This article is part of the series on: Image File history File links Rmn-military-header. ...
Military of ancient Rome For the military of the East Roman Empire after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, see Byzantine military The Military of ancient Rome (known to the Romans as the militia) relates to the combined military forces of Ancient Rome from the founding of the city of Rome to the...
| | Branches of the Roman military | Roman army (velites, hastati, principes, triarii, equites, legionaries, auxiliae, comitatenses, limitanei, foederati, praetorians) | | Roman navy | | Roman military history | | Structural history | | Campaign history | | Technological history | | Political history | | Other | | Military Engineering (Siege engines) | | Infantry Tactics | | List of battles | | Personal weapons | | List of legions | | edit this template | The branches of the Roman military at the highest level were the Roman army and the Roman navy. Within these branches the actual structure was subject to substantial change throughout its history. The Roman army is the set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman republic and later Roman empire as part of the Roman military. ...
Velites were a class of light infantry in the army of the Roman Republic. ...
The Hastati (sing. ...
The plural of the Latin word princeps. ...
The Triarii (Latin singular triarius) was the third standard line of infantry of the Roman Republics army. ...
An Equestrian (Latin eques, plural equites) was a member of one of the two upper social classes in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. ...
A modern reconstruction of a Roman centurion around 70 A modern reconstruction of a Roman miles, (10-240) The Roman legion (from Latin , from lego, legere, legi, lectus â to collect) is a term that can apply both as a transliteration of legio (conscription or army) to the entire Roman army...
Auxiliaries (Latin - auxilia, help) were troops in the Roman army of the Imperial period who provided specialist support to the legions. ...
Comitatenses is the Latin plural of comitatensis, originally the adjective derived from comitatus (company, party, suite; in this military context it came to the novel meaning of the field army), itself rooting in Comes (companion, but hence specific historical meanings, military and civilian). ...
Limitanei were border guards in the armies of the late Roman Empire. ...
Foederatus early in the history of the Roman Republic identified one of the tribes bound by treaty (foedus), who were neither Roman colonies nor had they been granted Roman citizenship (civitas) but were expected to provide a contingent of fighting men when trouble arose. ...
The Praetorian Guard of Augustus - 1st century. ...
The Roman Navy (Latin: Classis) operated between the First Punic war and the end of the Western Roman Empire. ...
Root directory at Military history of ancient Rome Romes military was always tightly keyed to its political system. ...
Roman military engineering is that Roman engineering carried out by the Roman Army - almost exclusively by the Roman legions for the furthering of military objectives. ...
The Romans used battering rams, ballistae, siege towers, and later onagers for siege weapons. ...
The Roman army was primarily based around heavy infantry. ...
The following is a List of Roman battles (fought by the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire), organized by date. ...
Disclaimer:This article makes extensive use of images used by kind permission of the Creative Assembly made with the Rome: Total War computer game. ...
This is a list of Roman legions. ...
The Roman army is the set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman republic and later Roman empire as part of the Roman military. ...
The Roman Navy (Latin: Classis) operated between the First Punic war and the end of the Western Roman Empire. ...
Roman Army -
The Roman army is the set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman republic and later Roman empire as part of the Roman military. ...
Roman army field units The history of early Rome, to quote Robin Lane Fox, remains "a vivid arena of dispute, scepticism and scholarly ingenuity".[1] Prior to around 616 BC, little is known about Rome itself, let alone its military. What is generally agreed on is that there was a site of continuous habitation at Rome, probably during the Bronze Age Terramare culture but certainly during the Iron Age Villanovan culture that succeeded it.[2] This period is covered apocryphally by the first four (non-Etruscan) Roman kings, although in practice Rome probably did not have kings at this time. Robin Lane Fox (born 1946) is an English academic and historian, currently a Fellow of New College, Oxford, and University Reader in Ancient History. ...
The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ...
A simplified map showing the Terramare culture c 1200 BC (blue area). ...
Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ...
