The Roman Army of the Principate 27 BC-AD 117

100 Pages·2009·36.18 MB·English

by  Nic Fields

The Roman Army of the
Principate 27 Be-AD 117
~
LAsprenas
I
I
IegioV~
AJaudae~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DR NIC FIELDSstarted his,careerasabiochemistbeforejoiningthe Royal
Marines.Having leftthe military,hewentbacktouniversityand completed a
BAand PhDin AncientHistoryatthe UniversityofNewcastle.HewasAssistant
Directoratthe British SchoolatAthens,Greece,andthen alecturerinAncient
Historyatthe UniversityofEdinburgh.Nicisnowafreelanceauthorand
researcherbased in south-westFrance.
Battle Orders • 37
The Roman Army of the
Principate 27 Be-AD 117
Nic Fields
Consultant Editor Dr Duncan Anderson • Series editors Marcus Cowperand Nikolai Bogdanovic
FirstoublishedinGreatBritainin2009byOspreyPublishingLtd. Key to first names (praenomeninis)
MidlandHouse,WestWay,Botley,OxfordOX2OPH,UK
443ParkAvenueSouth,NewYork,NY 10016,USA
A. Aulus M'. Manius
E-mail:[email protected]
Ap. Appius P. Publius
C. Caius Q. Quintus
©2009OspreyPublishingLtd.
Cn. Cnaeus Ser. Servius
Allrightsreserved.Apartfromanyfairdealingforthepurposeofprivatestudy, D. Decimus Sex. Sextus
research,criticismorreview,aspermittedundertheCopyright,DesignsandPatents L. Lucius Sp. Spurius
Act,1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem, M. Marcus T: Titus
ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,electrical,chemical,mechanical, Mam. Mamius Ti. Tiberius
optical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionof
thecopyrightowner.EnquiriesshouldbeaddressedtothePublishers.
Abbreviations
ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
PrintISBN:978 I841763865. AE L'AnneeEpigraphique (Paris, 1888-)
PDFe-bookISBN:978 I846038686 Campbell B.Campbell,The RomanArmy,31 BC-AD337:A
Sourcebook (London, 1994)
EditorialbylIiosPublishing,Oxford,UK(www.iliospublishing.com) CIL T:Mommsen etaI.,Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
Pagelayout,mapsanddiagramsbyBounford.com,Cambridge.UK
(Berlin, 1862-)
TypesetinMonotypeGillSansandITCStoneSerif
Fink R.O.Fink,RomanMilitaryRecordsonPapyrus
IndexbySandraShotter
OriginatedbyUnitedGraphicsPte (NewHaven, 1971)
PrintedandboundinChinathroughBookbuilders ILS H.Dessau,Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae (Berlin,
1892-1916)
09 I0 II I2 I3 I0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I P.Mich. C.C.EdgaretaI.,PapyriintheUniversityof
Michigan Collection (AnnArbor, 1931-)
FORACATALOGUEOFALLBOOKSPUBLISHEDBYOSPREYMILITARYAND RIB R.S.O.Tomlin,Roman Inscriptions ofBritain2
AVIATIONPLEASECONTACT:
(Stroud, 1995)
Tab.Vindol./I A.K.Bowman &J.D.Thomas,TheVindolanda
NORTHAMERICA
Writing-Tablets /I (London, 1994)
OspreyDirect,c/oRandomHouseDistributionCenter,
400HahnRoad,Westminster,MD21157
E-mail:[email protected]
The Woodland Trust
ALLOTHERREGIONS
OspreyDirect,TheBookServiceLtd,DistributionCentre,
OspreyPublishingaresupportingtheWoodlandTrust,the UK's
ColchesterRoad,FratingGreen,Colchester,Essex,C077DW,UK
leadingwoodland conservation charity,byfundingthededication
E-mail:[email protected]
oftrees.
