Romans at War: The Roman Military in the Republic and Empire

Product Information

On top of all this, Rome was more or less in a continuous state of war or readiness for it and believed absolutely in the necessity of defending and imposing on others what she firmly believed was her cultural superiority. From the Augustan period only emperors could enjoy a triumph but, in any case, the practice became much less frequent. BC Siege of Eudaemon - The supporting Roman fleet, after crossing the Gulf of Aqaba, occupied and sacked the port of Aden, securing the Roman merchant route to India in Red Sea.

Rome's armed forces were the state's largest single expense but the captured territory, resources, wealth and slaves and the later necessity for frontier defence meant that war was an unavoidable Roman preoccupation. Gnaeus Julius Agricola's planned invasion of Hibernia – Aborted Roman attempt of conquest Ireland due to other priorities. The largest unit in the Roman army was the legion of 4,200 men divided into 30 divisions or maniples which were now each deployed in three lines ( hastati, principes, and triarii who were the veterans) arranged as in a checkerboard ( quincunx).In 144 BC, Viriathus formed a league against Rome with several Celtiberian tribes [133] and persuaded them to rise against Rome too, in the Second Numantine War.

Following the First Punic War, naval battles were less significant than land battles to the military history of Rome due to its encompassment of lands of the periphery and its unchallenged dominance of the Mediterranean Sea. Effectively dominating the Italian peninsula, [85] and with a proven international military reputation, [86] Rome now began to look to expand from the Italian mainland.It brings together emerging and established scholars in the area of Roman military studies to engage with subjects such as the relationship between warfare and economic and demographic regimes; the interplay of war, aristocratic politics, and state formation; and the complex role the military played in the integration of Italy. The defenders threw everything they could down on the attackers such as burning oil, burning pieces of wood and rocks and they could also try to undermine the siege ramps and towers by tunnelling, a technique the attackers might also employ to undermine the defensive walls. Battle of Toulouse – Visigoths led by Theodoric I defeat Romans under General Litorius, who is killed.