Then came the ensigns encompassing the eagle, which is at the head of every Roman legion, the king, and the strongest of all birds, which seems to them a signal of dominion, and an omen that they shall conquer all against whom they march. - Josephus
Rome’s history was a long and bloody one, replete with succession crises, political turmoil, and the seemingly endless wars, both external and internal, that had been waged across Europe for over a thousand years. But throughout these years, one single factor remained more or less constant: the legions.
They were made up of proud men who marched forth from the Seven Hills until their boots reached all corners of the western world, from the sandy shores of Africa to the forested glades of Spain; from atop the mountains of Greece to the flowing waters of the Euphrates; they marched through the thick forests of Gaul to even the wind-swept crags of Britain. Never had the world seen a military power so unrelenting and organized as the legions of Rome. In fact, so feared were these men that the Christian Bible described the angels that would arrive to participate in the Battle of Armageddon as the Legions of God.
However, the legion was not an invincible force, as Hollywood would lead us to believe. The men that made up of this fighting force were ordinary men who can succumb to the call of death rather than the immortal gods. In fact, the first form of the Roman legion can be categorized as a rag-tag group of men who banded together to fight under the command of the Roman kings. It wasn’t until Servius Tullius conducted the first Census that divided up Roman society into five distinct societal class that had specific roles in battle did the precursor to the Republican Legion arose. However, despite the different classes, the early Roman legion looked and behaved very similarly to the Greek phalanxes, composing largely of rich hoplites as the backbone supported by the lower segments of society as supplementary forces. Early legions were divided up purely into centuries of one hundred men rather than the later maniples. This effectively meant that a 5000 man legion would be made up of fifty centuries at the very least. This early legion had little flexibility on the battlefield and was plagued with a large bureaucratic structure that hindered effective control and cohesion on the battlefield. The Second Samnite Wars of the fourth century BCE proved the hoplite-based legion’s obsolescence. The Samnites employed a manipular order of battle against the Roman hoplites. The success enjoyed by the Samnites in their war efforts against Rome caused the Romans to abandon the densely packed hoplite centuries that were inflexible in rugged terrains and instead adopt the looser manipular formations that would become a staple of the Roman army.
While the maniples retained the class distinction of the Regal Roman legion, it did attempt to separate the different classes. Instead of having the entire army as a single unit bum-rushing the enemy like the hoplites of Greece, the newly reformed Roman legion now separated itself into the distinctive three-tier system of heavy infantry: the Hastati, Principes, and Triarii. The poorest of the citizens who could not even afford the simple armaments of the Hastati took the rank of Velites, or skirmishers. The hoplon shield of the early Roman army eventually evolved into a large oval shield called a scutum that resembled the Imperial cohort’s rectangular shield. However, while the shields universally changed for the heavy infantry, the personal armaments changed more gradually. While the Hastati and Principes adopted the use of missile weapons before engaging in hand to hand combat with the legion’s signature pila, the Triarii kept the long stabbing spears and continued to fight as the spearmen. The men of the early Republican army had to provide their own weapons and gear, meaning that only the richest men would find themselves attached to the Principes or Triarii.
However, the Roman army was about to face another shock during the Second Punic Wars. The war had started out badly enough with the disastrous defeat at the siege of Saguntum and the loss of Roman authority over the Carthaginians. The Senate decreed the levying of six full legions, two more than the customary four. Each consul received his customary two with the praetor holding onto two reserve legions. When offered a choice between war and peace, the Carthaginians declared:
“Pick whichever you please, we do not care either way.”
To which the Roman delegation replied with
“We give you war!”
But Roman influence over Iberia and Cisalpine Gaul had been largely eroded when news of Saguntum’s fall and destruction spread across the western Mediterranean. What later followed would be a series of crushing defeats at the hands of Carthage’s greatest general, Hannibal Barca. The outcomes of the Second Punic War would forever change the face of the Roman legions, at least until the reforms of Gaius Marius. When Hannibal’s army first descended from the Alps in the early winter of 218BCE, the Romans mustered a force to counter the threat on Italian soil in the battle of Ticinus. While a direct confrontation between heavy infantry did not occur at Ticinus, the battle set the stage for Rome’s fifteen-year struggle against Hannibal in Italy. It was also here, at Ticinus, that the man who would become Scipio Africanus, had first experienced the tactics of Hannibal and rescued his father, Publius Cornelius Scipio from almost certain death. The news of the skirmish set the entire City abuzz with whispers. Determined to counter Hannibal’s advances, the Senate sent forth consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus with his two legions supplemented by allied infantry to meet the Carthaginian threat in Northern Italy. In the bitter cold of December, Sempronius marched across the icy waters of Trebbia on the morning of the winter solstice to meet the army of Hannibal. Having surveyed the grounds and placed his traps appropriately, Hannibal was able to ambush a large part of the Roman army and rout both legions, with Sempronius returning to Rome, disgraced yet still alive. His successor, Gaius Flaminius Nepos, would meet a far more grisly fate on the misty banks of Lake Trasimene on April 27, 217BCE. The success of Hannibal had sent the Senate into panic. Never had an enemy so categorically defeated an upwards of five legions in the span of six months. The appointment of Quintus Fabius Maximus as dictator in 217BCE led to inconclusive results that did not bring a quick end to the war. The struggle continued to drag on in Italy until the fateful day of August 2, 216BCE, the battle of Cannae.
