Aquilifer Posted June 5, 2005 Report Share Posted June 5, 2005 How would your average Roman citizen sign up to a legion? How soon would you be posted out? Could you decide what legion you joined? Did you have to buy your own equipment? How were reinforcements sent out to legions in the provinces? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilcar Barca Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 Those are huge questions with answers differing depending on the time period. Read "The Complete Roman Army" by Adrian Goldswothy; all your questions are answered there in outstanding detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Galatea Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 Reading some of the classical histories would also be valuable. When there is so much new information, it usually helps if the material is in the format of a story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquilifer Posted June 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 OK thanks! Will look up some books. If it would help, it's around the first century AD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil61 Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 How would your average Roman citizen sign up to a legion? How soon would you be posted out? Could you decide what legion you joined? Did you have to buy your own equipment? How were reinforcements sent out to legions in the provinces? Thanks! If you're in college or have a university close by you might be able to look up: Brunt, P. A., "Conscription and Volunteering in the Roman Imperial Army," Scripta Classica Israelica 1 (1974) 90-115 Brunt is one of the great Roman historians and while I haven't read this article, I'd like to get my hands on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augustus Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 How would your average Roman citizen sign up to a legion? How soon would you be posted out? Could you decide what legion you joined? Did you have to buy your own equipment? How were reinforcements sent out to legions in the provinces? Thanks! Now I am not sure about how accurate my recolections are but here I go: 1) To sign with the Legion I think a citizen would go to the nearest post and see the commanding officer. 2) Initial training and evaluation would be about a year long called a probatio. The length varied depending on what sort of unit the man would be joining. 3) I think postings would be up to the CO depending on the man's performance. 4) In the empire, equiment was provided by and large to ensure uniformity. Before Marius however I think men payed for their arms. 5) They marched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentinian Posted June 23, 2005 Report Share Posted June 23, 2005 Thats true...before the time of Marius all those who wished to become part of the army were required to purchase their armour and feed themselves (which didn't make the life of a soldier very appealing) but they were given freedom, they would explore with the army conquer territory and of course there's always the booty from pillage and burn. After Marius though something came about which would change Roman history for ever, Marius actually paid the legionaries to fight for him and paid for their armour and food etc. This meant that the armies were loyal to him and not to the Senate, it also meant that they were armed professional soldiers which scared the bejesus out of the absolutely corrupt Senate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incitatus Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 Every Year on the Parade ground the legions set up their standards and new recruits could then sighn up to any of them. Remember, High rankers would get a position through the senate, often as a tribune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black_Francis Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 After Marius though something came about which would change Roman history for ever, Marius actually paid the legionaries to fight for him and paid for their armour and food etc. Not strictly true. The armour was paid for initially by the state but the legionaries had the price of their armour deducted from their pay... a loan of sorts. The same was true of food. Also, too many "reforms" of the Roman army are ascribed to Marius for the sake of convenience by lazy historians. They did not all neccessarily happen at once and under his instigation. It is far more likely that Marius was responsible for consolidating a number of already existing innovations and practices along with a few new ones of his own (such as reducing the baggage and number of legionary slaves). For example; armour began to be provided by the state in 123BC. This law was passed by C Gracchus and it seems logical to assume that from this point onwards the majority of legionaries received Lorica Hamata (mail). This may also indicate that the legionaries, even at this time, were no longer fighting in the "Polybian" manner and that the differences between Hastati/Principes/Triarii been eroded even before Marius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incitatus Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Black Francis is correct, the cost of the legionarys armour was deducted bit by bit every month from his wages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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