{roman_velite} Republican Legionary Velite
{roman_velite_descr}
Primary Armour = Flesh\nCan Hide in Long Grass\n\nVelites (Singular: Veles) 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.\n\nVelites 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.\n\nVelites 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.\n\nVelites 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.\n\nWith 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.
{roman_velite_descr_short}
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.
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{allied_velite} Allied Skirmisher
{allied_velite_descr}
Primary Armour = Flesh\nCan Hide in Long Grass\n\nThe 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.\n\nThis 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.
{allied_velite_descr_short}
The Roman allied skirmisher, though not really 'Roman', is a unit supplied by the allied states under Rome's control. This unit fights in the style of Roman Velite.
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{samnite_pedites_extraordinarii} Samnite Pedites Extraordinarii
{samnite_pedites_extraordinarii_descr}
Sapping Ability\n\nSamnite 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.\n\nThe 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.
{samnite_pedites_extraordinarii_descr_short}
Samnite mercenaries are dependable light infantry, but should not be expected to hold crucial sections of a battle line.
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{lucani_pedites_extraordinarii} Lucani Light Infantry
{lucani_pedites_extraordinarii_descr}
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.\n\nAround 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).\n\nIn 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 (refounded in 272). Enmity continued to run deep and they espoused the cause of Hannibal during the Second Punic War (216) but, 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.\n\nAround 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 ( equites ). 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.
{lucani_pedites_extraordinarii_descr_short}
Light spear infantry equipped with a hoplon and sword for melee.
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{polybian_republic_legion} Polybian Republican Cohort
{polybian_republic_legion_descr}
Disciplined\nHardy\nSapping Ability\n\nThe pressures of invasion by Carthage and the need for a larger, more ominous looking front to the enemy led the Romans to gradually shift their tactics when it came to troop dispersment. Although records are sparse, some accounts report that the old 'Hastati' and 'Principe' manipules were merged nearly into one unit, called for the first time a 'cohort'. These men fight and look just like the Principes of the past, but their numbers are greater, and you cannot tell 'Hastati' from 'Principe'. It could well be that the younger men fought more bravely and better with the more experienced soldiers at their sides. Used mainly to counter Hannibal and his forces in Italy, it's evident that after the 2nd Punic War Roman military tactics were never the same. This unit fights with a thrown 'pilum' released at the enemy in a powerful volley, and then engages with the Roman 'Gladius', a short sword that is very useful in the Legionary style of fighting.
{polybian_republic_legion_descr_short}
These men represent the earliest use of the Roman Legionary Cohort.
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{allied_republic_legion} Allied Republican Cohort
{allied_republic_legion_descr}
Primary Armour = Metal\nHardy\nDisciplined\n\nThe Allied Republican Cohorts were 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.\n\nThe pressures of invasion by Carthage and the need for a larger, more ominous looking front to the enemy led the Romans to gradually shift their tactics when it came to troop dispersment. Although records are sparse, some accounts report that the old 'Hastati' and 'Principe' manipules were merged nearly into one unit, called for the first time a 'cohort'. These men fight and look just like the Principes of the past, but their numbers are greater, and you cannot tell 'Hastati' from 'Principe'. It could well be that the younger men fought more bravely and better with the more experienced soldiers at their sides. Used mainly to counter Hannibal and his forces in Italy, it's evident that after the 2nd Punic War Roman military tactics were never the same. This unit fights with a thrown 'pilum' released at the enemy in a powerful volley, and then engages with the Roman 'Gladius', a short sword that is very useful in the Legionary style of fighting.
{allied_republic_legion_descr_short}
These men represent the earliest use of the Roman Legionary Cohort.
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{roman_triarii} Roman Republican Triarii
{roman_triarii_descr}
Primary Armour = Metal\nHardy\nDisciplined\n\nTriarii are tough heavy spearmen who make up the third and most senior part of a Roman Legion before the military Reforms of Gaius Marius. They carry a long "hoplite-style" spear (the hasta) which is used to thrust, a long shield and a gladius. They are the oldest veteran soldiers, and well armoured - hardly surprising, given that they are also drawn from the richest section of society. \n\nThe triarii are the last available line in early-pattern Republican Legions. "Going to the triarii" is a Roman saying meaning carrying on to the bitter end, and if they are used it's a sign that the moment of decision in a battle has arrived. \n\nHistorically, triarii spent their own money on their equipment and could afford to buy the best of everything.
{roman_triarii_descr_short}
Triarii are tough, experienced spearmen who are the senior element - the backbone - of an early Roman Legion. They can be a decisive force in battle.
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{allied_triarii} Allied Triarii
{allied_triarii_descr}
Primary Armour = Metal\nHardy\nDisciplined\n\nThe Allied Triarii were 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.\n\nTriarii are tough heavy spearmen who make up the third and most senior part of a Roman Legion before the military Reforms of Gaius Marius. They carry a long "hoplite-style" spear (the hasta) which is used to thrust, a long shield and a gladius. They are the oldest veteran soldiers, and well armoured - hardly surprising, given that they are also drawn from the richest sections of Rome's allied societies.\n\nThey are the last available line in early-pattern Republican Legions. "Going to the triarii" is a Roman saying meaning carrying on to the bitter end, and if they are used it's a sign that the moment of decision in a battle has arrived.\n\nHistorically, triarii spent their own money on their equipment and could afford to buy the best of everything.
{allied_triarii_descr_short}
Triarii are tough, experienced spearmen who are the senior element - the backbone - of an early Roman Legion. They can be a decisive force in battle.
