|
Sarcina is a Latin word meaning a marching pack as carried by Roman Legionaries, the heavy infantry of the Roman legions. Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Sarcina_woodcut. ...
Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Sarcina_woodcut. ...
Trajans Column. ...
Jump to: navigation, search ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 399 KB) Summary Roman soldiers with marching packs. ...
Jump to: navigation, search ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 399 KB) Summary Roman soldiers with marching packs. ...
Trajans Column. ...
A Legionary is a member of a legion. ...
Jump to: navigation, search The Roman legion (from the Latin legio, meaning levy) was the basic military unit of ancient Rome. ...
Most of a legionary's equipment other than his arms and armour would, in early times, have been consigned to a baggage train and borne by mules and carts. Image of pack donkey on a Greek wine cup circa 480 BC, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
However, following the reforms of the Roman General Gaius Marius, the soldiers were expected to carry much of their rations and equipment themselves. This was done to reduce the size of the baggage train and increase the mobility of the army by allowing the soldiers to move strategically (i.e. quickly) independently of the train. Such was the load of the soldiers that they became known as Marius' Mules. Gaius Marius (Latin: C·MARIVS·C·F·C·N) (157 - January 13, 86 BC) was a Roman general and politician who was mostly known for his reform of Roman armies. ...
The appearance of the marching pack is known from illustrations on Trajan's Column. Here it can be seen that a legionary's sarcina was carried on a pole called a furca and would have included: Trajans Column. ...
- Loculus - a satchel
- Cloak bag
- Cooking pot
- Patera - mess tin
- Netted object
However, this was certainly not the limit of the soldiers load. Time and again, Roman writers emphasise the importance of soldiers being self-sufficient and not tied to the baggage train. Jump to: navigation, search Loculus illustrated on Trajans Column hung from the canopy of a boat. ...
The word patera has various meanings: A patera was a broad, shallow dish used for drinking, primarily in a ritual context such as a libation. ...
The 2nd century historian Appian of Alexandria records the actions of Scipio Aemilianus Africanus in late 3rd century BC. This was mainly with the objective of improving the morale of the soldiers, but it is also clear that the army is expected to be mobile: // Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ...
Appian (Gr. ...
Nicholas Poussins painting of Scipio reluctant to carry out the genocide of the Carthaginians by Senate order. ...
Jump to: navigation, search // Events The first two Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome over dominance in western Mediterranean Rome conquers Spain Gaulish migration to Macedonia, Thrace and Galatia 281 BCE Antiochus I Soter, on the assassination of his father Seleucus becomes emperor of the Seleucid empire. ...
- He ordered all wagons and their superfluous contents to be sold, and all pack animals, except such as he designated, to remain. For cooking utensils it was permitted to have only a spit, a brass kettle, and one cup. Their food was limited to plain boiled and roasted meats. They were forbidden to have beds, and Scipio was the first one to sleep on straw. He forbade them to ride on mules when on the march; "for what can you expect in a war," said he, "from a man who is not able to walk?" Those who had servants to bathe and anoint them were ridiculed by Scipio, who said that only mules, having no hands, needed others to rub them. [1]
The 1st century historian Josephus, recorded the items carried in his own time: (1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century - other centuries) The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100. ...
Jump to: navigation, search Josephus (c. ...
- ...besides a saw and a basket, a pick-axe and an axe, a thong of leather and a hook, with provisions for three days, so that a footman hath no great need of a mule to carry his burdens. The Wars Of The Jews Book 3, chapter 7.
The 4th century writer Vegetius advises that: (3rd century - 4th century - 5th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ...
Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus) was a celebrated military writer of the 4th century. ...
- The legion is provided with iron hooks, called wolves, and iron scythes fixed to the ends of long poles; and with forks, spades, shovels, pickaxes, wheelbarrows and baskets for digging and transporting earth; together with hatchets, axes and saws for cutting wood. De Re Militari Book II: The Organization of the Legion.
Vegetius was not clear that the soldiers were required to carry these items personally, but we know that soldiers were required to carry entrenching tools and turf cutters for the construction of a temporary camp at the end of each day's march. Probably a variety of tools and equipment was carried distributed among the members of a contubernium. They may also have carried baskets and one or more sudes (stakes). Originally a castrum is a celtic fortification, which is like a round walled castle in the top of a hill. ...
The Contubernium was smallest group of soilders in the Roman Army. ...
Jump to: navigation, search Sudes used as a simple picket fence. ...
There have been many attempts to reconstruct the sarcina and its component parts for historical reenactment. Jump to: navigation, search Reenactors of the American Civil War Historical reenactment is an activity in which participants recreate some aspects of a historical event or period. ...
See also Jump to: navigation, search This is a list of Ancient reenactment groups, i. ...
External links
References and further reading - Greece and Rome at War, Peter Connolly
|
Feeds |
Contact