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For centuries, the Imperial Roman army at its peak has inspired and awed people around
the world. Its tactics, discipline and organisation made it the greatest army of its time, but
it did not begin in the stereotypical way it is often seen. Centuries of development
and war was necessary to make the Roman Army the disciplined, well-oiled machine that it
turned into. In this series, we shall cover it all, starting with the proto-armies of
the Roman Kingdom and early Republic. The great city on the Tiber was founded in
around 753BC, supposedly by the brothers Romulus and Remus, through it is likely this is a
myth. The two brothers disagreed on who should rule and Romulus killed Remus. He gave the
city its name ‘Rome’. It was situated among many other warlike peoples, such as
the Etruscans and Italic hill tribes. This meant that the people in this young city had
to concern themselves with military prowess from the very start. As the nature of their
military adversaries changed, so did their tactics.
The eighth century BC was a busy time for the Italian Peninsula. Greek colonists from
the city states had increasingly landed in the south and created settlements such as
Tarentum and Cumae. In this period, Rome, which was north of Magna Graecia, probably
did not have a true ‘army’. Instead, small and informal bands of fighters based upon
the Roman gentes, or clans, were commanded by their clan leaders. An example of this
would be the warband of the Fabii clan, which numbered 306 kinsmen and supporters, according
to Livy. Warfare during this early period was limited, and consisted mainly of small-scale
raiding and the stealing of cattle from other clans.
Occasionally however, the Roman clans would join together in order to face an external
threat. It is probable that the infantry during this time was lightly or completely unarmoured,
and only carried light shields and leather helmets. When united, Livy claims that the
whole army numbered exactly 3,000 infantry and 300 cavalry. These warriors served under
six captains who in turn served under a general. This general was usually the King or a general
appointed by the king. By looking deeper into Livy’s work, it can be deduced that this
early ‘legion’ consisted of mostly pilumni, or javelin throwers, whereas there was only
a smaller amount of arquites - Archers. References in Livy to flexuntes may also imply that the
early Roman army could call on a number of early chariots.
It was in this period that Rome was conquered for the first time by their Etruscan neighbors
in the north, and so their Kings became Etruscan themselves. It is likely that new rulers brought
a mode of military organisation to Rome. it is likely that the transition from disorganised
warbands to tightly packed phalanx occurred gradually, rather than all at once.
The sources from this early period are scarce, because it was not until the 3rd century BC
when the Romans began writing their own histories. However, it seems that between 600 and 500BC,
the Roman Army instituted significant changes and became much more organised. The legendary
Sixth king of Rome, Servius Tullius, embarked on a wide-ranging series of reforms which
profoundly affected the organisation of the Roman army. He introduced a census of the
population due to the inadequacies of aristocratic organisation to raise troops. This was used
to designate five classes of soldier from the population, based on social class and
monetary status. The wealthiest infantry morphed into something resembling their southern Greek
colonist neighbors, and adopted the equipment of the famous hoplites; a helmet, breastplate,
greaves, hoplon, spear and sword. However, this equipment was not provided by the state,
and only the well-off citizens could afford it. The majority of poor soldiers in the fifth
class continued to serve as the unarmoured light infantry, with slings and javelins as
their primary weapons. It is worth noting that the sword the Romans used at this time
was not the famous Gladius of the later army, as that was adopted during the conquest of
Hispania centuries later. Every soldier used the sword he preferred.
Because they were armed as Greek style hoplites, it is likely that the traditional Phalanx
formation was used, and we did several episodes on this in our previous series. This was a
deep formation of over eight ranks, with densely packed and armoured spearmen. The compact
phalanx would attempt to charge and break the enemy line by stabbing with the spear
in a tight formation. This required extensive training as holding formation was critical
for victory. However, it was only viable for large set piece battles, so it is likely that
some smaller tactical units existed to supplement the Roman phalanx.
Early Rome is primarily associated with heavy infantry, but horsemen were key to armies
even at this time. The first King of Rome, Romulus, supposedly created an elite cavalry
contingent known as the Swift Squadron, which would act as his personal guard. Each of the
three tribes of early Rome would supply 100 men to this unit, for a total of 300. Two
centuries later, when the Romans were under pressure from the Sabines, one of their neighbors,
this was doubled to 600 by the fifth King Tarquinius Priscus. The ranks of the royal
cavalry may have been filled exclusively with members of the highest Patrician aristocracy
of the emerging city. This was a purely hereditary system, but the evidence for this selective
nature is questioned. It is interesting to note that because the cavalry may have been
an aristocratic one, it is likely that it played a key role in the fall of the Roman
monarchy and the rise of the Roman Republic. Indeed, some historians suggest that the royal
cavalry itself carried out the coup. By 400 BC however, the size of the cavalry had increased
and it was no longer just open to nobles. The prominence of horsemen in this period
is also questionable. In classical Greece, cavalry was sparsely used due to the nature
of phalanx warfare, and it is possible that it might not have played a significant role
in Roman phalanx warfare, apart from chasing after already defeated enemies.
When the Kings of Rome were overthrown and the Res publica was established, the 6,000
strong Roman royal army was divided among the two elected Consuls, in addition to around
1,200 lighter troops each. These troops assembled by their clans and then swore an oath of allegiance
to their Consuls, similar to the prior oath which was sworn to the kings. As the fifth
century BC developed, a new magistrate position was created; The Military Tribune. This office
had Consular authority over the Roman army and it was possibly created due to an increased
need for armies in this period, together with the leadership of only two Consuls.
At the climax of this period, the Gallic invasion of 390 BC occurred. The inexperienced and
unprepared Romans, armed as hoplites, were swept away by the army of Brennus at the Battle
of the Allia. The Romans utilised the Greek way of war for a long time, but times were
beginning to change. In the late 300s BC, the Romans would enter another series of wars
with their neighbors, and this would lead to their army developing into a more familiar
form. We will continue our series on the Roman armies,
and the plan is to cover everything till 1453, so make sure you are subscribed to our channel
and pressed the bell button. We would like to express our gratitude to our Patreon supporters
and channel members, who make the creation of our videos possible. Now, you can also
support us by buying our merchandise via the link the description. This is the Kings and
Generals channel, and we will catch you on the next one.