This article is part of the series on: Image File history File links Rmn-military-header. ... Military of ancient Rome (Portal) 800 BC - AD 476 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...

Structural history

Roman army (unit types and ranks, legions, generals)

Roman navy (fleets, admirals)

Campaign history

Lists of Wars and Battles

Decorations and Punishments

Technological history

Military engineering (castra, siege engines, arches, roads)

Personal equipment

Political history

Strategy and tactics

Infantry tactics

Frontiers and fortifications (Limes, Hadrian's Wall)

Velites were a class of light infantry in the army of the Roman Republic. The branches of the Roman military at the highest level were the Roman army and the Roman navy. ... 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. ... This is a list of both unit types and ranks of the Roman army from the Roman Republic to the fall of the Roman Empire. ... This is a list of Roman legions. ... // Manius Acilius Glabrio -- Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC) -- Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 91) -- Titus Aebutius Helva -- Aegidius -- Lucius Aemilius Barbula -- Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir) -- Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus -- Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (praetor 56 BC) -- Flavius Aëtius -- Lucius Afranius (consul) -- Sextus Calpurnius Agricola -- Gnaeus Julius Agricola -- Flavius Antoninus -- Marcus... 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 history of ancient Rome - originally a city-state of Italy, and later an empire covering much of Eurasia and North Africa from the ninth century BC to the fifth century AD - was often closely entwined with its military history. ... The following is a List of Roman wars fought by the ancient Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire, organized by date. ... The following is a List of Roman battles (fought by the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire), organized by date. ... As with most other military forces the Roman military adopted a carrot and stick approach to military, with an extensive list of decorations for military gallantry and likewise a range of punishments for the punishment of military transgressions. ... The technology history of the Roman military covers the development of and application of technologies for use in the armies and navies of Rome from the Roman Republic to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. ... 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. ... Basic ideal plan of a Roman castrum. ... Roman siege engines were, for the most part, adapted from Hellenistic siege technology. ... List of ancient Roman triumphal arches (By modern country) // France Orange Reims: Porte de Mars Saint Rémy de Provence: Roman site of Glanum Saintes: Arch of Germanicus Greece Arch of Galerius, Thessaloniki Hadrians Arch, Athens Italy It has been suggested that List of Roman arches in Rome be... A Roman road in Pompeii Road Construction on Trajans Column The Roman roads were essential for the growth of their empire, by enabling them to move armies. ... Roman military personal equipment was not of a better quality than that used by the majority of its adversaries[1]. It was however produced in large numbers to established patterns and used in an established way. ... Root directory at Military history of ancient Rome Romes military was always tightly keyed to its political system. ... The strategy of the Roman military encompasses its grand strategy (the arrangements made by the state to implement its political goals through a selection of military goals, a process of diplomacy backed by threat of military action, and a dedication to the military of part of its production and resources... Root directory at Strategy of the Roman military Roman infantry tactics refers to the theoretical and historical deployment, formation and maneuvers of the Roman infantry from the start of the Roman Republic to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. ... Map of all the territories once occupied by the Roman Empire, along with locations of limes Roman military borders and fortifications were part of a grand strategy of territorial defense in the Roman Empire. ... The limes Germanicus, 2nd century. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Traditionally light infantry (or skirmishers) were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. ... 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. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ...

Velites appear as a troop type throughout the Punic Wars of the third and second centuries BC. They disappear from history at the end of the second century BC when, as citizen soldiers, they would have served as more heavily-equipped legionaries. Their role on the battlefield would have been taken by non-citizen, foreign fighters from then on. The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and the city-state of Carthage. ...

The velites (pronounced well-ih-tays) were skirmishers, armed with a short sword (gladius) or dagger and several small javelins. At this point in the Republic (up until the end of the second century BC), soldiers generally paid for their own equipment. Given that each veles tended to be from the poorer brackets of Roman citizenry, he would only have been able to afford light armour. This may have included greaves and limited body armour for some, but virtually all would have worn a bronze helmet and carried a basic round shield. Their armour and weaponry made them the most mobile of all the Roman infantry of the time. Skirmishers are infantry soldiers who are stationed ahead or to the sides of a larger body of friendly troops. ... // Gladius is Latin for sword (in general). ... The javelin throw is an athletics (track and field) throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear-like object made of metal and fibreglass. ... A greave (from 12th century French greve shin, of uncertain origin) is a piece of armour that protects the leg. ... For other meanings, see Helmet (disambiguation). ... A shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks. ...

