmet 2 Mail 12 Crossed straps 1.2 Oval scutum 10 Gladius with scabbard 2.2 Dagger with scabbard 1.1 Pilum 3.8 Total 32.3

the ability of legionnaires to travel long distances with a load, and then immediately engage in battle, surprises modern scientists. For example, the six legions of Vitellius, who took part in the second battle of Cremona, marched 30 Roman miles (about 60 km) from Hostilia in one day and then fought all night. In the end, the fatigue of Vitellius's legionaries took their toll and they were defeated. The weariness of the soldiers often influenced the outcome of battles between Roman armies, which, as the second battle of Cremona shows, could continue for a long time. The heaviness of the armor and the energy that the legionnaire had to expend, acting with the "pilum", sword and shield, limited the duration of the battle, which was regularly interrupted for respite.

Chapter V. The strategy of the Roman legions

In the Roman army great importance tactics and strategy played, but these functions were only possible if the legionnaires were given time to prepare and undergo training.

The standard tactic of the Roman army (before the reform of Gaius Marius) was a simple onslaught. The use of pilums made it possible to smash the enemy with much greater ease. The first onslaught and attack could decide the outcome of the entire battle. Titus Livy and all other authors describing the consolidation of Rome on the Italian peninsula said that the enemies of Rome were in many ways similar in weapons to the Romans themselves. So, the most significant battle showing that tactics played a big role was the Battle of Cannae.

5.1 Battle of Cannae

August 2, 216 near the village of Cannes in southeastern Italy, near the confluence of the river. Aufid (Ofanto) in the Adriatic Sea, the largest battle of the 2nd Punic War took place. The number of the Roman army, according to some sources, was about 80 thousand infantry and 6 thousand horsemen, and according to others - 63 thousand infantry and 6 thousand cavalry, which was commanded by consul Gaius Terentius Varro that day. The Carthaginian army consisted of 40,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry.

August the Roman army was commanded by Varro; he ordered the legions to withdraw from the camp and move towards the enemy. Aemilius was against these actions, but Varro did not pay attention to all his objections.

To meet the Romans, Hannibal moved his cavalry and lightly armed foot soldiers and unexpectedly attacked the Roman legions during the movement, causing confusion in their ranks. But then the Romans brought forward a force of heavily armed infantry, reinforced by javelin throwers and cavalry. The attack of the Carthaginians was repulsed, and they were forced to retreat. This success further strengthened Varro in his desire for a decisive battle. The next day, Aemilius could not safely withdraw the legions, being in direct contact with the enemy. Therefore, he encamped two-thirds of his forces on one bank of the Aufid River, and a third on the other bank, 2 km from the first camp; these troops were to threaten the Carthaginian foragers.

The Carthaginian army set up camp on the other side of the river, where the main forces of the Romans were located. Hannibal addressed his soldiers with a speech, which he ended with the words: “With the victory in this battle, you will immediately become the masters of the whole of Italy; this one battle will put an end to your current labors, and you will be the owners of all the wealth of the Romans, you will become the rulers and masters of the whole earth. why no more words are needed - deeds are needed.

The Carthaginian army then took to the field and formed up for battle. Aemilius strengthened his guard posts and did not move. The Carthaginians were forced to return to their camp. On August 2, as soon as the sun appeared, the Roman troops, on the orders of Varro, moved immediately from both camps and began to line up on the left bank of the river. Aufid front to the south. Varro placed the Roman cavalry near the river on the right wing; the infantry adjoined it in the same line, and the maniples were placed more closely than before, and the whole formation was given greater depth than breadth. The allied cavalry stood on the left wing. Ahead of the entire army, at some distance, were light detachments.

The battle formation of the Romans occupied about 2 km along the front. The troops were lined up in three lines of 12 ranks each, that is, in depth - 36 ranks. Legions and maniples were built at reduced intervals and distances; on the left flank lined up 4,000 cavalry under the command of Varro, on the right flank - 2,000 cavalry under the command of Aemilius. Eight thousand lightly armed infantry covered the battle formation. Ten thousand people left in the camp, Varro intended to attack during the battle on the camp of the Carthaginians. The reduction of intervals and distances and the increase in the depth of the formation of the Romans actually meant the rejection of the advantages of the manipulative order of the legions. The Roman army became a huge phalanx that could not maneuver on the battlefield. The battle order of the Carthaginian army was divided along the front: the worst troops were in the center, the wings consisted of selected infantry and cavalry units. Near the river, on the left flank against the Roman cavalry, Hannibal placed the cavalry of the Iberians and Celts, followed by half of the heavily armed Libyan infantry, followed by the infantry of the Iberians and Celts, and next to them the other half of the Libyans. The right flank was occupied by the Numidian cavalry. Having built the whole army in one straight line, Hannibal moved forward with the Iberians and Celts standing in the center; to them he joined the rest of the army in such a way that a crescent-shaped crescent-shaped line was obtained, gradually thinning towards the ends. By this he wanted to achieve that the Libyans would cover the fighters with themselves, and the Iberians and Celts would be the first to enter the battle. On his extreme right flank, Hannibal built the Numidian cavalry (2 thousand horsemen) under the command of Hanno, on the extreme left flank was located the heavy African cavalry (8 thousand horsemen) under the command of Hasdrubal, and on the path of the advance of this cavalry there were only 2 thousand horsemen of poorly trained Roman cavalry. Next to the cavalry, on both flanks, there were 6,000 heavy African foot soldiers (Libyans), built in 16 lines. In the center, 10 ranks deep, stood 20 thousand Gauls and Iberians, whom Hannibal ordered to move forward. The center was built with a ledge forward. Here was Hannibal himself. Eight thousand lightly armed infantry covered the battle formation of the Carthaginian army, in front of it stood superior enemy forces.

