1.
Military of ancient Rome
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In each war it acquired more territory until, when civil war ended the Roman Republic, nothing was left for the first emperor, Augustus, to do except declare it an empire and defend it. The role and structure of the military was then altered during the empire and it became less Roman, the duties of border protection and territorial administration being more and more taken by foreign mercenaries officered by Romans. When they divided at last into warring factions the empire fell, during the Roman Republic the function of the military was defined as service to the ‘’Senatus Populusque Romanus’’, an agency designated by SPQR on public inscriptions. Its main body was the senate, which met in a still extant in the forum of Rome. Its decrees were handed off to the two officers of the state, the consuls. They could levy from the citizens military force they judged was necessary to execute the decree. This they did in a draft of male citizens assembled by age class, the officers of the legion were tasked with selecting men for the ranks. The will of the SPQR was binding on the consuls and the men, the men were under a rigorous code, known now for its punitive crucifixion. The soldiers were busy doing whatever service needed to be done, soldiering, manning vessels, carpentry, blacksmithing, clerking. They were trained as required, but also previous skills, such as a trade, were exploited and they brought to the task and were protected by the authority of the state. The militarys campaign history stretched over 1300 years and saw Roman armies campaigning as far east as Parthia, as far south as Africa and Aegyptus and as far north as Britannia. The makeup of the Roman military changed substantially over its history, from its history as an unsalaried citizen militia to a later professional force. The equipment used by the military altered greatly in type over time, though there were very few improvements in weapons manufacture. For much of its history, the vast majority of Romes forces were maintained at or beyond the limits of its territory, in order to either expand Romes domain, or protect its existing borders. Expansions were infrequent, as the emperors, adopting a strategy of fixed lines of defense, had determined to maintain existing borders, for that purpose they constructed extensive walls and created permanent stations that became cities. At its territorial height, the Roman Empire may have contained between 45 million and 120 million people and this estimate probably included only legionary and auxiliary troops of the Roman army. However, Gibbon states that it is not, easy to define the size of the Roman military with any tolerable accuracy. However, he notes that these figures were subject to inflation due to the practice of leaving dead soldiers on the books in order to continue to draw their wage
2.
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
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The Fall of the Western Roman Empire was the process of decline in the Western Roman Empire in which it failed to enforce its rule, and its vast territory was divided into several successor polities. Increasing pressure from barbarians outside Roman culture also contributed greatly to the collapse, the reasons for the collapse are major subjects of the historiography of the ancient world and they inform much modern discourse on state failure. Relevant dates include 117 CE, when the Empire was at its greatest territorial extent, irreversible major territorial loss, however, began in 376 with a large-scale irruption of Goths and others. In 395, after winning two destructive civil wars, Theodosius I died, leaving a field army and the Empire, still plagued by Goths. Invading barbarians had established their own power in most of the area of the Western Empire, while its legitimacy lasted for centuries longer and its cultural influence remains today, the Western Empire never had the strength to rise again. The Fall is not the only unifying concept for these events, the Fall of the Western Roman Empire was the process of decline in the Western Roman Empire in which it failed to enforce its rule. The Fall is not the only unifying concept for these events, for Dio Cassius, the accession of the emperor Commodus in 180 CE marked the descent from a kingdom of gold to one of rust and iron. Gibbon started his story in 98 and Theodor Mommsen regarded the whole of the period as unworthy of inclusion in his Nobel Prize-winning History of Rome. Arnold J. Toynbee and James Burke argue that the entire Imperial era was one of decay of institutions founded in republican times. Gibbon gave a formulation of reasons why the Fall happened. He began a controversy about the role of Christianity, but he gave great weight to other causes of internal decline. The story of its ruin is simple and obvious, and, instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. The victorious legions, who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers and mercenaries, first oppressed the freedom of the republic, alexander Demandt enumerated 210 different theories on why Rome fell, and new ideas have emerged since. Historians still try to analyze the reasons for loss of control over a vast territory. Comparison has also made with the Han Empire in China. At least from the time of Henri Pirenne, scholars have described continuity of culture and of political legitimacy, Pirenne postponed the demise of classical civilization to the 8th century. The more recent formulation of a period characterized as Late Antiquity emphasizes the transformations of ancient to medieval worlds within a cultural continuity. In recent decades archaeologically-based argument even extends the continuity in material culture, observing the political reality of lost control, but also the cultural and archaeological continuities, the process has been described as a complex cultural transformation, rather than a fall
3.
