Military of ancient Rome

The Military of ancient Rome (known to the Romans as the militia) means all military forces of Ancient Rome from the founding of the city of Rome to the end of the Western Roman Empire. Originally there was only the Roman army, but a small navy was added during the Second Samnite War, around 320 BC.

The Roman military was an important part of the Roman state. Josephus describes the Roman people as "as if born ready armed". It has a history of more than 1300 years. Roman armies fought in Parthia as well as in Africa, and in - what was in that time the far north - the British Isles.

After a series of reforms, the army became highly trained, and was well equipped in the middle of the Roman Imperial period. The Romans also had a powerful navy that ruled the Mediterranean and the European Atlantic coast. In the late Imperial period the military's numbers were significantly increased to cover the borders and keep internal peace. The circumstances of the Empire had changed; the Western Roman Empire now relied heavily on units of mostly Germanic tribes living within the borders, who fought in the name of Rome during the Migration Period.

Military Of Ancient Rome Media

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  Roman soldiers on the cast of Trajan's Column in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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  Roman coins grew gradually more debased due to the demands placed on the treasury of the Roman state by the military.

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  Locations of Roman legions, 80 AD

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  The massive earthen ramp at Masada, designed by the Roman army to breach the fortress' walls

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  Third-century Roman soldiers battling barbarian troops on the Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus (250–260)

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  General set up of ancient Roman military hospital.

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  Capsarii tending to injured soldiers depicted on Trajan's Column

Other sources

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,Johns Hopkins University Press, 1964
• Lane Fox, Robin, The Classical World, Penguin, 2005
• Luttwak, E., The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, Johns Hopkins
• Matyszak, P., The Enemies of Rome, Thames and Hudson, 2004
• Santosuosso, A., Soldiers, Emperors and Civilians in the Roman Empire, Westview Press, 2001

Other websites

• UNRV's Roman Military
• Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
• Military Resources Archived 2007-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
• Armamentarium bibliography Archived 2007-07-11 at the Wayback Machine
• The Ancient Warfare Articles of Smith's Dictionary, Bill Thayer's Lacus Curtius site.