Faced with the string of defeats, the Senate decreed the levying of eight legions and an equal number of allied troops that totaled at no less than 90,000. The Senate, in their infinite wisdom, decided that if strategy wasn’t going to destroy Hannibal, then they will crush the Punic commander with numbers alone. It was in this battle that the Romans suddenly abandoned their flexible manipular orders of battle and reverted back to the tightly packed formation of the hoplites. The result: a massacre that saw the death of 45,000 Roman and allied infantry and another 3,000 cavalry with another 4000 having been captured. The remaining men who had fled the field included the future Scipio Africanus, who had seen Hannibal’s tactics more than once and had a streak of luck against the Punic commander.
The defeat of Cannae marked the beginning of a new change in the Roman legion. First and foremost, the gladius hispaniensis, or the Spanish sword, became much more common in the Roman army during the Second Punic War. The stabbing sword proved to be far more devastating than the usual method of hacking and slashing away at the enemy. Secondly, the large number of Roman citizens that had fallen at Cannae made it especially difficult for the City to raise more legions. Desperate measures were taken. Freedmen and slaves suddenly found themselves called upon by Rome to serve in her armies as legionnaires, with the Battle of Beneventum in 214BCE being carried out by a legion comprised entirely of slaves. Cannae had drained the City of its richer citizens and blurred the class distinction in the army. The wealth that used to separate Hastati from Principes became less noticeable and the two eventually became fused into one general category of heavy infantry under the guise of a Polybian cohort by the end of the Second Punic War. When Scipio Africanus fought Hannibal at Zama in 202BCE, his army still comprised of the traditional Hastati, Principes, Triarii ranking system, but his men had grown so accustomed to fighting that any distinction between Hastati and Principes were in name only.
The adoption of the Polybian cohort as well as the widespread use of the gladius hispaniensis were the crowning achievements that were born from the ashes of Canane and it is this newly reformed army that will march forth from the hallowed seven hills to all corners of the world in Roma Surrectum II.
The Second Punic Wars
As Roma Surrectum II takes place during the height of the Second Punic War, the Republican legion composition and early game scenarios are largely reminiscent of that time period. Therefore, it is imperative for the Roman player to familiarize him/herself with the history of this time period to avoid falling into much of the same pitfalls as the Romans historically did. However, it is also more than possible that in their attempt to avoid a certain scenario, they inevitably doom themselves to another unforeseen event that unfolds in Carthage’s favor.
The Second Punic War had its origins in the ridiculously harsh terms that Rome had placed upon Carthage at the end of the First Punic War and the subsequent revolt of much of Carthage’s mercenary armies. When everything finally calmed down on the Carthaginian side, Rome had controlled over Sicily and Italy, and the City had also held naval supremacy over the Carthaginians. It is at this point that a single commander, Hannibal Barca, took the stage and set out to march against Rome in vengeance of what that City had dictated to Carthage. Setting forth from his base in Spain, Hannibal took an overland journey through Gaul and crossed the Alps, descending into Italy in late 218BCE. However, the Romans did not leave Hannibal unmolested during his journey over. As the Punic Commander had set out to cross the Alps, the Romans sent Gn. Cornelius Scipio Calvus and his brother Publius Cornelius Scipio, consuls of the year 218BCE, to Spain to check Hannibal’s movements. The brothers knew that Hannibal had crossed the Ebro, the line of demarcation for Carthaginian territory, but were surprised by the distance that Hannibal had managed to place between himself and the Roman forces. An expeditionary force of 300 cavalry was sent to locate Hannibal, only to be beaten back by a contingent of 500 Numidians. The consuls sought to chase after Hannibal, but the man had disappeared into the Alps, aided by local tribes, whose hereditary disputes he had helped solve.
