Romanmilitary engineering was of a scale and frequency far beyond that of its contemporaries. Indeed, military engineering was in many ways endemic in Roman military culture, as demonstrated by each Roman legionary having as part of his equipment a shovel, alongside his gladius (sword) and pila (spears).
Fabri were workers, craftsmen, or artisans in Roman society. Descriptions of early Roman army structure (initially by phalanx, later by legion) attributed to king Servius Tullius state that two centuriae of fabri served under an officer, the praefectus fabrum.
Roman military engineering took both routine and extraordinary forms, the former a part of standard military procedure, and the latter of an extraordinary or reactive nature.
Each Roman legion had a legionary fort as its permanent base. However, when on the march, particularly in enemy territory, the legion would construct a fortified camp or castra, using only earth, turf and timber. Camp construction was the responsibility of engineering units to which specialists of many types belonged, officered by architecti (engineers), from a class of troops known as immunes who were excused from regular duties. These engineers would requisition manual labour from the soldiers at large as required. A legion could throw up a camp under enemy attack in a few hours. The names of the different types of camps apparently represent the amount of investment: tertia castra, quarta castra: "a camp of three days", "four days", etc.
The engineers built bridges from timber and stone. Some Roman stone bridges survive. Stone bridges were made possible by the innovative use of keystonearches. One notable example was Julius Caesar's Bridge over the Rhine River. This bridge was completed in only ten days and is conservatively estimated to have been more than 100 m (300feet) long.[1][2] The construction was deliberately over-engineered for Caesar's stated purpose of impressing the Germanic tribes,[3] who had little experience of engineering, and to emphasise that Rome could travel wherever she wished. Caesar was able to cross over the completed bridge and explore the area uncontested, before crossing back over the subsequently dismantled bridge. Caesar related in his War in Gaul that he "sent messengers to the Sugambri to demand the surrender of those who had made war on me and on Gaul, they replied that the Rhine was the limit of Roman power". The bridge was intended to show otherwise.
Although most Roman siege engines were adaptations from earlier Greek designs, the Romans were adept at engineering them swiftly and efficiently, as well as innovating variations such as the repeating ballista. The 1st century BC army engineer Vitruvius describes in detail many of the Roman siege machines in his manuscript De architectura.
When invading enemy territories, the Roman army would often construct roads as it went, to allow swift reinforcement and resupply, or for easy retreat if necessary. Roman road-making skills were such that some survive. Michael Grant credits the Roman building of the Via Appia with winning them the Second Samnite War.[4]
Civilian engineering by military troops
Greco-Roman Pentaspastos ("Five-pulley-crane"), a medium-sized variant (ca. 450 kg load)
The Roman army built projects for civilian use. When soldiers were not engaged in military campaigns, the legions had little to do, while costing the Roman state large sums of money. Thus, involving soldiers in building works, kept them well accustomed to hard physical labour and out of mischief, since it was believed that idle armies were a potential source of mutiny.
Soldiers built many roads across the Empire. Soldiers were also put to use in the construction of town walls, the digging of canals, drainage projects, aqueducts, harbours, and even in the cultivation of vineyards.
Soldiers became skilled in conducting mining operations such as building aqueducts needed for prospecting for metal veins, in activities such as hydraulic mining, and building reservoirs to hold water at the minehead.
Reactive and extraordinary engineering
The knowledge and experience learned through routine engineering lent itself readily to extraordinary engineering projects. For such projects, Roman military engineering exceeded that of any of its contemporaries in imagination and scope.
One notable project was the circumvallation of the entire city of Alesia and its Celtic leader Vercingetorix, within a massive double-wall – one inward-facing to prevent escape or offensive sallies, and one outward-facing to prevent attack by Celtic reinforcements. This wall is estimated to have been over 20km (12mi) long.
A second example is the massive ramp built using thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth up to the invested city of Masada during the Jewish Revolt. The siege works and the ramp remain in a remarkable state of preservation.
↑ Caesar writes in his War in Gaul that he rejected the idea of simply crossing in boats because it "would not be fitting for my own prestige and that of Rome" - at the time, he did not know that the Germanic tribes had already in fact withdrawn from the area upon his arrival
The Roman legion, the largest military unit of the Roman army, comprised 4,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic and 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of the Roman Empire.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ancient Rome:
The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul. Gallic, Germanic, and Brittonic tribes fought to defend their homelands against the Roman campaign. The Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the Roman Republic over the whole of Gaul. Though the various collective Gallic armies were as strong as the Roman forces, the Gallic tribes' internal divisions eased victory for Caesar. Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix's attempt to unite the Gauls under a single banner came too late. Caesar portrayed the invasion as being a preemptive and defensive action, but historians agree that he fought the wars primarily to boost his political career and to pay off his debts. Still, Gaul was of significant military importance to the Romans. Native tribes in the region, both Gallic and Germanic, had attacked Rome several times. Conquering Gaul allowed Rome to secure the natural border of the river Rhine.
The Roman legionary was a professional heavy infantryman of the Roman army. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the late Republic and Principate eras, alongside auxiliary and cavalry detachments. At its height, Roman legionaries were viewed as the foremost fighting force in the Roman world, with commentators such as Vegetius praising their fighting effectiveness centuries after the classical Roman legionary disappeared.
