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Part 6 - Legionaries

A legionary typically wore a helmet and a chain-mail shirt weighing about 15 kg or the later lorica segmentata armour weighing about 10 kg (23 pound). He carried a gladius (short sword), a shield, and two pila (spears) and a frame with a 5 day supply of wheat or beans, a flask of oil and a mess kit with a dish, cup, and utensils, an oiled woolen cloak, socks and trousers and a blanket. He also carried a spade or pick-axe, a shallow wicker basket for moving earth, and two wooden staves to construct the next camp palisade.

The pilum (spear) was designed to be thrown just before the infantry clashed. It was about 2 m (6.5 feet) long and weighed between 2 and 5 kg (5 and 11 pound) and had a hard triangular pyramidal tip (capable of penetrating armour) but the shank was soft iron which bent on impact, rendering the weapon useless until it had been hammered straight. And, a pilum, embedded in a shield,  made the shield unusable.

The gladius was a short sword suitable for thrusting (stabbing), cutting and chopping. It was 60–85 cm (24–33 in) long with a blade length of 45–68 cm (18–27 in) and weighed up to 1 kg (2.2 lb).

Various scutum (shield) designs (oval, circular, rectangular and a semi-cylindrical shape designed to deflect missiles) made from laminated wood, were used throughout Roman history. Later designs had a metal boss and iron reinforced top and bottom edges.  When not in use the shields were protected by leather covers. 

During a four-month initial training period, legionaries were required to march 24 Roman miles (about 35 km or 22 miles) in five hours while loaded with 20 kilograms (45 lb) of equipment. Legionaries were trained to defend themselves behind their large shields (scuta) and to stab with their gladius (short sword). 

Practice began with a wooden gladius and throwing a wooden pila while in full armour. The wooden swords and pila were twice as heavy as metal weapons. Later the recruits progressed to sparring with wooden weapons a process similar to gladiator training. Finally the legionaries were taught to obey commands and manoeuvre in battle formations.

The soldier was then assigned to a legion which typically consisting of 4,800 soldiers, 60 centurions, 300 artillerymen, 100 engineers and artificers, and around 1,600 non-combatants, supported by 300 cavalry.

The legion was divided into ten cohorts, each split into three maniples which were further divided into two centuries of about 80 to 100 men each. The first cohort in a legion was usually the strongest with the most skilled men while the tenth cohort was made up with the least experienced.

Groups of eight men were sometimes assisted by a mule which carried equipment and supplies, including a mill for grinding grain, a small clay oven for baking bread, cooking pots, spare weapons, water bottles and tents. A Roman century (80 to 100 men) had 10 mules and two non-combatants for foraging and water supplies. A century might have several wagons, each drawn by six mules, carrying tools, nails, water barrels, extra food and the tent and possessions of the commanding centurion.

The supreme command of a legion was a consul or proconsul or a praetor. An army, of two or more legions, could be commanded only by a consul or sometimes a dictator. In the early republic, an army might have two different consuls holding office on alternate days but this was later changed to one supreme commander assisted by legati (officers of senatorial rank). Tribunes (young men of aristocratic rank) often supervised administrative tasks like camp construction. Centurions, equivalent in rank to today's junior officers, functioned as modern captains when in action, commanding cohorts, maniples and centuries.

The 300 artillerymen attached to each legion used 10 stone-throwing onagers and 20 bolt-shooting ballistas in addition to the 60 scorpion bolt throwers belonging to each of the legion's centuries. These, together with ammunition and spare parts, were carried on wagons. The bolts were used to targeted human opponents while onager stones were generally used against fortifications. The ballistas and onagers used twisted rope (made from animal sinews) tightened with levers or winches against a ratchet. The stored torsional energy was released to propel the missile. The scorpios were large cross bows that could be moved and fired by two or three men.

Roman logistics were among the best in the ancient world. Purchasing agents systematically bought provisions during a campaign, but supplies could also be augmented by stripping the fields of peasant farmers near a conflict. They also set up depots and delivered supplies to the legions, if necessary by renting ships when the legions were moved by water. Heavy equipment and material (tents, artillery, extra weapons and equipment, millstones etc.) were moved by pack animal and carts on Roman roads of a length and quality unequalled until modern times.