At this point, Scipio Calvus remained in Iberia while P. Cornelius Scipio returned to Italy, realizing that several of the northern Italian tribes, such as the Boii and Insurbes were on the verge of revolting if not already in open revolt against Rome. Scipio Calvus was able to secure victories at the Battle of Cissa and received the aid of the Massilians later on in his campaigns, guaranteeing that Hannibal would not easily receive further reinforcements from Spain. However, Scipio could not advance further into Carthaginian holdings in Spain and thus allowed Hannibal’s brother Hasdrubal to continue his operations. The Battle of Dertosa that Hasdrubal initiated against Scipio Calvus in Spain was considered to be a failed Cannae. While he employed the same tactics as Hannibal, Hasdrubal lacked the experienced troops as his brother did and his lines broke before he could complete the encirclement. Rome, however, learned nothing from this encounter and would later suffer her worst defeat in history.
During Hannibal’s overland journey to Italy, the Senate managed to secure the alliance of the Numidian king Syphax, who began to wage war against the Carthaginians on mainland Africa, diverting Punic attention of the war from Spain and Italy. At this point, both Scipio Calvus and Hannibal were effectively cut off from their home bases. Both were forced to operate with what little forces they had on hand in a completely hostile land, but while Scipio Calvus would die in the Battle of the Upper Baetis river in 211BCE, Hannibal would come to take prominence as he escalated the war by bringing the fight to Italy itself.
The major engagements in Italy, as mentioned earlier in the preview, were battles at the River Trebbia, on the shores of Lake Trasimene, and at the plains outside of Cannae. Each one had a unique method by Hannibal in defeating the Romans, but each one also highlighted the arrogant attitude of the Romans towards their Carthaginian foes.
Battle of the River Trebbia.
Before the winter solstice of 218BCE, Rome had knowledge of the engagement at Ticinus River the previous month. The inconclusive results of the previous battle had injured Scipio and the Senate ordered T. Sempronius Longus to mobilize his two legions from Sicily to the Po River Valley. Upon arrival, the consuls conferred with each other. Scipio advocated that they let things remain the way they are, as he believed the Celts would not stick with Hannibal for long term if nothing were to happen. Sempronius Longus, however, did not hold such a sentiment and ignored Scipio’s advice, preferring to assault the Carthaginian position on the winter solstice. Sempronius Longus, urged on by his desire to prove himself before the coming elections, now established camp on the banks of the Trebbia. A fatal flaw in Sempronius Longus’ army was the fact that many of his men were raw recruits who had seen very little fighting, a disadvantage that would be exploited by Hannibal. On the morning of the battle, Hannibal picked a location that Polybius describes as
“Flat indeed and treeless, but well adapted for an ambuscade, as it was traversed by a water-course with steep banks, densely overgrown with brambles and other thorny plants, and here he proposed to lay a stratagem to surprise the enemy” – Polybius
Hannibal would conceal some of his best troops in these grasses while he sent some of his Numidian cavalry to harass and incite the Romans to action. On the dawn of the solstice, a detachment of Numidians rode to the banks of the Trebbia and taunted at the Roman camp. Sempronius Longus immediately sent forth a force of 6000 missile cavalry, 12,000 Roman heavy infantry, and 20,000 allied infantry against the Carthaginians. However, the Carthaginians had been well-rested and had oiled themselves before the fires to keep warm. The Romans, on the other hand, were hungry and breakfastless. The march across the freezing waters of Trebbia tired the Romans and induced hypothermia upon many of Sempronius Longus’ men. As the sluggish Roman mass waded across the cold, the Numidians suddenly turned and assaulted them, forcing the velites to use all of their javelins in a futile attempt to drive them off. Meanwhile, the Carthaginian Balearic slingers were busy pelting the Romans while the Numidians continued to taunt them. As the Romans came closer and closer, Hannibal split his troops. Moving his missile and light infantry to the flanks, he kept his heavy infantry in the center, ready to absorb the Roman attack. When the tail end of the Roman force crossed the Trebbia, Hannibal’s brother Mago, sprang his trap and closed in on the Romans at their flanks, panicking the inexperienced Roman troops and sending them fleeing backwards towards the freezing river. Now Sempronius Longus’ soldiers crossed the river not once, but twice. Hypothermia and shock soon took its toll and thousands drowned in the freezing river, un-mourned and far from their loved ones.
