Title: Roman Army - World History Encyclopedia
Headings: Roman Army
Roman Army
Definition
Overview
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Centurion
Luc Viatour / www.Lucnix.be (CC BY-NC-SA)
Recruitment
Organisation
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Equipment, Arms, Armour & Siege Weapons
Army Camps
Tactics & Formations
Glorious Victories
Lake Regillus, c. 496 BCE
Infamous Defeats
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Content: Whilst the pay was not brilliant, it could be supplemented by personal war booty, pay from emperors (normally in their will), also, there was the possibility to progress through the ranks which had clear monetary benefits. The average centurion got 18 times the pay of the standard soldier, 13,500 denarii, and centurions of the first cohort got 27,000, whilst the primi ordines got 54,000. By the 2nd century CE, there would not have been much active service either, and hence less threat of death, since this was a fairly peaceful time in Rome's history. Because of this later stability and settlement, many army bases incorporated baths and amphitheatres, so the army clearly did have its advantages. However, it was not until Septimius Severus that standard soldiers could legally marry during service (not that this had stopped unofficial marriages beforehand, and furthermore, centurions were allowed to marry beforehand). Likewise, soldiers could also own slaves. Tacitus ( Hist. 2.80.5) gives a good example of army living conditions. Remove Ads
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Roman Artillery Attack
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Organisation
Whilst Dionysus and Plutarch do not mention the introduction of maniples per se, they do talk of tactical and equipment changes that would be in line with changes that a change to maniples would require. Livy describes how a manipular formation was presented in battle: