Dominus

Thanks Augur - and right back at you: very well-posted and refuted! I didn't mean to preclude the many movingly beautiful selfless and glorious acts of patriotism throughout the history of the Roman Republic - acts that preserve one's faith in humanity. On the contrary, I'm a huge fan of that! I just meant that oligarchies, by their very nature, invite all the inherent problems associated with greed. Rule by the rich! That's why the Plebeians went on strike early on. Not just for their rights, but for their own piece of the collective Roman pie. And look how many wars were initiated by greed, or for self-aggrandizement of oneself, and one's dignitas. JC's an example of this himself. And this is also the reason that Augustus forbade triumphs to be held by Romans outside his family - too many wars had been started by Roman politicians-turned-general. Every Roman general considered his place in the history books a birthright. He wanted his mask displayed at his descendants' funerals forever. And by Roman standards, there was NOTHING wrong with that. It was a natural aspiration. Felix, JC was a dictator, not an emperor. I kind of feel like you're applying mondern standards of morality and society to Roman times. Theirs was quite an alien way of thinking, by American standards. At least in some ways. Slavery was a good thing, for instance. That's true in most pre-industrial societies. With advent of the "imperial" period, Roman citizens no longer HAD to risk their lives serving seven campaigns under a politician commander anymore. How's that for improvement? People could focus on families and live peaceful lives. Men of talent and energy could, and did, increase their status before and after the emperors. I could go on (and on) at length, but I honestly don't want you to feel I'm being argumentative. Here's something to consider: you think Rome fell under the emperors. Why? Because there were no longer emperors? That's when modern historians marked the so-called "fall." I submit to you that Rome never fell. Rome went on to become a cultural institution, what we call "Western Civilization." The barbarians became a part of that themselves, just as immigrants swarm into America today. Theodoric the Goth was a Consul, for gods' sakes! The US is based on Roman Republican Government by our founding fathers for the same reasons - they'd just thrown out the kings! We ARE Rome! Drive around DC and look at the architecture, if you don't believe me. Ave Rome!

To answer your question, Hannibal: In my opinion, greed put Rome at the top, via the Republic. The Empire put restrictions on that greed, allowing Rome's vast empire to survive. Felix, with all due respect I have to disagree. Rome's republic was an oligarchy. As with America, it had democratic forms, but all oligarchies are based on that always reliable aspect of human nature: greed. It's also a reliable form of government, where the rich band together and protect their mutual interests. Every lasting government has been based on this principle. Pompeius and Caesar were products of their culture, the way had been paved already by Marius and Sulla. I'm not saying that the Republic wouldn't have worked, but there were other men who'd have eventually seized power or contested the system. Or had already tried, like Catiline during Cicero's consulship. Human nature is like a law of physics. Greed would have caused endless looting of the provinces, and endless new border wars that would have ultimately destroyed the empire. Marxism didn't work either, for exactly the same reasons. On that note, though - we all have to remember that Republic and Empire are, in part, classifications applied by modern historians. In his own time, Augustus was revered for restoring the Republic, though some of his contemporary critics denounced him. But nonetheless, Imperial forms lasted well into the Republic. Diocletion was the first emperor to act and dress like a king, at least by Roman standards. (He was also the only emperor to retire. And later come back as a consultant!) The earlier Imperial period was still the Republic. It just had one additional Magistrate, the princeps. But even this was decided on and ratified through the time-honored Republican legislative processes. (Edit: Augur, I was writing while you posted. I didn't mean to come off as reiterating your excellent post.)

To respond to the original questions: Soldiers through most of the Republic, with some exceptions, were required to outfit themselves. That stems from the era of the Kings. Only landowners qualified for service in the army, and only they could really afford expensive military equipment. Occasionally, like Punic War II (post-Cannae), armies would be outfitted at State expense. Gaius Marius made military service available to any citizen of any class, needing armies to fight the Teutones and Cimbri. From then on, armies were equipped by their generals or the State. 1. The gladius was around in the Republican era, but I forget when we (oops, Rome!) adopted the Spanish design. 2. The large Roman shield were all called "scuta" (plural) or "scutum" (singular). Gaius Marius changed the design to a shorter, rectangular form so that soldiers could march with more equipment and less support. 3. Things were more uniform during the Imperial period, primarily because everything was mass-produced in factories. However, there would have been significant differences in the appearance of Legions in different parts of the empire because they relied on different arms factories. Also, soldiers could, and often did, pay for fancier equipment. This was probably more true during the Republican period. Types of equipment were standardized. But with an army composed of citizenry, I doubt everyone had identical, uniform equipment. Hope that helps, Spartan. Ave atque vale for now!

