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179-621: The Cohors IV Tungrorum mill eq was an Auxiliary cohort of the Roman Army based in Abusina during the second century. It had a strength of 1040 soldiers. It was named for Civitas Tungrorum and by the rule of Antoninus Pius was stationed in Mauretania Tingitana where it is attested from an inscription of about 140 AD. The regiment having twice the soldiers of a standard quingenaria unit, and were mainly Raetians from Tungri . There

358-561: A cohors milliaria ). These were the mirror image of the double-strength first cohorts of legions also introduced at this time. Such units remained a minority of the Auxilia: in the mid-2nd century, they constituted 13% of units, containing 20% of total manpower. In 106 AD, emperor Trajan finally defeated the Dacian kingdom of Decebalus and annexed it as the Roman province of Dacia Traiana . By

537-473: A territorium of an average size of 370 km . The territorium would frequently consist of some of the defeated people's best agricultural land, since the social function of colonies was to satisfy the Romans' land-hungry peasantry. But the choice of site for a colonia was primarily dictated by strategic considerations. Coloniae were situated at key geographical points: the coasts (e.g. Antium , Ariminum ),

716-558: A Latin city-state. The most important use of this device was the incorporation of the Campanian city-states into the ager Romanus , bringing the most fertile agricultural land in the peninsula and a large population under Roman control. Also incorporated sine suffragio were several tribes on the fringes of Latium Vetus that had until that time been long-time enemies of Rome: the Aurunci, Volsci, Sabini and Aequi. (b) Alongside direct annexation,

895-422: A Roman citizen had the right to appeal to the emperor, was sent to Rome in chains for judgement by Nero. He was released by Nero's overthrower and successor, Galba , but the latter also disbanded the imperial bodyguard unit for their loyalty to Nero. This alienated several hundred crack Batavi troops, and indeed the whole Batavi nation who regarded it as a grave insult. At the same time, relations collapsed between

1074-498: A Roman force and exposing the Roman heartland of Italy to the fear of a rebel invasion. Augustus ordered Tiberius to break off operations in Germany and move his main army to Illyricum. When it became clear that even Tiberius' forces were insufficient, Augustus was obliged to raise a second task force under Tiberius' nephew Germanicus , resorting to the compulsory purchase and emancipation of thousands of slaves to find enough troops, for

1253-501: A Roman force sent against them. The Dalmatae were soon joined by the Breuci , another Illyrian tribe that supplied several auxiliary regiments. They gave battle to a second Roman force from Moesia . They lost, but inflicted heavy casualties. The rebels were now joined by a large number of other Illyrian tribes. The Dalmatae attacked the port of Salona and overran the Adriatic coast, defeating

1432-564: A Roman king were thus similar to those of Julius Caesar when he was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 44 BC, and indeed of the Roman emperors . According to Roman tradition, in 616 BC, an Etruscan named Lucumo from the town of Tarquinii , was elected king of Rome as Lucius Tarquinius Priscus . He was succeeded by his son-in-law, Servius Tullius , and then by his son, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus . The establishment of this Etruscan "dynasty" has led some dated historians to claim that late regal Rome

1611-586: A Roman, either of knightly rank, or a senior centurion . At the start of Augustus' sole rule (30 BC), the original core auxiliary units in the West were composed of warlike tribesmen from the Gallic provinces (especially Gallia Belgica , which then included the regions later separated to form the provinces Germania Inferior and Germania Superior ), and from the Balkan provinces ( Dalmatia and Illyricum ). By 19 BC,

1790-472: A colony, and accept the status of socii . This was in order that Latin colonies could act as "watchdogs" on the other socii in the allied military formations, the alae . The defeated state would be allowed to keep the rest of its territory in return for binding itself to Rome with an unequal foedus , one that would forge a state of perpetual military alliance with the Roman Republic. This would require

1969-544: A crucial role in both the Roman invasion in 43 AD and the subsequent subjugation of southern Britain. By 69, however, Civilis, the Batavi regiments and the Batavi people had become utterly disaffected with Rome. After the Batavi regiments were withdrawn from Britain to Italy in 66, Civilis and his brother (also a prefect) were arrested by the governor of Germania Inferior on a fabricated accusation of sedition. The governor ordered his brother's execution, while Civilis, who as

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2148-452: A huge ransom in gold to leave. The effects of this disaster on Roman power are a matter of controversy between scholars. The ancient authors emphasize the catastrophic nature of the damage, claiming that it took a long time for Rome to recover. Cornell, however, argues that the ancients greatly exaggerated the effects and cites the lack of archaeological evidence for major destruction, the early resumption of an aggressive expansionist policy and

2327-465: A prolonged period in a foreign province a regiment would become assimilated, since the majority of its new recruits would be drawn from the province in which it was stationed, or neighbouring provinces. Those same "British" units, mostly based on the Danube frontier, would by c. 150, after almost a century away from their home island, be largely composed of Illyrian, Thracian and Dacian recruits. However, there

2506-575: A regular basis: sagittarii (archers) from Crete , and funditores ( slingers ) from the Balearic Isles almost always accompanied Roman legions in campaigns all over the Mediterranean. The other main sources of non-Italian troops in the late Republic were subject provincials, allied cities and Rome's amici (satellite kings). During the late Republic, non-Italian units were led by their own native chiefs, and their internal organisation

2685-526: A technique for swimming across rivers wearing full armour and weapons. Julius Civilis ( lit.   ' Julius the Citizen ' , clearly a Latin name adopted on gaining Roman citizenship , not his native one) was a hereditary prince of the Batavi and the prefect of a Batavi cohort. A veteran of 25 years' service, he had distinguished himself by service in Britain, where he and the eight Batavi cohorts had played

2864-727: A total of 381 units and 225,000 effectives. The discrepancy between the two scholars is due to: (i) Interpretation of units with the same name and number, but attested in different provinces in the same period. Spaul tends to take a more cautious approach and to assume such are the same unit moving base frequently, while Holder tends to regard them as separate units which acquired the same number due to duplicated (or even triplicated) seriation. (ii) Assumptions about how many cohortes were equitatae . Spaul accepts only those cohortes specifically attested as equitatae i.e., about 40% of recorded units. Holder estimates that at least 70% of cohortes contained cavalry contingents by

3043-483: A variety of new names. Under Constantine I (r. 312–337) it appears that military units were classified into three grades based on strategic role and to some extent quality: palatini , elite units normally part of the exercitus praesentales (imperial escort armies); comitatenses , higher-grade interception forces based in frontier provinces; and limitanei , lower-grade border troops. (See Late Roman army ). The old Principate auxilia regiments provided

3222-483: A victim of its own success in forging a united nation out of the patchwork of ethnicities and states . The socii rebelled en masse , including many that had remained steadfast in the past, launching the Social War . But, unlike on previous occasions, their aim was to join the Roman state as equal citizens, not to secede from it. Although the socii were defeated on the battlefield, they gained their main demand. By

