Roman Warfare and Fortification
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Legionary Philip Matyszak
LEGIONARY PHILIP MATYSZAK LEGIONARY The Roman Soldier’s (Unofficial) Manual With 92 illustrations To John Radford, Gunther Maser and the others from 5 Group, Mrewa. Contents Philip Matyszak has a doctorate in Roman history from St John’s College, I Joining the Roman Army 6 Oxford, and is the author of Chronicle of the Roman Republic, The Enemies of Rome, The Sons of Caesar, Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day and Ancient Athens on Five Drachmas a Day. He teaches an e-learning course in Ancient II The Prospective Recruit’s History for the Institute of Continuing Education at Cambridge University. Good Legion Guide 16 III Alternative Military Careers 33 HALF-TITLE Legionary’s dagger and sheath. Daggers are used for repairing tent cords, sorting out boot hobnails and general legionary maintenance, and consequently see much more use than a sword. IV Legionary Kit and Equipment 52 TITLE PAGE Trajan addresses troops after battle. A Roman general tries to be near the front lines in a fight so that he can personally comment afterwards on feats of heroism (or shirking). V Training, Discipline and Ranks 78 VI People Who Will Want to Kill You 94 First published in the United Kingdom in 2009 by Thames & Hudson Ltd, 181a High Holborn, London wc1v 7qx VII Life in Camp 115 First paperback edition published in 2018 Legionary © 2009 and 2018 Thames & Hudson Ltd, London VIII On Campaign 128 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording IX How to Storm a City 149 or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. -
ROMAN REPUBLICAN CAVALRY TACTICS in the 3Rd-2Nd
ACTA MARISIENSIS. SERIA HISTORIA Vol. 2 (2020) ISSN (Print) 2668-9545 ISSN (Online) 2668-9715 DOI: 10.2478/amsh-2020-0008 “BELLATOR EQUUS”. ROMAN REPUBLICAN CAVALRY TACTICS IN THE 3rd-2nd CENTURIES BC Fábián István Abstact One of the most interesting periods in the history of the Roman cavalry were the Punic wars. Many historians believe that during these conflicts the ill fame of the Roman cavalry was founded but, as it can be observed it was not the determination that lacked. The main issue is the presence of the political factor who decided in the main battles of this conflict. The present paper has as aim to outline a few aspects of how the Roman mid-republican cavalry met these odds and how they tried to incline the balance in their favor. Keywords: Republic; cavalry; Hannibal; battle; tactics The main role of a well performing cavalry is to disrupt an infantry formation and harm the enemy’s cavalry units. From this perspective the Roman cavalry, especially the middle Republican one, performed well by employing tactics “if not uniquely Roman, were quite distinct from the normal tactics of many other ancient Mediterranean cavalry forces. The Roman predilection to shock actions against infantry may have been shared by some contemporary cavalry forces, but their preference for stationary hand-to-hand or dismounted combat against enemy cavalry was almost unique to them”.1 The main problem is that there are no major sources concerning this period except for Polibyus and Titus Livius. The first may come as more reliable for two reasons: he used first-hand information from the witnesses of the conflicts between 220-167 and ”furthermore Polybius’ account is particularly valuable because he had serves as hypparch in Achaea and clearly had interest and aptitude in analyzing military affairs”2. -
American Armies and Battlefields in Europe 533
Chapter xv MISCELLANEOUS HE American Battle Monuments The size or type of the map illustrating Commission was created by Con- any particular operation in no way indi- Tgress in 1923. In carrying out its cates the importance of the operation; task of commeroorating the services of the clearness was the only governing factor. American forces in Europe during the The 1, 200,000 maps at the ends of W or ld W ar the Commission erected a ppro- Chapters II, III, IV and V have been priate memorials abroad, improved the placed there with the idea that while the eight military cemeteries there and in this tourist is reading the text or following the volume records the vital part American tour of a chapter he will keep the map at soldiers and sailors played in bringing the the end unfolded, available for reference. war to an early and successful conclusion. As a general rule, only the locations of Ail dates which appear in this book are headquarters of corps and divisions from inclusive. For instance, when a period which active operations were directed is stated as November 7-9 it includes more than three days are mentioned in ail three days, i. e., November 7, 8 and 9. the text. Those who desire more com- The date giYen for the relief in the plete information on the subject can find front Jine of one division by another is it in the two volumes published officially that when the command of the sector by the Historical Section, Army W ar passed to the division entering the line. -
Aus: Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik 103 (1994) 223–228