The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited Batavia, on the delta of the river Rhine. They were soon joined by the Celtic tribes from Gallia Belgica and some Germanic tribes.
Legio III Augusta was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Its origin may have been the Republican 3rd Legion which served the general Pompey during his civil war against Gaius Julius Caesar. It supported the general Octavian in his civil war against Mark Antony. It was officially refounded in 30 BC, when Octavian achieved sole mastery of the Roman empire. In that year, it was deployed in the Roman province of Africa, where it remained until at least the late 4th century AD.
The Battle of Thapsus was a military engagement that took place on April 6, 46 BC near Thapsus. The forces of the Optimates, led by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Scipio, were defeated by the forces of Julius Caesar. It was followed shortly by the suicides of Scipio and his ally, Cato the Younger, the Numidian King Juba, and his Roman peer Marcus Petreius.
The Battle of Alesia or siege of Alesia was the climactic military engagement of the Gallic Wars, fought around the Gallic oppidum of Alesia in modern France, a major centre of the Mandubii tribe. It was fought by the Roman army of Julius Caesar against a confederation of Gallic tribes united under the leadership of Vercingetorix of the Arverni. It was the last major engagement between Gauls and Romans, and is considered one of Caesar's greatest military achievements and a classic example of siege warfare and investment; the Roman army built dual lines of fortifications—an inner wall to keep the besieged Gauls in, and an outer wall to keep the Gallic relief force out. The Battle of Alesia marked the end of Gallic independence in the modern day territory of France and Belgium.
In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word castrum was a military-related term.
The Battle of Gergovia took place in 52 BC in Gaul at Gergovia, the chief oppidum of the Arverni. The battle was fought between a Roman Republican army, led by proconsul Julius Caesar, and Gallic forces led by Vercingetorix, who was also the Arverni chieftain. The Romans attempted to besiege Gergovia, but miscommunication ruined the Roman plan. The Gallic cavalry counterattacked the confused Romans and sent them to flight, winning the battle.
Roman siege engines were, for the most part, adapted from Hellenistic siege technology. Relatively small efforts were made to develop the technology; however, the Romans brought an unrelentingly aggressive style to siege warfare that brought them repeated success. Up to the first century BC, the Romans utilized siege weapons only as required and relied for the most part on ladders, towers and rams to assault a fortified town. Ballistae were also employed, but held no permanent place within a legion's roster, until later in the republic, and were used sparingly. Julius Caesar took great interest in the integration of advanced siege engines, organizing their use for optimal battlefield efficiency.
Avaricum was an oppidum in ancient Gaul, near what is now the city of Bourges. Avaricum, situated in the lands of the Bituriges Cubi, was the largest and best-fortified town within their territory, situated on very fertile lands. The terrain favored the oppidum, as it was flanked by a river and marshland, with only a single narrow entrance. By the time of the Roman conquest in 52 BC the city according to Julius Caesar had a population of 40,000 people who were then almost all killed.
Vindobona was a Roman military camp in the province of Pannonia, located on the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. The settlement area took on a new name in the 13th century, being changed to Berghof, or now simply known as Alter Berghof.
The Battle of the Bagradas occurred near the Bagradas River in what is now Tunisia on 24 August and was fought between Julius Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio and the Pompeian Republicans under Publius Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia. The result was a crushing defeat for the Caesarean forces and the death of Curio.
The military of ancient Rome was one of largest pre-modern professional standing armies that ever existed. At its height, protecting over 7,000 kilometers of border and consisting of over 400,000 legionaries and auxiliaries, the army was the most important institution in the Roman world. According to Titus Livius, one of the more illustrious historians of Rome over the centuries, the military was a key element in the rise of Rome over "above seven hundred years" from a small settlement in Latium to the capital of an empire governing a wide region around the shores of the Mediterranean, or, as the Romans themselves said, mare nostrum, "our sea". Livy asserts: yes
The Battle of Vosges, also referred to as the Battle of Vesontio, was fought on September 14, 58 BC between the Germanic tribe of the Suebi, under the leadership of Ariovistus, and six Roman legions under the command of Gaius Julius Caesar. This encounter is the third major battle of the Gallic Wars. Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine, seeking a home in Gaul.
Caesar's bridges across the Rhine, the first two bridges on record to cross the Rhine river, were built by Julius Caesar and his legionaries during the Gallic War in 55 BC and 53 BC. Strategically successful, they are also considered masterpieces of military engineering.
The Imperial Roman army was the military land force of the Roman Empire from 27 BC to 476 AD, and the final incarnation in the long history of the Roman army. This period is sometimes split into the Principate and the Dominate (284–476) periods.
The Roman army of the late Republic refers to the armed forces deployed by the late Roman Republic, from the beginning of the first century BC until the establishment of the Imperial Roman army by Augustus in 30 BC.
Roman infantry tactics are the theoretical and historical deployment, formation, and manoeuvres of the Roman infantry from the start of the Roman Republic to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The focus below is primarily on Roman tactics: the "how" of their approach to battle, and how it stacked up against a variety of opponents over time. It does not attempt detailed coverage of things like army structure or equipment. Various battles are summarized to illustrate Roman methods with links to detailed articles on individual encounters.
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