The Villanovans were a pre-Indo-European iron age people of northern Italy circa 1100-700 BC. They were followed by the Etruscans who may have evolved from them. ...
The tale of seven Roman kings during this period is considered by Grant and others to be mostly apocryphal. Grant dismisses the early kings as "either of dubious historicity or downright fictitious".[3] A kingdom did exist, but not from Rome's foundation as per tradition, but probably dating from Rome's subjugation by the Etruscans. For this purposes of this article we shall talk about pre-Kingdom as that history before the first Etruscan king (the fifth apocryphal king), Tarquinius Priscus. Grant at least seems to believe that prior to the Etruscan subjugation of Rome under kings, the Romans would probably have been ruled by a religious leader.[4] The Etruscan civilization existed in Etruria and the Po valley in the northern part of what is now Italy, prior to the formation of the Roman Republic. ...
See: Etruscan civilization Etruscan language Etruscan alphabet Etruscan mythology See also: Tyrrhenian, Lemnian, Pelasgian. ...
Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (also called Tarquin the Elder or Tarquin I) was the legendary fifth King of Rome, said to have reigned from 616 BC to 579 BC. According to Livy, Tarquinius Priscus came from the Etruscan city of Tarquinii and was originally named Lucumo (it is now thought that...
Prior to the Roman kingdom The early Roman army is often referred to as the curial army, named for the three founding curia or tribes of Rome. It would have been relatively small and consisted "mainly of raiding and cattle rustling with the occasional skirmish-like battle".[5] It lacked much of the profesionalism and organisation of later armies. Although it would have had an infantry element since its inception sometime in the first millennia BC, the cavalry, known as the celeres or literaly "the swift", was, according to tradition, only formed in the time of Romulus.[6] During this period Rome was probably fortified as a hill-top village and its army can be compared loosely to a typical Iron-Age warrior band led by a warrior chieftain. Much of the arms and armor of this period was very similar to the rest of Villanovan culture with swords being fashioned of bronze. Patterns were very similar to the bronze antennae hilted weapons in use by other peoples of the age. The Roman army is the set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman republic and later Roman empire as part of the Roman military. ...
A Curia in early Roman times was a subdivision of the people, i. ...
Celeres was a personal armed guard of 300 men maintained by Romulus, the mythical founder of ancient Rome. ...
three Bronze Age swords (not to scale): from Hajdusamson, Hungary (ca. ...
The army (Latin: legio) according to Livy consisted of exactly 3,000 infantry and 300 cavalry, one third from each tribe.[7] The numbers are a little too exact and Livy's historical remove too great for these figures to be taken too precisely, but Livy is correct that the greater mass of the army consisted of footsoldiers (Latin: pedites), probably undifferentiated infantry armed with javelins. The cavalry (Latin: celeres) would have been small in number. Celeres was a personal armed guard of 300 men maintained by Romulus, the mythical founder of ancient Rome. ...
By the 7th century BC, Etruscan civilization was dominant in the region. As with most of the villages in the region, the Romans warred against the Etruscans and by the close of the 7th century the Etruscans conquered Rome and established a military dictatorship or kingdom. Map showing the extent of the Etruscan civilization and the twelve Etruscan League cities. ...
During the Roman kingdom -
Although several Roman sources talk extensively about the Roman army of the Roman Kingdom, including Livy and Polybius, none of them are contemporary sources - Polybius, for example, was writing some 300 years after the events in question, and Livy some 500 years later. The sources can therefore not be seen as reliable as on later military history from the First Punic War onwards. The city of Rome, founded in a strategic location among a war-like people (the Etruscans), needed to concern itself with the military right from the start. ...
The Roman army is the set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman republic and later Roman empire as part of the Roman military. ...
The Roman Kingdom (Latin: Regnum Romanum) was the monarchal government for the city of Rome and its territories from its founding. ...
A portrait of Titus Livius made long after his death. ...
Polybius (c. ...
