War and Game

The early Roman Republic was greatly affected by the example of the Greek polis. This was true not only in the political realm but also in the military. Only citizens served in the army, and specifically only citizens who could afford to arm themselves as hoplites. The early Republic did not provide pay or equipment for the men. Like the Greek hoplites discussed in detail earlier, Rome’s early soldiers were armed with iron armor and iron weapons, which included both a spear and a sword. The soldiers would fight in the familiar phalanx formation. Most of the soldiers were farmers who owned property sufficient to qualify them for military service. Rome’s early wars were fought in the vicinity of Rome itself, so these farmer-soldiers would fall in for a few months of military service each summer before returning to their fields. By 400, the Roman army numbered roughly 6,000 men, making it bigger than most Greek armies of the period. From earliest times the largest unit of the Roman army was called the legion, which derived from the Roman term legio (levy). Later in the Republic, each legion was distinguished by its own Roman numeral.

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At some point around 400, changes were implemented. First of all, pay for military service was introduced during the siege of Veii (406–396 B.C.E .). Second, the Romans replaced the phalanx with the more flexible system of maniples. Rather than have one solid phalanx on the battleline, the legion would now consist of three separate lines called (from front to back) hastati, principes, and triarii, arranged on the battlefield in what was called the triplex acies. Soldiers were assigned to a particular line on the basis of their age and experience: the youngest, least experienced men were at the front, and the older veterans were assigned to the rear. Their experience and calm under fire would keep the men in front of them steady and prevent them from breaking and running. The legion would now be divided into 30 maniples, 10 each for the hastati, principes, and triarii.

The two forward lines had maniples of 120 men, and the triarii in the rear would have 60 soldiers in each maniple. The maniples were arranged in a checkerboard formation. The front line had gaps between each maniple; these gaps would then be covered by the maniples of the principes in the second line, which would also have gaps that would be covered by the maniples of the triarii. Apparently, the Romans made these changes to give greater flexibility than was possible with the phalanx, to provide what were essentially reserve units of veteran soldiers that could move in to cover any breach in the frontline and to allow for relays by which tired soldiers in the front line could be relieved efficiently by those from behind. Generally, they were equipped with the same type of armor, which was similar to that of the Greeks: helmet with various types of plumes, breastplate, and grieves of some sort. However, the Romans did adopt or develop some other implements of war that became very important during this middle period. First was the scutum, the distinctive, large oval shield. Second was the pilum, the Roman javelin, made of wood and iron. There may have been a connection between the change to a manipular legion and this new javelin, both introduced about 400 B.C.E ., since the new formation provided the necessary room for a Roman infantryman to throw the pilum at the enemy. The pilum was designed to penetrate armor and, at the very least, even if it did not wound an enemy soldier, to stick to the enemy’s armor or shield, either weighing him down or forcing him to discard part of his defenses. Later, the gladius, the new Roman sword, was introduced. This weapon was also known as the “Spanish” sword and may have been copied from swords used by Iberian soldiers whom Rome faced for the first time during the third century. The gladius replaced the long thrusting spear that had been the main weapon of the Greek and early Roman hoplites. The sword was short, less than two feet long, and its sharp edges were used to slice through armor and flesh. Generally, for the rest of the Republic, Roman soldiers would advance toward the enemy, hurl their pila with devastating effect, and then close with their short swords. One other unit was part of the Roman infantry: the velites, or light infantry. The velites were recruited from Rome’s poorer classes, who could not afford the full infantry panoply. They were armed with a smaller, round shield and used weapons such as javelins. Altogether, there were 3,000 of the heavy infantry and 1,200 of the light infantry, for a total legionary strength, at least on paper, of 4,200 men.

The last unit of the army was the equites (cavalry). The cavalry was made up of the wealthiest Roman citizens, who could afford not only their own weapons but also a horse. There were 300 equites assigned to each legion, and they were split into 10 units of 30, called turmae.