History considers Julius Caesar as one of the most charming, inspiring, and successful military
generals that ever lived. But while the annals are filled with Caesar’s achievements and conquests,
it is a shame that the men who made these feats possible hardly get acknowledged. So today on
Nutty History, we are going to talk about the lives of the formidable and near-invincible
legionnaires of Julius Caesar, who built the mighty Roman Empire on their shoulders.
When Julius Caesar was selected as Governor of Cisalpine Gaul,
he was provided with three legions, the Seventh, Eighth, and The Ninth. Seeking to launch a
military campaign to extend Rome’s rule over the rest of Mainland Europe, Caesar then used
the relatively new power of forming a new legion. The Tenth Legion Equestris. A legion was among the
two primary divisions of the Roman Army, with the other being the Auxiliaries.
The difference between the two divisions was that the legions were recruited among only Roman
citizens and were considered as an elite force. Records show that Julius Caesar never trusted
auxiliaries like he trusted his legions. This also strengthened his bond with his legionnaires.
Before the social war, that lasted from 91 BC to 87BC, legions recruitment was exclusive to
citizens of Rome city only but thanks to military reforms enforced by Gaius Marius,
the predecessor of Julius Caesar, the doors of Roman citizenship were opened for all Italians.
Auxiliaries on the other hand majorly constituted Spaniards, Numidians, Cretans,
and other Roman Allies who were paid a third of the Legionnaire’s salary. Due to this reform,
now legionnaires were loyal to the governors who handpicked them instead of whoever was sitting at
the top of the Roman government. This helped Julius Caesar to cultivate loyalty among his
troops unlike any other general did before him. He raised the tenth legion Equestris from the ground
and handpicked every officer and many soldiers by himself. If legions were the elite forces,
Caesar’s Tenth Legion were the elites among elites, The Special Op Forces.
A roman soldier enlisted or was called to duty in the army for about sixteen years
which then could be extended up to twenty-five years.
This is longer than life imprisonment in the USA which is on average could be fifteen years.
A recruit became legion at the age of seventeen and was supposed to serve till his early forties.
Every recruit had to be fighting fit and anybody too weak or too short was rejected.
The least passable height was about One hundred and sixty-eight centimeters.
Caesar’s army recruits came from all social classes unlike before when
the Roman Army employed candidates from the top five social classes.
Their daily routine looked quite similar to a modern army base. A legion was made
of roughly five thousand soldiers and every legion was further divided into groups of
eighty to a hundred men called centuries led by an officer called the centurion. Roman Soldiers
used to sleep in a group of eight called the Contubernium inside a barrack tent. They were
supposed to rise early in the morning and then attend a roll call in the open ground, where they
were counted and then assigned duties for the day. Their duties varied from cleaning toilets,
polishing armors, and patrol duty. The duties were followed by the training. The training was almost
a religious affair for Caesar’s Legions. Not just the Tenth but the seventh, eighth and ninth legion
trained excessively every day. Breaking the formation was considered a sin like offense
not just on the battlefield but at the training ground too. The implications of indiscipline were
severe and could be life-threatening. That is why they practiced it daily and treated the act
of breaking it sacrilegious. Full-scale training maneuvers and mock skirmishes were inspected by
a high ranked officer in the legion, perhaps chief centurion or the legate himself. Julius
Caesar often took it upon himself to inspect and rate soldiers. Punishment can vary on the
degree of offense from monetary fine, whipping, or even execution. But nothing was as humiliating
and degrading as the decimation. For decimation, guilty soldiers were grouped in the number of ten
and were asked to draw straws. The one who picked the smallest straw was then picked and
grouped with ‘other’ tenth soldiers and then these misfortunate lots were beaten, stabbed,
and ridiculed to death in front of the rest of the guilty party. The survivors were not pardoned
either. They were treated as outcasts in the military and were forced to live outside the tents
and eat the food meant for animals. They were also used as baits to lure the enemy out in the open.
Decimation was such a demeaning punishment that when in forty-nine BC Ninth Legion tried a mutiny
in retaliation of Caesar pushing them for another campaign in Greece, all Caesar had to do was to
threaten the entire legion with Decimation and the Ninth legion gave in immediately.
The hard day of training was followed by the march. The legionnaires marched anything
from a Just March of three thousand paces that is roughly thirty-six kilometers to whatever
distance they can cover in a day. And they did it while carrying twenty kilos of camping gear
and construction equipment in excess of their weapon, shield,
and armor. At the end of the march, Legionnaires had to raise their tents,
dig up ditches and raise barricades with wooden stakes around the camp. And then comes the guard
duty at night. Legionnaire’s sleeping hours were somewhere between three and five hours.