Combatants Roman Republic Carthage Commanders Marcus Atilius Regulus Gaius Lutatius Catulus Hamilcar Barca Hanno the Great Hasdrubal Xanthippus The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) was the first of three major wars fought between Carthage and the Roman Republic. ...
The two Etruscan kings of Rome according to tradition are Tarquinius Priscus, and later Servius Tullius. The reformation of the army during this period into the centurial army based on social class[8] is traditionally attribued to the second of these Etruscan kings (and the sixth apcryphal king, Servius Tullius. Livy tells us that he reformed the army as a result of his transplanting onto the army the structure derived for civil life from his conducting the first Roman census. Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (also called Tarquin the Elder or Tarquin I) was the legendary fifth King of Rome, said to have reigned from 616 BC to 579 BC. According to Livy, Tarquinius Priscus came from the Etruscan city of Tarquinii and was originally named Lucumo (it is now thought that...
Servius Tullius was the sixth legendary king of ancient Rome, and the second king of the Etruscan dynasty. ...
However, since the social classes were qualified rather than created by the census - and given that Tullius was not the first Etruscan king of Rome but the second - it is perhaps more accurate to say that the army's structure was more exactly defined rather than created during this period. The qualification of "First Class" citizens as being those with 100,000 or more sesterces in assets and qualifying to serve as heavy armoured infantry doesn't alter the fact that even prior to such classification, poorer citizens would not have been able to afford the arms and armour to serve as heavy infantry in any case. The sestertius was an ancient Roman coin. ...
The army is traditionally said to have doubled in size at this point to 6,000 men consisting of 60 centuries of 100 men each.[9] It consisted of a number of troop types based on the social class of the citizen, from the poorest in the "fifth class" to the richest in the "first class" and the equestrians. The equestrians served as the mounted cavalry units of the equites. The first class of the richest citizens served as heavy infantry with swords and long spears (resembling hoplites), and provided the first line of the battle formation. The second class were armed similarly to the first class, but without a breastplate and with an oblong rather than a round shield; they stood behind the first class in battle formation. The third and fourth classes were more lightly armed with a thrusting spear and throwing javelins, and stood behind the second class in battle formation, giving javelin support. The poorest men of the fifth class were generally too poor to afford any equipment at all and were armed as skirmishers with slings and stones; they would be deployed in a screen in front of the main army, covering its approach and masking its manouvers. An Equestrian (Latin eques, plural equites) was a member of one of the two upper social classes in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. ...
Servius Tullius was the sixth legendary king of ancient Rome, and the second king of the Etruscan dynasty. ...
A hoplite armed with a spear. ...
Servius Tullius was the sixth legendary king of ancient Rome, and the second king of the Etruscan dynasty. ...
Servius Tullius was the sixth legendary king of ancient Rome, and the second king of the Etruscan dynasty. ...
Servius Tullius was the sixth legendary king of ancient Rome, and the second king of the Etruscan dynasty. ...
During the Roman Republic -
The manipular army of the Roman Republic was based partially upon social class and partially upon age and military experience. It therefore represents theoretically a "halfway house" between the earlier socially-divided army, and the later class-free armies of later years. In practice, as a matter of practicality, even slaves were at one time pressed into the army of the Republic. It was traditionally supposed to have been reformed under the Camillian Reforms of the semi-apocryphal figure of Marcus Furius Camillus, but Grant and others argue that it was not created by proactive reform of the earlier forces, but rather by natural evolution of the centurial army.[10] Main article: Military history of ancient Rome As the Roman kingdom successfully overcame opposition from the Italic hill tribes and became a larger state, the age of tyranny in the eastern Mediterranean began to pass away. ...
Marcus Furius Camillus (circa 446- 365 BC) was a Roman soldier and statesman of patrician descent. ...
There are several people with the name Michael Grant: Michael Grant (author), the historian who wrote about the Roman empire Michael Grant (boxer), the boxer Michael Grant, 12th Baron de Longueuil This human name article is a disambiguation page â a list of pages that might otherwise share the same title...
