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Researched by Luke C. 2000-01 |
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Roman Warfare is the way the Ancient Romans fought in battle, and the
weapons they used in war. The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires
in the world. Rome itself is in Italy, but back when the Romans lived Rome
spread from Northern Gaul, to the end of the Egyptian kingdom.
The Romans used many different types of weapons in war. One type
of these weapons is hand held weapons. These include swords and Daggers.
The handles of these weapons were made of wood or metal. The only differences
between the two was the fact that swords were worn on the left, and daggers
were worn on the right, swords were much heavier, and the dagger was much,
much shorter.
Another type of weapon the Romans used was Siege weapons. Siege
weapons (Used in Siege warfare) were catapults. There were two types of
catapults the Romans used, Ongers and Ballistas. Ongers were funny looking
really, they had a large cup at the end of a long log, which was attached
to four stilts, which in turn were attached to a platform on wheels. Ongers
were manned by 4 to 5 men, and were used for taking out the Roman enemy’s
fort walls. To do this they needed to launch gigantic boulders in the cup
at the end of the long log. On the other hand Ballistas were crossbows
on to of four stilts that went down and plant themselves in a platform
on wheels. Instead of being manned by 4 to 5 men, the Ballista is manned
by two men. The first man loaded the Ballista while the other one fires
it. Ballistas were used to take out guards that were guarding the castle,
or fort. The Ballista launches spikes that can easily go through a person
ribcage. Occasionally the spike can be set on fire.
The third type of weapon that the Romans used were missiles.
The first "missile" weapon that your going to learn about is the Bow and
Arrow. The Bow and Arrow were used by archers in a Legion, which you will
learn about later. The Bow itself was a curved piece of wood with a string
tied from end to end. The Arrow though was a shaft of wood with feathers
on one end and on the other end it was a bronze or iron tip.
Finally, the last weapon in the Roman arsenal was "missiles".
One weapon in the "missiles" category is the pilum, or spear, which used
to be launched at the enemy, but later the Romans invented something that
launched farther, and penetrated the skin easier. The Javelin, replacement
for the pilum it was shorter, but much stronger and easier to launch. The
next weapon in the "missiles" category is the sling. The sling might just
be a piece of cloth that formed a pocket, but it launched rocks as far
as a javelin could be thrown. Slingers had to have extensive training in
order to launch a sling correctly. Slingers were like archers really, but
they weren't as important to an army.
The Romans didn't just use weapons in war, they also used armor.
The Romans believed that you couldn't win a war if you didn't have any
protection. The most important part of the body armor was the metal jackets,
backed with leather. The metal jackets themselves came in three sizes,
small, medium, and large. They also split down both sides of the ribs in
order to fit the suits over the warrior's body. The metal jackets themselves
were back with leather so the warriors would be more comfortable. Another
important type of armor the Romans used were metal helmets. These metal
helmets came with feathered tops, and without feathered tops. The helmets
with feathered tops were used for centurions, or other high ranks, but
helmets without feathered tops were used for lower ranks, such as infantry.
The third type of armor the Romans used were shields. Shields came in two
shapes, circular and arrow shaped. The two kinds of shields were different
in many ways, for example circular ones were used for handto hand combat,
while arrow shaped shields were used more for armor. One feature of the
arrow shaped shield was that it was used for the tortoise. The tortoise
was a strategy the Romans used; they would put their shields above their
heads while the other warriors put their shields in front of them and to
the sides, to form a "tortoise" shell.
The fourth type of weapon the Romans used for armor were groin guards.
These were long strips of leather that extended from the tunic. They were
weighted down by gold, or some other kind of metal at the end of the strips.
The fifth type of armor the Romans used was chain and leather mail. Chain
mail is many little chains interlinked so many times that you cannot penetrate
them. While leather mail is just a leather jacket that you wear under your
metal jacket. Finally, the last type of armor the Romans used was elbow
and knee guards.
The Romans were the biggest empire in the world (At that time);
they had this honor because they were organized when it came to war. They
organized their warriors into Legions. Legions started out as Contuberniums;
a Contubernium was assembled as eight men, and also called a tent group,
because eight men were assigned a tent. Then 10 Contubernium, which is
80 men, equaled 1 Century. Next, 2 Centuries, which is 160 men, equals
1 Maniple. Then again, 3 Maniples, which is 480 men, is one Cohort. Which
in turn 10 Cohorts equals 4,800 men and 1 Legion.
Since the Romans owned the biggest empire in the world, they
had to have some kind of transportation to get to where they were going.