The defeat at Trebbia had sparked a wave of panic in Rome, but the Senate remained calm as ever. Sempronius Longus may have lost, but he still retained 2.5 legions while the 3 under Scipio did not participate in battle. Plus the fact that two more legions were currently in Spain gave the Romans a full 7.5 legions to work with, only half a legion less than the eight legions that the Senate had levied at the start of the War.
However, at this point, Roman luck was starting to wear out. Hannibal’s victory at Trebbia was psychological one that drew in more support from the surrounding Celts, who had previously been a rather unreliable force. Now, they see that Hannibal may be the answer to countering Rome’s aggressive actions in Cisalpine Gaul and thus lent their forces to Hannibal.
Battle of Lake Trasimene.
Faced with the defeat of Sempronius Longus at Trebbia and the inconclusive battle result (that was more or less accepted as a defeat) of Scipio, two new consuls were elected in 217BCE. One of the two was Gaius Flaminius Nepos. Because both consular armies had been weakened due to the previous year’s activities, the Senate levied four new legions that combined with the other forces and placed under control of the two consuls. Flaminius had left the City to meet his army without carrying the proper rituals of being elected consul and returned under threat of Recall from the Senate. Already, a black omen hung over the new consul. As Flaminius’ army came marching south to meet their new commander, Hannibal marched past them and began laying waste to the countryside in an attempt to sway Rome’s allies by showing that Rome could no longer protect them. This enraged Flaminius, who shared his predecessor’s impetuousness and lack of strategic thought. In rage, Flaminius declared that he would march against Hannibal’s army, which was exactly what the Punic Commander wanted him to do.
The morning of April 27, 217BCE, was a particularly foggy one. However, unknown to Flaminius, Hannibal knew of his impetuous plan of attack. Thus, the night before the actual battle, Hannibal was quick at work, devising his ambuscade. Having located a suitable bend near the lake with high vantage points, Hannibal hid his light troops to overlook the plains while his heavy troops were closer to the ground, ready to cut off any Roman retreat. Hannibal’s intention was clear: No survivors. While he hid much of his army by the shore, he lit fake campfires in the distant hills to trick the Romans into thinking that he was further than he actually was. When morning came, Flaminius marched deep into the fog with the glistening waters of Trasimene on his army’s right side.
Hannibal however, to ensure that his ambuscade would be successful, sent a small detachment of skirmishers to draw the Romans along the lake’s shore until they had exposed their sides to all possible assault routes by the hidden Carthaginian forces. When the Romans had chased the skirmishers deep into the ambuscade, a trumpet was blown and the Carthaginian troops rushed from their hiding spots and savagely engaged the Romans, who were too disarrayed to even draw up battle formation. To their left and front was the enemy. To their right were the deep waters of Trasimene. The only mode of escape was to the back. However, while those in front rushed back, the ones in the back rushed forward, eager for action. Within four hours, the Roman army was decimated. About 10,000 men managed to limp away from the battle, however the rest were killed, drowned, or captured. The reinforcements under Praetor Gaius Centennius were intercepted by Carthaginian forces and destroyed.
Suddenly, the Senate began to panic. Flaminius had lost 3.5 legions in one go, bringing the total number of legions that Hannibal had destroyed in his campaign to five. All within the matter of a few months. Flaminius himself had fallen against the Punic commander and the Senate found itself demanding new consuls.
Dictatorship of Q. Fabius Maximus
Roman dictator Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator
The Senate finally began to lose its cool with the defeat of Flaminius. The body elected Quintus Fabius Maximus, one of the delegates who had started the war with Carthage, as dictator. Fabius devised the Fabian strategy of not actively engaging Hannibal in pitched battle and instead use guerilla warfare against him. The tactic did little to bring an end to the war, but did weaken Hannibal. However, the Senate was not pleased with Fabius’s strategy and stripped him of his dictatorial powers, electing Paullus and Varro as consuls to bring a quick end to the war.
Cannae
When the new year started in 216BCE, Rome was in a precarious state. Hannibal’s victories were decimating her legions. The confidence in Rome’s ability to protect her allies was fading fast among the Italic states. Rome itself saw a huge decline in population and Hannibal was marching closer and closer. Desperate to defeat Hannibal, the Senate authorized the levying of yet another set of legions, totaling eight, to bring to the fight against Hannibal, reasoning that sheer numbers would crush this enemy.