The equites cavalry was still drawn from the equestrian class of nobles in Roman society, and the remaining classes may have retained some slight parallel to social divisions within Roman society, but in theory at least the three lines were based upon: young, unproven men as hastati; older men with some military experience as principes; and veteran troops of advanced age and experience as triarii. An Equestrian (Latin eques, plural equites) was a member of one of the two upper social classes in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. ...
Look up equestrian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
The Hastati (sing. ...
The plural of the Latin word princeps. ...
The Triarii (Latin singular triarius) was the third standard line of infantry of the Roman Republics army. ...
The manipular army gets its name from the tactical depolyment of its heavy infantry into maniples, units of 120 men each from a single infantry class. The maniples permitted tactical movement of individual units of infantry on the battlefield within the framework of the greater army. This stratification was further assisted by the typical deoplyment of the maniples into three discreet lines (Latin: triplex acies) based on the three infantry types of hastati, principes and triarii. The first line, thehastati, were leather armored infantry soldiers with an iron-clad wooden shield, 4 foot tall and a convex rectangle in shape, a gladius, a brass helmet adorned with 3 feathers approximately 30cm in height, a brass cuirass, and two pila: one the heavy pilum of popular imagination and one a slender javelin.[11] The second line, the principes, were heavy infantry soldiers armed and armoured as per hastati, except wearing a coat of mail.[12] The triarii formed the third rank and were the last remnant of holite-style troops in the Roman army: they were armed and armoured as per the principes, except carrying a pike rather than the two pila.[13] There was an additional class of troop known as accensi, also adscripticii and later supernumerarii, who followed the army without specific martial roles and would be deployed to the rear of the triarii. They were taken both to supply any vacancies that might occur in the maniples but also seem to have acted sometimes as orderlies to the officers. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...
The heavy infantry of the maniples were supported by a number of light infantry and cavalry troops. The cavalry was drawn primarily from the richest class of equestrians but additional cavalry (and light infantry) were drawn at times from the Socii and Latini. The Latins were an ancient people of Italy, in and around Latium. ...
Light infantry consisted of velites, unarmoured skirmishing troops drawn from the youngest and lower social classes. They were rmed with a a sword and buckler (3 foot diameter), as well as several light javelins, each with a 3 foot wooden shaft the diameter of a finger, with a 20-30cm narrow metal point.[14] Their numbers would be swollen by the addition of allied light infantry and irregular rorarii. Rorarii form the final lines in the ancient Pre-Marius Roman army. ...
During the late Republic to the mid Roman Empire -
The legionary Roman army came about as a result of a deliberate reform of the Roman military by Gaius Marius - a process known as the Marian reforms. In 107 BC Marius opened up eligibility of entry into the Roman army to all citizens, regardless of wealth or social class.[15] The core infantry unit in this period was the legionary infantry of popular imagination. In practice, the legions contained some cavalry also, and were almost always accompanied by an approximately equal number of auxiliary troops. The principate of the Roman empire had no use for the republican army with its intense loyalties to competing generals. ...
Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (Latin: C·MARIVS·C·F·C·N)[1] (157 BC â January 13, 86 BC) was a Roman general and politician elected Consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. ...
The Marian reforms of 107 BC were a group of reforms proposed by a Roman republic statesman and army general named Gaius Marius. ...
Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (Latin: C·MARIVS·C·F·C·N)[1] (157 BC â January 13, 86 BC) was a Roman general and politician elected Consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. ...
A modern reconstruction of a Roman centurion around 70 A modern reconstruction of a Roman miles, (10-240) The Roman legion (from Latin , from lego, legere, legi, lectus â to collect) is a term that can apply both as a transliteration of legio (conscription or army) to the entire Roman army...
