Roman Empire Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Military=== [[File:Palestra grande di pompei, affreschi di Moregine, terzo triclinio, IV stile, epoca neroniana, 07 vittoria con tripode.jpg|thumb|upright|Winged [[Victoria (mythology)|Victory]], ancient Roman fresco of the Neronian era from [[Pompeii]]]] [[File:Roman Empire 125.png|thumb|upright=1.35|The Roman empire under [[Hadrian]] (ruled 117–138) showing the location of the Roman legions deployed in 125 AD]] {{Main|Imperial Roman army|Late Roman army|Structural history of the Roman military}} After the [[Punic Wars]], the Roman army comprised professional soldiers who volunteered for 20 years of active duty and five as reserves. The transition to a professional military began during the late Republic and was one of the many profound shifts away from republicanism, under which an army of [[conscripts|conscript citizens]] defended the homeland against a specific threat. The Romans expanded their war machine by "organizing the communities that they conquered in Italy into a system that generated huge reservoirs of manpower for their army".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tignor |first1=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/worldstogetherwo03alti |title=Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: The History of the World |last2=Adelman |first2=Jeremy |date=2011 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-93492-2 |edition=3rd |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldstogetherwo03alti/page/n313 262] |display-authors=1 |url-access=limited}}</ref> By Imperial times, military service was a full-time career.{{Sfnp|Edmondson|1996|pp=111–112}} The pervasiveness of military garrisons throughout the Empire was a major influence in the process of [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanization]].{{Sfnp|Bohec|2000|p=9}} The primary mission of the military of the early empire was to preserve the [[Pax Romana]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hekster |first=Olivier J. |chapter=Fighting for Rome: The Emperor as a Military Leader |date=2007 |title=Impact of the Roman Army (200 BC–AD 476) |publisher=Brill |page=96}}</ref> The three major divisions of the military were: * the garrison at Rome, comprising the [[Praetorian Guard]], the ''[[cohortes urbanae]]'' and the ''[[vigiles]]'', who functioned as police and firefighters; * the provincial army, comprising the [[Roman legions]] and the auxiliaries provided by the provinces (''[[auxilia]]''); * the [[Roman navy|navy]]. [[File:042 Conrad Cichorius, Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Tafel XLII.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Relief panel from [[Trajan's Column]] in Rome, showing the building of a fort and the reception of a [[Dacia]]n embassy]] Through his military reforms, which included consolidating or disbanding units of questionable loyalty, Augustus regularized the legion. A legion was organized into ten [[Cohort (military unit)|cohorts]], each of which comprised six [[centuria|centuries]], with a century further made up of ten squads (''[[Contubernium (Roman army unit)|contubernia]]''); the exact size of the Imperial legion, which was likely determined by [[military logistics|logistics]], has been estimated to range from 4,800 to 5,280.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roth |first=J. |date=1994 |title=The Size and Organization of the Roman Imperial Legion |journal=Historia |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=346–362}}</ref> After Germanic tribes wiped out three legions in the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] in 9 AD, the number of legions was increased from 25 to around 30.{{Sfnp|Goldsworthy|2003|p=183}} The army had about 300,000 soldiers in the 1st century, and under 400,000 in the 2nd, "significantly smaller" than the collective armed forces of the conquered territories. No more than 2% of adult males living in the Empire served in the Imperial army.{{Sfnp|Morris|Scheidel|2009|p=196}} Augustus also created the [[Praetorian Guard]]: nine cohorts, ostensibly to maintain the public peace, which were garrisoned in Italy. Better paid than the legionaries, the Praetorians served only sixteen years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Penrose |first=Jane |quote=Section 3: ''Early Empire 27 BC–AD 235'' |date=2005 |title=Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War |publisher=Bloomsbury US |isbn=978-1-841-76932-5 |page=183 |chapter=9: ''The Romans''}}</ref> The ''auxilia'' were recruited from among the non-citizens. Organized in smaller units of roughly cohort strength, they were paid less than the legionaries, and after 25 years of service were rewarded with [[Roman citizenship]], also extended to their sons. According to [[Tacitus]]<ref>[[Tacitus]] ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annales]]'' IV.5</ref> there were roughly as many auxiliaries as there were legionaries—thus, around 125,000 men, implying approximately 250 auxiliary regiments.{{Sfnp|Goldsworthy|2003|p=51}} The [[Roman cavalry]] of the earliest Empire were primarily from Celtic, Hispanic or Germanic areas. Several aspects of training and equipment derived from the Celts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Connolly |first=Peter |date=1986 |title=A Reconstruction of a Roman Saddle |journal=Britannia |volume=17 |doi=10.2307/526559 |pages=353–355 |jstor=526559 |s2cid=164155025}}; {{Cite journal |last1=Connolly |first1=Peter |last2=Van Driel-Murray |first2=Carol |date=1991 |title=The Roman Cavalry Saddle |journal=Britannia |volume=22 |doi=10.2307/526629 |pages=33–50 |jstor=526629 |s2cid=161535316}}</ref> The [[Roman navy]] not only aided in the supply and transport of the legions but also in the protection of the [[Limes (Roman Empire)|frontiers]] along the rivers [[Rhine]] and [[Danube]]. Another duty was protecting maritime trade against pirates. It patrolled the Mediterranean, parts of the [[Atlantic|North Atlantic]] coasts, and the [[Black Sea]]. Nevertheless, the army was considered the senior and more prestigious branch.{{Sfnp|Goldsworthy|2003|p=114}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page