The lightly armed infantry of both opponents, having started a battle, withdrew behind the disposition of their armies. Following this, the cavalry of the left flank of the Carthaginian battle order defeated the cavalry of the right flank of the Romans, went to the rear of their battle formation, attacked the cavalry of the left flank and scattered it. The Carthaginians drove the Roman cavalry from the battlefield. At the same time, an infantry battle was unfolding. The course of events on the battlefield created the prerequisites for the coverage of the flanks of the Roman army by the Carthaginian infantry, the completion of the encirclement of the Romans by cavalry and the destruction of the encircled Roman army. The battle order of the Carthaginians took on a concave enveloping shape. The Romans wedged into it, which facilitated the two-sided coverage of their battle formation. The rear ranks of the Romans were forced to turn to fight the Carthaginian cavalry, which, having defeated the Roman cavalry, attacked the Roman infantry. The Carthaginian army completed the encirclement of the Romans. The tight formation of the legions robbed them of their maneuverability. The Romans were lumped together. Only warriors of the outer ranks could fight. The numerical superiority of the Roman army lost its significance; inside this huge mass there was a crush, the warriors could not turn around. A terrible massacre of the Romans began.

As a result of the twelve-hour battle, the Romans lost 48,000 killed and about 10,000 captured. The losses of the Carthaginians killed reached 6 thousand people. Despite being completely surrounded, many of the Romans managed to escape; according to some reports, 14 thousand people were saved, but if we take into account the data on losses and the total number of the entire Roman army (86 thousand people), it turns out that 28 thousand people were saved.

What were the main mistakes of Varro - he abandoned the already established tactics (manipulative). The formation of the Romans was wide, but even for such a length, the depth was too great. For Varro, it was more reasonable to break up the army into legions and disperse them over the area, giving them the opportunity, both for tactical maneuvering and for the ability to deliver a continuous strike from several sides. In addition, a reserve corps of 10,000 could inflict a flank or rear attack on Hannibal's army.

But Varro did not take into account any facts and decided to defeat the enemy with one frontal attack, which led him to defeat. Not taking into account the strong cavalry of Hannibal, he imprudently decided to move the army.

But still, in a similar situation, there was a chance to defeat Hannibal by using the triarii for a flank counterattack at the beginning of the battle. They could reinforce the horsemen standing on the flanks and repel the attacks of Hasdrubal and Hannon. After which the battle would change its course. But Varro did not take into account this option and lost. Thus ended the battle of Cannae - the complete defeat of the Romans.

5.2 Battle of Cynoscephalae

The second battle was the Battle of Cynoscephalae. The Battle of Cynoscephalae occupies a special place in military history. Partly - because it was the first large-scale field battle of the Roman legions and the Macedonian phalanx, partly - because the fate of the Macedonian state was decided in it (Fig. 7).

Both sides in the winter of 197 BC prepared for battle on the Thessalian plain. The Romans sought to push the king north into Macedonia and isolate his garrisons in Greece. Philip, in turn, wanted to keep Thessaly and cover the Tempe passage to Macedonia.

Philip set out on a campaign in the morning, but because of the fog he decided to return to the camp. To cover from the Cynoscephalus, behind which the enemy could be, he sent ephedra - a guard detachment of no more than 1000 - 2000 people. The bulk of the troops, having set up guard posts, remained in the camp. A significant part of the soldiers was sent to collect fodder for the cavalry.

Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who also did not know about the movement of the enemy, decided to reconnoiter the situation on the ridge of hills separating him from the Macedonians. For this, extraordinaries were allocated - selected 10 allied cavalry troops (300 horsemen) and 1000 light infantrymen.

At the pass, the Romans suddenly saw the Macedonian outpost. The battle between them began with separate skirmishes, in which the velites were overturned and with losses retreated along the northern slope. Flamininus immediately sent to the pass under the command of 2 Roman tribunes 500 Aetolian horsemen Eupolemus and Archedamus and 1000 Aetolian foot soldiers. The crumpled Macedonians withdrew from the ridge to the tops of the hills and turned to the king for help. Philip sent the most mobile and maneuverable part of the army to the pass. The Macedonian cavalry of Leontes (1000 horsemen), the Thessalian cavalry of Heraclid (100 horsemen) and mercenaries under the command of Atenagoras entered the battle - 1500 Greek peltasts and lightly armed and, possibly, 2000 trawls. With these forces, the Macedonians overturned the Roman and Aetolian infantry and drove them down the slope, and the Aetolian cavalry, strong in loose battle, grappled with the Macedonians and Thessalians.

The messengers who arrived told Philip that the enemy was fleeing, unable to resist, and the opportunity simply could not be missed - this was his day and his happiness. Philip gathered his remaining troops. He himself led the right wing of the army to the ridge: the right wing of the phalanx (8000 phalangites), 2000 peltasts and 2000 Thracians. On the crest of the hills, the king reorganized the troops from the marching order, deploying to the left of the pass and occupying the height dominating the pass.

dissatisfied with the inevitability and suddenness of the battle, Titus lined up an army: on the flanks were detachments of cavalry and allied ala, in the center were the Roman legions. Ahead, 3800 velites lined up in loose formation for cover. He led the left wing of the army - to the right of the 2nd legion, to the left of the 2nd allied ala, in front of all the light infantry, the Aetolians, probably on the flank of the legion (a total of 6000 heavily armed, about 3800 velites and up to 4000 Aetolians), - stood in the center and led to the aid of the defeated Aetolians. The right wing, in front of which a line of elephants stood instead of velites, remained in place.

Flaminin, without taking the lightly armed behind the line of maniples, attacked the enemy. The Romans approached the Macedonians, who were beating the light infantry and the Aetolian cavalry, the velites threw pilums and began to cut with swords. The Romans were again outnumbered. Now about 8000 infantry and 700 horsemen fought against 3500 - 5500 infantry and 2000 horsemen. The ranks of the Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry and lightly armed, mixed in pursuit, could not withstand the blow and rolled back up under the protection of Philip.

The king doubled the depth of the phalanx and peltasts and closed their ranks to the right, making room for the deployment of the left flank rising to the crest. The right wing of the phalanx was lined up in 32 lines of 128 people. Philip stood at the head of the peltasts, the Thracians stood on the right flank, and the retreating lightly armed infantry and cavalry deployed even more to the right. On the left, the right wing of the phalanx was not covered by either the left wing of the phalanx (it followed in the march formation) or by the peltasts. The Macedonian army was ready for battle - 10,000 in the ranks, up to 7,000 in loose formation, 2,000 horsemen. Titus Quinctius Flamininus let the lightly armed infantry pass between the rows of maniples, reorganized the heavy infantry into a staggered order and led them on the attack - 6,000 in formation, up to 8,000 in loose formation, up to 700 horsemen. Philip commanded to lower the sarissa, and the phalanx bristled with the dagger-points of the sarissa.

The Romans, accustomed to overturning the barbarian phalanx with a hail of pilums, stumbled upon an impenetrable wall. 10 sarissas were sent to the chest of each legionnaire, which inflicted deep bleeding wounds, and the Romans fell on the rocky ground, wet from the rain, being unable even to cause damage to the Macedonians. And the phalanx went forward with an even step, the Macedonians stabbed forward with sarissas taken at the ready, and only a sudden resistance to the spear sent forward meant for the warrior of the fifth or sixth rank that he had hit the enemy. Rebuffed, the 2nd Legion and the Aetolian allies began to roll back. The Aetolians still tried to fight with the phalanx, but the demoralized Romans simply ran.

The battle was essentially lost by the Romans. King Philip advanced quickly. On the right flank of the rushing right wing of the Macedonians, there were peltasts put in order, lightly armed and mercenaries under the command of Athenagoras. Heraclids and Leontes, the best cavalry in the Balkans, were put in order there. Nicanor Elefas led the left flank of the phalanx to the crest of the hills, lowered it down and successively deployed it into the battle line.

In order to maintain the battle formations of the right wing, the Romans would have had to let the remnants of the 2nd legion pursued by the Macedonian cavalry past them and meet the blow of the rebuilt front of the phalangites, which, under the leadership of the king, had just defeated the enemy and to which the fresh left wing of the phalanx was attached.

Flaminin did not wait for the rout, but turned his horse and rode to the right wing, which alone could save the situation. And at that moment, the consul drew attention to the formation of the Macedonian army: the left wing, in marching order, crossed the crest of the hills in separate spares and began to descend from the pass to turn around in battle formation to the left of the pursuing fleeing king. There was no cover by cavalry and peltasts - they all marched on the right flank of Philip's successfully advancing right wing. Then Titus Quinctius Flamininus launched an attack that changed the course of the battle. He led the right wing, which stood aside from the battle, and moved the right wing (60 maniples - about 6000 heavily armed) to the left wing of the Macedonians that had risen to the ridge. Elephants were in front of the battle formation.

It was a turning point in the battle. The phalangites, built in marching order, did not have the opportunity to consistently turn the front towards the enemy on a narrow road and began to randomly retreat, without waiting for the blow of elephants and a hail of pilums. Nicanor Elephas either hoped to regain control on the crest of the hills when the phalanx broke away from the Romans, or succumbed to the general panic.