The legion of the Empire was almost entirely heavy infantry drawn exclusively from Roman citizens of any class. Its main sub-unit was called a cohort and consisted of approximately 480 infantrymen. It was therefore a much larger unit than the earlier, smaller maniple sub-unit. The cohort itself was divided into six tactical sub-units known as centuriae of 80 men distributed along 10 contubernia or "tent groups" or 8 men each. Legions also consisted of a small body of equites legionis - Roman legionary cavalry. A modern reconstruction of a Roman centurion around 70 A modern reconstruction of a Roman miles, (10-240) The Roman legion (from Latin , from lego, legere, legi, lectus â to collect) is a term that can apply both as a transliteration of legio (conscription or army) to the entire Roman army...
A cohort (from the Latin cohors, plural cohortes) is a fairly large military unit, generally consisting of one type of soldier. ...
Centuria (Latin plural Centuriae) is a Latin substantive rooting in centum a hundred, denoting units consisting of (originally, approximatively) a 100 men. ...
Each legion was normally partnered by an approximately equal number of non-Roman auxiliae, a formalisation of the earlier arrangement of using allied troops from the Socii and Latini who had received Roman citizenship after the Social War. There were both auxiliary cavalry known as alae, and auxiliary infantry known as cohors auxiliae. Cavalry types included *sagittarii (mounted archers), *cataphractii or clibanarii (heavy cavalry), *lancearii or antesignani (lancers) and conttarii. Auxiliaries (Latin - auxilia, help) were troops in the Roman army of the Imperial period who provided specialist support to the legions. ...
The Latins were an ancient people of Italy, in and around Latium. ...
Template:Campaignbox Social War This article is about the conflict between Rome and her allies between 91 and 88 BC The Social War (also called the Italian War or the Marsic War, Social come from Socii meaning ¨Allies¨) was a war from 91 â 88 BC between the Roman Republic and...
Ala, Alares, Alarii. ...
A horse archer (or horsed archer, mounted archer) is a cavalryman armed with a bow. ...
Sarmatian cataphracts. ...
The Clibanarii (from the Latin, clibani, meaning campoven) were a late Roman and Byzantine military unit of heavy armored horsemen. ...
Auxiliary infantry consisted of both *cohors equitata units of auxiliary infantry with attached mounted squadrons, and cohors peditata pure auxiliary infantry units.
During the late Roman Empire - See also: Decline of the Roman Empire
By the late Empire the permeability of the army that had started as the admission of lower social classes and Italian troops into the army continued and large numbers of non-Italian troops served both in the legions and auxilia and, later, in massed allied warbands or armies known as foederati Romulus Augustus was deposed as Western Roman Emperor in 476 while still young. ...
Foederatus early in the history of the Roman Republic identified one of the tribes bound by treaty (foedus), who were neither Roman colonies nor had they been granted Roman citizenship (civitas) but were expected to provide a contingent of fighting men when trouble arose. ...
The strategic deployment of the military had altered to provide defense in depth in response to the outmoding of their traditional strategic defensive perimeter, consisting of bastions of troops at the borders (limitanei) and more mobile reserve troops in the strategic rear known as comitatenses. Edward Luttwak argues that this was necessitated because by this period the maintenance of the frontier as a solid line of defence was untenable: Persian and Parthian armies were "sufficiently mobile and sufficiently strong to pierce a defensive perimeter on any selected axis of penetration"[16] and from the third century onwards armies of Germanic tribes also pierced the frontiers. Certainly, in response the Roman army became more mobile, with one cavalryman for every three infantryman, compared to one in forty in the early Empire.[17][18] Another change was the stronger emphasis on ranged combat ability on all degrees, such as field artillery, handheld ballistae, archery and darts. Defence in depth is a military stategy sometimes also called elastic defence. ...
Limitanei were border guards in the armies of the late Roman Empire. ...
Comitatenses is the Latin plural of comitatensis, originally the adjective derived from comitatus (company, party, suite; in this military context it came to the novel meaning of the field army), itself rooting in Comes (companion, but hence specific historical meanings, military and civilian). ...
Edward Nicolae Luttwak (born 1942) is an economist and historian known for his many publications on military strategy and international relations. ...
