Roman Legionary 101

 I'm rather ashamed that I've not really written much about the Roman military yet. And since I'm writing about one of Rome's most well-known generals, I think it's time I did. 

This week, I want to share some fun-facts about the common legionary--the grunts who dug latrines, built the amazing highway system throughout the Roman Empire, and became the most integral part of the world's first, year-round military force. In a forced march, these guys could cover more than 46 miles per day. Now this is based on "Roman miles" which were a little shorter than today's. But still---my dogs are barking and I haven't walked a mile yet today!!! I think it's pretty incredible! And these men were incredibly fit. On a typical march their armor, weapons, kit, helmet, and whatever else they carried was probably well over sixty pounds. Whenever I've visited museums in Rome, I seldom find Roman art depicting obese individuals, and certainly not soldiers. 

So what did a typical legionary soldier wear during the late Republic, which was the time-frame of Antonius: Son of Rome? First off, you didn't want to leave home without your lorica hamata--literally a tunic made from chain mail. By this time, it was standard issue for infantry had been in use for around three-hundred years, and may have been a Gallic contribution, though that's arguable. One mail tunic weighed over twenty pounds and probably had around 45,000 rings in its assemblage. Legions always employed blacksmiths and swordsmiths who could help maintain broken or worn equipment and weapons. The men who wore these fought on the front lines, after all!

                                                 A lorica hamata replica, probably worn by a re-enactor. 

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Because I was wary of infringing on someone's copyright, the bottom picture of a re-enactor is the best I could find of a man dressed in what is close to "late Republican" military garb. ​You can see the lorica hamata, worn over the man's regular tunic, and possibly some padding over that.

No insult intended here, but this guy's footwear example isn't really accurate. So, look at the picture on the right for an example of caligae. Legionaries wore these nail-shod footwear and considered them boots. A far-cry from our boots today, of course! However, in the very early 1st century AD, legionaries in Germanicus's army gave their general's young son a nickname--Caligula--meaning "Little Boots". The name stuck, of course, and he grew up to be quite a piece of work, with or without his boots! Note the nails on the bottom of the soles. They allowed for traction, which must have been really important in northern climbs during winter. And I imagine it didn't feel too nice getting kicked or stomped on by a pair of caligae, either. But perhaps most importantly, with iron nails as soles, they lasted. On long campaign marches, a soldier needed long-lasting footwear.

One thing that has always intrigued me is that Romans wore their swords high on the right hip. RIGHT hip, people!!!

Every time I've imagined this while writing, it's puzzled me how these guys drew their swords (right-handed) without hurting themselves or being clumsy about it. Look carefully in the above left photo, and you'll see the hilt of the soldier's gladius (Roman short-sword) barely visible ON HIS RIGHT!  Most of the references I've read seem to indicate that legionaries were always trained right-handed. Roman art that I've seen also supports this. However, it still seems that drawing a sword with one's right hand ON THE RIGHT SIDE would be so awkward. One of these days, I intend to go to a re-enactor's festival so I can see some demonstrations of men doing this. And I'll probably want to try it myself! 

For hundreds and hundreds of years, nothing surpassed the Roman gladius in hand-to-hand combat. They were used with scutum (legionary shield) and oft-times legionaries could be lethal, stabbing around the sides of their shield to disembowel or wound an aggressor seriously enough to at least remove him from the fight. I've read that a stab-wound only two inches deep or less almost always proved fatal.

However, BEFORE legionaries ever got that close to their enemies, they would have used a pilum--a javelin. Usually, a soldier was supplied with two of these in their kits and when an entire front line of legionaries hurled these things, it thinned out enemy ranks in a hurry. I really love the image I found to share with pila depicted, as it's from a real Roman relief. (see below) And just LOOK at those gladii strapped on their right sides!

So there you have it, folks--Roman Legionary 101!

Next week, I'm delighted to share yet another guest-blogger with you. Michelle Gill has been an indispensable resource to me as my "web-mistress". She has helped construct the beautiful website you visit weekly to read my blogs and will be featured discussing some of her knowledge about internet use in publishing and marketing.