One of the tribunes held back 20 maniples and deployed them to the rear of Philip, who continued to pursue the defeated enemy. Since these maniples did not participate in the pursuit of the fugitives (even Roman discipline could not have recalled them), it must be assumed that they were in the 3rd line, and these were 10 maniples of triarii and 10 maniples of principles or allied triarii - about 1200 in total - 1800 people (elite of the Roman legions). On the left flank of Philip, there was no cover - the left wing did not have time to attach itself, and the light infantry remained on the right flank. 20 maniples hit the flank of Philip's advancing right wing and stopped his advance. there was no cover on the left flank, and the Macedonians were in a difficult position. The commanders were either far ahead or in the middle of the formation, and could not get out. Uragi died in the first moments of the fight. It was very difficult to turn around in deep formation: aspises worn on the elbow and huge sarissas were useless in close combat and clung to equipment. The linen cotfib worn by the warriors of the back ranks did not protect well from the slashing blows of the wide gladius recently adopted by the legions. But even now the phalanx held on due to the density of formation and heavy weapons, and the stopped phalangites, throwing sarissas that had become useless, fought off the Roman swordsmen attacking from the rear and flank with short xiphos. The left flank of the wing still retained the ability to spontaneous, unorganized rebuilding facing the enemy. However, the advance of the phalanxes stopped, and the Macedonian cavalry was never withdrawn from the crowd on the right flank to pursue. When the tribunes brought order to the 1st Legion, and the battle resumed from the front, the Falangists faltered and fled.

Flaminius announced 8,000 killed and 5,000 captured Macedonians - mostly from the phalanx. Roman losses were announced at 700; whether the Aetolians were included in this number is not clear.

Here the obvious military talent of Titus Flaminius is revealed. Realizing that he was losing, he did not try to throw the right wing at the phalangists, but turned to the left, unprepared wing of the phalanx. By sacrificing the left wing, he was able to defeat the enemy. When Philip got too involved in the fight, forgetting his duty as a commander, Flaminius opened him up, attacking the phalanx from behind.

5.3 Battle of Karrha

In June 53 BC near Carr there was a battle between the Romans under the leadership of Crassus and the Parthians under the command of Surena. The first were 7 legions and 4 thousand cavalry and light infantry each, the second - 10 thousand horse archers and 1 thousand cataphrates from the personal royal squad. Under the threat of attacks and shelling from all sides, mainly from the flanks, the Parthians forced the Romans to first line up in squares. The counterattack was organized by the son of Crassus, Publius, at the head of 8 cohorts, 3 thousand horsemen and 500 archers on foot. However, due to the false retreat of the Parthians, his detachment broke away from the main forces and was defeated in the forehead and at the same time engulfed from the flanks. Publius' cavalry were overwhelmed while the rest pinned down the infantry, after which it was finally attacked by the lancers. The head of Publius was sent to King Orodes II. The infantry of Crassus himself was extremely constrained by archery. The shooting was inaccurate, but very effective, as it was carried out on a dense mass. As a result, there were 4 thousand wounded with an unknown number of deaths. However, the Parthian cataphracts did not play a significant role under Carrah - the blow of heavily armed, armored horsemen disappeared in the stamina of the legionnaires. Having taken a blow to the shields, they were able to force the cataphracts to get stuck in the ranks, and only the retreat saved the combatants of the king of Parthia from death. But the climatic factor also played a role in the defeat of the Romans - the army of Crassus was mainly Italians, and in summer the heat in Mesopotamia reached 38 degrees. On the march with a load of more than 50 kg, with a lack of water, the soldiers quickly got tired.

The cataphracts withdrew, and the mounted arrows began to cover the Roman quadrangle from all sides. The Roman light infantry sent forward tried to push them back, but the Parthians, retreating a little, showered them with arrows and drove them back into the square. Following this, a hail of arrows hit the close ranks of the legions. The Romans were horrified to find that Parthian arrows pierced their armor. For some time there was hope that the supply of arrows would run out, and then it would be possible to impose hand-to-hand combat on the Parthians. But in reserve the Parthians had a full convoy with a five-against-usual supply of arrows, time after time, when they ran out of arrows, the mounted arrows retreated, took a new supply and returned. Crassus decided to counterattack with the reserve in order to retreat to a more advantageous position under his cover. The son of Crassus Publius, with 1 thousand Gallic horsemen, 300 light infantry, 500 foot archers and 8 cohorts of heavy infantry, rushed to the Parthian archers. They began to retreat. But when Publius broke away from the main forces, the blow of the Parthians, supported by cataphracts, fell upon him from all sides. They were answered, the Gallic mercenary cavalry struck back. The spears of the Gauls could not penetrate the scaly armor of the cataphracts, but, converging in hand-to-hand combat, they threw riders off their horses, snatched spears from their hands, dismounted, dived under the armor of horses and ripped open their stomachs. In the battle, Publius was wounded and the Gauls, surrounding the commander, occupied one of the hills, but they were not allowed to retreat, surrounded and destroyed. Of the detachment of Gauls, five hundred people survived. Publius was killed, his head was shown to his father and the rest of the army. With darkness, the battle died down. Surena offered Crassus to surrender, promised him life and gave him a night to mourn the death of his son. During the night, Crassus lost his self-control, and with it his command of the troops. The council of war decided to leave the wounded behind and retreat under cover of darkness. The cavalry, learning of the decision, left immediately to avoid chaos during the night retreat. Passing by the city of Karra, she warned the sentries on the walls of the catastrophe and moved on to the border. Surena soon discovered that Crassus was hiding in Karrah with the remnants of the army. The Romans again decided to leave under the cover of night. Their guide, who was on the payroll of the Parthians, led the Roman column into the swamp. Confused Romans Surena, on behalf of his king, offered a truce. The Roman army began to put pressure on Crassus to accept this offer. Crassus went to negotiate, but was killed during them. They cut off his head and right hand. Part of the Roman troops surrendered, some managed to escape, many of the fugitives were caught and killed by local nomads. The Romans lost up to 20 thousand killed and up to 10 thousand captured. The sources do not mention the losses of the Parthians.