Look up Persian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Reproduction of a Parthian warrior as depicted on Trajans Column The Parthian Empire was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BCE and 224 CE. Origins Bust of Parthian soldier, Esgh-abad Museum, Turkmenia. ...
comitatenses - field armies, consisting of: Comitatenses is the Latin plural of comitatensis, originally the adjective derived from comitatus (company, party, suite; in this military context it came to the novel meaning of the field army), itself rooting in Comes (companion, but hence specific historical meanings, military and civilian). ...
- Foederati - allied non-Roman troops under their own command (prose)
- Roman legions (prose)
- Roman auxilia (prose)
limitanei or riparienses - border guards, consisting of: Foederatus early in the history of the Roman Republic identified one of the tribes bound by treaty (foedus), who were neither Roman colonies nor had they been granted Roman citizenship (civitas) but were expected to provide a contingent of fighting men when trouble arose. ...
Limitanei were border guards in the armies of the late Roman Empire. ...
- Roman legions (prose)
- Roman auxilia (prose)
Difference between the armies of the East and West (content to be added soon)
Roman army special units and non-field units: - Immunes
- They were a broad selection of specialists on intelliegence, engineering, etc. freed from other duties
- The Praetorian Guard
- It was of the Emperor, prior the guard was employed under generals, dating at least to the Scipio family — around 275 BC
- The Palitini or Scholae Palatinae
- They were the Emperor's personal guard (replacing the influential Praetorian Guard)
- The Comitatenses Palatini
- It was the central field army under the Emperor's control, developed from the earlier Scholae Palatinae
- The Imperial Horseguard
- It (equites singulares augusti) was sitting on horses.
- The Germanic Bodyguard
- It wwas the bodyguard unit of the emperor (germani corporis custodes) consisted of Germanic mercenaries.
- Urban Cohorts (cohortes urbanae)
- They were low-level units to ensure safety of the cities.
- Vigiles
- They were a military fire-fighting force in Rome
The Praetorian Guard of Augustus - 1st century. ...
A General is an officer of high military rank. ...
Scipio (plural, Scipiones) is a Roman cognomen used by a branch of the Cornelii family. ...
Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC Years: 280 BC 279 BC 278 BC 277 BC 276 BC - 275 BC - 274 BC 273 BC...
The Scholae Palatinae (literally Palatine College), also known as Palitini, were an elite troop of soldiers in the Roman army created by the Emperor Constantine the Great to provide personal protection of the Emperor and his immediate family. ...
The Scholae Palatinae (literally Palatine College), also known as Palitini, were an elite troop of soldiers in the Roman army created by the Emperor Constantine the Great to provide personal protection of the Emperor and his immediate family. ...
The Praetorian Guard of Augustus - 1st century. ...
The Comitatenses Palatini was a central field army of the late Roman Empire that was unique in that it was always under the direct command of the Roman Emperor. ...
The Scholae Palatinae (literally Palatine College), also known as Palitini, were an elite troop of soldiers in the Roman army created by the Emperor Constantine the Great to provide personal protection of the Emperor and his immediate family. ...
The Vigiles or more properly the Vigiles Urbani (watchmen of the City) or Cohortes Vigilum (cohorts of the watchmen) were the firefighters and police of Ancient Rome. ...
Roman navy -
The Roman Navy (Latin: Classis) operated at a fairly low level from the Second Samnite War onwards. Traditionally created during the First Punic War, it was certainly massively upgraded during this period, expanding from a primarily river- and coastal-based navy to a full maritime unit of more than 400 ships on the Carthaginian pattern and 100,000 sailors and embarked troops for battle. The Roman navy at didn't receive much attention after the conquest of the Mediterannean until the end of the Western Roman Empire, seeing short-time upgrading under Caesar (invasion of Britain), Pompey (Mediterannean pirates), under Agrippa in civil war following the Second Triumvirate and after the Vandals established a naval power at Carthage. It was the dominant maritime force in the Mediterannean between the First Punic War[19] and the incursions by the Vandals in the fifth century AD. The Roman Navy (Latin: Classis) operated between the First Punic war and the end of the Western Roman Empire. ...