Structural history of the Roman military
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From its origins around 800 BC to its final dissolution in AD476 with the demise of the Western Roman Empire, Romes military organization underwent substantial structural change. At the highest level of structure, the forces were split into the Roman Army, within the top levels of both army and navy, structural changes occurred as a result of both positive military reform and organic structural evolution. These changes can be divided into four distinct phases, phase I The army was derived from obligatory annual military service levied on the citizenry, as part of their duty to the state. During this period, the Roman army would wage seasonal campaigns against largely local adversaries, phase II As the extent of the territories falling under Roman control expanded and the size of the forces increased, the soldiery gradually became salaried professionals. As a consequence, military service at the lower levels became progressively longer-term, Roman military units of the period were largely homogeneous and highly regulated. The army consisted of units of infantry known as legions as well as non-legionary allied troops known as auxilia. The latter were most commonly called upon to provide infantry, logistical. Phase III At the height of the Roman Empires power, forces were tasked with manning and securing the borders of the vast provinces which had brought under Roman control. Serious strategic threats were common in this period and emphasis was placed on preserving gained territory. The army underwent changes in response to new needs and became more dependent on fixed garrisons than on march-camps. Phase IV As Rome began to struggle to control over its sprawling territories, military service continued to be salaried. However, the trend of employing allied or mercenary elements was expanded to such an extent that these came to represent a substantial proportion of the armed forces. At the same time, the uniformity of structure found in Romes earlier military disappeared, soldiery of the era ranged from lightly armed mounted archers to heavy infantry, in regiments of varying size and quality. This was accompanied by a trend in the empire of an increasing predominance of cavalry rather than infantry troops. In this period there was focus on smaller units of independently-operating troops, engaging less in set-piece battles and more in low-intensity. According to the historians Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, writing at a far later date, Historian Theodor Mommsen referred to it as Romes curiate army, named for its presumed subdivision along the boundaries of Romes three founding tribes, the Ramnians, Tities and Luceres. This armys exact structure is not known, but it is probable that it resembled a warrior band or group of bodyguards led by a chieftain or king. Mommsen believes that Roman military organization of this period was regimented by the Laws of King Italus but these laws, the army consisted, according to Livy, of exactly 3,000 infantry and 300 horsemen, one third from each of Romes three founding tribes
4.
Auxilia
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The Auxilia constituted the standing non-citizen corps of the Imperial Roman army during the Principate era, alongside the citizen legions. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all of the Roman armys cavalry. The auxilia thus represented three-fifths of Romes regular land forces at that time, like their legionary counterparts, auxiliary recruits were mostly volunteers, not conscripts. The Auxilia were mainly recruited from the peregrini, free provincial subjects who did not hold Roman citizenship and constituted the vast majority of the population in the 1st and 2nd centuries. In contrast to the legions, which only admitted Roman citizens, reliance on the various contingents of non-Italic troops, especially cavalry, increased when the Roman Republic employed them in increasing numbers to support its legions after 200 BC. The Julio-Claudian period saw the transformation of the Auxilia from motley levies to a corps with standardised structure, equipment. By the end of the period, there were no significant differences between legionaries and auxiliaries in terms of training, and thus, combat capability. Auxiliary regiments were stationed in provinces other than that in which they were originally raised, for reasons of security. The regimental names of many auxiliary units persisted into the 4th century, but by then the units in question were different in size, structure, despite its formidable strength, the legion had a number of deficiencies, especially a lack of cavalry. Around 200 BC, a legion of 4,200 infantry had an arm of only 300 horse. In addition the legion lacked missile forces such as slingers and archers, until 200 BC, the bulk of a Roman armys cavalry was provided by Romes regular Italian allies, commonly known as the Latin allies, which made up the Roman military confederation. This was Romes defence system until the Social War of 91–88 BC, the Italian forces were organised into alae. Since a pre-Social War consular army always contained a number of legions and alae. The overall cavalry element, c. 12% of the force, was greater than in most peninsular Italian forces. The Roman/Latin cavalry was sufficient while Rome was in conflict with other states in the mountainous Italian peninsula, which also disposed of limited cavalry resources. The decisive Roman victory at Zama in 202 BC, which ended the war, owed much to the Numidian cavalry provided by king Massinissa, from then, Roman armies were always accompanied by large numbers of non-Italian cavalry, Numidian light cavalry and, later, Gallic heavy cavalry. For example, Caesar relied heavily on Gallic and German cavalry for his Conquest of Gaul, as the role of native cavalry grew, that of Roman/Latin cavalry diminished. In the early 1st century BC, Roman cavalry was phased out altogether, after the Social War, the socii were all granted Roman citizenship, the Latin alae abolished, and the socii recruited into the legions
5.