On August 2, 216BCE, Hannibal arrayed his troops on the plains beside a small town called Cannae and waited for the Romans to advance towards him. The Romans approached him from the west with the sun shining in their eyes. At the same time, a southeastern breeze blew dust into their eyes. The sun shone on the grassy battlefield while the river Aufidius flowed behind the Carthaginians. The Italian countryside was rife with the sound of singing birds and filled with the lush green of summer. Tiny waves of heat curled into the graceful summer air as the two armies prepared to murder each other. Hannibal arranged his troops in a moon-shape crescent, with his Celts in the center and his Africans on the side. He sent his Numidian cavalry to drive off or kill any Roman or allied horsemen that could hinder his assault. As the Romans slammed into the Carthaginian center, the cresent was slowly being pushed back. However, the Romans were so eager to push forward, so eager to continue pressing on, that they ignored their flanks until it became too late. Cramped in the tiny space with barely even two feet of space per man, it was nearly impossible for the Romans to draw their weapons let alone fight effectively with them. As the Carthaginian center buckled back but failing to break, the Africans and Spaniards suddenly flanked the Romans and begin to slaughter them. By the time the Romans realized that they had fallen to the same tactic that Hannibal had employed at Trebbia and Trasimene, they began to double back. By now, the Numidian cavalry had returned and fell upon the hapless Roman infantry. The total envelopment of the mass of Romans led to a slaughter of all who were present. This time, Hannibal had annihilated yet another Roman army, but instead of relying upon the environment to conceal his troops, he used Roman arrogance.
Rome was now truly panicking. Eight legions had fallen to Hannibal. The man alone had destroyed more legions than any other nation to date. When he sent his brother Mago to Carthage to petition for aid, it was said that Mago merely spilled the golden rings taken from the fingers of dead Roman knights on the floor and let the Carthaginian senate marvel at the number before beginning his plea.
Hannibal counting the golden rings taken from the fingers of dead Roman knights
Hannibal’s second in command, Maharbal, would later call for Hannibal to march against Rome, to which Hannibal declined. Maharbal was rumored to have said:
“You knew how to win a victory, Hannibal, but you don’t know how to use it.”
The Senate grew truly desperate. Human sacrifices, long since forbidden, was practiced once again, twice burying people alive in the Forum Romanum and tossing a large baby into the Adriatic. A day of mourning was declared in the aftermath, but the Senate soon forbade any expression of grief among the populace. So much faith was lost that the military tribune Lucius Caecilius Metellus had called for all other tribunes to follow him in sailing the sea and offering themselves up as mercenaries. The Senate forced him to swear an oath of allegiance to Rome. The survivors of Cannae were formed into two new legions and sent to Sicily as punishment. Several of Rome’s allies defected to Hannibal in the wake of Cannae and Rome came the closest to defeat in all of her history save for the late Imperial era. However, not all was lost. Rome still had her legions in Spain, and one man, P. Cornelius Scipio, who had survived both Ticinus and Cannae, would soon become the lone Roman commander who would take the fight to Zama and defeat Hannibal on the sandy shores of Africa.
UNITS PREVIEW
Roman Pre-Marian General
It was the duty of every Roman citizen below the age of 45 to enlist in the legions as part of their services to Rome, particularly in times of war. The supreme commander of these men, at least in the Republic, fell to the Consuls, who each received two of the four standing legions of Rome. During the Second Punic Wars, the speed that the legions were being obliterated by Hannibal necessitated that additional legions be raised. These legions fell under the control of the Praetor as a reserve force should the Consular legions fall. Consuls were originally drawn from the Patrician class of Rome until the Conflict of Orders that had lasted from the 5th century BCE to the 3rd century BCE eventually granted Plebeians the right to run for consul. These men often times had to prove their worth on the battlefield as supreme commander-in-chief of the Roman military, but also proved more than enough times that they can be quite incompetent. Because of the amount of power consuls can hold, a Senator can only run for consul every ten years.
Roman equites
Roman society was first divided up into five classes by King Servius Tullius in the first Census. The classification by the King had a lasting impact upon the perceived societal rankings of the people even if it had little serious impact upon Roman society. The first rank was that of the Patricians, those who can trace their bloodline to the first group of men that had joined Romulus in building the City. Within the Patricians, monetary value further divided the single class. At the very top was the Senatorial class, families that had 1,000,000 sesterces or more of riches. The men in this class were forbidden to partake in business dealings and had to instead rely on their own personal wealth to keep their Senatorial status. Directly below the Senatorial class was the Equites, those who owned 400,000 sesterces of riches. These men were allowed to conduct business and some grew to be extremely wealthy and could therefore enter the Senatorial class. The equites were named for the fact that they could provide their own horse (Latin: equus) in battle. Equites are light cavalrymen armed with spears. In the Roman system of war, they are intended to drive off skirmishers and pursue fleeing enemies. Equites wore a gold ring around their finger to signify their status as opposed to the iron ring of the Senatorial class. When Hannibal sent his brother Mago to Carthage to beg for additional reinforcements, it is said that Mago stood at the center of the Carthaginian Senate and poured out from a cask all the golden rings taken from the fingers of all the slain Roman knights and let the Carthaginian leaders marvel at the sight before beginning his plea.