3401-462: A virtual replay of the previous century. There were wars against the same enemies except Veii (i.e. the Volsci, Aequi and Etruscans) in the same geographical area, and indeed against other Latin city-states, such as Praeneste and Tibur , just 30 miles away. In addition, a treaty concluded with Carthage c. 348 seems to describe Rome's sphere of control as much the same area as in a previous treaty signed in

3580-448: Is based on legend rather than written documentation, as the few written documents that did exist in the earlier period were mostly lost in the Gallic sack. There is a tendency among ancient authors to create anachronisms. For example, Rome's so-called " Servian Wall " was attributed to the legendary king Servius Tullius in c. 550 BC, but archaeology and a note in Livy himself show that the wall

3759-422: Is evidence that a few regiments at least continued to draw some recruits from their original home provinces in the 2nd century e.g. Batavi units stationed in Britain. The Flavian period also saw the first formation of large, double-size units, both infantry and cavalry, of a nominal strength of 1,000 men ( cohors/ala milliaria ), though they were actually mostly smaller (720 for an ala milliaria and 800 for

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3938-401: Is evident if one compares calculations by Spaul (2000) and Holder (2003): NOTE: Manpower figures exclude officers (centurions and decurions), which would have numbered about 3,500 men overall. In addition, Holder believes that a further 14 cohortes , which are attested under Trajan, immediately before Hadrian's rule, but not during or after it, probably continued in existence, giving

4117-404: Is generally regarded as mythical). It is also likely that there were several more kings than those preserved by tradition, given the long duration of the regal era (even if it did start in 625 rather than 753). The Roman monarchy, although an autocracy , did not resemble a medieval monarchy. It was not hereditary and based on "divine right", but elective and subject to the ultimate sovereignty of

4296-512: Is no evidence that the citizens-only rule for legions was also abolished at this time. The legions simply gained a much wider recruitment base, as they were now able to recruit any male free resident of the empire. Auxiliary units were now recruited mainly from Roman citizens, but probably continued to recruit non-citizen barbari from outside the Empire's borders. However, the citizens-only rule for legions appears to have been dropped some time during

4475-562: Is probably for reasons of military security. Classified as non-citizens, the Latins served in the allied alae , not the legions. There they could act as loyal "watchdogs" on potentially treacherous Italian socii , while the Romans/original Latins performed the same function in the legions on their sine suffragio colleagues. The post-338 Latin colonies comprised 2,500–6,000 adult male settlers (average 3,700) based on an urban centre with

4654-416: Is to be preferred, as 1,100 drachmae seems too high a figure for destitute individuals and it is likely that the Roman military would have made use of the manpower of this group. The table shows that the richest two property classes combined, the equites (knights, including the six centuriae probably reserved for patricians), together with the first property class, were allocated an absolute majority of

4833-424: The foedus Cassianum ("Treaty of Cassius", 493 BC) signed by the fledgling Roman republic with its neighbouring Latin city-states shortly after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy in 510 BC. This provided for mutual defence by the two parties on the basis of an equal contribution to the annual military levy, which was probably under Roman overall command. The terms of the treaty were probably more acceptable to

5012-496: The peregrini , free provincial subjects who did not hold Roman citizenship and constituted the vast majority of the population in the 1st and 2nd centuries (c. 90% in the early 1st century). In contrast to the legions, which only admitted Roman citizens , members of the Auxilia could be recruited from territories outside of Roman control. Reliance on the various contingents of non- Italic troops, especially cavalry, increased when

5191-658: The Bosnian mountains and excellent soldier material. Their territory formed part of the strategic province of Illyricum, recently expanded to include the territory of the Pannonii , Celticised Illyrian tribes based on the west bank of the Danube who were subjugated by Rome in 12–9 BC (the Bellum Pannonicum ). By the start of the Common Era, they were an important recruitment base for

5370-570: The Cantabrian and Asturian Wars were concluded, leading to the annexation of northern Hispania and Lusitania . Judging by the names of attested auxiliary regiments, these parts of the Iberian peninsula soon became a major source of recruits. Then the Danubian regions were annexed: Raetia (annexed 15 BC), Noricum (16 BC), Pannonia (9 BC) and Moesia (6 AD), becoming, with Illyricum,

5549-636: The Carthaginians , the Roman deficiency in cavalry numbers could be a serious liability, which in the Second Punic War (218–202 BC) resulted in crushing defeats. Hannibal 's major victories at the Trebia and at Cannae , were owed to his Spanish and Gallic heavy cavalry, which far outnumbered the Roman and Latin levies, and to his Numidians , light, fast cavalry which the Romans wholly lacked. The decisive Roman victory at Zama in 202 BC, which ended

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5728-657: The Latin War did not end until 338 BC. This demonstrates that the other Latin cities were as martial as Rome itself. Before pax Romana , the Etruscan city-states to the north existed, like the Latin states, in a state of "militarised anarchy", with chronic and fierce competition for territory and hegemony. The evidence is that every Etruscan city until 500 BC was sited on virtually impregnable hilltops and cliff edges. Despite these natural defences, they all acquired walls by 400. Etruscan culture

5907-648: The Roman Republic employed them in increasing numbers to support its legions after 200 BC. The Julio-Claudian period (27 BC–68 AD) saw the transformation of the Auxilia from motley levies to a standing corps with standardised structure, equipment and conditions of service. By the end of the period, there were no significant differences between legionaries and auxiliaries in terms of training and combat capability. Auxiliary regiments were often stationed in provinces other than that in which they were originally raised, for reasons of security and to foster

6086-434: The Roman Republic had attained its evolved structure, which remained essentially unchanged for three centuries. In theory, Rome's republican constitution was democratic, based on the principle of the sovereignty of the Roman people. It had also developed an elaborate set of checks and balances to prevent the excessive concentration of power. The two Consuls, together with other republican Magistrates, were elected annually by

6265-402: The Social War of 91–88 BC. The Italian forces were organised into alae (literally 'wings', because they were generally posted on the flanks of the Roman line of battle). An allied ala , commanded by three Roman praefecti sociorum , was similar or slightly larger in infantry size (4–5,000 men) to a legion, but contained a more substantial cavalry contingent: 900 horse, three times

6444-605: The Volturno river, annexing the territories of the Aurunci , Volsci , Sidicini and the Campanians themselves; and eastwards across the centre of the peninsula towards the Adriatic coast, incorporating the Hernici , Sabini , Aequi and Picentes . The years after the departure of Pyrrhus in 275 saw a further round of annexation, of substantial territories in southern Italy at the expense of

6623-503: The comitia e.g. in 326 BC. By the end of the Samnite Wars in 290, the Senate enjoyed complete control over virtually all aspects of political life: finance, war, diplomacy, public order and the state religion. The rise of the Senate's role was the inevitable consequence of the increasing complexity of the Roman state due to its expansion, which made government by short-term officers such as

6802-474: The iura Latina ("Latin rights") held by original Latins before their incorporation into the citizen body. In essence, these rights were similar to the civitates sine suffragio , except that the Latin colonists were technically not citizens, but peregrini ("foreigners"), although they could recover their citizenship by returning to Roman territory. The question arises as to why the Latin colonists were not simply accorded citizenship sine suffragio . The answer

