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t the centuria of 100 men in addition separate clan based forces remained in existence until c 450 bc at least although they would operate under the praetors authority at least nominally in 493 bc shortly after the establishment of the roman republic rome concluded a perpetual treaty of military alliance the foedus cassianum with the combined other latin city states the treaty probably motivated by the need for the latins to deploy a united defence against incursions by neighbouring hill tribes provided for each party to provide an equal force for campaigns under unified command it remained in force until 358 bc roman army of the mid republic c 300 107 bc edit main article roman army of the mid republic levy of the army detail of the carved relief on the altar of domitius ahenobarbus 122 115 bc the central feature of the roman army of the mid republic or the polybian army was the manipular organization of its battle line instead of a single large mass the phalanx as in the early roman army the romans now drew up in three lines consisting of small units maniples of 120 men arrayed in chessboard fashion giving much greater tactical strength and flexibility this structure was probably introduced in c 300 bc during the samnite wars also probably dating from this period was the regular accompaniment of each legion by a non citizen formation of roughly equal size the ala recruited from rome s italian allies or socii the latter were approximately 150 autonomous states which were bound by a treaty of perpetual military alliance with rome their sole obligation was to supply to the roman army on demand a number of fully equipped troops up to a specified maximum each year the second punic war 218 201 bc saw the addition of a third element to the existing dual roman italian structure non italian mercenaries with specialist skills lacking in the legions and alae numidian light cavalry cretan archers and balearic slingers from this time these units always accompanied roman armies the republican army of this period like its earlier forebear did not maintain standing or professional military forces but levied them by compulsory conscription as required for each campaigning season and disbanded thereafter although formations could be kept in being over winter during major wars the standard levy was doubled during the samnite wars to four legions two per consul for a total of c 18 000 roman troops and four allied alae of similar size service in the legions was limited to property owning roman citizens normally those known as iuniores age 16 46 the army s senior officers including its commanders in chief the roman consuls were all elected annually at the people s assembly only equites members of the roman knightly order were eligible to serve as senior officers iuniores of the highest social classes equites and the first class of commoners provided the legion s cavalry the other classes the legionary infantry the proletarii those assessed at under 400 drachmae wealth were ineligible for legionary service and were assigned to the fleets as oarsmen elders vagrants freedmen slaves and convicts were excluded from the military levy save in emergencies the legionary cavalry also changed probably around 300 bc onwards from the light unarmoured horse of the early army to a heavy force with metal armour bronze cuirasses and later chain mail shirts contrary to a long held view the cavalry of the mid republic was a highly effective force that generally prevailed against strong enemy cavalry forces both gallic and greek until it was decisively beaten by the carthaginian general hannibal s horsemen during the second punic war this was due to hannibal s greater operational flexibility owing to his numidian light cavalry the polybian army s operations during its existence can be divided into three broad phases 1 the struggle for hegemony over italy especially against the samnite league 338 264 bc 2 the struggle with carthage for hegemony in the western mediterranean sea 264 201 bc and 3 the struggle against the hellenistic monarchies for control of the eastern mediterranean 201 91 bc during the earlier phase the normal size of the levy including allies was in the region of 40 000 men two consular armies of c 20 000 men each gaius marius to whom later historians would misattribute putative reforms of the roman army during the latter phase with lengthy wars of conquest followed by permanent military occupation of overseas provinces the character of the army necessarily changed from a temporary force based entirely on short term conscription to a standing army in which the conscripts whose service was in this period limited by law to six consecutive years were complemented by large numbers of volunteers who were willing to serve for much longer periods many of the volunteers were drawn from the poorest social class which until the second punic war had been excluded from service in the legions by the minimum property requirement during that war extreme manpower needs had forced the army to ignore the requirement and this practice continued thereafter maniples were gradually phased out as the main tactical unit and replaced by the larger cohorts used in the allied alae a process probably complete by the time the general marius assumed command in 107 bc the so called marian reforms of the army hypothesised by some scholars are today seen by other scholars as having evolved earlier and more gradually in the period after the defeat of carthage in 201 bc the army was campaigning exclusively outside italy resulting in its men being away from their home plots of land for many years at a stretch they were assuaged by the large amounts of booty that they shared after victories in the rich eastern theatre but in italy the ever increasing concentration of public lands in the hands of big landowners and the consequent displacement of the soldiers families led to great unrest and demands for land redistribution this was successfully achieved but resulted in the disaffection of rome s italian allies who as non citizens were excluded from the redistribution this led to the mass revolt of the socii and the social war 91 88 bc the result was the grant of roman citizenship to all italians and the end of the polybian army s dual structure the alae were abolished and the socii recruited into the legions imperial roman army 30 bc ad 284 edit main article imperial roman army under the founder emperor augustus ruled 30 bc 14 ad the legions c 5 000 strong all heavy infantry formations recruited from roman citizens only were transformed from a mixed conscript and volunteer corps serving an average of 10 years to all volunteer units of long term professionals serving a standard 25 year term conscription was only decreed in emergencies in the later 1st century the size of a legion s first cohort was doubled increasing legionary personnel to c 5 500 roman auxiliary infantry crossing a river they can be distinguished by the oval shield clipeus they were equipped with in contrast to the rectangular scutum carried by legionaries panel from trajan s column rome alongside the legions augustus established the auxilia a regular corps of similar numbers to the legions recruited from the peregrini non citizen inhabitants of the empire about 90 of the empire s population in the 1st century as well as comprising large numbers of extra heavy infantry equipped in a similar manner to legionaries the auxilia