So, the mistakes of Crassus were simple and lay on the very surface.

He did not conduct any reconnaissance, conducting his campaign spontaneously without being guided by any data.

Crassus needed to delay his campaign for several months or one year, until intelligence and spies brought at least a fraction of information about the enemy. Carry out reconnaissance with small forces, checking the possibility of resisting the Roman cohorts to the enemy. Based on the results of reconnaissance in battle, draw conclusions and options for confronting the enemy cavalry. Then, relying on the features of the landscape and terrain, to force the Parthians into a general battle, when the cavalry would fall into pincers between several legions at once, to limit the Parthian cavalry in the ability to quickly retreat and maneuver. Break one of the armies and distract the rest by showing the wrong direction. After that, deliver a quick blow to the capital and if it provides an opportunity to take it, which would inevitably lead to the fall of the Parthian state (the ruler was absent at that time, and there was no chance to organize sufficient resistance)

Conclusion

The army played a very important role in Roman history. It shaped society itself, all its inner strength and all innovations. Thanks to her, Rome went down in history, from a small city becoming a giant empire spread over the expanses of the Mediterranean coast.

Rome was strong in its social structure, but the legions that passed through the lands of Europe played an important role in preserving the memory of this empire. The legions created this empire with their own hands, seizing lands throughout the Mediterranean basin.

In our time, the device that the army of Rome had and to this day is considered the best and time-tested. The Roman army was perfect, it not only won easily, but, having been defeated, learned from its mistakes. An example of this is the Punic Wars and the victory of Scipio Africanus at Zama. Based on the mistakes of his predecessors (the defeats at Cannae, Trebia, Lake Trasimene), he was able, relying on the results and results of the first Punic War, to defeat the superior army of Hannibal. Rome, on the experience of countless battles, developed a universal battle tactics and chose the best weapons suitable for it.

The fleet of Rome, which became a force during the years of the Punic War, was the most powerful fleet in antiquity.

In addition, the legions were an army not only for wartime, during the years of peace, the legions were also engaged in important matters for the entire empire.

All this attracted a lot of interest to the Roman army, both on the part of contemporary neighbors and on the part of current researchers. Many of them sought to understand how everything was arranged and pass it on to their descendants with all possible accuracy.

And now we have at our disposal the immortal works of ancient authors who have made an immeasurable contribution to modern research. Our contemporaries, relying on all the same authors, strive for understanding, with all the possibility of recreating what is described. But all the information in the authors' works largely contradicts each other. And that is why there have been disputes about certain details for a long time. Therefore, the main method of producing new ideas in this section is the theoretical presentation and comprehension of the archaeological data already at the disposal of scientists, new finds and reports of the authors.

The very study of this section is very interesting, as it allows you to recognize not just the features of the army, but the originality of the army, which created with its strength and power the greatest state of the ancient age that ever existed in this era. The history of Rome itself encourages you to learn as much as possible about the army, due to which this great state was created.

Bibliography

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3.Winkler P. fon. Illustrated history of weapons. M.: Eksmo, 2010. - 256 p.: ill.

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8.Makhlaiuk A. V The Roman Imperial Army in the context of social policy // Bulletin of ancient history - 2002 - No. 3

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17.Suetonius Gaius Tarquil. Life of the Twelve Caesars. M., 2008.

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.Titus Livy. History of Rome from the founding of the city. V.1,2,3 - M.: "Nauka", 1989. Tokmakov V.N. The role of centuriate comitia in the development of the military organization of Rome of the Early Republic // Bulletin of ancient history - 2002 - No. 2

21.Electronic sources

22.#"center"> Application

Rice. 1. The construction of the heavily armed infantry of the Roman Legion according to G. Delbrück a-c. (a - building before the battle; b - rebuilding the maniples of each line before a collision with the enemy; c - starting position before the infantry collision) Reconstruction by P. Connolly.

Rice. 3 Ballistas.

Rice. 4. Scorpio.

Rice. 5. Onager (A - ship-based sea onager; B - standard small legionary onager, onagers used during sieges outnumber this one by 2-3 times)

Start of the battle:

Completion:

Rice. 6. Battle of Cannae

Rice. 7. Battle of Cynoscephalae.

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military organization The Roman Republic was based on the principle of compulsory and universal conscription of citizens (see § 14). The right to serve in the army - and, consequently, the opportunity to count on a share of military booty, land plots - was even an honorary right of a citizen. Such a structure of the army was one of the important guarantees of the subordination of the legions to the people's authorities and magistrates, a guarantee of the inseparability of the army and the Roman community.