Roman navy
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The Roman navy comprised the naval forces of the Ancient Roman state. The navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean basin, partly because of that, the navy was never wholly embraced by the Roman state, and deemed somewhat un-Roman. In Antiquity, navies and trading fleets did not have the autonomy that modern ships. Unlike modern naval forces, the Roman navy even at its height never existed as an autonomous service but operated as an adjunct to the Roman army. The Roman fleets were again prominent in the 1st century BC in the wars against the pirates, in 31 BC, the great naval Battle of Actium ended the civil wars culminating in the final victory of Augustus and the establishment of the Roman Empire. During the Imperial period, the Mediterranean became largely a peaceful Roman lake, in the absence of a maritime enemy, the navy was reduced mostly to patrol, anti-piracy and transport duties. The navy also manned and maintained craft on major rivers such as the Rhine. On the fringes of the Empire, in new conquests or, increasingly, in defense against barbarian invasions, the Roman fleets were still engaged in open warfare. The decline of the Empire in the 3rd century took a toll on the navy. As successive waves of the Völkerwanderung crashed on the frontiers of the battered Empire. In the early 5th century, the Roman frontiers were breached, one of them, the Vandal Kingdom, raised a navy of its own and raided the shores of the Mediterranean, even sacking Rome, while the diminished Roman fleets were incapable of offering any resistance. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, the navy of the surviving eastern Roman Empire is known as the Byzantine navy. The exact origins of the Roman fleet are obscure, a traditionally agricultural and land-based society, the Romans rarely ventured out to sea, unlike their Etruscan neighbours. As a result, the Republic acquired its first fleet, consisting of 20 ships, most likely triremes and this situation continued until the First Punic War, the main task of the Roman fleet was patrolling along the Italian coast and rivers, protecting seaborne trade from piracy. It is possible that the supervision of these allies was one of the duties of the four new praetores classici. The first Roman expedition outside mainland Italy was against the island of Sicily in 265 BC and this led to the outbreak of hostilities with Carthage, which would last until 241 BC. At the time, the Punic city was the master of the western Mediterranean, possessing a long maritime and naval experience. Although Rome had relied on her legions for the conquest of Italy, operations in Sicily had to be supported by a fleet, thus in 261 BC, the Roman Senate set out to construct a fleet of 100 quinqueremes and 20 triremes
6.