MICHAEL F. PAVKOVIČ SINGULARES LEGATI LEGIONIS: GUARDS OF A LEGIONARY LEGATE OR A PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR? aus: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 103 (1994) 223–228 © Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn 223 SINGULARES LEGATI LEGIONIS: GUARDS OF A LEGIONARY LEGATE OR A PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR? In a recent article Dr. N.B.Rankov discusses the famous inscription of Ti.Claudius Maximus from the village of Grammeni near Philippi in Macedonia. Rankov pays particular attention to the rank of singularis legati legionis, interpreted by Prof. M.P.Speidel in his commentary as a guardsman of the legionary commander. Rankov is likewise concerned with the implications that can be drawn from the existence of such guards for the legionary legates.1 The substance of Rankov's argument is that mention of singulares legati legionis does not mean that Claudius Maximus was a bodyguard of the legate in his capacity as legionary commander but rather that the legate was at the time serving as a temporary governor for the province of Moesia.2 Rankov's hypothesis rests on two basic assumptions. The first is that there were extraordinary circumstances which caused the legate to be raised temporarily to the rank of governor. He places this unusual situation in the year A.D. 85 when the Dacians invaded the province and killed the consular governor, Oppius Sabinus.3 Rankov then argues that the governor's death meant heavy casualties amongst his guards, the singulares, which in turn necessitated the formation of a new guard unit for the acting governor. Claudius Maximus was chosen for service in the new guard, but the legionary legate was only an ad hoc governor, retaining his rank, and hence Maximus is styled singularis legati legionis.4 This leads us to Rankov's second premise, which concerns those officers with the right to singulares. -
Earthwork Management at Petersburg National Battlefield
Earthwork Management at Petersburg National Battlefield Dave Shockley Chief, Resource Management Petersburg National Battlefield June, 2000 ******************************************************************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS ******************************************************************************************** Acknowledgments…….………………………… i Foreword………………………………………... ii Introduction…………………………………….. iii Map of Petersburg National Battlefield…… iv I. Historical Significance A. Earthworks……………………………………….………………………………… 1 B. Archeological Components………………………………………………………... 2 II. Inventory of Existing Earthworks A. Definitions of Earthworks………………………………………………………..… 3 B. Prominent Earthen Structures…..…………………………………………………... 4 C. Engineers Drawings and Current GPS Maps ……………………………………… 6 III. Management Objective……………………….………………………………………….. 23 IV. Conditions/Impacts Affecting Earthworks A. Preservation of Structures and Features………………………………………….… 24 B. Interpretive Values……………………………………………………………….… 33 C. Sustainability……………………………………………………………………..… 34 D. Visitor Accessibility………………………………………………………………... 35 E. Safe Environment…………………………………………………………………... 36 F. Non-historic Resources…………………………………………………………….. 37 G. Additional Issues…………………………………………………………………….38 V. Fundamentals for Earthwork Management at Petersburg National Battlefield A. Tree Removal……………………………………………………………………… 39 B. Erosion Control……………………………………………………………………. 39 C. Seed Selection……………………………………………………………………… 39 D. Hydroseeding…………………………………………………………………….… -
A Historical Assessment of Amphibious Operations from 1941 to the Present
CRM D0006297.A2/ Final July 2002 Charting the Pathway to OMFTS: A Historical Assessment of Amphibious Operations From 1941 to the Present Carter A. Malkasian 4825 Mark Center Drive • Alexandria, Virginia 22311-1850 Approved for distribution: July 2002 c.. Expedit'onaryyystems & Support Team Integrated Systems and Operations Division This document represents the best opinion of CNA at the time of issue. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Department of the Navy. Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited. Specific authority: N0014-00-D-0700. For copies of this document call: CNA Document Control and Distribution Section at 703-824-2123. Copyright 0 2002 The CNA Corporation Contents Summary . 1 Introduction . 5 Methodology . 6 The U.S. Marine Corps’ new concept for forcible entry . 9 What is the purpose of amphibious warfare? . 15 Amphibious warfare and the strategic level of war . 15 Amphibious warfare and the operational level of war . 17 Historical changes in amphibious warfare . 19 Amphibious warfare in World War II . 19 The strategic environment . 19 Operational doctrine development and refinement . 21 World War II assault and area denial tactics. 26 Amphibious warfare during the Cold War . 28 Changes to the strategic context . 29 New operational approaches to amphibious warfare . 33 Cold war assault and area denial tactics . 35 Amphibious warfare, 1983–2002 . 42 Changes in the strategic, operational, and tactical context of warfare. 42 Post-cold war amphibious tactics . 44 Conclusion . 46 Key factors in the success of OMFTS. 49 Operational pause . 49 The causes of operational pause . 49 i Overcoming enemy resistance and the supply buildup. -