At the turn of II-I centuries. BC e. In the organization of the Roman army, the first important shift took place. After the Allied Wars and the granting of citizenship rights to the majority of the population of Italy, the allies received the right to serve in the legions on a par with the Romans, and soon they began to make up to 2/3 of all legions. The quantitative growth of those able to serve in the army led to the gradual replacement of compulsory service by voluntary service - on the basis of recruitment, which was carried out by special overseers. A special part of the army began to be made up of auxiliary troops recruited from provinces outside of Italy. As a result reforms of Gaius Marius (107 BC), caused, among other things, by difficulties with recruiting into the main legions, everyone began to be taken into the Roman army (citizens and non-citizens, including insolvent and slaves); the old census principles are a thing of the past. The troops began to pay increased and regular salaries, switched to the state supply of weapons and equipment. Although conscription was not formally abolished, in reality there was a transition to a standing army.

The final transition to a professional army took place during the period of the principate. Volunteers were recruited into the legions from among any inhabitants of the empire, citizens and non-citizens. For service, in addition to the usual salary and awards, veterans were given land in the provinces. For the professional army, therefore, the commander, the head of the army (especially successful and generous) began to be of greater value than, in fact, subordination to state authorities. This contributed to the formation of a regime of personal power and, in the end, a military monarchy. In addition, under Augustus, the army as a whole was divided into territorial (legions in the provinces) and internal. The core of the latter was made up of specially recruited - already, as a rule, from non-Romans - 9 thousandth detachments and horse guards - the so-called cohors pretoria, or praetorians. These elite units, subordinate to Roman officers and personally to the emperor, became the main pillar of his power, sometimes influencing both political decisions and the fate of the emperor's heirs.

Under the emperor Septimius Severus (II century), the Praetorians became even more detached from the state organization and the Roman population. They stopped recruiting Italians, and the way was opened for the nominees from the provinces to the officer positions of centurions. The soldiers were allowed to marry and live with their families outside the camp. The salaries of the legionnaires increased significantly, many officers now possessed significant fortunes, formed special clubs, colleges, which served to rally the army only around profitable, "soldier emperors".

It is obvious that such an army could not be significant in size and provide for the new political and military tasks of the empire. Under Diocletian, a recruitment of soldiers from the latifundists was introduced; barbarian mercenaries began to be regularly recruited to serve in the Roman army. This contributed, on the one hand, to reconciliation with the bordering peoples and semi-states, and on the other hand, to the erosion of the military-political unity of the empire. The army became a completely independent force, the organization and actions of which were increasingly moving away from the state administration.

At the beginning of the IV century. the organization of the army changed even more in the direction of increasing the role of non-Roman mercenaries. An insignificant part of the army (from the 3rd century onwards, up to 72 legions and 600 thousand soldiers) were citizens of the empire. The majority were mercenaries from the allied peoples (the so-called federals) or from the semi-free population. The barbarization of the army led to the fact that even the praetorian cohorts, the personal guard of the emperor, were recruited from the alien population, which had no attachment, except for profit, to Rome and to the tasks of the state. Barbarians began to make up the majority of officers and even top commanders. Many legions were already built in the tradition of organizing not the Roman army, but according to the combat skills of the allied peoples - mainly the Danubian and Germanic tribes. There were frequent cases when such an army preferred to manifest itself not in military operations, but in solving political affairs, deposing emperors. The participation of the army in palace coups became perhaps the most important indicator of the general political crisis of the Roman Empire by the 5th century.

The army became one of the accelerators of the objective collapse of the Roman Empire. At the end of the IV century. (395) the eastern part completely separated under the name of Byzantium, laying the foundation for its own thousand-year statehood (see § 40). The fate of the western part of the empire with its center in Rome was different.

At the beginning of the 5th century The Roman Empire began to experience a constant onslaught of nomadic tribes and Germanic peoples from the north, pushed by the Great Migration of Peoples, which stirred up in the 4th-5th centuries. Asia and Europe. The social crisis within the empire itself, the collapse of the military organization made Rome incapable of a real rebuff to the new forces. In 410, the army of the Visigoth tribe, led by the leader Alaric, destroyed the city, power in the Western Empire came under the control of the German leaders. The small northern Italian city of Ravenna became the capital of the empire. The empire gradually disintegrated, only Italy and part of the Gallic provinces remained under the rule of the emperors. In 476, the German leader Odoacer overthrew the last Roman emperor, who, by a strange whim of history, was also called Romulus. The Western Roman Empire and millennial statehood ceased to exist.

ALLIED WAR

The death of Drusus clearly showed the Italians that all ways of legal satisfaction of their demands had been exhausted. There was only one way left - the uprising. Apparently, even before the assassination of Drusus, there were secret alliances among the disenfranchised population of Italy, which set themselves the task of achieving the rights of citizenship. Now these unions have turned into militant organizations.

The uprising broke out at the end of 91 on an accidental occasion and began somewhat prematurely. Praetor Gaius Servilius, having learned that the inhabitants of the city of Ascula in Picenum were exchanging hostages with neighboring communities, came to the city with a small detachment. He addressed the residents gathered in the theater with a defiant speech full of threats. This played the role of a spark that fell into a barrel of gunpowder. The crowd here, in the theater, killed the praetor and his legate, after which all the Romans who were in the city were killed and their property was plundered.

The Asculans were immediately joined by the mountain tribes of Mars, Peligni, Vestins, and others. The leading role among them was played by the brave Mars, led by Quintus Poppedius Silon, a close friend of the late Drusus. The second leader of this northern group was Picen Gaius Vidacilius.