Campaign history of the Roman military
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These accounts were written by various authors throughout and after the history of the Empire. The Roman army battled first against its neighbours and Etruscan towns within Italy. From the outset, Romes military typified this pattern, and the majority of Romes campaigns were characterised by one of two types, the second is the civil war, which plagued Rome from its foundation to its eventual demise. Roman armies were not invincible, despite their reputation and host of victories. Nevertheless, it was generally the fate of even the greatest of Romes enemies, such as Pyrrhus and Hannibal, to win the battle, the history of Romes campaigning is, if nothing else, a history of obstinate persistence overcoming appalling losses. Knowledge of Roman history stands apart from other civilizations in the ancient world and its chronicles, military and otherwise, document the citys very foundation to its eventual demise. Romes earliest history, from the time of its founding as a tribal village. Although the early Romans were literate to some degree, this void may be due to the lack of will to record their history at that time, or such histories as they did record were lost. Although the Roman historian Livy lists a series of seven kings of early Rome in his work Ab urbe condita, from its establishment through its earliest years, a number of points of view have been proposed. Very little is known of Romes military history from this era, traditionally, Romulus, after founding the city, fortified the Palatine Hill, and shortly thereafter, Rome was equal to any of the surrounding cities in her prowess in war. The first of the campaigns fought by the Romans in this account are the wars with various Latin cities. According to Livy, the Latin village of Caenina responded to the event of the abduction of the Sabine women by invading Roman territory, the Latins of Antemnae and those of Crustumerium were defeated next in a similar fashion. The remaining main body of the Sabines attacked Rome and briefly captured the citadel, there was a further war in the 8th century BC against Fidenae and Veii. In the 7th century BC there was a war with Alba Longa, a war with Fidenae and Veii. Ancus Marcius led Rome to victory against the Latins and, according to the Fasti Triumphales, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus first war was waged against the Latins. Tarquinius took the Latin town of Apiolae by storm and took great booty from there back to Rome, according to the Fasti Triumphales, the war occurred prior to 588 BC. His military ability was tested by an attack from the Sabines, Tarquinius doubled the numbers of equites to help the war effort, and defeat the Sabines. Tarquinius returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph for his victories that, according to the Fasti Triumphales, subsequently, the Latin cities of Corniculum, old Ficulea, Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola, Medullia and Nomentum were subdued and became Roman
7.
Roman military engineering
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The military engineering of Ancient Romes armed forces was of a scale and frequency far beyond that of any of its contemporaries. Roman military engineering took both routine and extraordinary forms, the former a proactive part of standard procedure. Each Roman legion had a military legionary fort as its permanent base, however, when on the march, particularly in enemy territory, the legion would, after a days marching, construct a fortified camp or castra, requiring as raw materials only earth, turf and timber. These engineers would requisition manual labor from the soldiers at large as required, a legion could throw up a camp under enemy attack in as little as a few hours. The engineers also built bridges from both timber and stone depending on required permanence, time available etc, some Roman stone bridges survive to this day. Stone bridges were made possible by the use of the keystone to allow an arch construction. One of the most notable examples of military bridge-building in the Roman Empire was Julius Caesars Bridge over the Rhine River and this bridge was completed in only ten days and is conservatively estimated to have been more than 100 m long. Caesar was able to cross over the bridge and explore the area uncontested, before crossing back over. The bridge was intended to show otherwise, 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 they went, to allow swift reinforcement and resupply, Roman road-making skills are such that some Roman roads survive to this day. Michael Grant credits the Roman building of the Via Appia with winning them the Second Samnite War, the Roman army also took part in building projects for civilian use. Of both military and civilian use was the construction of roads within the boundaries of the Empire, in which the army was heavily involved. But so too were soldiers put to use in the construction of walls, the digging of shipping canals. In some rare cases soldiers were used in mining work. It is likely that they were capable of building and operating mine equipment such as water mills, stamp mills. It is likely that they were involved in exploiting gold resources such as those at Dolaucothi in south west Wales. This wall is estimated to have been over 20 km long, a second example would be the massive ramp built using thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth up to the invested city of Masada in the Jewish Revolt. The siege works and the remain in a remarkable state of preservation today
8.