The Roman Navy (Latin: Classis) operated between the First Punic war and the end of the Western Roman Empire. ...
The Samnite Wars were three wars between the early Roman Republic and the tribes of Samnium. ...
Combatants Roman Republic Carthage Commanders Marcus Atilius Regulus Gaius Lutatius Catulus Hamilcar Barca Hanno the Great Hasdrubal Xanthippus The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) was the first of three major wars fought between Carthage and the Roman Republic. ...
The Roman Navy (Latin: Classis) operated between the First Punic war and the end of the Western Roman Empire. ...
The Western Roman Empire is the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 286. ...
GÄius JÅ«lius Caesar (IPA: ;[1]), July 12 or July 13, 100 BC â March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader and one of the most influential men in world history. ...
Pompey, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir [1] (Classical Latin abbreviation: CN·POMPEIVS·CN·F·SEX·N·MAGNVS[2], Gnaeus or Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus) (September 29, 106 BC â September 29, 48 BC), was a distinguished military and political leader of the late Roman republic. ...
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (63 BCâ12 BC) was a Roman statesman and general. ...
The Second Triumvirate is the name historians give to the official political alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian, later Caesar Augustus), Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony formed on 26 November 43 BC. Unlike the somewhat more famous First Triumvirate, the Second Triumvirate was an official (if extraconstitutional) organisation...
The Vandals sacking Rome, by Heinrich Leutemann (1824-1904) Vandal and Vandali redirect here. ...
Bold text Carthage Ruins of Roman-era Carthage For other uses, see Carthage (disambiguation). ...
The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ...
The Vandals sacking Rome, by Heinrich Leutemann (1824-1904) Vandal and Vandali redirect here. ...
Ship types used - Small single-oar-bank galleys
Examples are penteconters and others A French galley and Dutch men-of-war off a port by Abraham Willaerts, painted 17th century. ...
- Triremes
They were different types of ships in the small early navy and later in the Imperial navy A Greek trireme Triremes (Greek ΤÏιήÏειÏ) are several different types of ancient warships. ...
- Quinqueremes
They made the bulk of the ascending Roman navy during and after the Punic Wars A quinquireme was a galley, a warship propelled by oars, developed from the earlier trireme. ...
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and the Phoenician city of Carthage. ...
- Liburnas
They were galleys that Tacitus relates had a usual complement of three to four hundred men[20] A liburnian was a galley, a warship propelled by oars. ...
Roman ships were commonly named after gods (Mars, Iupitter, Minverva, Isis) heroes (Hercules), and concepts such as Trust, Loyalty, Victory (Concrodia, Fides, Victoria)
Weapon systems on board: The following systems were used at various times by the Roman navy to fight their adversaries: - Ship hull, used to ride across and break the oars of an enemy ship, immobilising it.
- Rams used to sink an enemy ship by holing its hull, when driven against its flank under oar power.
- Grappling hooks used to clamp onto an enemy ship in order to allow the storming of its deck by embarked troops.
- Corvus, a large boarding plank with a heavy spike on the bottom. The enemy ship was prior positioned via the help of grappling hooks. Afterwards the corvus swung down on the enemy deck with the spike mooring both ships to each other. This enabled large numbers of infanry in battle formation to fight the enemy marines. Actual use is only briefly reported from the First Punic War. Modern reconstruction suggests that it was probably discontinued because of the tendency to unbalance the quinqeremes in high seas. Two fleets armed with this device were reportedly lost in storms.
- Arpax, a later successor in function to the corvus, an improved design reducing instability.
- Deck-mounted ballista, like their land-based counterpart, used to bombard the enemy ships with missiles. Also used occasionally to launch incendiary devices.
- Deck-mounted catapults, like their land-based counterpart, used to bombard the enemy ships with missiles. Also used occasionally to launch incendiary devices.