Following the example of the northern federation, a southern one was formed, which included the Samnites, Lucans and other tribes of southern Italy with their leaders Gaius Papius Mutilus, Pontius Telesinus and others.

However, before moving on to open hostilities, the leaders of the uprising made a last attempt at reconciliation. They sent a delegation to Rome and promised to lay down their arms if the rebels were given the rights of citizenship. The Roman government refused. At the suggestion of the tribune Quintus Varius, and with the support mainly of the equestrians, a criminal commission was created for cases of high treason. She was tasked with investigating a conspiracy allegedly organized by Drusus, which resulted in a rebellion. Investigations and lawsuits began, from which many people who were or were considered supporters of Drusus suffered. At the same time, both hostile camps were energetically preparing for war.

The so-called "Allied" (or "Mars") war was one of the most formidable uprisings that Rome had to deal with throughout its history. The uprising broke out in Italy itself, and its center was in close proximity to Rome. It covered most of the peninsula. Only Umbria and Etruria remained unaffected by the uprising, where the land and money aristocracy was strong, holding the side of Rome. In Campania and in the south, only allied Greek cities remained loyal to the Romans: Nola, Naples, Rhegium, Tarentum, and others. Most of the Latin colonies also did not join the uprising. But compared to the area covered by the movement, it was not much.

The rebel troops numbered a total of about 100 thousand people - the same number as the Romans put up (not counting the garrisons in the fortresses). At the same time, the Italians were in no way inferior to their opponents in military art and weapons. As for courage, stamina and devotion to the common cause, in this they greatly surpassed the Roman citizenship and auxiliary provincial troops. They had no shortage of talented generals and experienced officers. It should not be forgotten that the Italics went through the same harsh military school in the allied forces as the Romans, and since the time of Marius, many of them served on an equal footing with citizens and in the legions.

The Italians, who fell away from Rome, created their own state organization, reminiscent of the Roman one. The city of Corfinius was made the capital of the general Italian federation in the region of the Peligni, in the very center of the uprising. They called it Italy. Here was the government: a senate of 500 members and officials - 2 consuls and 12 praetors. Apparently, there was also a popular assembly, but it is not clear who it consisted of: whether it was permanent representatives of the communities that were part of the federation, or all the citizens of the federation, since they could practically gather in Corfinium. The answer to this question (a similar question can be raised in relation to the Senate) would be very important, since it would make it possible to answer another question: did the new Italian federation apply the representative principle of government, or was it built according to the old type of federation of policies. The latter seems more likely to us.

The Italic state issued coins according to the Roman model, but with the legend "Italy". (One of these coins depicts a bull, a totem of the Samnite tribes, trampling a Roman she-wolf.)

The military forces of the rebels consisted of detachments of separate communities, united in two groups: the northern (Martian), commanded by Poppedius Silon, and the southern (Samnite) led by Papius Mutilus.

One of the main advantages of Rome in this war was that it had the old centralized state organization and old management skills, while the Italic federation was young and decentralized. The war on the part of the Italics often took on the character of a large guerrilla struggle, which had its weak points, since the Romans, acting in large army masses, beat the rebels one by one. The territory of the uprising was rarely continuous: it was interspersed with numerous civilian and Latin colonies. The first always, and the second in most cases, were the backbone of Rome, and the Italians had to spend a lot of time and effort on their siege. The weakest point of the Italics was their lack of internal unity. The rich and aristocratic strata were drawn to Rome. The Samnite tribes were most irreconcilably disposed, they continued the struggle most stubbornly and for the longest time. The lack of unity among the rebels, as we will see below, made it easier for the Romans to defeat the movement.

The periodization of an allied war is naturally determined by the course of the uprising: its upward curve falls on the 90th year, its downward curve on the 89th. By 88, the uprising in most areas was crushed.

The first year of the war was marked by great setbacks for the Romans. Military operations, which began in the winter of 91/90, unfolded on a large scale in the spring and summer. The first object of attack was the Roman fortresses located on the territory of the uprising. Almost immediately a field war broke out. The southern Roman army under the command of the consul Lucius Julius Caesar (one of his legates was Sulla) operated in Campania and Samnium. At the first attempt to advance, the Romans were driven back by the Samnites with heavy losses. The result of this defeat was the transition to the side of the rebels of the large city of Venafra on the border of Latium and Samnium. This made it easier for the rebels to lay siege to the fortress-colony of Ezernia in northern Samnium, which capitulated a few months later due to lack of food. The Samnites, led by Mutil, invaded Campania, which caused a number of Campanian cities to join the movement: Nola, Salerno, Pompeii, Herculaneus, Stabiae, and others.

At the same time, hostilities were taking place in the northern theater. The second Roman consul, Publius Rutilius Lupus, operated here. Among his legates were Marius, who had returned from the East, and Gnaeus Pompey Strabo, father of Gnaeus Pompey, the future rival of Gaius Julius Caesar. In June 90, the Marsians unexpectedly attacked the consul while crossing the river. Tolen in the former region of the Equi. The Romans lost 8 thousand people, including the consul himself. Only Mary, who replaced Lupus as commander-in-chief, managed to improve the dangerous situation that had developed in the immediate vicinity of Rome.