Semi-Historical Arms and Armor the Following Are Some Notes About The
Semi-Historical Arms and Armor The following are some notes about the weapons and armor tables in D&D 5th edition, as they pertain to their relationship to modern understandings of historical arms and armor. In general, 5th edition is far more accurate to ancient and medieval sources regarding these topics than prior editions, but for the sake of balance and ease of play without the onerous restrictions of reality, there are still some expected incongruences. This article attempts to explain some particular facets about the use of arms and armor throughout our long, shared history, and to offer some suggestions (imbalanced as they may be) on how such items would have been used in particular times and places. A note on generalities: One of the best things 5th edition offers in these tables is the generalization of particular weapons and armor compared to prior editions. Is there a significant, functional difference between a half-sword, arming sword, backsword, wakizashi, tulwar, or any other various forms of predominately one-handed pokey and slashy things with 13 inch, sometimes 14 or 20 or even 30 inch blades? Well, actually yes, but that level of discrimination is often not noticeable in the granularity of the combat mechanics of most systems, and, more importantly, how modern readers often distinguish them is often anachronistic. For instance, almost all straight sword-like weapons, be it arming swords, half-swords, back swords, longswords or even great swords like claymores (but not Messers!) are referred to in ancient and medieval texts (MS I.33, Liberi, etc) as… swords. -
Ad Pirum (Hrušica) in Claustra Alpium Iuliarum
Vestnik XXVI AD PIRUM (HrušicA) IN CLAUSTRA ALPIUM IULIARUM Peter Kos Vestnik XXVI AD PIRUM (HrušicA) IN CLAUSTRA ALPIUM IULIARUM Peter Kos Ad Pirum (Hrušica) in Claustra Alpium Iuliarum 5 Izdajatelj – partner projekta Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije Peter Kos: AD PIRUM (HRUŠICA) IN CLAUSTRA ALPIUM IULIARUM Vsebina Za izdajatelja: Jelka Pirkovič Uvod 7 Urednica zbirke: Zgodovina raziskovanj 7 Biserka Ribnikar Vasle Urednik: Obrambni sistem Claustra Alpium Iuliarum 13 Peter Kos Redaktor: Umestitev zapornega sistema Claustra Alpium Iuliarum 14 Marko Stokin Recenzija: Arhitektura zapor 15 Janka Istenič Zaporni zidovi 20 Jezikovni pregled: Kamniti oporniki 21 Alenka Kobler Stolpi 22 Oblikovanje: Vratni stolpi 25 Nuit, d. o. o. V zaporne zidove vgrajene manjše trdnjave 26 Naslovnica: Tloris cisterne v sondah XX in XXII (Arhiv AONMS) Trdnjava na Lanišču 26 Trdnjava pod Brstom pri Martinj Hribu 27 Ljubljana, 2014 Kronološka vprašanja gradnje zapornega sistema 32 Funkcija zapornega sistema Claustra Alpium Iuliarum 35 Publikacija je sofinancirana v okviru Programa čezmejnega sodelovanja Slovenija-Italija 2007–2013 iz sred¬stev Evropskega sklada za regionalni razvoj in iz nacionalnih sredstev. Zgodovinski viri 37 Vsebina publikacije ne odraža nujno uradnega stališča Evropske unije. Hrušica 41 Za vsebino publikacije je odgovoren izključno avtor. Hrušica v antičnih virih 41 © ZVKDS in Peter Kos, 2014. Vse pravice pridržane. Trdnjava 42 Brez pisnega dovoljenja založnika in avtorja je prepovedano reproduciranje, distribuiranje, javna priobčitev, -
The Late Roman Army Free
FREE THE LATE ROMAN ARMY PDF Gabriele Esposito | 150 pages | 07 Jul 2016 | Winged Hussar Publishing | 9780996365796 | English | United States Roman army of the late Republic - Wikipedia By Steven Wills. It offers significant lessons in how not to manage the army of a great power. Cutting the retirement benefits of a small professional force in favor of smaller taxes for the elite and greater benefits for the masses served only to weaken the desire of Roman citizens to serve. When the Roman citizenry would not join in the numbers required to protect the Empire, Roman elites turned to conscription, which produced only disgruntled recruits, and mass recruitment of barbarian tribes such as the Goths, Visigoths and The Late Roman Army. These tribesmen could be paid less and did not require expansive pensions as an incentive to serve. These three mistakes in the management of the late Roman Imperial Army should serve as a powerful warning to American elites seeking inexpensive solutions to the maintenance of American military power. While some military The Late Roman Army can always be reduced, a great power that seeks very low-cost solutions does so at its own peril. The Roman Army began providing pensions to retiring soldiers during the fall of the Roman Republic in the late first century B. These promises often included financial The Late Roman Army, exemption from taxes and grants of land from captured enemy territory. Augustus reduced the Roman Army to a voluntary, professional force of approximatelyactive duty soldiers and a similar The Late Roman Army of auxiliary troops. -
Hungarian Archaeology E-Journal • 2018 Spring