6981-525: The pax Romana . Each socius' remaining territory was secure from aggression by neighbours. As warfare between socii was now prohibited, inter-social disputes were settled by negotiation or, ever more frequently, by Roman arbitration. The confederation also acted as the peninsula's defender against external invasion and domination. Gallic invasions from the North were, from 390 BC when the Senones destroyed Rome, seen as

7160-484: The socii population outnumbered the Romans by roughly two to one, but normally provided roughly the same number of troops to the confederate levy. During the Samnite Wars, the burden on Romans was extremely onerous. The standard levy was raised from two to four legions and military operations took place every single year. This implies that c. 16% of all Roman adult males spent every campaigning season under arms in this period, rising to 25% during emergencies. Nevertheless,

7339-438: The socii were allowed to share the spoils of war, the main remuneration of Republican levy soldiers (since pay was minimal), on an equal basis with Roman citizens. This allowed socii soldiers to return home at the end of each campaigning season with substantial capital and was important in reconciling the socii to service outside Italy, especially in the second century BC. The Italian allies enjoyed complete autonomy outside

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7518-474: The 1970s suggests that Rome did not assume the characteristics of a united city-state (as opposed to a group of separate hilltop settlements) before around 625. The same evidence, however, has also conclusively discredited A. Alfoldi 's once-fashionable theory that Rome was an insignificant settlement until c. 500 (and that, consequently, the Republic was not established before c. 450). There is now no doubt that Rome

7697-421: The 2nd century, some units with the new names numerus ('group') and vexillatio ('detachment') appear in the diploma record. Their size is uncertain, but was likely smaller than the regular alae and cohortes , as originally they were probably detachments from the latter, acquiring independent status after long-term separation. As these units are mentioned in diplomas, they were presumably part of

7876-457: The 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and, in addition, provided almost all of the Roman army's cavalry (especially light cavalry and archers ) and more specialised troops. The auxilia thus represented three-fifths of Rome's regular land forces at that time. Like their legionary counterparts, auxiliary recruits were mostly volunteers, not conscripts. The Auxilia were mainly recruited from

8055-627: The 3rd century, as by the 4th-century Romans and barbarians are found serving together in all units. In the mid to late 3rd century, the army was afflicted by a combination of military disasters and of pestilence, the so-called Crisis of the Third Century . In 251–271, Gaul, the Alpine regions and Italy, the Balkans and the East were simultaneously overrun by Alamanni, Sarmatians, Goths and Persians respectively. At

8234-413: The 4th century, it has been estimated that some 25% of regular army recruits were barbarian-born. In the elite palatini regiments, anywhere between a third and a half of recruits may have been barbarian. This is likely a much greater proportion of foreigners than joined the auxilia in the 1st and 2nd centuries. In the 3rd century, a small number of regular auxiliary units appear in the record that, for

8413-475: The 4th century: the Notitia Dignitatum , a key document on the late Roman army , lists a large number of regular units with barbarian names. In the 4th century, the Roman army underwent a radical restructuring. In the rule of Diocletian (284–305), the traditional Principate formations of legiones , alae and cohortes appear to have been broken up into smaller units, many of which bore

8592-550: The Auxilia thus amounted to c. 125,000 men, implying c. 250 auxiliary regiments. During the early Julio-Claudian period, many auxiliary regiments raised in frontier provinces were stationed in or near their home provinces, except during periods of major crises such as the Cantabrian Wars , when they were deployed temporarily in theatre. This carried the obvious risk if their own tribe or ethnic group rebelled against Rome (or attacked

8771-524: The Balkans. Despite the fact that the alliance was no longer acting defensively, there was virtually no protest from the socii , most likely because the latter benefited equally in the enormous amounts of war booty yielded by these campaigns. But, beneath the surface, resentment was building among the socii about their second-class status as peregrini i.e. non-citizens (except for the Latin colonists, who could regain their citizenship by moving to Roman territory). The Roman military confederation now became

8950-406: The Batavi by attempting to conscript more Batavi than the maximum stipulated in their treaty. The brutality and corruption of the Roman recruiting-centurions (including incidents of sexual assault on Batavi young men) brought already deep discontent in the Batavi homeland to the boil. Civilis now led his people in open revolt. Initially, he claimed he was supporting the bid for power of Vespasian ,

9129-607: The Batavi cohorts and the legion to which they had been attached since the invasion of Britain 25 years earlier ( XIV Gemina ). Their mutual hatred erupted in open fighting on at least two occasions. At this juncture, the Roman empire was convulsed by its first major civil war since the Battle of Actium exactly a century earlier: the Year of the Four Emperors (69–70 AD). The governor of Germania Inferior, ordered to raise more troops, outraged

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9308-811: The Batavi', because surrounded by branches of the Rhine), part of the Roman province of Germania Inferior . They were a warlike people, skilled horsemen, boatmen and swimmers. In return for the unusual privilege of exemption from tributum (direct taxes on land and heads normally exacted from peregrini ), they supplied a disproportionate number of recruits to the Julio-Claudian auxilia: one ala and eight cohortes . They also provided most of Augustus' elite personal bodyguard unit (the Germani corpore custodes ), which continued in service until 68 AD. The Batavi auxilia amounted to about 5,000 men, implying that during

9487-614: The Censors), and were thus freed from control by the Consuls. In the period following the Lex Ovinia , the Consuls were gradually reduced to executive servants of the Senate. The concentration of power in the hands of the Senate is exemplified by its assumption of the power of prorogatio , the extension of the imperium (mandate) of Consuls and other Magistrates beyond its single year. It appears that prorogatio could previously be granted only by

9666-546: The Civilis revolt and then embarked on the governorship of the island. The great majority of regiments probably founded in the 1st century were stationed away from their province of origin in the second e.g. of 13 British regiments recorded in the mid-2nd century, none were stationed in Britain. Furthermore, it appears that in the Flavian era native noblemen were no longer permitted to command auxiliary units from their own tribe. After

9845-429: The Consuls and by plebiscite impractical. The Senate's monopoly of power in turn entrenched the political supremacy of the wealthiest echelon. The 300 members of the Senate were mostly a narrow, self-perpetuating clique of ex-Consuls ( consulares ) and other ex-Magistrates, virtually all members of the wealthy classes. Within this elite, charismatic personalities, who might challenge senatorial supremacy by allying with

10024-577: The First Property Class. In the rare event of a majority not being attained, the Second Class was called, but it was hardly ever necessary to consult the lowest classes." Also in its legislative capacity, the popular assembly offered little scope for democratic action. For this purpose, the comitia could only meet when summoned by a Magistrate. Participants could only vote (by centuria ) for or against propositions ( rogationes ) put before them by

10203-458: The Great , were Romanised Illyrians from the provinces of Dalmatia , Moesia Superior and Pannonia . These were members of a military aristocracy, outstanding soldiers who saved the empire from collapse in the turbulent late 3rd century. Significant development of the Auxilia appears to have taken place during the rule of the emperor Claudius (41–54 AD). A minimum term of service of 25 years