Allied equites
Romans were never much renowned for their equine prowess, preferring to stand and fight by their own strengths. However, that did not stop the Romans from realizing the potentials of cavalry. By the Second Punic Wars, Rome’s dominion had stretched largely over all of Italy with various city-states on the peninsula paying tribute in the form of taxes or soldiers to the Eternal City. One thing that Rome capitalized upon was the skill of horseback combat offered by her neighbors. These allied cavalry would be part of the Republican legion’s alae, or wing, that comprised of 4500 allied infantry and cavalry that marched abreast the citizen army. Allied equites managed to handle two problems at once. While it gave support to the Roman legions, it also drained surrounding allied territory of their upper class, making rebellion against the Romans much more difficult. The preference for foreign horsemen would remain an everlasting force in the Roman army as it later recruited Numidians, Germans, and Gauls to augment its forces.
Italian medium cavalry
Owing to Rome's eventual conquest of all the towns and cities of Latium in the years before the Republic began to expand further into southern and northern Italy, the various cities of Latium were required to provide soldiers to fight with Rome's legions. This unit of hardy men from the mountainous areas of central Italy is particularly valuable to any Roman General, since it is a good cavalry unit, armoured and equipped with a long spear and deadly sword, and far more experienced than the typical Roman Equites. Although still not the best cavalry in this era, they will hold their own in most situations, and are immensely valuable for running down routing units and charging into the backs or flanks of other units. However, these men do not come as readily available as some of the other lighter cavalry and thus should be used sparingly.
Campanian cavalry:
The Campanian Cavalry are superb heavy horsemen from southern Italy. Campania was inhabited at first by the Oscans and later by the Etruscans. The main settlement of Campania is believed to have been founded by the Etruscans around 600 BC, with the name of 'Capue' and the resulting Latin name of 'Capua'. The region of Campania fell under the control of the Romans in 343 BC, during the 1st Samnite War. They are a high-status group in both the social and economic sense. Rome relied heavily on them, indeed they were given Roman citizenship, and a monument was erected in their honor. Armed with the Greek Xyston lance and the Kopis slashing sword, they are best used as shock cavalry. During the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), they defected from the Romans to the Carthaginians after the battle of Cannae in August 216 BC. When the Romans recaptured Capua, they put a great deal of the population to the sword, thus ending the great tradition of heavy shock cavalry for the Romans. They have served as elite mercenary cavalry throughout the Western Mediterranean.
Cenomani light cavalry
Cenomani Light Cavalry are lightly armoured and carry spears and shields. They are best used as scouts and in pursuit of fleeing enemies, and ride sturdy, sure-footed ponies with a good turn of speed. These Celtic cavalrymen were allies of Rome.
Velites
Velites were a class of infantry in the Polybian legions of the early Roman republic. Velites were light infantry and skirmishers who were armed with a number of light javelins, or hastae velitares, to fling at the enemy, and also carried short thrusting swords, or gladii for use in melee. They rarely wore armour, as they were the youngest and poorest soldiers in the legion and could not afford much equipment. They did carry small wooden shields for protection though, and wore a headdress made from wolf skin to allow officers to differentiate between them and other heavier legionaries. Velites did not form their own units; a number of them were attached to each maniple of hastati, principes and triarii, therefore, they were variously mixed into the ranks of the cohorts. They were typically used as a screening force, driving off enemy skirmishers and disrupting enemy formations with javelin fire before retiring behind the lines to allow the heavier armed men to attack. They were normally the ones who engaged war elephants and chariots if they were present on the field; their high mobility and ranged weaponry made them much more effective against these enemies than heavy infantry. An early Roman legion contained approximately 1,000 velites. Velites were eventually done away with after the Marian reforms. Velites were descended from an earlier class of light infantry, leves, dating from the Camillan legion of the 5th century BC, who had a very similar role to the velites. They were also the poorer and younger soldiers in the legion, though the rorarii and accensi classes were considerably poorer and were eventually done away with, having insufficient equipment to be effective soldiers. Leves were likewise armed with a number of javelins, but carried a spear rather than a sword. Like the velites, leves did not have their own units, but were attached to units of hastati. Velites were first used at the siege of Capua in 211 BC, and were made up of citizens who would normally be too poor to join the hastati but where called up due a shortage of manpower. They were trained to ride on horseback with the Equites and jump down at a given signal to fling javelins at the enemy. After the siege, they were adopted into the legions as a force of irregular light infantry for ambushing and harassing the enemy with javelins before the battle began in earnest. The Second Punic Wars demonstrated the usefulness of these skirmishers in their effectiveness against enemy elephants. At Zama, Scipio Africanus specifically made his army into columns to let the elephants charge through while simultaneously peppering them with his experienced Velites, ultimately driving the beasts backwards toward the Carthaginian lines. With the formal military reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC, designed to combat a shortage of manpower due to wars against Jugurtha, the different classes of units were done away with entirely. The wealth and age requirements were scrapped. Now soldiers would join as a career, rather than as service to the city, and would all be equipped as medium infantry with the same, state purchased equipment.