So they came up with many different ways to get around. Such as the chariot,
the chariot was a cart with two wheels, one on either side of it; the driver
stood in it and held two reins that drove a horse connected to the chariot.
The horse was connected to the chariot by a special saddle that had latches
on either side of it; two square poles then attached to the chariot and
hooked into the latches on the horses saddle; this helped the driver to
control the horse.
Another way of travel the Romans discovered was to use nature
to take them where they needed to go. As with the horses that were used
for the Chariot, the Romans used elephants to ride on. Usually the Romans
only used the elephants to have their emperor ride on, but when one elephant
went wild in a gladiator fight the Romans realized that the elephants would
be great for war. The Romans started using elephants for carrying Centurions,
but later they let the elephants run wild on the battlefield and kill most
of the enemy’s infantry soldiers, so the Romans could win the fight with
less casualties.
Finally, the Romans found another way to travel other than land
they found the sea. The Romans invented the war boat. Their version of
the war boat was able to hold 600 active troops; it could also carry 250
extra sailors or slaves. Their war boat had two towers on the deck. These
two towers were used when the boats were under attack; the archers would
hide under the towers. They were also used for lookouts to stand on and
look for their destination. Their war boats had another feature to them;
they had a ramming device hooked to the ship beneath the water. This was
used to ram and sink other ships. The Romans didn’t just use offense in
a war they used defense, also. The Romans had main forts, but when they
were fighting in a war they used smaller camps. These camps were
found when the army went on long marches. At the end of the marches the
warriors would pick a square piece of land and then would dig trenches
around the edges of it. The dirt that was excavated out of the hole was
pile on the inside of the campsite as a barrier. Then, the Romans would
put thick wooden fences on top of this piled dirt. These wooden fences
were drenched in water so the enemies wouldn't set them alight in battle.
Sometimes the Romans would line the outside of the camp with pointed sticks
that would prevent soldiers from getting to close to the camp. Next they
would pitch tents in rows of ten on top of the square campsite. On each
end of the rows a Centurions tent was placed. These tents were one size
larger than the normal eight man tents. They were bigger because the Centurions
were highly respected, the warriors of the camp came to discuss things
with Centurions in these tents, and they stored extra weapons, body armor,
and many healing herbs for the doctor.
Some of the famous battles the Romans fought were fought only
miles from Rome itself. For example the battles of Punic wars against Carthage,
they were fought in three different battles, and only 100 or so miles from
Rome. The wars of Carthage were the first wars the Romans ever fought.
The first two wars were fought close to Rome, but the third war was more
like a chase after the Carthages to kill them in their retreat. Finally,
when all three wars were finished the Romans realized that they liked to
fight people, so they started on the rest of the world.
Probably, the most famous wars in Roman history were the wars against
the Celtic tribes. The Celtic tribes settled in southern Gaul. Northern
Gaul belonged to the Picts, and the Scottish, which fought with each other
until they met their southern neighbors and joined sides in order to destroy
them. The Celtics realized this and they tried to fend off the Picts and
Scots when the Romans came. The Romans were more strategic and had better
weapons than the Picts and Scots, so the Celtics weren't prepared for the
Romans attack. The Romans pinned the Celtics in and the Celts were forced
to move farther and farther up north. The Romans were used to fighting
on a dry battlefield. So when they fought the Celtic tribes they had to
marches through swamps as deep as their waists! Finally, a general from
up north told them how to walk easier without getting wet. He taught them
to use stilts. The local tribes couldn't fight back, until they learned
how to push the Romans over and make them stab themselves when they landed.
Then, when the Romans took over the Southern part of Gaul they let the
Celtic tribes live with them, and let their religion grow along side they’re
own as long as they didn’t rebel.
The Romans also fought their own warriors. Now this may seem impossible,
but many of the Romans warriors rebelled. The most famous war against their
warriors was against the Inceni tribe in Northern Gaul. The Inceni were
lead by Boudicca. Boudicca was a Celtic leader that one Roman writer described
her as, "A tall person that wore a tunic of red and white checkered cloth,
her eyes seemed to stab you, her cape was held with a golden brooch, and
her hair came down to her knees." The war against the Inceni tribe was
Boudicca’s last. That battle was fought with 10,000 Roman warriors, and
100,000 Celtic warriors. The Romans were very organized and had different
parts of the enemies’ soldiers selected for certain soldiers to attack.
The Celtic warriors just trampled around like they usually did. The result
was a great victory for the Romans. In the end Boudicca poisoned herself
and died.
The native Romans that lived hundreds of years ago will always be as
part of what we do today, because the Romans fascinate kids and adults
alike they will always remember them.
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