- Light missiles include javelins and arrows[21]
- Troops from the army, who could embark before battle and try and assault enemy ships
- Sailors were lightly armed but could also fight in battle when necessary.
USS General Price, a Union ram and gunboat, near Baton Rouge, LA, 18 January 1864 A ram was a naval ship class in the 1860s. ...
A grappling hook is a composite hook attached to a rope, designed to be thrown or projected a distance, where its hooks will engage with the target. ...
A corvus (meaning raven in Latin) was a Roman military boarding device used in naval warfare during the First Punic War against Carthage. ...
A grappling hook is a composite hook attached to a rope, designed to be thrown or projected a distance, where its hooks will engage with the target. ...
Combatants Roman Republic Carthage Commanders Marcus Atilius Regulus Gaius Lutatius Catulus Hamilcar Barca Hanno the Great Hasdrubal Xanthippus The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) was the first of three major wars fought between Carthage and the Roman Republic. ...
The ballista (Latin, from Greek ballistÄs, from ballein to throw, plural ballistae) was a powerful ancient crossbow. ...
This article is about the medieval siege weapon. ...
Fleets: -
- Classis Misenensis
- Classis Ravennatis
-
- Classis Britannica controlled the English Channel and the waters around Britannia
- Classis Germanica controlled the Rhine river, and was a fluvial fleet
- Classis Pannonica controlled the Danube river, and was a fluvial fleet
- Classis Moesica controlled the western Black sea
- Classis Pontica controlled the southern Black sea
- Classis Syriaca controlled the eastern Mediterranean sea
- Classis Alexandrina controlled the eastern Mediterranean sea
- Classis Mauretania controlled the African coasts of western Mediterranean sea
Notes - ^ Robin Lane Fox, The Classical World, Penguin, 2005, p. 118
- ^ Grant, M., The History of Rome, Fabre and Faber, 1993, p. 9
- ^ Grant, M/, The History of Rome, Fabre and Faber, 1993, p. 21
- ^ Grant, M., The History of Rome, Faber and Faber, 1993, p. 21
- ^ Goldsorthy A., In the Name of Rome: The Men who won the Roman Empire, 2003, p. 18
- ^ Livy, The Rise of Rome, Book 1, chapter 15
- ^ (Grant, M., The History of Rome, p. 22)
- ^ Livy, The Rise of Rome, Book 1, chapter 43
- ^ Grant, M., The History of Rome, Faber and Faber, 1993, p. 24
- ^ Grant M, The History of Rome, Faber and Faber, 1979 p. 54
- ^ Polybius, History, Book 6
- ^ Polybius, History, Book 6
- ^ Polybius, History, Book 6
- ^ Polybius, History, Book 6
- ^ Antonio Santosuosso, Soldiers, Emperors and Civilians in the Roman Empire, Westview, 2001, p. 10
- ^ Luttwack, E., The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, JHUP, 1979
- ^ Elton, Warfare in Roman Europe, p. 94
- ^ Santosuosso, A., Soldiers, Emperors and Civilians in the Roman Empire, Westview, 2001, p. 190
- ^ Polybius, World history
- ^ Tacitus, The Histories, Book V
- ^ Tacitus, Histories, Book V
References Primary Sources - Livy, The Rise of Rome, Oxford University Press, 1998
- Polybius, History, Book 6
- Tacitus, The Histories, Book V
Secondary Sources - Gibbon E., The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Penguin, 1985
- Goldsorthy A., In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire, Weidenfield and Nicholson, 2003
- Grant, M., The History of Rome, Faber and Faber, 1993
- Heather, P., The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History, MacMillan, 2005
- Jones, The Later Roman Empire,John Hopkins University Press, 1964
- Lane Fox, Robin, The Classical World, Penguin, 2005
- Luttwak, E., The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, John Hopkins
- Matyszak, P., The Enemies of Rome, Thames and Hudson, 2004
- Santosuosso, A., Soldiers, Emperors and Civilians in the Roman Empire, Westview Press, 2001
External links - UNRV's Roman Military
- Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
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