Allied skirmishers
The Roman allied skirmisher was drawn from allied and conquered communities, the socii. Another term in general use for the socii was auxilia, supporting troops, or cohortes alariae. These forces were divided into several types but the most important were the Italic socii or allies. Among these the socii nominis Latinis, the allies of the Latin league, were the most prominent. Generally the majority of these Italic allies were staunchly loyal to the Roman cause. Even after the series of disastrous defeats inflicted by Hannibal only a minority of Italic communities defected to the enemy. The Italic socii were occasionally rewarded for their services by the granting of Latin rights or Roman citizenship. The increasing rarity of these grants in the second century BC was one of the main causes of the Social War fought between Rome and her Italic allies. This particular unit fights in the style of Roman Velite. They rarely wore armour, as they were the youngest and poorest soldiers in the legion, just as their Roman counterparts, and could not afford much equipment. They did carry small wooden shields for protection though, and wore a headdress made from wolf skin to allow officers to differentiate between them and other heavier warriors. Since they were used in tandom with other Roman regular soldiers, they were trained just a Roman Velite would be, so they was little distinction between them except that they were not Roman citizens.
Polybian cohorts
When the dust from the Second Punic Wars had settled, the Romans faced a dilemma on their hands. The extensive war had all but drained the City of its able-bodied men who can still serve in the legions. Farming had been neglected in favor of war and the Roman economy plummeted. The monetary requirements established by Marcus Furius Camillus for those wishing to enlist in the Roman legion was largely ignored by the end of the Second Punic Wars due to the eroding of a middle class in Rome. Thus, those who used to qualify as Principes fell to Hastati status. The destruction of the middle class meant that the Roman legion could no longer be divided based upon economic standing and instead must rely upon fighting skill. Due to the need to press those who previously were unable to afford to serve in the military, the State began to provide armor and weapons to her soldiers, further blurring the lines between Hastati and Principes until the two units existed only in name. This became known as the Polybian system and the concepts that came from this particular system would become driving forces behind the Marian reforms.
Allied polybian cohorts
The draining of Roman citizens during the Second Punic Wars meant that the Romans became increasingly dependent upon her allies (Latin: socii) to provide her with men at arms. The establishment of the Roman Polybian cohorts gave rise to a similar formation adopted by Rome’s allied cities in Italy. These men were armed in much the same way as their Roman counterparts with the only exception being that they were not citizens. Like the Romans, these allied infantry first threw a pair of pila (heavy spears) at the coming enemy before engaging with the stabbing sword, the gladius hispaniensis.
Triarii
Traditionally the richest members of the society were able to afford the best equipments. This was true even into the middle Republic. These men, the Triarii, formed the final line of the Roman legion. Only those who had the most money as well as the most extensive experience in war were able to be classified as such. These men were armed with a long stabbing spear reminiscent of the Regal Roman Army but were equipped with the large scutum of the Republican army. These men would be kept in reserve in battle until all other lines in front of them had melted away. The phrase “Going to the Triarii” came to mean going to the bitter end due to the usage of these men. By the end of the Second Punic Wars, the traditional use of the Triarii as a reserve force had largely been cast aside as Scipio Africanus used his Principes and Triarii as a flanking force while his Hastati pinned down the Punic infantry in combat.
