Portal:Military of ancient Rome/Intro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Animation of the growth and decline of Rome throughout its history.

The Military of ancient Rome which was known to the Romans as the militia . The combined military forces of Ancient Rome from the founding of the city of Rome to the end of the Western Roman Empire. Originally consisting entirely of the land force, a small navy was added during the Second Samnite War.

The Roman military was an important part of the Roman state. Josephus describes the Roman people "as if born ready armed."^[1]. Its Campaign History stretched over 1100 years and saw Roman armies campaigning as far east as Mesopotamia, as far south as Africa and as far north as the British Isles.

Rome's achieving military dominance relates far less to technology than it does to the social order and the discipline of Roman Legions. This discipline lessened with the emergence of the empire, and this decline in Roman discipline essentially led to catastrophic defeats such as the Battle of Adrianople and various pyrrhic victories such as the Battle of Chalons, the only thing that kept the empire alive for a few more years after the fatal winter of 406 AD.

[edit] References