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Thread: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

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    Default Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

    I heard the legionaries were in excellent shape. And that their physical activities were strenuous such as marching 20 miles carrying their stuff and then immediately after that building a camp with ditches ( you know just digging much can be tiring in the case you're not used to it. Just imagine doing it immediately after a very long march) .Then the next day dismantling it and marching again ( in the case they couldn't stay for more than one night in a particular place )
    Last edited by twgamer20197; April 20, 2020 at 08:06 PM.

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    Diamat's Avatar VELUTI SI DEUS DARETUR
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    Default Re: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

    I could definitely do that. Everyday I walk multiple times from my couch to the bathroom. Sometimes I do laundry. That's tough stuff.

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    Default Re: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

    The average person? Probably not. But I'm pretty sure most of our soldiers could do that. There's a reason we don't just send people to Iraq right off their couches, and the legionaries weren't sent to Carthage right off their couches either.

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    Default Re: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

    Average people can do surprisingly well in physical tests, actually.

    Even in my time all the military recruits had to pass the physical test of marching 20 miles daily whilst bearing the full gear of 60 lbs. At the end of each day, the recruits had to solve a few cognitive tests (buzzles) or some excersises. Mind you, this only lasted for 3 days in a row, but the whole point was to train the soldiers to march at least 20 miles while maintain the combat-readyness.

    And this wasn't a professional army, just ordinary people taken out of their coaches in conscription. So yes, average people are able to do it at least for a short period of time (3 days) if they just have the right mentality for it.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Akar View Post
    The average person? Probably not. But I'm pretty sure most of our soldiers could do that. There's a reason we don't just send people to Iraq right off their couches, and the legionaries weren't sent to Carthage right off their couches either.
    Yes. I mean average people as long as they're not very old and have no serious health issue

    Quote Originally Posted by Finlander View Post
    Average people can do surprisingly well in physical tests, actually.
    Only the 20 mile march carrying equipment wouldn't feel too tough for average healthy and not very old men ( of course we can't expect a 90-year old person to do that without feeling too tired ). But what about building the camp immediately after the march with digging ditches included?
    Last edited by Frunk; April 21, 2020 at 09:14 AM. Reason: Posts merged.

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    Default Re: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

    The camp building wasn't that difficult. You weren't alone about it, everyone doing it was quite routined and knew what his job was, and the field camps weren't as impressive as you might think (though still nice). Others in the legion probably had to go out and look for provisions, e.g. hunt, which was certainly as tough a job. Cartheginian, Helenistic and other armies did field camps as well, though probably not all the time, not as routined, and generally with a much less professional army than the Romans.

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    Default Re: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

    Quote Originally Posted by twgamer20197 View Post
    Only the 20 mile march carrying equipment wouldn't feel too tough for average healthy and not very old men ( of course we can't expect a 90-year old person to do that without feeling too tired ). But what about building the camp immediately after the march with digging ditches included?
    Sorry prior post I mistyped, the equipment was 90 pounds, which probably is quite equivalent to what the Roman would carry. It was feeling tough though, I don't think there were anyone who would said it was easy. That said, the Roman legionaire who would do this often would be in a good physical shape, no doubt. However the average person can go through even if it is not very pleasant. Especially if the weight is not evenly distributed to ones shoulders, it's gonna be agony after a while. But if an average person can go struggle through it, so would a seasoned Roman legionaire.

    I have been digging ditches, it's not that demanding unless the terrain have lots of stones buried. I also don't know the methods used by the Romans, but with a basic combat shovel it is managable even after a day of marching. As cookiegod said, probably having to participate in foraging would be the toughest part.


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    Default Re: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

    Someone start the summoning ritual for Roma_Victrix!

    Also, theres a difference between marching on a Roman road versus through harsh terrain. Do you mean harsh terrain?
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    Default Re: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

    Quote Originally Posted by z3n View Post
    Someone start the summoning ritual for Roma_Victrix!
    FOOL! YOU HAVE SUMMONED A DEMON OF YOUR OWN DESTRUCTION! NOW PERISH AND BURN IN 1000 YEARS OF DARKNESS AND PAIN, YOU SLAVE!


    Now then, with that out of the way, I'm going to have to largely agree with Akar and Cookiegod here. People today have very sedentary lifestyles and it would be a huge physical shock as well as a cultural shock to be suddenly vaulted into an ancient Roman legionary's daily routine to say nothing of the brutality of battle in antiquity. However, just about any group of people minus the physically handicapped can be trained. With proper training and discipline drilled into recruits you can get people to condition themselves for that kind of rigorous lifestyle. It's just that most ancient people already lived hard lives in general as either rustic farmers or scrappy urban dwellers, both usually surviving at the subsistence level, so less shocking for them to join a Roman legion.

    I'm reminded of an ancient Chinese example with the semi-legendary Sun Tzu of the Warring States period. In the Art of War, he demonstrated to the King of Wu that even a group of giggling royal concubines who didn't take martial discipline seriously at first could be hardened and drilled into becoming obedient soldiers. When the women kept laughing at his orders, he had the two chief officers beheaded in front of all the troops. After that shocking event, they were willing to obey every single order. There's one thing the average modern person wouldn't be able to stomach or handle, I would say, and that's the rare practice of Roman decimation (with fellow soldiers forced to kill 1 out of every 10 men in the legion as a form of discipline for rebellion/treason). The physical demands would be hard enough; the mental scars of living as a Roman legion are something else entirely, especially in times of civil war when Roman citizens were compelled to kill each other.

    Also, shouldn't this thread be in the Vestigia Vetustatus forum, not Thema Devia? Probably an argument to be made for a thread move by moderators.

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    Default Re: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?


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    Default Re: Would many today's people be able to put up with the physical activities the Roman soldiers did?

    Re new recruits and induction into military service. 2 weeks have been added, in the Uk, to basic physical training to get them into good enough shape in basic training as the 21st century recruit is simply overweight and cannot meet the standards of the 20th century. Roughly a third are rejected at pre induction as obese/unfit and of no use.

    A Legionary at age 16 spent a year using double weighted weapons to get used to them, as well as marching in formation, before he saw service which started at age 17. He was trained to march at a standard pace all day and then erect a fortified position, and or fight a battle if required.

    I am sure there were fat Romans, but not obese Romans at the quantity our society creates.
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