Training Schedule

[Lost_Warrior]

I remember reading at one point (can't remember the book it was in...something out of the school library...sorry) that the Romans' training schedule went something like this:

 

Day 1: training, drills, including a 20 mile march (in roughly 5 hours)

 

Day 2: Clean/repair armor and kit

 

Day 3: Rest

 

Repeat (this is starting to sound like the directions on the back of my shampoo bottle).

 

Are there any ancient sources to support this? It seems a little 'lax' to me, but then, it also makes sense in a way, because you would not want the troops to get tired out. Thoughts?

 

Also, how soon after a battle would the legions resume training? As soon as they were able? The next day? Or were they given a few days' rest? (Personally, if I were leading them I'd give them a few days rest. Forcing them to train immediately after fighting seems to be just ASKING for a mutiny.)

[caldrail]

Not that I know of, but are you talking about recruit training or ordinary drills for long standing legionaries? If the latter, then it raises some objections. I cannot believe the legionaries were allowed one day of rest in three. Most had no money, having gambled, spent, sent, salted away, used it for bribes, or having been cheated of it at some point. The romans were very keen to keep soldiers busy - troops with time on their hands become very badly behaved.

 

As for getting tired out, no army allows its men to get tired do they? What appears to be the case in recruitment circumstances is any man who can't hack it is drummed out, there and then. Roman legionaries exhibit an astonishing camaraderie. They frequently refer to each other as 'brother', and quickly close ranks against people taking legal action against soldiers. For much of legion history roman soldiers weren't allowed to marry, the idea being that the lack of sex would make them fierce, and a lack of family commitment would make them more willing to travel as required. Do you see the pattern emerging? These are men who are put through harsh exercise regimes and become proud of their ability to tough it out. These legionaries had often been recruited from men who had been brought up used to physical hardship.

 

As for cleaning, a papyrus document from egypt shows that men were allocated to such duties, much like KP (kitchen patrol) is today. Some were tasked to care for boots in some way, either repairing them or cleaning, perhaps both? However, each man would almost inevitably have had to keep his own kit clean and given the usual wear and tear, this must have been regular activity rather than an allocated duty. Armies haven't changed that much in two thousand years!

 

As I understand it, garrison troops were expected to practice route marches and overnight camp building once per week. The egyptian document doesn't list this, so perhaps in times of peace things might get a little lax? Troops were also expected to guard local public buildings, serve as assistants to senior men, and other mundane activity.

 

The legions did not give troops a rest after battle, at least not officially, and it should be remembered that a battle is usually part of a campaign thus the troops were needed somewhere else to continue the war. If at the end of a war, then it was likely it was a siege of some kind, and instead of a rest the troops were allowed to loot and pillage at will, something regarded as a perk of victory.

[Lost_Warrior]

Wow, a lot of info!! Thanks Caldrail!

 

I wish I could remember where I read this. It seemed a bit "fishy" to me at the time...I can't remember if they were talking about new recruits or "official" legionaries.

[Gaius Octavius]

Boots?

[Lost_Warrior]

Boots?

 

Caligae.

 

I find it interesting that there would be a specific person to take care of everyone's caligae? I find it much more likely that everyone would be expected to take care of their own.

 

Now, a shoe maker/repairer, I could see. But for everyday cleaning/maintenance? I would expect every soldier to do that themselves.

[caldrail]

There's no concrete information whether a legionary was assigned to clean or repair footwear, or indeed if both activities were required. It may even have been an onerous duty given to those legionaries foolish enough to be caught out by a senior man, or even if they hadn't bribed him. I should actually stress that although there was a very physical regime in the legions, this obviously wasn't always practised, and the soldiers were accustomed to bribing officers to be given light duties, and its even on record that at one time soldiers complained that there weren't enough opportunities for bribery!

 

Incidentially, there's a good appraisal of the egyptian record I mentioned in Adrian Goldsworthy's The Complete Roman Army

[Gaius Octavius]

IIRC, Scipio Africanus was assigned the two disgraced legions stationed in Sicily before his invasion of Africa. Through laxity, they had become unfit for service. He worked them without mercy until they shaped up. I would say that the fatigues of a legion depended on the commander and the shape that the legion was in.

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

Taken from De Re Militari by Flavius Vegetius Renatus.......

 

THE DRILLING OF THE TROOPS

 

The organization of the legion being thus explained, let us return to the drills. The younger soldiers and recruits went through their drills of every kind every morning and afternoon and the veterans and most expert regularly once a day. Length of service or age alone will never form a military man, for after serving many years an undisciplined soldier is still a novice in his profession. Not only those under the masters at arms, but all the soldiers in general, were formerly trained incessantly in those drills which now are only exhibited as shows in the circus for particular solemnities. By practice only can be acquired agility of body and the skill requisite to engage an enemy with advantage, especially in close fight. But the most essential point of all is to teach soldiers to keep their ranks and never abandon their colors in the most difficult evolutions. Men thus trained are never at a loss amidst the greatest confusion of numbers.