Keytomilitarysymbols
xxxx xxx x III
0 0 0 0
imperialarmy provincial legio cohors
garrison
II I ••
0 0 0
ala centuria!turma contubernium
0(+1 0(-1
reinforced unitwithpart
unit detached
Keytounitidentification
~
Unit Parent
identifier~unit
Commander
2
Contents
Introduction 4
Roman military organization 6
Legion •Detachments •Auxiliaries
Weapons and equipment 23
Helmets • Bodyarmour•Shields•Shaftedweapons • Bladedweapons
Command and control 33
Legion command •Centuriate•Juniorofficers •Equestrian officers•Command and control in action
The Roman Army in battle 44
Roman tactical doctrineand practice •Legion •Auxiliaries
Engineering 50
Marchingand practicecamps •Fortsandfortresses •Siegeworks
After Actium 57
SaltusTeutoburgiensis,aprovince lost• Mancetter,a provincesaved
Second Cremona,athronewon • Mons Graupius,a battletoofar
Pax Romana 81
Chronology 84
Roman emperors
Ancient authors 86
Josephus (b.AD 37) •Suetonius (b.c.AD 70) •Tacitus (b.c.AD 56)
Bibliography 89
Glossary 91
Legionary titles 93
Index 95
3
Introduction
The professionalization of the Roman Army after Marius' reforms led directly
to theuse and abuse ofconsularpowerbyindividualgeneralsseekingtousurp
the power of the Senate. Consequently the last five decades of the Republic
werecharacterizedbytwo importantfeatures: the jostlingfor powerandstatus
by a number of dynamic political players, and the calamitous civil wars
generatedbytheirpersonal, be it selfish or altruistic, ambitions. Itwas the last
ofthese republican warlords who was to emerge victorious as the first Roman
emperor under the new name of Augustus. Officially he was addressed as
princeps(e.g.ResGestaeDiviAugusti13,30.1, 32.3),thatisthefirstcitizenofthe
MarblestatueofAugustus as
state, and his reign was the beginningofthe Principate.
imperator,from'Villa Livia'at
PrimaPorta(Vatican City,Musei The army of the Principate established by Augustus drew heavily on the
Vaticani,inv.2290).Thedecoration nomenclature and traditions ofthe dead Republic. Butitwas new. He decided
ofthe cuirassfeatures the symbolic tomeetallthemilitaryneedsoftheempirefromastanding, professionalarmy,
return ofan aquilacaptured by so that there was no general need to raise any levies through conscription
the ParthiansatCarrhae (53 Be).
(dilectus), whichinactualfact he did on onlytwo occasions, namelyfollowing
Nosoldierhimself,Augustuswas
the commander-in-chiefofa'new the crises in Pannonia (AD 6) and Germania (AD 9). Military servicewas now a
model'armyofhis own making. lifetime's occupation and career, and pay and service conditions were
(Fields-CarreCollection) established that took account of the categories of soldier in the army: the
praetorians (cohortes praetoriae), the citizen soldiers of
the legions (legiones) and the non-citizens of the
auxiliaries (auxilia). Enlistment was not for the
durationofaparticularconflict,butfor 25years(16in
the praetorians), and men were sometimes retained
evenlonger (e.g. TacitusAnnales 1.17.3). Atthe endof
service there was a fixed reward, on the
implementation of which the soldier could rely. The
loyalty of the new army was to the emperor, as
commander-in-chief, and neither to the Senate nor
the Roman people.
Cassius Dio, writing ofthe events of 29 Be, reports
twospeechesmadebeforeAugustusbyhiscounsellors,
M. Vipsanius Agrippa and C. Maecenas, in which the
best way of securing the continuation of the Roman
state and defence ofits empirewas discussed. Agrippa
apparently advocated the retention of the traditional
system (by which men would be conscripted to serve
short periods, and then released into civilian life).
Maecenas, on the other hand, argued for 'a standing
army [strati6tas athanatous in Cassius Dio's Greek] to
be recruited from the citizen body [i.e. legiones], the
allies [i.e. auxilia] and the subject nations' (52.27.1),
and despite Agrippa's contention that such an army
could form a threat to the security of the empire,
carriedthe day.
Dialogues were a convention of ancient
historiography, and these speeches need not be
judged the true record of a real debate between the
two. Inpartatleasttheyreflectthepoliticalsituation
of Cassius Dio's own time and were aimed at a
4 contemporary emperor, perhaps Caracalla (r. AD
211-17). Nevertheless in 13 Be, after he had returned
from Gaul, Augustusordainedthattermsofservicein
thelegionsshouldinfuture befixed at 16years, tobe
followed by a four-year period 'under the flag' (sue
vexillo, hence vexillarii, acorps ofveterans, areserve),
to be rewarded by a fixed cash gratuity, though this
could be commuted to a plot ofland, measuring 200
iugera (c.50 ha), in aveteran-colonyin the provinces.
InAD 5some alterations were made to the conditions
of service. The number of years that the new recruit
had to serve under arms was upped to 20 years, with
a further period (not specified, but probably at least
fiveyears) inreserve.Thecashgratuitywasnowfixed
at 3,000 denarii for an ordinary ranker, a lump sum
the equivalent of over 13 years' pay (Cassius Dio
54.25.6, 55.23.1).