Allied triarii
Just like the allied Polybian cohorts that provided military aid to Rome in the same fashion as her own cohorts, the same occurred with the triarii. These men were equipped in almost the same manner as the Romans with the only distinction being that they did not fight in the actual legion itself but instead in the alae attached to the main body and that they were not citizens of Rome. Nevertheless, these men are tough, hardy, and have seen plenty of warfare, allowing any competent commander to effectively utilize them against the enemy. The allied forces were divided into several types but the most important were the Italic socii or allies. Among these the socii nominis Latinis, the allies of the Latin league, were the most prominent. Generally the majority of these Italic allies were staunchly loyal to the Roman cause. Even after the series of disastrous defeats inflicted by Hannibal only a minority of Italic communities defected to the enemy. The Italic socii were occasionally rewarded for their services by the granting of Latin rights or Roman citizenship. The increasing rarity of these grants in the second century BC was one of the main causes of the Social War fought between Rome and her Italic allies.
Samnite Pedites Extraordinarii
Samnite mercenaries are relatively dependable light infantry but should not be expected to hold crucial sections of a battle line. They are not capable of standing up to professional heavy infantry, but their spears, bronze breastplates and large shields make them suited to fighting against light and medium cavalry. The Samnites come from the Apennine highlands of central and southern Italy. Having lost the battle for regional supremacy to the Romans, they often served in the invading armies of Rome's enemies.
Lucani light infantry:
According to theory, their name would derive from the Greek ("wolf"), referring to the use by the Sabellic people, of a totemic animal as a guide during their migrations. To other scholars, the name would stem from the Latin locus ("sacred wood"). According to Pliny the Elder, the names of their tribe were Atinati, Bantini, Eburini, Grumentini, Numestrani, Potentini, Sontini, Sirini, Tergilani, Ursentini and Volcentani. The Lucani spoke a variety of the Umbrian -Oscan language, like their neighbours, the Samnites, who had absorbed the Oscii in the 5th century BC. Strabo reported that they had a democratic constitution, save in time of war, when a dictator was chosen from among the regular magistrates. Around the middle of the fifth century BC, the Lucani moved south into Oenotria, driving the indigenous tribes, known to the Greeks as Oenotrians, Chones, and Lauternoi, into the mountainous interior. The Lucanians were engaged in hostilities with the Greek colony of Taras/Tarentum, and with Alexander, king of Epirus, who was called in by the Tarentine people to their assistance, in 326 BC, thus providing a precedent for Epirote interference in the affairs of Magna Graecia. When Pyrrhus of Epirus landed in Italy, 281 they were among the first to declare in his favor, and after his abrupt departure they were reduced to subjection, in a ten-year campaign (272). In 298, Livy records, Lucians allied with Rome, and Roman influence was extended by the colonies of Venusia (291), Paestum (Greek Posidonia, refounded in 273), and above all Roman Tarentum (re-founded in 272). Enmity continued to run deep and espoused the cause of Hannibal during the Second Punic War (216) and Lucania was severely ravaged by both armies during several campaigns. The country never recovered from these disasters, and under the Roman government fell into decay, to which the Social War, in which the Lucanians took part with the Samnites (90 - 88 BC), was the finishing stroke. Around 91 BCEMarcus Livius Drusus, a tribune of the plebs who wanted to reinforce the powers of the Senate, appealed to the allies and Italian nations and made them hope for the Roman citizenship; with their help, he carried by force laws on the distribution of land and grain, and also carried a law on jurisdiction to the effect that the juries would be made up from one half of senators and one half of knights. When he could not keep his promise to give citizenship to his allies, the angry Italians started to think about defection. For these reasons, Livius Drusus became hated even in the Senate, as if he had been the cause of the Social War, and an unknown person assassinated him in his own house.
Iberian Scutari Cavalry
These were the medium cavalry who were used as mercenaries by both Carthage and Rome. Born of the Callaecian stock, they were armed with javelins and a stabbing spear. Capable of harassing the enemy from afar but also able to close in with the enemy at close range combat, these medium cavalry were a foreign solution to the lack of domestic cavalry by the Romans. They derive their name from the large shield they bear, the scutum. Historically, the Callaeci did not prefer either Roman or Carthaginian masters, instead wishing to be left alone. However, as the Second Punic War raged on, they found themselves increasingly in the employment of the two superpowers.
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Those of you with sharp eyes will notice a slight anachronism on the centurion and standard bearer belts / cingula / swords - these were basically made this way in order to span the premarian / early postmarian legions....it was difficult with model limitations to have specific premarian centurions and standard bearers, so this compromise was the best the team could do
CREDITS:
Models: Tone (all weapons and gladii scabbards: Burninator; polybian cohort plumes: RTR)
Skins: Tone
Shield skins and models for centurions, triarii and polybian cohorts: Pacco
Real horse skins: Argent_Usher
Roma Surrectum II Presents: The Premarian Romans
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Originally Posted by tone