On average a five thousand strong legions were up against a twenty thousand strong tribal army
during the gallic wars. The very first war for Caesar’s army was against the migrating Helvetii
which Roman perceived as a tactic to prepare for an upcoming war against Rome. According
to Caesar’s notes, his four legions, which aggregately twenty-five thousand men, marched
against two hundred and sixty thousand Helvetii who also rallied with thirty-six thousand Tulingi,
twenty-three thousand Rauraci, and thirty-two thousand Boii. For any one keeping the count,
that’s three hundred sixty thousand against mere twenty five thousand Romans. And yet,
Caesar’s legions defeated this twelve times stronger army without any major issue
and ended up killing more than two-thirds of the enemies. On another occasion when the Ninth
Legion of 5,000 soldiers conquered a Hillfort of a gallic tribe, the rest of the tribe formed an
alliance and sieged the legion with ten times strong allied army. However, thanks To Legate
Plubius' masterful strategy of using reserve cohorts as a surprise flank, which caused panic
in enemy lines and soon they were all slaughtered, this victory ensured Caesar conquest of Aquitania.
Despite that Julius Caesar’s campaign on the European Mainland was purely conquest oriented,
he also made his soldiers make a lot of roads and bridges wherever they went.
In fact, Roman Soldiers ended up doing more construction than they ever fought on these
campaigns. They were the reason that all the roads led to Rome. Organized Military required organized
infrastructure to move on so Roman Legions built roads wherever they go and then there were rivers,
lakes, and other water bodies to cross so they also built a lot of bridges.
Some constructions were also for purely military purposes such as sieges and walls to prevent
the supply of rations and water inside the villages. After Caesar’s Civil War when he
ascended to the dictator’s post, his legions took the responsibility of patrolling and guarding the
streets of Rome to maintain law and order. The higher officers such as Centurions and Legates
were well-versed in law as well and knew how to deal with criminal and civil cases alike.
In a manner, they did every duty of modern law and order from the beat cop to district attorney.
During Caesar’s time, the Roman Army had dissolved cavalries in legion and made the
Auxiliaries responsible for riding horses in the battle. However, while dealing with German king
Ariovistus, Caesar was not sure about the Gallic cavalry from the Aedui tribe used as auxiliaries.
He chose to give their horses to his favorite legion, the Tenth. This worked like a charm to
boost the legion’s morale because they treated this gesture from Caesar as providing better
than what he promised them. The tenth legion then played a part in virtually every battle
of the gallic wars. They proved their worth first by single-handedly defeating the Helvetti Tribes.
After that, they saved the day in the Battle against Nervians in Fifty-Seven BC.
As the tenth defeated two tribes at once on one side of the river,
they also acknowledged the tight situation for the twelfth and seventh legions on the other side.
Their rapid descent and crossing the river helped to surround the enemy from both sides
and turn the tide of the battle. Caesar later picked them for the invasion of Britain as well,
in his letters Caesar always mentioned them as his most trusted unit. But this amicable
relationship between Caesar and his beloved legion would not end well like most love stories.
Despite Caesar treating his legions well during the campaigns and promising them riches and lands,
Caesar did fall short on his words, twice stoking the fire of mutiny among the ranks
of his soldiers. The most well-known mutiny is the mutiny of the year forty-seven BC when the tenth
legion Equestris returned home to Rome expecting the riches and land they were promised by Caesar.
But then the civil war broke out and they again led the charge against the Great Pompey at the
Battle of Versailles. After thirteen long years of service, the tenth legion expected to receive
their reward and discharge but Caesar had more pressing matters as Pompey was still alive and ran
off to Egypt. Caesar decided to chase him and thus got trapped in Alexandria. As the tenth legion
waited for their commander to return to Rome the discontent grew and patience wore off. And thus,
when Caesar finally arrived, he was welcomed with the news of mutiny among his favorite legion
who were sending off any authority with stones and spears who tried to reason with them.
Caesar, unphased by this, walked right in the middle of the legion’s camp and after listening to
their demands, calmly responded: “Fine you will be rewarded for your services, now you are DISMISSED,
CITIZENS.” The word ‘Citizens’ hit the legionnaires like a brick. Until now they wore
their tag of being a soldier as a badge of honor and with one word, Caesar tore it off them with
a snap. Hysterical for losing their dignity, they all pleaded for Caesar’s forgiveness and begged to
take them back on his upcoming campaign. Caesar finally gave in but made a note to who were the
perpetrators of the mutiny and made sure to assign them the most vulnerable spots in the next battle.
So what do you think? Do you have what it takes to be a legionnaire for Julius Caesar?
Tell us in the comments and check out Nutty History for more War-related historical videos.