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{roman_equites} Roman Equites Extraordinarii
{roman_equites_descr}
Primary Armour = Metal\n\nAOR Italy\n\nEquites are light cavalrymen armed with spears. In the Roman system of war, they are intended to drive off skirmishers and pursue fleeing enemies. The word equites means 'horsemen', and they are recruited from among the well-off sections of society. They wear little armour and only carry spears and shields. As a result, they can charge enemies, but may be cut to pieces by a prepared defensive line of spearmen if these were attacked head on. Instead, they should be used against the flanks or rear of units, or to keep missile troops and skirmishers away from the main Roman heavy infantry (who are the real killers of a Roman army).\n\nHistorically, equites were drawn from the equestrian classes - literally the rich people who could afford to own horses - and they spent their own money on both horse and war gear.
{roman_equites_descr_short}
Equites are light cavalrymen armed with spears. In the Roman system of war, they are intended to drive off skirmishers and pursue fleeing enemies.
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{allied_equites} Allied Equites Extraordinarii
{allied_equites_descr}
Primary Armour = Metal\n\nAOR Italy\n\nEquites are light cavalrymen armed with spears. In the Roman system of war, they are intended to drive off skirmishers and pursue fleeing enemies. The word equites means 'horsemen', and they are recruited from among the well-off sections of society. They wear little armour and only carry spears and shields. As a result, they can charge enemies, but may be cut to pieces by a prepared defensive line of spearmen if these were attacked head on. Instead, they should be used against the flanks or rear of units, or to keep missile troops and skirmishers away from the main Roman heavy infantry (who are the real killers of a Roman army).\n\nHistorically, equites were drawn from the equestrian classes - literally the rich people who could afford to own horses - and they spent their own money on both horse and war gear.
{allied_equites_descr_short}
Equites are light cavalrymen armed with spears. In the Roman system of war, they are intended to drive off skirmishers and pursue fleeing enemies.
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{aedui_cavalry} Aedui Cavalry
{aedui_cavalry_descr}
Allied Celtic cavalry
{aedui_cavalry_descr_short}
Allied Celtic cavalry
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{latin_medium_cavalry} Latin Medium Cavalry
{latin_medium_cavalry_descr}
Primary Armour = Metal\nDisciplined\nHardy\n\nOwing 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 Equite. 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.\n\n However, this is a rare unit (only recruitable in Rome), so it should be used sparingly and wisely in situations where it is only absolutely necessary.
{latin_medium_cavalry_descr_short}
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 Equite.
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Allies:
{aedui_cavalry} Aedui Cavalry
{aedui_cavalry_descr}
Allied Celtic cavalry
{aedui_cavalry_descr_short}
Allied Celtic cavalry
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{noble_celtic_cavalry} Paleoveneti Noble Cavalry
{noble_celtic_cavalry_descr}
The Veneti, whose name means 'noble' or 'shining', had legendary and mythological beginnings. The Greeks and others claim that they originated in Asia Minor and after the Trojan War, Antenor, who was a counselor of King Priam, led them to present day Patavium. Their legends accounted for the presence and cult of Diomedes, a well-known Adriatic hero and founder of Adria. The reputation of the Veneti as horse breeders, coincides with the sacrifices of white horses at the mouth of the Timavo River in Diomedes honour. They also have historical links to the Histri, Carni and other Alpine tribes as well relationships with the Golasecca, Villanovan and Etruscan cultures. They managed to co-exist peacefully with their neighbours due to their navigational abilities and that they were becoming a player on the amber trade route.\n\nDuring the 3rd century B.C., the Veneti, together with the Cenomani Celts on their western border, sided with the Romans as Rome expanded and struggled against the Insubri and Boii Celts. During the Second Punic War (218 - 202 B.C.), the Veneti sent a contingent of soldiers to fight alongside the Romans against the invading Carthaginians and were among those slaughtered at the Battle of Cannae (216 B.C.). In 181 B.C., a Roman triumvirate of Publius Scipio Nasica, Caius Flaminius, and Lucius Manlius Acidinus led three thousand families, mainly from Samnium but supplemented by native Veneti, to found a Latin colony at Aquileia as a base to protect the territory of the Veneti from incursions of the hostile Carni and Istri.\n\nAfter the 91 B.C. Italic rebellion, the cities of the Veneti, together with the rest of Transpadania, were granted partial rights of Roman citizenship according to the Lex Pompeia Transpadanis. Later in 49 B.C., by the Lex Rubria de Gallia Rome granted full Roman citizenship to the Veneti. Such citizens would have benefitted from the Via Claudia completed in 46 B.C. and connecting Altinum to Tarvisium to Feltria to Tridentum (modern Trento).\n\n After the Battle of Philippi (42 B.C.), which ended the Roman Civil War, the lands of the Veneti, together with the rest of Cisalpine Gaul, ceased to be a province and the territory of the Veneti, which included modern Friuli, became region X (Venetia et Istria) of a new entity named Italia (Italy) and Aquileia became its capital. Meanwhile, under the Pax Romana, Patavium (modern Padua) became one of the most important cities of northern Italy. By the end of the first century A.D., Latin had finally displaced the Venetic language.
{noble_celtic_cavalry_descr_short}
Loyal and excellent horsemen, exhibiting Celtic mounted tactics with Argive shields and javelins
{cenomani_light_cavalry} Cenomani Light Cavalry
{cenomani_light_cavalry_descr}
Primary Armour = Leather\nImpetuous\n\nCenomani 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.
{cenomani_light_cavalry_descr_short}
Cenomani Light Cavalry are lightly armoured and carry spears. They are best used as scouts and in pursuit of fleeing enemies.
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I cannot wait to see how you work this out as its a big preview!
