The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History

398 Pages·2005·22.82 MB·English

by  Pat Southern

The
Rom a n
Ar my

The
Rom a n
Ar my
A Social and Institutional History
Pat So ut h ern
Santa Ba rb a ra ,Ca l i forn i a—•—Denver,Co l orado—•—Ox ford ,E n gl a n d
Copyright © 2006 by Pat Southern
All rights reserved.No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted,in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,
or otherwise,except for the inclusion ofbriefquotations in a review,without prior permission
in writing from the publishers.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Southern,Pat,1948–
The Roman army :a social and institutional history / Pat Southern.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-85109-730-9 (hardback :alk.paper) — ISBN 1-85109-735-X (ebook)
1.Rome—Army—History. 2.Sociology,Military—Rome. I.Title.
U35.S625 2006
355.00937—dc22
2005030389
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C o n t e n t s
Preface and Acknowledgments, ix
List ofMaps, xi
1 Introduction, 1
Sources, 5
Archaeological Sources, 5
Papyrus Records and WritingTablets, 6
Epigraphic Records, 8
Sculpture, 10
Diplomas, 17
Coins, 18
Literary Sources, 18
2 Historical Background, 37
Geopolitical Considerations, 37
Demography, 48
Politics,Domestic and International, 50
Recurrent Themes in the PoliticalAgenda ofthe Late Republic, 54
Imperial Politics, 59
The Components ofRoman Political Organization, 61
Economy and Finance, 70
Civil-Military Relations, 76
Value Systems, 82
3 The Roman Army, 87
Origins, 87
TheArmy ofthe Roman Republic, 87
Organizational Structure, 98
The Legions, 98
Elite or Special Units, 115
Guard Troops: The Praetorian Guard, 115
 C on ten ts
Guard Troops: The Equites Singulares, 118
Troops in Rome: The Urban Cohorts and the Vigiles, 119
TheAuxiliary Units, 120
Camel Riders (Dromedarii), 123
The NationalNumeri, 123
Officers, 124
Senatorial Officers, 125
Equestrian Officers, 128
Camp Prefect, 129
Primus Pilus, 130
Centurions, 130
Other Ranks, 131
Recruitment, 131
Training and Indoctrination, 133
Promotion, 137
4 Culture ofthe RomanArmy, 141
Physiognomy, 141
Ethnic and Racial Composition, 141
Legionaries, 142
Auxiliaries, 143
Women, 144
Morale and Discipline, 145
Military Justice System, 145
Punishments, 146
Desertion, 148
Leaves and Furloughs, 149
Traditions, 149
UnitEsprit de Corps, 149
Decorations and Medals, 150
Uniforms, 152
Military Music, 158
Holidays and Observances, 160
Veterans, 162
Pensions, 166
5 The Roman Army at War, 171
Doctrine and Strategy, 171
Forts and Frontiers, 178
Tactics and Operational Concepts, 186
Order ofMarch, 187
C on ten ts 
Marching Camps and Temporary Camps, 190
Battle, 194
Planning and StaffWork, 198
Command and Control, 199
CombinedArms Operations, 204
6 Tools ofWar, 209
Weaponry, 209
ThePilum, 209
TheLancea, 211
Bows and Arrows, 211
TheGladius, 212
TheSpatha, 212
ThePugio, 213
Artillery, 213
Slingshots and Stones, 217
Logistics and Transport, 217
Intelligence, 225
Communications, 229
Military Medicine, 233
Technology, 237
Cartography, 239
7 The Late RomanArmy, 245
Political Developments, 245
FieldArmies and FrontierArmies, 247
Command, 254
Officers and Men, 256
Weapons and Equipment, 260
Fortifications, 261
8 Great Soldiers and Battles, 267
Famous Generals, 267
Generals ofthe Late Republic, 268
Imperial Generals, 290
Heroes from the Other Ranks, 302
Famous Battles and Campaigns, 307
Pharsalus,48BC, 308
Philippi,42BC, 309
Britain in AD60: Suetonius Paullinus and the Defeat ofBoudicca, 312
 C on ten ts
Britain in AD83/84: Gnaeus JuliusAgricola and Mons Graupius, 313
Trajan and the Dacian Campaigns, 315
Severus and the Eastern Campaigns, 318
9 CurrentAssessment, 323
Major Problems in the Study ofthe Roman Army, 323
Further Directions ofResearch on the Roman Army, 326
Appendix, 331
Glossary, 335
Bibliography, 343
Index, 351
About the Author, 383
P r e f a c e a n d A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s
It has becomecustomary nowadays to start with an apologyfor“yetan-
otherbookontheRomanarmy,”butthisauthor,whowouldbethefirstto
admittoaverystrongbiastowardthesubject,feelsthatnoapologiesneed
be made for any amount ofbooks on the Roman army.Not everyone has access
to large libraries in the various educational institutions in the United States and
Europe,so it is onlystudentsandlecturerswho can view in oneplace most of
thepastandpresentcorpusof booksontheRomansandtheirarmies.Forthe
interested general reader,reliant upon public libraries and bookshops,the range
is more limited . Books go out of pri n t , and the older ones do not nece s s a ri ly
turnupinquantityontheInternetorinsecond-handbookshops.Therewasa
time, about thirty to forty years ago perhaps,when you could readeverything
therewasavailableintheEnglishlanguageontheRomanarmy,butthankfully
that has changed.The plethora ofmodern books,some ofthem translated from
otherlanguages,eachhave something extratosay,viewedfromadifferentan-
gle,and many ofthem do what books should do,which is to make youthink.As
for this book,it may just be the first one that a reader picks up about the Roman
army,andthenheorshemaywanttoreadotherbookstotakethesubjectfur-
ther.No serious-minded study on armies can afford to ignore the tremendously
successfularmy that established a presence over so many parts of Europe and
the Middle East,and survived far longer than any other.
My first debt , a very old one now, is to the BBC, wh i chbroadcast history
programsforschoolsonWednesdays,whenIsupposetheteachersweregladof
theopportunity to assemble us in our small village school, all twenty-eight of
us,tolistentotheradio,whereithasbeensaid“thepicturesarebetter.”Mysec-
ond debtistothosewonderfulepicfilmsthattheyusedtodosowellandstill
make now and then.It doesn’t matter whether they get all ofit right,ifthe films
fosteranddevelopaninterestthatisalreadythere.Youcanlearnalotbytrying
to find out if the Roman soldiers were dre s s ed correct ly, i f t h ey did put thei r
shields over their heads and call it a tortoise,ifchariot races really were like that,
ifthere was a slave revolt crushed by the armies ofMarcus Licinius Crassus,and
if Marcus Aurelius fought the German tribes from a base on the Danube. My
thirddebtistocolleaguesfromtheDepartmentofArchaeologyattheUniver-
sity of Newcastle upon Tyne, to the late Charles Daniels who discussed things