 

The recruits likewise are to be exercised with wooden swords at the post, to be taught to attack this imaginary antagonist on all sides and to aim at the sides, feet or head, both with the point and edge of the sword. They must be instructed how to spring forward to give the blow, to rise with a bound above the shield and then to sink down and shelter themselves under cover of it, and how to advance and retire. They must also throw their javelins at the post from a considerable distance in order to acquire a good aim and strengthen the arm.

 

The archers and slingers set up bundles of twigs or straw for marks, and generally strike them with arrows and with stones from the fustiablus at the distance of six hundred feet. They acquired coolness and exactness in acnon from familiar custom and exercise in the field. The slingers should be taught to whirl the sling but once about the head before they cast the stone. Formerlyall soldiers were trained to the praccice of throwing stones of a pound weight with the hand, as this was thought a readier method since it did not require a sling. The use of the common missile weapons and loaded javelins was another part of the drill strictly attended to.

 

To continue this drill without interruption during the winter, they erected for the cavalry porticos or riding halls covered with tiles or shingles, and if they were not to be procured, with reeds, rushes or thatch. Large open halls were likewise constructed in the same manner for the use of the infantry. By these means the troops were provided with places of drill sheltered from bad weather. But even in winter, if it did not rain or snow, they were obliged to perform their drills in the field, lest an intermission of discipline should affect both the courage and constitution of the soldier. In short, both legionary and auxiliary troops should continually be drilled in cutting wood, carrying burdens, passing ditches, swimming in the sea or in rivers, marching in the full step and even running with their arms and baggage, so that, inured to labor in peace, they may find no difficulty in war. For, as the well trained soldier is eager for action, so does the untaught fear it. In war discipline is superior to strength; but if that discipline is neglected, there is no longer any difference between the soldier and the peasant. The old maxim is certain that the very essence of an art consists in constant practice.

[caldrail]

Be careful with Vegetius. He's writing about traditional methods of training which weren't current in his day. There's no guarantee that all the methods described were applied to each individual legionary in any case, and there must have been some variation in the quality and extent of training provided according to who ran the legion and the circumstances of the time. For instance, if troops were needed desperately, then much of this training schedule would have been dropped. In periods of extended peace, its also likely a lot of this training would have been viewed as unnecessary by some some commanders and men given alternative, more useful duties.

[Gaius Octavius]

I hope that I have this right:

 

"To the Romans, war was but bloody practice."

[Lost_Warrior]

"To the Romans, war was but bloody practice."

 

"Their drills were bloodless battles and their battles bloody drills".

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

Be careful with Vegetius. He's writing about traditional methods of training which weren't current in his day. There's no guarantee that all the methods described were applied to each individual legionary in any case, and there must have been some variation in the quality and extent of training provided according to who ran the legion and the circumstances of the time. For instance, if troops were needed desperately, then much of this training schedule would have been dropped. In periods of extended peace, its also likely a lot of this training would have been viewed as unnecessary by some some commanders and men given alternative, more useful duties.

 

I don't doubt what you say for a second Caldrail, true every general and every legion would have had different ways and idea's of how to keep their troops in tip top fighting condition but what Vegetius does give us is an excellent insight into how the legionaries were trained and drilled from the start and through out their careers as a soldiers of Rome. Vegetius doesn't say that that was the only way they were trained he just gives us a general overview of some of the training methods that were used.

[Melvadius]

I don't doubt what you say for a second Caldrail, true every general and every legion would have had different ways and idea's of how to keep their troops in tip top fighting condition but what Vegetius does give us is an excellent insight into how the legionaries were trained and drilled from the start and through out their careers as a soldiers of Rome. Vegetius doesn't say that that was the only way they were trained he just gives us a general overview of some of the training methods that were used.

 

I would add to the original caveat that it is how Vegetius thought they should be trained.

 

As far as I know, although he may have talked to people who served in the later period army or even read some now lost manuals, there is no positive evidence that he actually served in the legions.

[caldrail]

"To the Romans, war was but bloody practice."

 

"Their drills were bloodless battles and their battles bloody drills".

 

yes this quote keep emerging, its from Josephus's account of the jewish war. We know the romans did practice large scale fights occaisionally, even building temporary forts to practice siege warfare, and i can imagine the men were drilled hard. Of course they were, warfare fought face to face is a tough gritty business, one for which you need a certain mindset, and the romans were under no illusions about the reality of combat. An important observation is that this quote was applied to roman legions at that time.

 

What the romans did stress was a need for physical training. That was why they trained with heavier practice weapons and shields, to accustom men to using weighty objects and to build strength and endurance.

 

Its also true the romans were far from merciful. Once the decision had been made to assault a settlement, its inhabitants could expect a sword thrust into them. There's an interesting passage from Josephus that describes the capture of Jerusalem. Huge numbers of civilians were slain by rampaging troops, not too unusual for romans, but at some point even they became tired of the endless slaughter. Those lucky enough not be killed were either sent for slave labour in Egypt or the the provinces and an entertaining death. That psychological state in their legionaries was the aim of training too, because it not only made the men more frearsome, it also acted as a deterrent against resistance from the enemy by reputation. Roman pyschological warfare was far from sophisticated - it didn't need to be.