Ave Magnus! And thanks for the kind words back. We do have a splendid time at the Toga Parties. A little excessive at time, the last New Years Eve party lasted literally four days. Consider yourself invited, Magnus. And that's a standing invitation, redeemable any New Years! Interesting idea on the needlefelt. Sounds doable, with various drawbacks. Pila being the most obvious example. May I ask: why reinvent that wheel? There are so many viable mock combat options already playtested and ready to roll. Why not avail yourselves? I appreciate you writing back in this forum, and I'm gratified to know you did receive my heartfelt congratulations. You guys have got to be Roman reenactment's tantamount achievement, you deserve to be very proud. And though our methods of celebrating Roman history are opposite ends of the spectrum, I bet we'd get along famously if we weren't separated by a continent. Would you be amenable to cross-promoting via reciprocal links? If you ever make it East, Magnus, please regard an invitation to fight with us as standing offer as well. That goes for you too, Skel. Ave Rome!

Publius Cornelius Scipio (later Africanus) took Spain off Carthaginian hands. Since Hannibal received no military support from Carthage, he relied on a Spain controlled by his brothers to provide reinforcements. When Scipio took Spain from the Barcas, he effectively cut Hannibal's supply line and isolated him in Italy. (Hamilcar, great response! I couldn't agree more on the precise turning point. Nero so rarely gets credit.) Hasdrubal's last ditch effort to reach Hannibal and join forces led to his defeat in the Metaurus valley. This was a distaster for the Carthaginian side, brilliantly engineered by both Consuls working in tandem. The credit really goes to the modest Consul Claudius Nero, who conceived a brilliant notion of how to defeat Hasdrubal. He had Hannibal cornered in southern Italy. With 6,000 picked men, he marched the length of Italy in a week to meet his Consular colleague. Seeing the two Consuls against him, Hasdrubal could only have assumed that Hannibal had been defeated. Hannibal never even knew that Nero had left camp, until he returned with his army and threw the head of Hannibal's defeated Hasdrubal to the Carthaginian troops back in southern Italy. This was the the end of Carthage's offensive position. From then on, they were on the defensive.

Complex question, considering all the centuries (years, not troops! ;-) involved. All these armor types coexisted for long periods of time. I agree completeyl that segmentata (as we now call it) was the height of armor development in Roman times. Lacertus is very correct in that roles became reversed in later years. Cavalry became the star players on the battlefield, with infantry in a supporting (and therefore less well-funded) role. The later Empire relied on centralized, mobile units rather than static border guards. So we see cavalry armor becoming increasing developed while infantry fell by the less glamourous wayside. One factor that no one's mentioned in these fine responses were the plagues that reduced manpower, and thus limited the empire's manpower. This impacted mining, and the ability of factories that produced segmentata. Wargamer, the martiobarbuli is like a lead (American) football with a barbed spike on the front end and stabilizers on the back. Nasty little toy.

That's a controversial topic. To date, no one's been able to provide any conclusive evidence of any "uniform" colors for Roman units across the board for any time period. The current thinking is that most Legionary tunics were standard off-white/beige natural wool fiber. Dyeing processes back then were very expensive, and probably cost prohibitive. Hollywood always goes with red.

Magnus: Kudos on your organization and your group's achievements. You guys are definitely doing everything right, and you're an adornment to Roman reenactment. I sent you a congratulatory e-mail to that effect some months ago, and got a spam-blocker error. Apparently you're as inundated with internet garbage as I am. I'm with the DC-based Romans alluded to above. We're not true reenactors by any definition, we're into mock combat. What we are is more a celebration of what Rome was rather than an attempt to accurately recreate it. We fight in the SCA and in Dagorhir. We have membership in NY, PA, OH, and a sprinkling elsewhere. Check out our website, guys. If any of you guys get out to the east coast and want to kill some barbarians in a fun, safe mock combat sport setting, look us up. Ave Rome! Dominus