Roman Military Strategy and Tactics

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Roman Military Strategy and Tactics
War can only end in eventual victory
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Terms

• Hastati- younger soldier, early form of the
  legionnaire
• Velites- light infantry, missile thrower
• Triarii- Veteran soldier, wealthier and more
  heavily armed
• Ferentarii- young, poor soldier
• Trireme- a ship with rectangular or triangular
  sails wide enough for three rowers at each oar,
  often equipped with a ram and siege weapons
• Quinquereme- similar to a trireme, but five
  rowers could be stationed at each oar, making the
  ship much larger
• Phalanx- rectangular military formation
  consisting almost entirely of heavily armored
  spearmen (though after Alexander the amount of
  armor became less important in labeling a
  division a phalanx)

• Scutum- large rectangular shield carried by Roman
  legionnaires
• Legionnaire- a member of an army (legion),
  usually used to describe the standard heavy
  infantry of the Imperial Roman Army
• Pilum- heavy spear, could be thrown as a javelin
  with an effective range of 20 meters
• Contubernium- squad of eight men
• Maniple- subdivision of a legion consisting of
  either 60 or 120 men.
• Cohort- division of legion made up of 480 men
• Century- division of cohort consisting of 80 men
  (originally 100)

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Rome Under the Etruscan Kings

• Prior to the republic the Roman Army
  resembled a Macedonian phalanx.

Cavalry used defensively
Equipment and rank based on wealth
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Rome Adapts

• Completely reorganizes army.
• Tactics during battle still not seen as
  important part of warfare.
• Cavalry still not seen as an offensive unit and
  will not be for a while.

It has come to the triarii!
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REALLY Adapts

• New Helmets!

• New Shields!

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Rome Still Missing Something

• Up until the Second Punic War Rome had no
  generals that stood out from the crowd

Until
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The Shield and Sword of Rome
Quintus Fabius Maximus (Cunctator)
Marcus Claudius Marcellus
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More Importantly Though
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
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Major Reformations Under Scipio

• Tactics during battle
• Effective use of religion in battle
• Could attack better than Marcellus, and defend
  better than Fabius
• Changed basics of Roman formation
• Unknowingly set precedent by popularizing gladius

• Knew that numbers meant nothing without tactics
• Made Roman Army self-sufficient, distrusted
  allies
• Destroyed other Carthaginian forces before
  engaging Hannibal
• Took advantage of outdated enemy tactics

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The Classic Roman Legion

• Came into being largely due
• to reforms of Caius Marius
• Any citizen could be a
• soldier now, so long as he
• was fit and willing to fight
• Soldiers prepared for any
• situation
• Pensions!

Marius Mules
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Way the Classic Legion Operated

• With many wars under
• its belt the Roman
• Empire held dominance
• on the battlefield
• Rome had tactics that
• only it had the
• resources to pull off

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In Order to Gauge the Enemys Strength
Skirmishing Formation
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Uh oh Light Cavalry
Repel Cavalry
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Standard Formations
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Ace in the Hole
The Wedge (Pigs Head)
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If Things Take A Turn for the Worse
The Orb
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The Roman Standards
Standards of a Legion and a Maniple
Aquilifer
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To reach the gates
The Tortoise
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Sieges
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The Siege of New Carthage

• Scipio once again takes advantage of tactics of
  the time
• Mirage created by Romans crossing the lagoon
• Combined with naval attack

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Roman Ingenuity
Siege Tower
Battle of Pydna
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Naval Warfare
Quinquereme
Trireme
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Slow Development of Naval Tactics

• Wars with Carthage gave
• Romans a reason to
• develop a navy.
• Objectives Ram or Board
• Marcus Vispanius Agrippa
• showed Antony the
• importance of tactics at
• Actium

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How Could Rome Lose?

• Even an army of 400,000 could not keep these
  borders safe forever.
• Remember cavalry?
• The last competent general was Belsarius under
  Justinain.

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An Empire Split, An Army Reformed

• Diocletian splits the empire, reforms defense
  plan
• Comitatenses, limitanei
• Theodosius and Constantine further reform army
• Magister Peditum, Magister Equitum

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Roman Tactics Used Today
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• My mother bore a general, not a warrior