Strabo at this time was active in Picenum. At first he was defeated and was locked up in the city of Firma. This made it possible for the northern rebel army to transfer part of its forces to the south. Vidacilius invaded Apulia and forced a number of large cities to go over to his side: Venusia, Canusia, etc. Meanwhile, the situation in Picenum improved. The combined Roman forces succeeded in freeing Strabo and locking up the rebels in Asculum.

The Roman failures of the first months of the war were even reflected in the mood of the Umbrian and Etruscan communities: some of them joined the uprising, others hesitated. There were panic rumors in Rome. On the occasion of the defeat at Tolen and the death of the consul, the officials were dressed in mourning.

The Roman government understood the extreme danger of the situation and decided to make concessions. At the end of 90, the consul Julius Caesar passed a law (lex Julia), according to which the inhabitants of those allied communities that had not yet separated from Rome received the right to Roman citizenship. This law stopped the further spread of the uprising, having a positive effect on the wavering Umbrian and Etruscan cities.

Another law, probably adopted at the beginning of 89, caused a split among the rebels. At the suggestion of the tribunes of the people, Mark Plautius Silvanus and Gaius Papirius Carbon, it was decided that every member of the allied community who, within two months, submitted an application to the Roman praetor about the desire to join the ranks of citizens, received the rights of Roman citizenship (lex Plautia Papiria). True, the new citizens were not evenly distributed among all 35 tribes, but were recorded only in 8 tribes. 1 This significantly diminished their legal capacity, since when voting in the comitia tributa, new citizens always found themselves in a minority compared to the old citizenship. 2

For Cisalpine Gaul, which in this era actually did not differ much from the rest of Italy, a special law (lex Pompeia) was passed by the consul of 89, Pompey Strabo. He gave (more precisely, confirmed the law already given by Julius) the right of full Roman citizenship to the Latin colonies located in Cispadan Gaul, and the Latin right to the communities lying on the other side of the Po, and the Gallic tribes assigned to them.

Having made the minimum necessary concessions, the Senate the more energetically led the fight against the stubborn. The second year of the war was disastrous for the Italians. Etruria and Umbria quickly calmed down. A large detachment of Mars in 15 thousand people made an attempt to break through to help the Etruscans, but was utterly defeated by Strabo and almost completely died.

Major operations unfolded around Asculus, which had been besieged by the Romans the previous year. Vidacilius came to the rescue with an army of Piceni. A fierce battle took place under the walls of the city. The Romans were victorious, but Vidacilius managed to break into the city with part of his forces. The siege resumed. When, after a few months, the situation became hopeless, Vidacilius ordered the execution of his political opponents, that is, supporters of the agreement with Rome, and then took poison. The city surrendered to the Romans. The command staff and all prominent citizens were executed, the rest were expelled from the city.

The fall of Asculus fatally affected the course of the uprising in central Italy. The Northern Federation was completely defeated. First, the Marrucins and Marses were conquered, then the vestins and peligns. "Italy" again turned into a modest Corfinius. After the fall of Corfinius, Poppedius Silon armed 20 thousand slaves, and the capital of the Italic federation was moved at the beginning of 88 to the city of Ezernia in Samnia. Meanwhile, the Roman troops entered Apulia. A detachment of the Samnites came to the aid of the Apulians, but after some success was defeated, the Romans fully restored their power in Apulia.

In the south, Sulla, who succeeded Caesar, acted with great skill and merciless cruelty. His army penetrated southern Campania. Pompeii, Herculaneus and Stabiae were taken. Sulla moved to Samnium, which was the main stronghold of the movement, and forced the main Samnite city of Bovian to surrender.

By the beginning of 88, the uprising was held only in the city of Nola in Campania and in certain areas of Samnium, Lucania and Bruttia. At this difficult moment for them, the rebels) entered into relations with the king of the Pontic kingdom, Mithridates VI, who began a war against Rome in Asia Minor. But Mithridates could not help them directly, and it was already too late. Although in some places the uprising held out until 82, it was mostly defeated by 88.

Sulla, elected consul for 88, began the siege of Nola, but at that time major events broke out in Rome that prevented the siege from being completed.

The end of the Allied War and the beginning of the uprising in the east extremely sharpened all the old contradictions, adding new ones to them. A severe economic crisis erupted in Rome. Many people were in debt, and creditors were inexorable, since the horsemen had lost a lot as a result of the falling away of the east and now did not want to make any concessions.

Back in 89, an incident occurred that showed the extent to which passions played out. The city praetor Aulus Sempronius Azellion, yielding to the pleas of the debtors, tried to alleviate their position by deferred payments. In addition, he renewed the old laws against usury, which in fact had not been observed for a long time. Embittered creditors attacked the praetor while he was sacrificing in the forum and killed him.

But not only debtors and creditors were in the ranks of the dissatisfied. Italics also belonged to them, although they received citizenship rights, but were enrolled only in 8 tribes. A significant part of the Italics did not receive any rights at all (these were those rebellious communities that refused to submit and submitted only to the force of arms). The veterans of Mary were also embittered, still waiting for the land allotments promised to them. Marius, who reappeared on the political horizon, failed to really prove himself in the Allied War and had to give way to Sulla.

All these internal difficulties were joined by very serious external complications.