10382-621: The Illyrians went on, alongside their neighbours the Thracians, to become the backbone of the Roman army. By the 2nd century, with roughly half the Roman army deployed on the Danube frontier, the auxilia and legions alike were dominated by Illyrian recruits. In the 3rd century, Illyrians largely replaced Italians in the senior officer echelons of praefecti of auxiliary regiments and tribuni militum of legions. Finally, from AD 268 to 379, virtually all emperors, including Diocletian and Constantine

10561-617: The Latins than the previous type of Roman hegemony, that of the Tarquin kings , as the latter had probably required the payment of tribute and not a simple military obligation. In the fourth century BC, the original Latins were mostly granted Roman citizenship. But the terms of the foedus was extended to about 150 other tribes and city-states. When a state was defeated, a part of its territory would be annexed by Rome to provide land for Roman/Latin colonists. The latter, although Roman citizens, were required to give up their citizen rights on joining

10740-566: The League's territory was split into three independent cantons: Samnium, Hirpinum and Caudium. A broad belt of Samnite territory was annexed, separating the Samnites from their neighbours to the north - the Marsi and Paeligni . Two Latin colonies were founded in the heart of Samnite territory to act as "watchdogs". The final feature of Roman hegemony was the construction of a number of paved highways all over

10919-530: The Lucani and Bruttii. The Bruttii lost large forest lands, whose timber was needed to build ships and the Lucani lost their most fertile land, the coastal plain on which the Latin colony of Paestum was established in 273. In the North, the Romans annexed the ager Gallicus , a large stretch of plain on the Adriatic coast from the Senones Gallic tribe, with a Latin colony at Ariminum in 268. By 264, Rome controlled

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11098-475: The Orders , against the patrician monopoly of power. The plebeian leadership had the advantage that they represented the vast majority of the population, therefore also the majority of the Roman levy and of their own growing wealth. Milestones in their ultimately successful struggle are the establishment of a plebeian assembly (the concilium plebis ) with some legislative power and to elect officers called tribunes of

11277-512: The Principate's most important source of auxiliary recruits for its entire duration. In the East, where the Syrians already provided the bulk of the Roman army's archers, Augustus annexed Galatia (25 BC) and Judaea : the former, a region in central Anatolia with a Celtic-speaking people, became an important source of recruits. In N. Africa, Egypt, Cyrene , and Numidia (25 BC) were added to

11456-399: The Republic were made up of part-time conscripts in units that would be raised and disbanded for and after particular campaigns. The Augustan Auxilia were mainly volunteer professionals serving in permanent units. The unit structure of the Auxilia also differed from the Latin alae , which were like legions with a larger cavalry arm. However, Augustus organised the Auxilia into regiments

11635-625: The Rhine joined his cause. Several other German and Gallic units sent against him deserted, as the revolt spread to the rest of Gallia Belgica , including the Tungri, Lingones and Treviri tribes. He was able to destroy the two remaining legions in Germania Inferior, ( V Alaudae and XV Primigenia ). By this stage, Rome's entire position on the Rhine and even in Gaul was imperiled. Their civil war over,

11814-531: The Roman citizenry (male citizens over 14 years old only) voting by centuria (voting constituency) at the comitia centuriata (electoral assembly), held each year on the Field of Mars in Rome. The popular assemblies also had the right to promulgate laws ( leges ). The Consuls, who combined both civil and military functions, had equal authority and the right to veto each other's decisions. The main policy-making institution,

11993-623: The Roman commanders and their rank-and-file soldiers were divided by loyalty to rival emperors. Civilis quickly won the support of the Batavi's neighbours and kinsmen, the Cananefates , who in turn won over the Frisii . First the rebel allies captured two Roman forts in their territory, and a cohort of Tungri defected to Civilis. Then two legions sent against Civilis were defeated when their companion Batavi ala defected to his side. The Classis Germanica (Rhine flotilla), largely manned by Batavi,

12172-494: The Roman frontier from outside the Empire), auxiliary troops could be tempted to make common cause with them. The Romans would then be faced by an enemy that included units fully equipped and trained by themselves, thus losing their usual tactical advantages over tribal foes. The German leader Arminius is the classic example at an individual level: after several years of serving in Rome's forces as prefect of an auxiliary unit, he used

12351-457: The Roman military alliance is misleading, as it implies some form of common political structure. Instead, there were no federal political institutions, and indeed not even formal procedures for effective consultation. Any socius that wished to make representations about policy could do so only by dispatching an ad hoc delegation to the Roman Senate . Military and foreign policy lay entirely in

12530-454: The Romans mustered a huge task force of eight legions (five dispatched from Italy, two from Spain and one from Britain) to deal with Civilis. Its commander Petillius Cerialis had to fight two difficult battles, at Trier and Xanten , before he could overrun the Batavi's homeland. Tacitus' surviving narrative breaks off as he describes a meeting on an island in the Rhine delta between Civilis and Cerialis to discuss peace terms. We do not know

12709-527: The Romans were relatively generous to their defeated foes, a further reason for their success. A good case-study of how the Romans employed sophisticated divide-and-rule strategies in order to control potentially dangerous enemies is the political settlement imposed on the Samnites after three gruelling wars. The central aim was to prevent a restoration of the Samnite League, a confederation of these warlike tribes which had proved hugely dangerous. After 275 BC,

12888-542: The Samnites remained implacable enemies of Rome, seizing every opportunity to throw off the Roman yoke. They rebelled and joined both Pyrrhus and Hannibal when these invaded Italy (275 and 218 BC respectively). In the Social War (91–88 BC) , the Samnites were the core of the rebel coalition, and Samnite generals led the Italian forces. The southern Greek city of Taras ( Tarentum ) had been founded by colonists from Sparta . They retained some of their founders' martial culture. With

13067-502: The Second Punic War). The Roman polity exhibited, in the words of T. J. Cornell, an historian of early Rome, "the classic symptoms of oligarchy , a system of government that depends on rotation of office within a competitive elite, and the suppression of charismatic individuals by peer-group pressure, usually exercised by a council of elders." Because of the poverty of the sources, only the bare outline of Rome's external relations in

13246-473: The Senate from the Consuls to the Censors , two new Magistrates elected at 5-yearly intervals, whose specific job was to hold a census of Roman citizens and their property. The Lex Ovinia set specific criteria for such appointments or removals (although these are not precisely known). The result was that the Senate now became a formal constitutional entity. Its members now held office for life (or until expelled by

13425-481: The Senate, was an unelected body composed mostly of Roman aristocrats but its decrees could not contravene leges , and motions in the Senate could be vetoed by any one of 10 tribunes of the plebs , elected by the concilium plebis , an assembly restricted to plebeian members only. The tribunes could also veto decisions made by the Consuls. But these constitutional arrangements were far less democratic than they might appear, as elections were rigged heavily in favour of

