Evolution of the Legion & the Roman Army in Action

Question 1

What was warfare for Rome in the beginning?

Answer 1

A way of acquiring booty to enrich their culturally impoverished society

Question 2

When do we first have knowledge of the Roman army?

Answer 2

Not until the Etruscan rule in the 6th century - the origins of the Roman military system is lost in prehistory

Question 3

What formed the core of the Etrusco-Roman army?

Answer 3

Greek style phalanx

Question 4

What does a.u.c. (ab urbe condita) mean?

Answer 4

“From the foundation of the city of Rome”

Question 5

Who was Romulus?

Answer 5

Legendary founder of Rome; killed his brother Remus, etc. the city is named after Romulus

Question 6

Who was Servius Tullius?

Answer 6

Served in the period of kings and controlled the army in the 6th century

Question 7

What did Servius Tullius do?

Answer 7

He reorganized the Etrusco-Roman society into seven groups according to wealth:

1. the equites
2. the first class
3. the second class
4. the third class
5. the fourth class
6. the fifth class
7. capite censi

Question 8

Who were the equites?

Answer 8

The wealthiest group in Tullius’s division; they were grouped into 18 centuries and they formed the cavalry, supplying their own horses

Question 9

Who was the first class?

Answer 9

The second wealthiest group in Tullius’s division; they formed into 80 centuries of spearmen armed with helmet and italian shield

Question 10

Who was the second class?

Answer 10

The third group of Tullius’s division; were divided into 20 centuries of spearmen, armed with helmet, greaves and Italian shield

Question 11

Who was the third class?

Answer 11

The fourth group of Tullius’s division; also divided into 20 centuries of spearmen but were only armed with helmet and Italian shield

Question 12

Who was the fourth class?

Answer 12

The fifth group of Tullius’s division; also 20 centuries, were armed only with spears and Italian shields

Question 13

Who was the fifth class?

Answer 13

The sixth group of Tullius’s division; also 20 centuries, were armed only with slings and javelins

Question 14

Who were the capite censi?

Answer 14

The seventh and last group of Tullius’s division; literally a ‘headcount’ of all those with little or no property; they had no incentive to defend the state and were considered unfit to serve in the army

Question 15

When was the Period of Kings?

Answer 15

753-510 BC; earliest Roman army we hear of; Tullius’s reforms in mid-6th century; changes in 300s BC

Question 16

What was the Comitia Centuriata?

Answer 16

Ancient Roman military assembly that was instituted c.450 BC; it decided on war and peace, passed laws, elected consuls, praetors, and censors and considered appeals of capital convictions; included plebeians and patricians

Question 17

Who were the Proletarii?

Answer 17

Landless people too poor to serve in the army

Question 18

Who was Tarquinius Superbus?

Answer 18

The seventh and last king of Rome who flourished in 6th c BC (534-509 BC); son-in-law of Tullius, who Tarquinius supposedly murdered to establish an absolute despotism;

Question 19

Who was Brutus?

Answer 19

A senator who led a revolt against Tarquinius Superbus, because Tarquin’s son Sextus raped a noblewoman, Lucretia

Question 20

When did the monarchy in Rome end?

Answer 20

After the Tarquin family was expelled from Rome (509 BC)

Question 21

What were the Sabines, Aequi, and Volsci?

Answer 21

Hill tribes surrounding Rome; they threatened the plain of Latium after Porsenna’s conquest of Rome, due to overpopulation so they could acquire more land; the Latin League fought them off

Question 22

What was Veii?

Answer 22

An Etruscan city that Rome held a long siege against in 396 BC

Question 23

What came out of the siege on Veii?

Answer 23

It led to the army receiving pay (for compensation of their farms) and the phalanx was abandoned

Question 24

What was Latium?

Answer 24

West-central Italy, where the Latins sprung from Indo-European tribes; in 600 BC the Etruscans occupied Latium and settled in Rome; after Romans drove out Etruscans in 509, they left Latium in 475 BC

Question 25

What was the Latin League?

Answer 25

An alliance of Latin towns that formed when Etruscans came to power; Rome was a founding member of the alliance)

Question 26

What was the Battle of River Allia (390 BC)?

Answer 26

Latin army sent to repel the invaders (Celtic tribe, the Senones); they were cut to pieces on the banks of the Allia (17km north of Rome) and afterwards Rome was sacked; this was Rome’s most humiliating defeat

Question 27

What was the Roman phalanx?

Answer 27

Revamped from Greek style; Italian body shield (scutum) introduced; Italian style spearmen of the second class (hastati) were re-armed with heavy javelins (pila) and placed out ahead of the heavy armed spearmen of the first class

Question 28

What was a scutum?

Answer 28

Italian body shield that had reinforced metal rim at the top and bottom and curved resilient sides, and a spindle boss

Question 29

What was a pilum?

Answer 29

A heavy seven foot long javelin used by Roman legionaries

Question 30

What was a hasta?

Answer 30

A thrusting spear that was the basic weapon for the soldiers in a phalanx; the heavy infantry derived its name from this: hastati

Question 31

Who was Livy?

Answer 31

A historian that lived in the 300s

Question 32

What did Livy do?

Answer 32

He gave us one of the best accounts of the Latin-Roman army in 340 when Rome took command of the Latin League

Question 33

What was Livy’s account?

Answer 33

The Latin-Roman army consisted of three lines of heavy-armed infantry (the triarii, principes, and hastati), supported by troops who appear to be progressively lighter-armed (the rorarii, accensi, and leves)

Question 34

What were the 3 Samnite Wars?

Answer 34

343-290 BC - The Samnites had light-armed, fast moving armies that proved to be a formidable challenge for Rome; the Third war was the last desperate attempt of the Samnites to remain independent and the persuaded the Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls to join them

Question 35

Who was Pyrrhus?

Answer 35

King of Epirus, he was an overseas military general who crossed the Adriatic sea in 280 BC and landed in Italy with a Macedonian style phalanx & 20 elephants

Question 36

What did Pyrrhus do?

Answer 36

He inflicted some defeats on the Romans, but for all the tactical skill he had, was unable to win the war and was forced to withdraw

Question 37

What was Pyrrhus’s big defeat against the Romans?

Answer 37

Heraclea

Question 38

Who were the Carthaginians?

Answer 38

Cartharge, a maritime city on the coast of northern Africa, who Rome fought the Punic Wars against

Question 39

Who were the 2 consuls?

Answer 39

Two of the highest of the ordinary magistracies in the Roman Republic; the Consulship preserves regal power (after the fall of kings) in a qualified form; Consuls were nominated by the Senate and elected by the people in the Comitia Centuriata and held office for only a year; each consul had power to veto the other’s decisions; they were like heads of state and commanded over the army, convened and presided over the Senate + popular assemblies and executed their decrees and represented the state in foriegn affairs

Question 40

What were the 24 military tribunes?

Answer 40

Were originally infantry commanders and under the early republic there were six to a legion; tribunes commanded body guard units and auxiliary cohort