Roman legions - the backbone of the greatest ancient state

The Roman Empire was often seen as a model for imitation. The elite of many states proclaimed themselves to be the successors of the Romans, entrusting themselves with the divine mission of recreating the world empire. It imitated the state institutions, the customs of the Romans, architecture. However, few people succeeded in perfecting their army. The famous Roman legions, who created the largest state of the Ancient World, relied on a rare combination of high skill and irreproachable skill of each soldier to fight in any situation, regardless of the number of supporters. This was the secret of the greatest victories of Roman arms.

The Romans were able to quickly and clearly rebuild during the battles. They could crumble into small units and reassemble themselves, go into the attack and close in a blank defense. At any tactical level, they agreed to carry out the orders of the commanders. The striking discipline and sense of elbow of the Roman legionaries is the result of careful selection in the army of physically developed young people, the fruit of the system of teaching the perfect martial art. In the treatise Vegetius "On Military Affairs" describes the discipline that prevailed among the Roman legionaries. He wrote about weapons-driven skills, unquestioning obedience and accuracy in executing the order, about the high level of tactical literacy of each of the legionaries, and also about their interaction with other military units. It was the greatest army that ever existed.

Originally, the legion was the whole Roman army, which was a militia of free citizens, selected on the basis of property. The army gathered only for military training and during the war. The word legion comes from the lat. Legio - "military appeal". But such an army could not provide reliable protection of the state, which is constantly leading an aggressive war. Its reorganization was carried out by the commander Gai Mari. Even the poor Roman citizens for the term of service of 25 years were now called into the professional army. The order of supplying them with weapons was determined. As a reward for the service, veterans received land plots and a cash pension. Allies were given Roman citizenship for their service.

The Roman legions had the opportunity to learn by common standards, to have a uniform outfit. Legionnaires were trained for a year. One legion included about 6,000 people, 5,200 of whom were soldiers. It was divided into 10 cohorts of 6 centuriums. The latter, in turn, were divided into 10 people on decuri. Cavalry was divided into turmas. The army has become more mobile, disciplined. During the republican period, the military tribune was at the head of the legion, the legate was the imperial tribune. Each legion had its name and number. According to written sources, preserved to this day, there were about 50 of them.

The Roman legions, thanks to the reforms in a short period of time, became a professionally trained unrivaled army that increased the military power of the empire. The Roman army was superbly armed, distinguished by strict discipline, its commanders perfectly mastered the art of war. There was a special system of fines and punishments, based on the fear of losing the respect of their colleagues, patron, emperor. The Romans used a long tradition of punishing disobedient warriors: it practiced the execution of every tenth of the part that warriors shared. For the legionaries who evaded military service in the III century. BC. The law on the death penalty was approved. Warriors who preferred suicide to captivity were glorified.

In the Roman army the infantry was the main army. Actions of the land forces provided the fleet. But the main tactical and organizational unit was the legion, which from the IV century BC. E. Consisted of 10 tours (cavalry) and the same number of maniples (infantry). It also consisted of a train of carts, missiles and wall-cars. In some historical moments, the number of the legion increased.

Tactics, combat schedules, weapons, rare defeats and the highest victories are described in the book by A. Makhlayuk, A. Negina. "Roman legions in battle."   Legions for good reason Called the backbone of the greatest ancient state. They Conquered for the empire half the world and rightly considered the most perfect and powerful fighting machine of the time. To surpass the legionnaires until the 18th century AD E. Did not succeed in anyone.

The history of the Roman legions in all its grandeur is presented in the book of the Austrian writer Stephen Dando-Collins "Legions of Rome. The complete history of all the legions of the Roman Empire ", where they were collected and systematized unique information about all these military divisions of Ancient Rome. Each of them is described from the moment of creation, traced their combat path, successes and defeats in the battles. The Roman legions were studied from the conditions of selection to the methods of military training of the legionaries. The book provides a description of weapons, equipment, military differences, the system of awards and wages, the specifics of discipline and punishment. The structure of the legions, the strategy and tactics of combat are analyzed in sufficient detail. This is a whole guide to history, including diagrams, maps, battle plans and photographs.