13604-562: The addition of five new legions (27,500 men) to a Principate peak of 33. A matching number of auxilia (i.e. c. 50 regiments, although only the names of around 25–30 have survived in the epigraphic record) were probably added, possibly reaching a peak of c. 440 regiments and around 250,000 effectives by the end of Septimius Severus 's rule (211 AD). The likely growth of the Roman auxilia may be summarised as follows: NOTE: Regular land forces only. Excludes citizen-militias, barbarian foederati , and Roman navy effectives During

13783-458: The ally to "have the same friends and enemies as Rome", effectively prohibiting war against other socii and surrendering foreign policy to Rome. Beyond this, the central, and in most cases sole, obligation on the ally was to contribute to the confederate army, on demand, a number of fully equipped troops up to a specified maximum each year, to serve under Roman command. The Roman confederation had fully evolved by 264 BC and remained for 200 years

13962-574: The auxilia. But discontent was festering among the Illyrian tribes, largely due to what they saw as the rapacity of Roman tax officials. In AD 6, several regiments of Dalmatae , a warlike Illyrian tribe, were ordered to report to a designated location to prepare to join Augustus' stepson and senior military commander Tiberius in a war against the Germans. Instead, they mutinied at the assembly point, and defeated

14141-770: The basis for units at all three grades. The Notitia Dignitatum lists about 70 alae and cohortes that retained their 2nd-century names, mostly limitanei . But traces of other auxilia regiments can be found in the praesentales and comitatenses armies. For example, many of the new-style auxilia palatina infantry regiments, considered among the best units in the army, were probably formed from old-style auxiliary cohortes , which they appear to closely resemble. Roman military confederation The socii ( English: / ˈ s oʊ ʃ i aɪ / SOH -shee-eye ) or foederati ( English: / ˌ f ɛ d ə ˈ r eɪ t aɪ / FED -ə- RAY -ty ) were confederates of Rome and formed one of

14320-402: The basis of the Roman military structure . From 338 to 88 BC, Roman legions were invariably accompanied on campaign by roughly the same numbers of confederated troops organised into two units called alae (literally "wings", as confederated troops would always be posted on the flanks of the Roman battle-line, with the Roman legions holding the centre). 75% of a normal consular army's cavalry

14499-553: The best natural harbour in Italy and a fertile hinterland, it was faced from the start with fierce competition from the other Greek colonies and resistance from the indigenous Messapii , an Illyrian -speaking people that occupied what the Romans called Calabria (the heel of Italy). By around 350 BC, the Tarentine statesman Archytas had established the city's hegemony over both sets of rivals. The city's army of 30,000 foot and 4,000 cavalry

14678-477: The building of the "Servian" Wall as evidence that Rome recovered swiftly. The Wall, whose 11 km-circuit enclosed 427 hectares (an increase of 50% over the Tarquinian city) was a massive project which would have required an estimated five million man-hours to complete, implying plentiful financial and labour resources. Against this, Eckstein argues that the history of Rome in the 50 years subsequent to 390 appears

14857-529: The centre of the Italian peninsula was driven by the strategic aim of separating the Etruscans from the Samnites and interdicting a potential coalition of these powerful nations. (c) However, the Romans generally did not annex the whole of the conquered enemy territory, but only selected portions. The defeated peoples generally retained the major part of their territory and their political autonomy. Their sovereignty

15036-420: The centuriate property thresholds, did not exist until then. But this argument is regarded as weak by some historians, as Livy may simply have converted older values). Despite this, the broad trends of early Roman history as related by the ancient authors are reasonably accurate. According to Roman legend, Rome was founded by Romulus in 753 BC. However, the vast amount of archaeological evidence uncovered since

15215-467: The city in 396. Although the annexation of Veii's territory probably increased the ager Romanus by c. 65%, this seems a modest gain for a century of warfare. At this juncture, Rome was crushed by an invasion of central Italy by the Senones Gallic tribe. Routed at the river Allia in 390 BC, the Roman army fled to Veii, leaving their city at the mercy of the Gauls, who proceeded to ransack it and then demand

15394-465: The command of three decuriones . Cohortes equitatae were infantry cohortes with a cavalry contingent of four turmae attached. Auxiliary regiments were now led by a praefectus (prefect), who could be either a native nobleman, who would probably be granted Roman citizenship for the purpose (e.g. the famous German war leader Arminius gained Roman citizenship probably by serving as an auxiliary prefect before turning against Rome); or

15573-423: The commoners, were neutralised by various devices, such as the virtual abolition of "iteration", the re-election of consuls for several successive terms, a practice common before 300 BC. (In the period from 366 to 291, eight individuals held the consulship four or more times, while from 289 to 255, none did, and few were even elected twice. Iteration was temporarily resorted to again during the emergency conditions of

15752-554: The constant threat of aggression from their neighbours that had existed in the anarchic centuries prior to the imposition of the pax Romana . In addition, the Roman alliance protected the Italian peninsula from external invasion, such as the periodic and devastating incursions of Gauls from the Po Valley . Although no longer in control of war and foreign policy, each socius remained otherwise fully autonomous, with its own laws , system of government , coinage and language . Moreover,

15931-512: The convening Magistrate. No amendments or motions from the floor were admissible. In modern terms, the legislative activity of the comitia amounted to no more than a series of referendums , and in no sense resembled the role of a parliament . Further, the period of the Samnite wars saw the emergence of the Senate as the predominant political organ at Rome. In the early Republic, the Senate had been an ad hoc advisory council whose members served at

16110-411: The deaths of 80 senators in the battle, a proposal was put forward that the vacancies should be filled by leaders of the Latin colonies. It was indignantly rejected quasi-unanimously. Livy adds that a similar proposal had been made previously by the Latin colonists themselves, with the same result. The Roman consular army brought together both Roman and socii units. For the 250 years between 338 BC and

16289-501: The defeat of Pyrrhus in 275 BC, the Greek city-states of the South were accepted as Roman allies without any loss of territory regardless of whether they had backed Pyrrhus. This was due to the Romans' admiration of Greek culture and the fact that most of the cities contained pro-Roman aristocracies whose interests coincided with the Romans'. By the brutal standards of pre-hegemonic Italy, therefore,

16468-459: The early 2nd century. Even according to the more conservative estimate, the auxilia were by this time significantly larger than the legions, which contained c. 155,000 effectives (28 legions of 5,500 men each) at this time, of which just 3,360 were cavalry. (For a detailed breakdown, see section 4: Auxilia deployment in the 2nd century , below). During the second half of the 2nd century, the Roman army underwent considerable further expansion, with

16647-402: The early period can be reliably discerned. It appears likely that Rome in the period 550–500, conventionally known as the period it was ruled by the Tarquin dynasty, established its hegemony over its Latin neighbours. The fall of the Roman monarchy was followed by a war with the Latins, who probably took advantage of the political turmoil in Rome to attempt to regain their independence. This war