Antonine Wall
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Representing the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire, it spanned approximately 63 kilometres and was about 3 metres high and 5 metres wide. Security was bolstered by a ditch on the northern side. It is thought there was a wooden palisade on top of the turf. The barrier was the second of two great walls created by the Romans in Northern Britain and its ruins are less evident than the better-known Hadrians Wall to the south, primarily because the turf and wood wall has largely weathered away, unlike its stone-built southern predecessor. Construction began in AD142 at the order of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, Antoninus Pius never visited Britain, whereas his predecessor Hadrian did. Pressure from the Caledonians may have led Antoninus to send the troops further north. The Antonine Wall was protected by 16 forts with small fortlets between them, troop movement was facilitated by a road linking all the known as the Military Way. The soldiers who built the wall commemorated the construction and their struggles with the Caledonians in decorative slabs, the wall was abandoned only eight years after completion, and the garrisons relocated back to Hadrians Wall. In 208 Emperor Septimius Severus re-established legions at the wall and ordered repairs, the occupation ended a few years later, and the wall was never fortified again. Most of the wall and its associated fortifications have been destroyed over time, many of these have come under the care of Historic Scotland and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius ordered the construction of the Antonine Wall around 142, quintus Lollius Urbicus, governor of Roman Britain at the time, initially supervised the effort, which took about twelve years to complete. The wall stretches 63 kilometres from Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire on the Firth of Clyde to Carriden near Boness on the Firth of Forth, the wall was intended to extend Roman territory and dominance by replacing Hadrians Wall 160 kilometres to the south, as the frontier of Britannia. The Romans called the north of the wall Caledonia, though in some contexts the term may refer to the whole area north of Hadrians Wall. The Antonine Wall was shorter than Hadrians Wall and built of turf on a stone rather than of stone. The stone foundations and wing walls of the original forts demonstrate that the plan was to build a stone wall similar to Hadrians Wall. As built, the wall was typically a bank, about four metres high, made of layered turves and occasionally earth with a ditch on the north side. The Romans initially planned to build forts every 10 kilometres, but this was revised to every 3.3 kilometres. The best preserved but also one of the smallest forts is Rough Castle Fort
9.
Hadrian's Wall
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It had a stone base and a stone wall. There were milecastles with two turrets in between, there was a fort about every five Roman miles. From north to south, the wall comprised a ditch, wall, military way and vallum and it is thought the milecastles were staffed with static garrisons, whereas the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry. In addition to the defensive military role, its gates may have been customs posts. A significant portion of the wall still stands and can be followed on foot along the adjoining Hadrians Wall Path, the largest Roman artefact anywhere, it runs a total of 73 miles in northern England. Regarded as a British cultural icon, Hadrians Wall is one of Britains major ancient tourist attractions and it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is a misconception that Hadrians Wall marks the boundary between England and Scotland. In fact Hadrians Wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the Anglo-Scottish border, while it is less than 1 kilometre south of the border with Scotland in the west at Bowness-on-Solway, in the east it is as much as 110 kilometres away. Hadrians Wall was 80 Roman miles or 117.5 km long, its width and height varied according to the materials available nearby.5 metres high. These dimensions do not include the walls ditches, berms and forts, the central section measured eight Roman feet wide on a 3 m base. Some parts of section of the wall survive to a height of 3 m. Immediately south of the wall, a ditch was dug, with adjoining parallel mounds. This is known today as the Vallum, even though the word Vallum in Latin is the origin of the English word wall, in many places – for example Limestone Corner – the Vallum is better preserved than the wall, which has been robbed of much of its stone. The A69 and B6318 roads follow the course of the wall from Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, although the curtain wall ends near Bowness-on-Solway, this does not mark the end of the line of defensive structures. The system of milecastles and turrets is known to have continued along the Cumbria coast as far as Risehow, for classification purposes, the milecastles west of Bowness-on-Solway are referred to as Milefortlets. Hadrians Wall was probably planned before Hadrians visit to Britain in AD122, according to restored sandstone fragments found in Jarrow which date from 118 or 119, it was Hadrians wish to keep intact the empire, which had been imposed on him via divine instruction. The fragments then announce the building of the wall and it is entirely possible that, on his arrival in Britain in 122, one of the stops on his itinerary was the northern frontier to inspect the progress of the building of the wall. Theories have been presented by historians, mostly of an expression of Roman power and these troubles may have influenced Hadrians plan to construct the wall as well as his construction of limites in other areas of the Empire, but to what extent is unknown
10.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 695–696.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
