Allied troops in RS 2.0?

**pcaravel** · March 20, 2008, 07:20 AM

Republican (pre-marian) roman armies always fought alongside with their Italian allies, called Socii. Allied infantry was equal in numbers with roman infantry and was stationed on the wings of the battle line. Their quality was similar to that of the romans and the best allied troops, called Extraordinarii, formed the advance guard of the marching army. Additionally, allied cavalry provided the bulk of the cavalry strength, close to three-quarters of it.
In RS there is no such thing as allied troops. All cities in Italy provide the same units as Rome.
Do you think that it would have been a good idea to include them in RS 2.0? Are there any such plans? I think it would make the game even more historically accurate.

**tone** · March 20, 2008, 07:38 AM

There will be Italian allies in RS2

**Nellup** · March 20, 2008, 07:41 AM

I do remember some mention of Italian allied troops in another thread, so perhaps.

EDIT: Tone beat me to it.

**pcaravel** · March 20, 2008, 07:48 AM

Great! Looking forward for the Roman Preview.

**MarcusTullius** · March 20, 2008, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by pcaravel

Great! Looking forward for the Roman Preview.

You're in for a real treat!

**Dark_horse_spirit** · March 20, 2008, 10:38 AM

Hi,
Where can I find some reading on Italian Allies. Sounds interesting.

DHS

**tone** · March 20, 2008, 12:54 PM

The Osprey book on the Battle of Cannae is very good.

**Ketchup** · March 20, 2008, 01:17 PM

Yeah, thats a great book but I'm sure if you search around a bit on the internet you can find some stuff. I believe quite a few of the Latin Allies were samnites, though I might be wrong. Could add a new dimension to playing Rome, as, short of triarii, she has no spear troops (IIRC the samnites were pretty handy with spears!).

**tone** · March 20, 2008, 01:42 PM

Basically there will be some Samnite and I think Lucanian infantry plus Italian allied Polybian cohorts and triarii - these last ones will look very similar to the Romans

**rory o'kane** · March 20, 2008, 01:45 PM

then there's the campanian cavalry...

**Worm** · March 20, 2008, 01:52 PM

My god that sounds very good. Hopefully the skins are good as well ( i am 99.9% sure that i will like them ).

**tone** · March 20, 2008, 01:58 PM

No.... the skins will be terrible

**Worm** · March 20, 2008, 02:35 PM

Then i won´t play RS 2

( of course this is a joke )

**frankus** · March 20, 2008, 02:40 PM

Well I love your terrible skins

**chris1974** · March 20, 2008, 03:42 PM

I noticed that you gentlemen were discussing Roman allies at the time of the 2nd Punic War in the posts above. If you are interested in reading more about the subject try Cannae: The Experience of Battle in The Second Punic War by Gregory Daly. I think you will find it a great read. And Tone's "terrible" skins are some of the best I've seen.

**bucellarii** · March 21, 2008, 03:22 AM

Where can I find some reading on Italian Allies. Sounds interesting.

Down to the period of the Bellum Sociale the Roman Republic comprised a complex patchwork of communities with different rights and obligations. Broadly speaking there were three main political tiers: cives Romani (with or without full suffrage), socii Latini nominis (Allies of the Latin Name) and Civtates Foederatae (Italian Allied States).

Coloniae Latinae played an important strategic and political role in the life of the Republic. Their primary function was defensive, to hold down conquered territory and to provide a strong bulwark against enemy incursions. The coloniae Latinae were also powerful factors in the process of Romanization.

The constitutions of the coloniae Latinae were modelled on the Roman original with annually elected magistrates. Importantly each colony was obliged to raise and pay their own quota of troops to fight in Rome’s wars. These forces were organised into cohorts that served alongside the Italici in the socii alae.

The Italici comprising the civitates foederatae were designated both peregrini (aliens) and socii (allies). As a result although the settlements were self-governing they were also obliged to supply troops for the socii alae.

Defeated in war the Italici were bound to the Roman Confederacy by individual treaties entered into the formula togatorum (‘the list of those who wear the toga’). The treaties were something of a legal fiction, rarely being based on equality and failing to confer the same status as that enjoyed by the Latini.

After the enfranchisement of Italy in 89 BCE these communities became municipia and the Italici were now cives Romani who in return for improved rights had a duty to serve in the legions.

If you want to read more about the subject useful primers are H H Scullard's two epic works:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Roma...6087612&sr=1-4

and

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gracchi-Nero...6087612&sr=1-3

**pcaravel** · March 21, 2008, 03:28 AM

"A Companion to the roman army", edited by Paul Erdcamp, has a lot of information about Italian allies, their numerical strength, their origin and the interaction between Romans and Allies in terms of battle tactics and weaponry.
The bad thing is that these information isn't concentrated in a chapter but is scattered in many different chapters.