16826-473: The empire. Numidia (modern day Eastern Algeria) was home to the Numidians/Moors, the ancestors of today's Berber people . Their light cavalry ( equites Maurorum ) was highly prized and had alternately fought and assisted the Romans for well over two centuries: they now started to be recruited into the regular Auxilia. Even more Mauri units were formed after the annexation of Mauretania (NW Algeria, Morocco),

17005-568: The end of the war in 87 BC, all inhabitants of peninsular Italy had been granted the right to apply for Roman citizenship. The Romans themselves used the term "Latin" loosely, and this can be confusing. The term was used to describe what were actually three distinct groups: In this article, to avoid confusion, only group (1) will be referred to as "Latins". Group (2) will be called "Latin colonies or colonists" and group (3) will be referred to as "Italian confederates". Socii will refer to groups (2) and (3) combined. The Italian peninsula at this time

17184-514: The entire Italian peninsula, either directly as Roman territory or indirectly through the socii . The prevailing explanation for this explosive expansion, as proposed in W. V. Harris' War and Imperialism in Republican Rome (1979), is that the Roman state was an exceptionally martial society, whose every class from the aristocracy downwards was militarised and whose economy was based on the spoils of annual warfare. Rome's neighbouring peoples, on

17363-519: The entire Julio-Claudian period, over 50% of all Batavi males reaching military age (16 years) may have enlisted in the auxilia. Thus the Batavi, although just 0.05% of the total population of the empire of c. 70 million in 23 AD, supplied about 4% of the total auxilia i.e. 80 times their proportionate share. They were regarded by the Romans as the very best ( fortissimi , validissimi ) of their auxiliary, and indeed all, their forces. In Roman service, both their cavalry and infantry had perfected

17542-416: The equal division of spoils of war (half to Rome, half to the other Latins) and provisions to regulate trade between the parties. In addition, the treaty may have provided for the Latin armed forces levied under the treaty to be led by a Roman commander. These terms served as the basic template for Rome's treaties with all the other Italian socii acquired over the succeeding two centuries. As we do not know

17721-514: The establishment of a democracy, but of a patrician-dominated oligarchy . The proverbial "arrogance" and "tyranny" of the Tarquins, epitomised by the Lucretia incident, is probably a reflection of the patricians' fear of the Tarquins' growing power and their erosion of patrician privilege, most likely by drawing support from the plebeians (commoners). To ensure patrician supremacy, the autocratic power of

17900-413: The existing inhabitants; (b) the foundation of Latin colonies on territory confiscated from defeated peoples; and (c) the binding of defeated peoples to Rome by treaties of perpetual alliance. (a) Since the inhabitants of Latium Vetus were the Romans' fellow-tribesmen, there was no reluctance to grant them full citizenship. But annexations outside Latium Vetus soon gathered pace. The Romans then encountered

18079-425: The exits to mountain passes ( Alba Fucens ), major road intersections ( Venusia ) and river fords ( Interamna ). Also colonies would be sited to provide a defensive barrier between Rome and her allies and potential enemies, as well as to separate those enemies from each other and keep watch on their activity: a divide-and-rule strategy. Thus Rome's string of colonies and eventual annexation of a belt of territory across

18258-469: The fields of military and foreign policy. They maintained their traditional forms of government, language, laws, taxation and coinage. None were even required to accept a Roman garrison on their territory (except for the special cases of the Greek cities of Tarentum , Metapontum and Rhegium ) at the start of the Second Punic War). Thus the costs and benefits of membership of the confederation were finely balanced. For some socii , at some periods, primarily

18437-455: The first time since the aftermath of the Battle of Cannae over two centuries earlier. The Romans had now deployed no less than 15 legions and an equivalent number of auxilia. This amounts to a total of c. 150,000 men, including at least 50 auxiliary cohorts composed, exceptionally, of Roman citizens. These were men whose status or background was regarded by Augustus as unsuitable for recruitment into

18616-460: The first time, bear the names of barbarian tribes from outside the empire e.g. the ala I Sarmatarum attested in 3rd-century Britain. This was probably an offshoot of the 5,500 surrendered Sarmatian horsemen posted on Hadrian's Wall by emperor Marcus Aurelius in c. 175. This unit may be an early example of a novel process whereby irregular units of barbari ( foederati ) were transformed into regular auxilia. This process intensified in

18795-653: The first years of the Republic 150 years earlier: just the Latium Vetus, and not even all of that. The 75-year period between 338 BC and the outbreak of the First Punic War in 264 saw an explosion of Roman expansion and the subjugation of the entire peninsula to Roman political hegemony, achieved by virtually incessant warfare. Roman territory ( ager Romanus ) grew enormously in size, from c. 5,500 to 27,000 km , c. 20% of peninsular Italy. The Roman citizen population nearly tripled, from c. 350,000 to c. 900,000, c. 30% of

18974-464: The general in command of the legions in Syria , whom Civilis had probably befriended when both were involved in the Roman invasion of Britain 25 years earlier (Vespasian was then commander of the legion II Augusta ). But the uprising soon became a bid for independence. Civilis exploited the fact that some legions were absent from the Rhine area due to the civil war, and the rest under-strength. In addition,

19153-573: The hands of the Roman executive authorities, the Consuls and the policy-making body, the Senate. There existed Italian precedents for a federal political structure e.g. the Latin League and the Samnite League . But the idea of sharing power with the Latin colonists, let alone the other socii , was anathema to the Roman senatorial elite. Livy relates how after Cannae, as the Senate ranks were depleted by

19332-553: The imperial throne, it was dangerous to leave provinces exclusively in the hands of auxiliary regiments recruited from the indigenous nation. During the Julio-Claudian period, auxiliary regiments had often been deployed away from their original home province. But in the Flavian period (69–96), this appears to have become standard policy. Thus in AD 70, five reconstituted Batavi regiments (one ala and four cohortes ) were transferred to Britain under Petillius Cerialis, who had suppressed

19511-645: The incursions of the Italic mountain tribes, but it was a very tough struggle. Intermittent wars, with mixed fortunes, continued until c. 395 BC. The Sabines disappear from the record in 449 (presumably subjugated by the Romans), while campaigns against the Aequi and Volsci seem to have reached a turning point with the major Roman victory on Mount Algidus in 431. In the same period, the Romans fought three wars against their nearest neighbouring Etruscan city-state, Veii , finally reducing

19690-488: The kings had to be fragmented and permanently curtailed. Thus, the replacement of a single ruler by a collegiate administration, which soon evolved into two Praetors , later called Consuls , with equal powers and limited terms of office (one year, instead of the life tenancy of the kings). In addition, power was further fragmented by the establishment of further collegiate offices, known to history as Roman magistrates : (three Aediles and four Quaestors ). Patrician supremacy

19869-402: The kings were overthrown c. 500 BC, probably as a result of a much more complex and bloody revolution than the simple drama of the rape of Lucretia related by Livy, and that they were replaced by some form of collegiate rule. It is likely that the revolution that overthrew the Roman monarchy was engineered by the patrician caste and that its aim was not, as rationalised later by ancient authors,

