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The Roman legion (from Latin ''legio'', from ''legere'' — "to collect") was the basic military unit of the Ancient Roman Army . It consisted of a core of heavy Infantry , with auxiliary Cavalry and ranged troops, typically Skirmisher s. The size of a typical legion varied widely throughout the history of ancient Rome, with complements ranging from 5000-6000 men in the republican period of Rome, to the fairly standard number of around 5,400 in the early and middle imperial period and finally to on average 1000-2000 men in the very late imperial period. As legions were not standing armies until the Marian Reforms (c. 107 BC ), and were instead created, used, and disbanded again, several hundred Legions were named and numbered throughout Roman history. To date, about 50 have been identified. In the time of the Roman Empire, there were usually about 28 standing Legions plus their Auxiliaries, with more raised as needed or as able. Due to the enormous military successes of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire the legion has long been regarded as the prime ancient model for military efficiency and ability. EARLY HISTORY Originally, in the time of the Kings , the ''legio'' was the whole Roman army, composed of levied citizens. Much of Roman history of this era is founded on legends, but it is believed that during the reign of Servius Tullius , all Roman able-bodied, property-owning male citizens were first divided into five classes for military service based on wealth, since soldiers provided their own weapons and equipment. These classes were further organized into units of 100 called ''Centuries'' . At some point, possibly in the beginning of the Roman Republic , the ''legio'' was subdivided into two separate legions, each one ascribed to one of the two Consuls . In the first years of the Republic, when warfare was mostly concentrated in raids, it is uncertain if the full manpower of the legions was summoned at one time. Legions become organized in a more formal way in the 4th century BC, as Roman warfare evolved to more frequent and planned operations, and the consular army was raised to two legions. The Military Tribune s appeared after 331 BC (at first these tribunes took turns as the legion's commanding officer). The internal organization of the legion became more sophisticated, from the classic Phalanx to the Manipular system, and allowed important tactical innovations. For the first time, the classes of soldiers who comprised the legions was based on experience and age rather than wealth, with standard weapons and equipment issued by the state. (The exception was the ''Equites'', who comprised the cavalry elements and still provided their own horses). Later in the Roman Republic, each legion was commonly reinforced by a contingent of allied/auxiliary troops, called ''Ala''. ORGANIZATION In the Republic, legions had an ephemeral existence. Except for Legio I to IV, which were the consular army (two per consul), other units were levied by campaign. Rome's Italian allies were required to provide a legion to support each Roman legion. However, at the end of the 2nd century BC Marius reformed the legions to be a professional force drawing from the poorest classes, enabling Rome to field larger armies and providing employment for jobless citizens. However this put the loyalty of the soldiers in the hands of their general rather than Rome itself, and after several civil wars the Republic was abolished. In the Empire, the legion was standardized, with symbols and an individual history where men were proud to serve. The legion was commanded by a ''legate'' or ''legatus''. Aged around thirty, he would usually be a senator on a three year appointment. Immediately subordinate to the legate would be six elected ''military tribunes'' — five would be staff officers and the remaining one would be a noble heading for the Senate (originally this Tribune commanded the legion). There would also be a group of officers for the medical staff, the engineers, record-keepers and the ''praefectus castrorum'' (commander of the camp) as well as other specialists such as priests and musicians. In the middle of the Republic, legions were composed of the following units:
Each of these three lines was subdivided into Maniple s, the lowest subunit of the army, each consisting of two Centuries commanded by the senior of the two Centurion s. Centuries were nominally 80 soldiers each (not 100, as is popularly believed), but in practice might be as few as 60, especially in the less numerous ''triarii'' maniples. Each century had its standard and was made up of ten units called ''contubernia''. In a contubernium, there would be eight soldiers who shared a tent, millstone, a mule and Cooking Pot (depending on duration of tour). Because maniples were their main tactical elements, the legions of the early republic are sometimes referred to as ''Manipular'' legions. During deployment, the maniples were commonly arranged in a chequered formation called '' Quincunx ''. However, it is unlikely that they entered battle in this way. ''Principes'' maniples would cover the open space left by the ''hastati'', and be covered in return by ''triarii'' maniples. The two centuries of each maniple were formed up one behind the other. After the velites had retreated through the 'Hastati', the 'posterior' century would march to the left and then forward so that they presented a solid line. Then the ''Hastati'' would charge. If they were losing the fight, the 'posterior' century returned to its position creating gaps again. Then the maniples would fall back through the gaps in the 'Principes', who followed the same procedure to form a battle line and charge. If the ''Principes'' could not break the enemy, they would retreat behind the 'Triarii' and the whole army would leave the battlefield in good order. This is only standard procedure and was often modified; at Zama, Scipio deployed his entire legion in a single line to envelop Hannibal 's army just as Hannibal had done at Cannae . MARIAN LEGIONS In the late republic, the '' Cohort '' of which there were six to ten, became the basic tactical unit of the legions. The cohort was composed of five to eight centuries each led by a centurion assisted by an '' Optio '', a soldier who could read and write. The senior centurion of the legion was called the '' Primus Pilus '', a career soldier and advisor to the legate. Under the Marian (named after Gaius Marius ) reforms, the three different types of heavy infantry were replaced by a single, standard type of Legionary based on the ''Principes''. The Legions were organized into permanent Cohorts for the first time. Prior to this Cohorts were temporary administrative units or tactical task forces of several maniples. Their existence was even more transitory than that of the legions of the early republic themselves. The Cohort legions of the late republic and early empire are often called ''Marian'' legions. Following the Battle Of Vercellae in 101 B.C. Marius granted all Italian soldiers Roman citizenship. He justified this action to the Senate by saying in the din of battle he could not distinguish Roman from ally. This effectively eliminated the notion of allied legions, henceforth all Italian legions would be regarded as Roman legions. The role of allied legions would eventually be taken up by auxiliaries. Every legion had a baggage train of 500–550 mules, or about 1 mule for every 10 legionaries. To keep these baggage trains from becoming too large, Marius had each man carry as much of his own equipment as he could, including his own armor, weapons and 15 days' rations or about 50–60 pounds of load total. To make this easier, he issued each legionary a forked stick to carry their loads on their shoulders. The soldiers were nicknamed ''Marius' Mules'' due to the amount of gear they had to carry themselves. A typical legion of this period had around 4,000–5,000 legionaries as well as a large number of camp followers, servants and slaves. Legions could contain as many as 6,000 fighting men divided among several cohorts, although later in Roman history the number was reduced to 1,000 to allow for greater mobility. Numbers would also vary depending on casualties suffered during a campaign; Julius Caesar 's legions during his campaign in Gaul often only had around 3,500 men. Auxiliaries Each Legion had a same size or near same size ''Auxilia'' (auxiliary), which contained specialist units, engineers and pioneers, artillerymen and siege craftsmen, service and support units plus units made up of non-citizens (who were granted Roman citizenship upon discharge) and undesirables. These were usually formed into complete units such as light cavalry, Light Infantry or '' Velites '', and laborers. There was also a Reconnaissance Squad of 10 or more light, Mounted Infantry called '' Speculatores '' who could also serve as messengers or even as an early form of Military Intelligence service. Siege artillery According to Vegetius ' '' De Re Militari '', each Century had a Ballista and each Cohort had an Onager (or ''Wild Ass'' in Latin), giving the legion a formidable siege train of 59 Ballistae and 10 Onagers each manned by 10 ''Libritors'' (artillerymen) and mounted on wagons drawn by oxen or mules. In addition to attacking cities and fortifications, these would be used to help defend Roman forts and fortified camps ( Castra ) as well. They would even be employed on occasion, especially in the later Empire, as Field Artillery during battles or in support of river crossings. LEGIONARY OFFICERS The following list describes the system of officers which developed within the legions from the Marian reforms (104 BC) until the military reforms of Diocletian (circa 290). Senior officers
Mid-level officers
Low-level officers
SYMBOLS From 104 BC onwards, each legion used an '' Aquila '' (eagle) as its standard symbol. The symbol was carried by an officer known as '' Aquilifer '', and its loss was considered to be a very serious embarrassment, and often led to the disbanding of the legion itself. The aquilifer of the Tenth Legion , used his role to force the legion to disembark from their ships and assault the Britons that had gathered on the shoreline, as any Roman soldier who directly or indirectly effected the loss of the aquila suffered immense embarrassment. With the birth of the Roman Empire, the legions created a bond with their leader, the emperor himself. Each legion had another officer, called '' Imaginifer '', whose role was to carry a pike with the ''imago'' (image, sculpture) of the emperor as '' Pontifex Maximus ''. Each legion, furthermore, had a '' Vexillifer '' who carried a ''vexillum'' or ''signum'', with the legion name and emblem depicted on it, unique to the legion. It was common, for a legion, to detach some sub-units from the main camp, to strengthen other corps. In these cases, the detached subunits carried only the ''vexillum'', and not the ''aquila'', and were called, therefore, '' Vexillatio nes''. A miniature ''vexillum'' , mounted on a silver base, was sometimes awarded to officers as a recognition of their service upon retirement or reassignment. LATER HISTORY Throughout the history of Rome's Late Republic and Imperial era, the legions played an important political role. Their actions could secure the empire for an Imperial hopeful or take it away. An example is the defeat of Vitellius in the Year Of The Four Emperors , decided in the moment that the Danubian legions chose to support Vespasian . By the 1st Century BC the threat of the Legions under a demagogue was recognized. Governor s could not leave their provinces with their Legions. When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon he left his provinces and came to Italy under arms. This act precipitated a Constitutional Crisis . This crisis and the Civil Wars which followed brought an end to the Republic and led to the foundation of the Empire under Caesar Augustus in 27 BC . For political and economic reasons, Augustus reduced the number of legions from nearly 50 to only 25. At the same time, he greatly increased the number of auxiliaries to the point where they were equal in number to the legionaries. He also created the Praetorian Guard along with a permanent Navy . His military policies proved sound and cost effective and were generally followed by his successors. These emperors would carefully add new legions, as circumstances required or permitted, until the strength of the standing army stood at around 30 legions. With each legion having 4,000–6000 legionaries usually supported by an equal number of auxiliary troops, the total force available to a legion comander during the Pax Romana probably ranged from 8,000–12,000 (With the more prestigious legions and those stationed on hostile borders or in restive provinces tending to be larger). Some legions may have even been reinforced at times with units making the associated force near 15–16,000 or about the size of a modern Division . Locations of the Roman legions in AD 80 Generals during the Republican civil wars which brought Augustus to power formed their own legions and numbered them as they wished. When the wars ended, the new Empire was left with around fifty legions, with several double counts (multiple Legio X's for instance). Augustus streamlined the army, regulated the soldiers' pay and legions' numbering. During this time, there was a high incidence of ''Gemina'' (twins) legions, where two legions were consolidated into a single organization. This listThe list is taken, with modifications, from: Simkins, Michael, ''The Roman Army from Caesar to Trajan'' ed. , Osprey Publishing , 1984. ISBN 0850455286. shows the locations of the Roman legions around AD 80 : # # # # # # # # # # # # # # (modern Gigen ) # (modern Svishtov ) # # # # # # # # # # # # LEGIONS IN THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE In the Later Roman Empire , the number of Legions was increased and the Roman Army expanded. There is no evidence to suggest that Legions changed in form before the Tetrarchy , although there is evidence that they were smaller than the paper strengths usually quoted. The final form of the Legion originated with the elite ''Legiones palatinae'' created by Diocletian and the Tetrarchs. These were infantry units of around 1,000 men rather than the 5,000, including cavalry, of the old Legions. The earliest ''Legiones palatinae'' were the ''Lanciarii'', ''Joviani'', ''Herculiani'' and ''Divitenses''. The 4th Century saw a very large number of new, small Legions created, a process which began under Constantine . In addition to the elite ''Palatinae'', other Legions called ''Comitatenses'' and ''Pseudocomitatenses'', along with the '' Auxilia Palatina '', provided the infantry of late Roman armies. The Notitia Dignitatum lists 25 ''Legiones palatinae'', 70 ''Legiones comitatenses'', 47 ''Legiones pseudocomitatenses'' and 111 ''Auxilia palatina'' in the field armies, and a further 47 ''Legiones'' in the frontier armiesTotals from summary of Notitia Dignitatum in Richardot, Philippe, ''La fin de l'armée romaine 284-476'' ed. Economica, 2005. ISBN 2717848614.. Legion names such as '' Honoriani '' and '' Gratianenses '' found in the Notitia suggest that the process of creating new Legions continued through the 4th century rather than being a single event. The names also suggest that many new Legions were formed from Vexillations or from old Legions. LIFE IN THE LEGIONS Discipline The military discipline of the legions was quite harsh. Regulations were strictly enforced, and a broad array of punishments could be inflicted upon a Legionary who broke them. Many legionaries became devotees in the cult of the minor goddess Disciplina , whose virtutes of frugality, severity and loyalty were central to their code of conduct and way of life. Minor punishments
Major punishments
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