provided virtually all the army s cavalry heavy and light light infantry archers and other specialists the auxilia were organised in c 500 strong units called cohortes all infantry alae all cavalry and cohortes equitatae infantry with a cavalry contingent attached around 80 ad a minority of auxiliary regiments were doubled in size until about 68 ad the auxilia were recruited by a mix of conscription and voluntary enlistment after that time the auxilia became largely a volunteer corps with conscription resorted to only in emergencies auxiliaries were required to serve a minimum of 25 years although many served for longer periods on completion of their minimum term auxiliaries were awarded roman citizenship which carried important legal fiscal and social advantages alongside the regular forces the army of the principate employed allied native units called numeri from outside the empire on a mercenary basis these were led by their own aristocrats and equipped in traditional fashion numbers fluctuated according to circumstances and are largely unknown as all citizen formations and symbolic guarantors of the dominance of the italian hegemony citation needed legions enjoyed greater social prestige than the auxilia this was reflected in better pay and benefits in addition legionaries were equipped with more expensive and protective armour than auxiliaries however in 212 the emperor caracalla granted roman citizenship to all the empire s inhabitants at this point the distinction between legions and auxilia became moot the latter becoming all citizen units also the change was reflected in the disappearance during the 3rd century of legionaries special equipment and the progressive break up of legions into cohort sized units like the auxilia roman relief fragment depicting the praetorian guard c 50 ad by the end of augustus reign the imperial army numbered some 250 000 men equally split between legionaries and auxiliaries 25 legions and c 250 auxiliary regiments the numbers grew to a peak of about 450 000 by 211 33 legions and c 400 auxiliary regiments by then auxiliaries outnumbered legionaries substantially from the peak numbers probably underwent a steep decline by 270 due to plague and losses during multiple major barbarian invasions numbers were restored to their early 2nd century level of c 400 000 but probably not to their 211 peak under diocletian r 284 305 after the empire s borders became settled on the rhine danube line in europe by 68 virtually all military units except the praetorian guard were stationed on or near the borders in roughly 17 of the 42 provinces of the empire in the reign of hadrian r 117 138 the military chain of command was relatively uniform across the empire in each province the deployed legions legati legion commanders who also controlled the auxiliary regiments attached to their legion reported to the legatus augusti pro praetore provincial governor who also headed the civil administration the governor in turn reported directly to the emperor in rome there was no army general staff in rome but the leading praefectus praetorio commander of the praetorian guard often acted as the emperor s de facto military chief of staff legionary rankers were relatively well paid compared to contemporary common labourers compared with their subsistence level peasant families they enjoyed considerable disposable income enhanced by periodic cash bonuses on special occasions such as the accession of a new emperor in addition on completion of their term of service they were given a generous discharge bonus equivalent to 13 years salary auxiliaries were paid much less in the early 1st century but by 100 ad the differential had virtually disappeared similarly in the earlier period auxiliaries appear not to have received cash and discharge bonuses but probably did so from hadrian onwards junior officers principales the equivalent of non commissioned officers in modern armies could expect to earn up to twice basic pay legionary centurions the equivalent of mid level commissioned officers were organised in an elaborate hierarchy usually risen from the ranks they commanded the legion s tactical sub units of centuriae c 80 men and cohorts c 480 men they were paid several multiples of basic pay the most senior centurion the primus pilus was elevated to equestrian rank upon completion of his single year term of office the senior officers of the army the legati legionis legion commanders tribuni militum legion staff officers and the praefecti commanders of auxiliary regiments were all of at least equestrian rank in the 1st and early 2nd centuries they were mainly italian aristocrats performing the military component of their cursus honorum conventional career path later provincial career officers became predominant senior officers were paid very high salaries multiples of at least 50 times basic a typical roman army during this period consisted of five to six legions one legion was made up of ten cohorts the first cohort had five centuria each of 160 soldiers in the second through tenth cohorts there were six centuria of 80 men each these do not include archers cavalry or officers relief scene of roman legionaries building a road from trajan s column museum of roman civilization rome soldiers spent only a fraction of their lives on campaign most of their time was spent on routine military duties such as training patrolling and maintenance of equipment etc soldiers also played an important role outside the military sphere they performed the function of a provincial governor s police force as a large disciplined and skilled force of fit men they played a crucial role in the construction of a province s roman military and civil infrastructure in addition to constructing forts and fortified defences such as hadrian s wall they built roads bridges ports public buildings entire new cities roman colonies and also engaged in large scale forest clearance and marsh drainage to expand the province s available arable land soldiers mostly drawn from polytheistic societies enjoyed wide freedom of worship in the polytheistic roman system they revered their own native deities roman deities and the local deities of the provinces in which they served only a few religions were banned by the roman authorities as being incompatible with the official roman religion and or politically subversive notably druidism and christianity the later principate saw the rise in popularity among the military of eastern mystery cults generally centred on one deity and involving secret rituals divulged only to initiates by far the most popular in the army was mithraism an apparently syncretist religion which mainly originated in asia minor summary of key structural shifts in roman military organization figures represent midpoint estimates derived from ancient sources and modern scholarship ancient figures are approximate and subject to 25 40 uncertainty due to source limitations rhetorical inflation and changing institutional definitions 4 period approx total strength core unit strength early republic 10 000 20 000 seasonal levy 5 3 000 4 000 6 middle republic 50 000 100 000 wartime mobilization 7 4 200 5 000 6 late republic caesarian period 200 000 civil wars 8 5 000 6 000 6 early empire augustan period 250 000 300 000 9 5 200 6 high empire severan period 450 000 500 000 10 5 200 9 late empire 4th century ad 400 000 600 000 9 1 000 1 500 reorganized legions 9 late roman army east roman army 284 641 edit main article late roman arm...