HUNGARIAN ARCHAEOLOGY E-JOURNAL • 2018 SPRING www.hungarianarchaeology.hu PLUMBATA, THE ROMAN-STYLE DARTS. A Late Antique Weapon from Annamatia TAMÁS KESZI1 It is possible to view an unusual object in the display showing Roman military equipment at the permanent exhibit of the Intecisa Museum, a special weapon of the army in Late Antiquity, the plumbata.2 The meaning of the Latin word is ‘leaden’, but if the construction and use of the implement is taken into account it could be called a dart in English. With this ca. 50 cm long, hand-thrown weapon the heavy infantry could have begun to disrupt the diployment of the enemy from a distance. WRITTEN SOURCES The name and description of the projectile weapon called a plumbata in Latin is known from numerous sources from Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. (VERMAAT 2015) (Fig. 1) Fig. 1: Depiction of a plumbata tribolata and mamillata. The lead weight is missing from the latter (Source: http:// rekostwargames.blogspot.hu/2016/11/roman-unit-menapii-seniores.html, date of download: 19 April 2018) According to Flavius Vegetius Renatus, who lived in the Late Imperial period, the expert soldiers of two legions in Illyricum used the plumbata, and so they were called Mattiobarbuli (I 17. II 15. 16. 23. III 14. IV 21. 44.). The emperors Diocletian (284–305) and Maximian (286–305) honored the two units with the title Jovian and Herculean for their prowess. From Vegetius’s description it seems that the two units used the plumbata prior to Diocletian coming to power, but it is perhaps only after this, in the last decades of the 3rd century, that its use spread to the other units of the empire as well. -
The Military Reforms of Gaius Marius in Their Social, Economic, and Political Context by Michael C. Gambino August, 2015 Directo
The Military Reforms of Gaius Marius in their Social, Economic, and Political Context By Michael C. Gambino August, 2015 Director of Thesis: Dr. Frank Romer Major Department: History Abstract The goal of this thesis is, as the title affirms, to understand the military reforms of Gaius Marius in their broader societal context. In this thesis, after a brief introduction (Chap. I), Chap. II analyzes the Roman manipular army, its formation, policies, and armament. Chapter III examines Roman society, politics, and economics during the second century B.C.E., with emphasis on the concentration of power and wealth, the legislative programs of Ti. And C. Gracchus, and the Italian allies’ growing demand for citizenship. Chap. IV discusses Roman military expansion from the Second Punic War down to 100 B.C.E., focusing on Roman military and foreign policy blunders, missteps, and mistakes in Celtiberian Spain, along with Rome’s servile wars and the problem of the Cimbri and Teutones. Chap. V then contextualizes the life of Gaius Marius and his sense of military strategy, while Chap VI assesses Marius’s military reforms in his lifetime and their immediate aftermath in the time of Sulla. There are four appendices on the ancient literary sources (App. I), Marian consequences in the Late Republic (App. II), the significance of the legionary eagle standard as shown during the early principate (App. III), and a listing of the consular Caecilii Metelli in the second and early first centuries B.C.E. (App. IV). The Marian military reforms changed the army from a semi-professional citizen militia into a more professionalized army made up of extensively trained recruits who served for longer consecutive terms and were personally bound to their commanders. -
Religion: Christianity and Zoroastrianism
This page intentionally left blank ROME AND PERSIA IN LATE ANTIQUITY The foundation of the Sasanian Empire in ad 224 established a formidable new power on the Roman Empire’s Eastern frontier, and relations over the next four centuries proved turbulent. This book provides a chronological narrative of their relationship, supported by a substantial collection of translated sources illustrating important themes and structural patterns. The political goals of the two sides, their military confrontations and their diplomatic solutions are dis- cussed, as well as the common interests between the two powers. Special attention is given to the situation of Arabia and Armenia, to economic aspects, the protection of the frontiers, the religious life in both empires and the channels of communication between East and West. In its wide chronological scope, the study explores the role played by the Sasanians in the history of the ancient Near East. The book will prove invaluable for students and non-specialists interested in late antiquity and early Byzantium, and it will be equally useful for specialists on these subjects. beate dignas is Fellow and Tutorin Ancient History at Somerville College, Oxford. Her recent publications include Economy of the Sacred in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor (2002) and she has edited a forthcoming book Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Officials from Homer to Heliodorus. engelbert winter is Professor of Ancient History at the Uni- versity of Munster.¨ He has participated in numerous field surveys and excavations in Turkey and published many books and articles on Roman–Persian relations and the history and culture of Asia Minor.