Since they where easy prey for close combat units the velites did not form their own line; maniples of hastati and principes had a certain number of velites assigned to them, and they came under the command of the centurions of these units, the triarii however did not have them since they fought right at the back away from the front line. In this sense, despite not being part of the main formation, they were regular soldiers. During battle the velites would engage the enemy with their javelins before retiring behind the hastati and principes. They are recorded in the sources as wearing wolf-skins over their helmets, in order that their centurions would recognise their own men when calling them back behind the line. Maniple (Latin: manipulus) was a tactical unit of the Roman Legion, consisting of two centuriae within a single cohort. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The plural of the Latin word princeps. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The success of the Roman army is frequently attributed to its heavy infantry. However, as with irregular infantry with which velites had much in common (that is, fighting in loose formation), their effectiveness is often overlooked; the velites were highly effective in turning back war elephants, on account of discharging a hail of javelins at some range and not presenting a "block" which could be trampled on or otherwise smashed - unlike the close order infantry behind them. At the Battle of Zama in 202 BC they proved their usefulness, and were no doubt critical in helping to herd Hannibal's war elephants through the formation to be slaughtered. Irregular soldiers in Beauharnois, Quebec, 19th century. ... Indian war elephant, relief at Mathura, 2nd century BC War elephants were important, although not widespread, weapons in ancient military history. ... Combatants Carthage Roman Republic East Numidia Commanders Hannibal Scipio Africanus Masinissa Strength almost 58,000 infantry 6,000 cavalry 80 war elephants 34,000 Roman infantry 3,000 Roman cavalry 6,000 Numidian cavalry Casualties 20,000 killed 11,000 wounded 15,000 captured 1,500 killed 4,000 wounded...

The velites of the Roman Republican army at its height in the 2nd century BC were possibly soldiers who would have comprised the earlier rorarii and accensi classes, these being comprised of the supposedly unreliable and otherwise poor combatants of the original fifth class Phalanx. In Polybius's "Rise of the Roman Empire", he states that the velites were usually the youngest of the soldiers. Though they still owned land, the velites were usually the poorer of the Roman military accepted classes, until the time of Marius, when the property qualification was dropped for military service. (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 2nd century BC started on January 1, 200 BC and ended on December 31, 101 BC. // Coin of Antiochus IV. Reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ... Rorarii form the final lines in Pre-Marius Roman Battle. ... Accensi (from Latin; singular accensus) figure in the army of the Roman Republic and as civil officers in the same period. ... Sumerian phalanx formation. ... Gaius Marius (Latin: C·MARIVS·C·F·C·N)¹ (157 BC - January 13, 86 BC) was a Roman general and politician elected Consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. ...

At this point, all fit and healthy citizens could serve in the legions, the poorer of which would have assistance in being equipped with weapons and armour. The wealth of the individual soldier and his position within the rank and file thus became increasingly irrelevant, and equipment and training became more standardised for service as a legionary. From this time, up until the establishment of the Roman Empire under Augustus and beyond, the Roman Army increasingly made use of foreign irregulars as skirmishers. The velites would slowly have been either disbanded or re-equipped as more heavily-armed legionaries from the time when Marius and other Roman generals reorganised the army in the late second and early first centuries BC. Their role would most likely have been taken by irregular auxiliary troops as the Republic expanded overseas. Motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) The Roman Empire at its greatest extent, c. ... Augustus (Latin: IMP•CAESAR•DIVI•F•AVGVSTVS;[1] September 23, 63 BC–August 19, AD 14), known as Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (English Octavian; Latin: C•IVLIVS•C•F•CAESAR•OCTAVIANVS) for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, was the first and among the most important of...

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Military of ancient Rome Portal

Velites guild on World of Warcraft European server Kazzak : http://www.velites.eu Download high resolution version (1932x1288, 436 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...