20048-469: The largest number of auxiliary regiments in any single province: about 60 out of about 400 (15%). By the rule of Nero (54–68), auxiliary numbers may have reached, by one estimate, about 200,000 men, implying about 400 regiments. The Batavi , a Germanic tribe, inhabited the region today known as Gelderland ( Netherlands ), in the Rhine river delta , then known as the Insula Batavorum ('Island of

20227-446: The latter's adherence to the Roman military alliance. The 19 Latin colonies founded in the period 338–263 outnumbered the Roman ones by four to one. This is because they involved a mixed Roman/original Latin/Italian allied population, and so could more easily attract the necessary number of settlers. But because of the mix, the settlers did not hold citizenship (the Romans among them lost their full citizenship). Instead, they were granted

20406-417: The legionary contingent. Since a pre-Social War consular army always contained an equal number of legions and alae , 75% of its cavalry was provided by the Latin allies. The overall cavalry element, c. 12% of the total force (2,400 out of a normal consular army of approximately 20,000 total effectives), was greater than in most peninsular Italian forces, but well below the overall 21% cavalry component that

20585-520: The legions, and became the core of the standing auxiliary forces that developed in the Julio-Claudian period . During the early part of Augustus' rule (27 BC onwards), the corps of regular Auxilia was created. It was clearly inspired by the Latin forces of the pre-Social War Republic, as a corps of non-citizen troops parallel to the legions. But there were fundamental differences, the same as between Republican and Augustan legions. The Latin forces of

20764-485: The legions: either natural-born citizens of the lowest category, including vagrants and convicted criminals, or the freed slaves (Roman law accorded citizenship to the freed slaves of Roman citizens). These special units were accorded the title civium Romanorum ('of Roman citizens'), or c.R. for short. After the Illyrian revolt, these cohorts remained in being and recruited non-citizens like other auxiliary units, but retained their prestigious c.R. title. In addition,

20943-412: The loss of freedom of action in foreign relations, heavy military obligations and a complete lack of say in how those military contributions were used. Against these, however, must be set the very important advantages of the system for the socii . By far the most important was the liberation of the socii from the perpetual intertribal warfare of the pre-hegemonic peninsula. Endemic chaos was replaced by

21122-407: The lowest social echelon (the proletarii , under 400 drachmae ), was allocated just 1 of the 193 centuriae , despite being probably the largest. As Livy himself puts it: "Thus every citizen was given the illusion of wielding power through the right to vote, but in reality the aristocracy remained in full control. For the centuriae of knights were summoned first to vote, and then the centuriae of

21301-657: The lowland areas by Italic mountain tribes in the period after 500 BC. The Sabines , Aequi and Volsci neighbours of Latium assailed the Latins, the Samnites invaded and subjugated the Greco-Etruscan cities of Campania, while the Messapii, Lucani and Bruttii in the South attacked the Greek coastal cities, crippling Tarentum and reducing the independent Greek cities on the Tyrrhenian coast to just Neapolis and Velia. The new Romano-Latin military alliance proved strong enough to repel

21480-431: The mid-2nd century, there were 44 auxiliary regiments stationed there, about 10% of the total auxilia. In Britain, there were 60. Together, these two provinces contained about a quarter of the total auxiliary regiments. There is considerable scholarly dispute about the precise size of the auxilia during the imperial era, even during the corp's best-documented period, the rule of Trajan's successor, Hadrian (117–138). This

21659-403: The military burden was only half that shouldered by Roman citizens, as the latter numbered only about half the population of the socii , but provided around half the total levies. Despite this, allied troops were allowed to share war booty on a 50–50 basis with Romans. The relationship between Rome and the Latin cities remained ambivalent, and many socii rebelled against the alliance whenever

21838-611: The military training and experience he had gained to lead a confederacy of German tribes against Rome, culminating in the destruction of three Roman legions in the Teutoberg Forest in 9 AD, and the abandonment of Augustus' strategy of annexing Germany as far as the Elbe river. (This strategy was never revived by later emperors). At a collective level, the risk was even greater, as the hugely dangerous Illyrian revolt proved. The central Illyrian tribes were tough and spartan shepherds of

22017-405: The more powerful or aggressive nations that could aspire to Italian hegemony themselves (Samnites, Capua, Tarentum), the costs appeared too high, and these repeatedly took the opportunity to rebel. Others, for whom the benefits of security from aggressive neighbours and external invaders outweighed the burdens, remained loyal. The modern term "Roman confederation" used by some historians to describe

22196-523: The most difficult conflict faced by Rome since the Punic Wars over two centuries earlier. Tiberius finally succeeded in quelling the revolt in 9 AD. This was apparently lucky timing for the Romans: that same year Arminius destroyed Varus ' three legions in Germany. The Roman high command had no doubt that Arminius would have formed a grand alliance with the Illyrians. Despite the gravity of this rebellion,

22375-420: The most serious danger and continued into the first century BC. Many were so large that they could only realistically be turned back by a common effort of all Italians, organised by the confederation. The Romans even coined a specific term for such a mobilisation: the tumultus Gallicus , an emergency levy of all able-bodied men, even men over 46 years of age (who were normally exempt from military service). During

22554-534: The nature of the Tarquinian hegemony over the Latins, we cannot tell how the terms of the Cassian treaty differed from those imposed by the Tarquins. But it is likely that Tarquin rule was more onerous, involving the payment of tribute, while the Republican terms simply involved a military alliance. The impetus to form such an alliance was probably provided by the acute insecurity caused by a phase of migration and invasion of

22733-449: The opportunity arose. The best opportunities were provided by the invasion of Italy by the Greek king Pyrrhus from 281 to 275 BC, and by the invasion of Italy by Carthaginian general Hannibal from 218 to 203 BC. During these invasions, many socii joined the invaders, mostly Oscan -speakers of southern Italy, most prominently the Samnite tribes, who were Rome's most implacable enemy. At

22912-529: The other hand, were seen as essentially passive victims who strove, ultimately unsuccessfully, to defend themselves against Roman aggression. More recently, however, Harris' theory of Roman "exceptionalism" has been challenged by A. M. Eckstein, who points out that Rome's neighbours were equally militaristic and aggressive and that Rome was just one competitor for territory and hegemony in a peninsula whose interstate relations were largely anarchic and lacking effective mechanisms for resolution of interstate disputes. It

23091-452: The outcome of this meeting or Civilis' ultimate fate. But, in view of his former friendship with Vespasian, who had already offered him a pardon, and the fact that the Romans still needed the Batavi levies, it is likely that the terms were lenient by Roman standards. Petilius Cerialis took a number of reconstituted Batavi units with him to Britain, and the Batavi regiments continued to serve with special distinction in Britain and elsewhere for

23270-443: The patricians. It was probably at this time (around 300 BC) that the population was divided, for the purposes of taxation and military service, into seven classes based on an assessment of their property. The two top classes, numerically the smallest, accorded themselves an absolute majority of the votes in the main electoral and legislative assembly. Oligarchy based on birth had been replaced by oligarchy based on wealth. By c. 300 BC,