Seemingly as part of this same package, but
recorded by Cassius Dio (55.25.2, cf. Suetonius Divus
Augustus 49.2, Tacitus Annales 1.78.2) under the
following year (AD 6), Augustus masterminded the
creation of a military treasury (aerarium militare). Its
function was to arrange the payment of bounties to
soldiers. Augustusopenedtheaccountwithalargegift
of money from his own funds, some 170 million
sestertii according to his own testimony (Res Gestae
DiviAugusti17.2),butinthelongertermthetreasury's
revenues were to come from two new taxes imposed
from this time onwards on Roman citizens: a five per
cent tax on inheritances and a one per cent tax on
auction sales in Rome. The introduction of these taxes caused uproar, but Altar(RIB 2092) dedicatedto
taxation was preferable to the displacement, acrimony and ruin which had DisciplinaAugustibysoldiersof
been the consequences of land settlement programmes ofthe civil war years. cohors /ITungrorum milliariaequitata
stationedat Birrens-Blatobulgium
Augustus thus shifted a part ofthe cost ofthe empire's defence from his own
(Edinburgh,National Museums
pursetothe citizenryatlarge. Butthewagesofservingsoldiers (225 denariiper
ofScotland).Thecultlinkstwo
annum for an ordinary ranker) continued to be paid by the imperial purse;
concepts,namely,obedienceto
Augustus could brook no interference, or divided loyalties there. The the emperorand militaryefficiency.
management ofthe army, particularly its pay and benefits, was from the start Thetop ofthealtaris hollowed
one of what Tacitus calls 'the secrets of ruling' (Annales 1.6). Power was outtoform afocus where offerings
offruitorgrain maybedeposited.
protectedandpreservedbytwothings, soldiersandmoney.Andsothesecurity
(Fields-CarreCollection)
andsurvivaloftheemperorandhisempirewerenowthe saleresponsibilityof
the emperorand his soldiers.
5
Roman military
organization
Agreat body of information on the unit size and organization of the Roman
Armyhasbeenamassedbythe patientworkofseveral generations ofscholars.
The literary sources are often obscure or contradictory on the details of unit
structures, but much information has been derived from epigraphic and
papyrologicalrecord aswellasthatofarchaeology. Asaresultafairlycoherent
picture ofthe army's structure has emerged.
Legion
Unsurprisingly, thearmyseemstohavebeenmostattractiveasadefinitecareer
tothepoorestcitizens. Forsuchmen, thelegionsofferedaroofovertheirhead,
foodintheirbelliesandaregularincomeincoin. Basicmilitarypaywasnotthe
roadtoriches, buttherewasalwaysthechanceofbountiesandothercashgifts,
Reliefshowingfour legionaries
(Saintes,musee archeologique,
E1344 MAS-PB).The individual
legions (and units oftheauxilia)
remained permanentlyin
commission withthe same numerals
and titles,andwere renewed by
constantsupplementation.The
soldierservedforan extended
period,and looked on thearmy
asacareer.Aproperfinancial
structureensuredthe payment
6 ofwages.(Fields-Carre Collection)
and the certainty of a discharge bonus. Overall a
Legio
soldier's life was more secure than that ofan itinerant
labourer, and he enjoyed a superior status too. Of
course we must remember the harsher side of such a
career. Asoldierran the riskofbeingkilled orcrippled
I
bybattle or disease, but also on an everydaybasis was III
subject to the army's brutal discipline. Yet to many
peopleintheempirewholivedatsubsistencelevel,the
well-fed soldier with his ordered existence in his well
built and clean camp must have seemed comfortably
off. And so the legions became permanent units with
theirownnumbersandtitlesandmanyweretoremain
inexistence for centuriesto come. The main unitofthe Roman
From Augustus onwards the emperor commanded 25 legions in total (28 Army,the legiowas divided into
before the Varian disaster of AD 9). Legions were probably in the order of tencohortes,all ofwhich,during
the lulio-Claudian era,were
5,000 men strong (all ranks) and composed of Roman citizens. Legionaries
officially480strong.Attached
were mostly volunteers, drawn initially from Italy (especially the north),
toalegiowasa bodyofmounted
butincreasinglyfrom theprovinces. As the 1stcenturyADprogressed, many legionaries,known astheequites
recruits in the west were coming from the Iberian provinces, Gallia legionisand 120strong.
TombstoneofLuciusAutius,
sonofLucius,found atCamp
d'Aulney,north ofSaintes,dated
postrevoltAD21 (Saintes,musee
archeologique,49.475).Born
in Forum lulii (Frejus),Gallia
Narbonensis,Autiuswasamiles
oflegioXliIIGemini.Hedied age
35 havingservedfor 15years;he
thus did notcompletethestatutory
25 years.(Fields-Carre Collection)
7
Legia
Legiodeployedintriplexacies
J ~
,I
Cohors
~nmriott Sign~r
tt tt t
Centuriadeployedinfourranks
Cohorsprima
----------
VI VII VIII Villi X
---------
I II III 1111 V
Primuspilus Aquilifer Imaginifer AntiqualegioofVegetius
8