23449-642: The peninsula, revolutionising communication and trade. The most famous and important was the Via Appia , from Rome to Brundisium via Campania (opened 312 BC). Others were the Via Salaria to Picenum , the Via Flaminia from Rome to Arretium (Arezzo), and the Via Cassia into Etruria. Incorporation into the Roman military confederation thus entailed significant burdens for the socius : the loss of substantial territory,

23628-403: The peninsula. Tough mountain-dwelling pastoralists, they are believed to have invented the manipular fighting unit adopted by the Romans. Like the Romans, their national symbol was a wolf, but a male wolf on the prowl, not a she-wolf suckling babies. All graves of male Samnites contain weapons. Livy several times describes the barbarity of their raids into Campania. Their military effectiveness

23807-462: The peninsula. This tripartite organisation lasted from the Roman expansion in Italy (509-264 BC) to the Social War (91–87 BC) , when all peninsular inhabitants south of the Po river were awarded Roman citizenship . Treaties known as foedus served as the basic template for Rome's settlement with the large array of tribes and city-states of the whole Italian peninsula . The confederacy had its origin in

23986-441: The peninsular population. Latin colonies probably comprised a further 10% of the peninsula (about 12,500 km ). The remaining 60% of the peninsula remained in the hands of other Italian socii who were, however, forced to accept Roman supremacy. The expansion phase started with the defeat of the Latin League (338 BC) and the annexation of most of Latium Vetus. Subsequently, the main thrusts of expansion were southwards towards

24165-543: The people. The king ( rex , from root-verb regere , literally means simply "ruler") was elected for life by the people's assembly (the comitia curiata originally), although there is strong evidence that the process was in practice controlled by the patricians, a hereditary aristocratic caste . Most kings were non-Romans brought in from abroad, doubtless as a neutral figure who could be seen as above patrician factions. Although blood relations could succeed, they were still required to submit to election. The position and powers of

24344-543: The pleasure of the Consuls. While no doubt influential as a group of friends and confidants of the Consuls, as well as experienced ex-Magistrates, the Senate had no formal or independent existence. Power rested with the Consuls, acting with the ratification of the comitia , a system described as "plebiscitary" by Cornell. This situation changed with the Lex Ovinia (promulgated sometime in the period from 339 to 318 BC), which transferred authority to appoint (and remove) members of

24523-538: The plebs , who had the power to veto Senatorial decrees (494); and the opening of the Consulship to plebeians (367). By 338, the privileges of the patricians had become largely ceremonial (such as the exclusive right to hold certain state priesthoods). But this does not imply a more democratic form of government. The wealthy plebeians who had led the "plebeian revolution" had no more intention of sharing real power with their poorer and far more numerous fellow-plebeians than did

24702-472: The problem that their new subjects could, if granted full Roman citizenship, outnumber original Latins in the citizen body, threatening Rome's ethnic and cultural integrity. The problem as solved by introducing civitas sine suffragio ("non-voting citizenship"), a second-class status which carried all the rights and obligations of full citizenship except the right to vote. By this device, the Roman republic could enlarge its territory without losing its character as

24881-409: The process of Romanization in the provinces. The regimental names of many auxiliary units persisted into the 4th century, but by then the units in question were different in size, structure, and quality from their predecessors. The mainstay of the Roman republic's war machine was the manipular legion , a heavy infantry unit suitable for close-quarter engagements on more or less any terrain, which

25060-471: The regular auxiliary organisation. But numeri was also a generic term used for barbarian units outside the regular auxilia. (see section 2.4 Irregular units , below). In 212, the constitutio Antoniniana (Antonine decree) of emperor Caracalla granted Roman citizenship to all the free inhabitants of the Empire ;– the peregrini  – thus abolishing their second-class status. But there

25239-474: The regular forces were assisted by a large number of allied troops from neighbouring Thrace deployed by their king Rhoemetalces I , a Roman amicus (puppet king). The Romans faced further reverses on the battlefield and a savage guerrilla war in the Bosnian mountains. It took them three years of hard fighting to quell the revolt, which was described by the Roman historian Suetonius , writing in c. AD 100, as

25418-549: The rest of the 1st century and beyond. Even as late as 395, units with the Batavi name, although long since composed of recruits from all over the empire, were still classified as elite palatini , e.g. the equites Batavi seniores (cavalry) and auxilium Batavi seniores (infantry). The revolt of the Batavi appears to have led to a significant change in the Roman government's policy on deployment of Auxilia. The revolt proved that in times of civil strife, when legions were far from their bases campaigning for rival claimants to

25597-505: The rest of the Berber homeland, in 44 AD by emperor Claudius (ruled 41–54). Recruitment was thus heavy throughout the Augustan period, with a steady increase in the number of units formed. By AD 23, the Roman historian Tacitus records that there were roughly the same numbers of auxiliaries in service as there were legionaries. Since at this time there were 25 legions of c. 5,000 men each,

25776-478: The role of native cavalry grew, that of Roman/Latin cavalry diminished. In the early 1st century BC, Roman cavalry was phased out altogether. After the Social War, the socii were all granted Roman citizenship, the Latin alae abolished, and the socii recruited into the legions. Furthermore, Roman equestrians were no longer required to perform cavalry service after this time. The late Republican legion

25955-415: The same social rank as most tribuni militum , (military tribunes, a legion's senior staff officers, all of whom only one, the tribunus laticlavius , was of the higher senatorial rank), probably indicates that auxilia now enjoyed greater prestige. Indigenous chiefs continued to command some auxiliary regiments, and were probably granted equestrian rank for the purpose. It is also likely that auxiliary pay

26134-575: The same time, however, many socii remained loyal, motivated primarily by antagonisms with neighbouring rebels. Even after Rome's disaster at the Battle of Cannae (216 BC), over half the socii (by population) did not defect and Rome's military alliance was ultimately victorious. In the century following the Second Punic War , Italy was rarely threatened by external invasion (save by the occasional Gallic or Germanic horde) and Rome and her allies embarked on aggressive expansion overseas, in Spain, Africa and

26313-533: The same time, the Roman army was struggling with the effects of a devastating pandemic, probably of smallpox : the Plague of Cyprian , which began in 251 and was still raging in 270, when it claimed the life of emperor Claudius II Gothicus . The evidence for an earlier pandemic, the Antonine Plague (also smallpox) indicates a mortality of 15–30% in the empire as a whole. The armies would likely have suffered deaths at

26492-406: The second rank in Roman society, after the senatorial order  – was relatively small. In addition, the legion lacked missile forces such as slingers and archers. Until 200 BC, the bulk of a Roman army's cavalry was provided by Rome's regular Italian allies ( socii ), commonly known as the "Latin" allies, which made up the Roman military confederation . This was Rome's defence system until

26671-425: The second vehicle of Roman expansion was the colonia (colony), both Roman and Latin. Under Roman law, the lands of a surrendering enemy ( dediticii ) became the property of the Roman state. Some would be allocated to the members of a new Roman or Latin colony. Some would be held as ager publicus (state-owned land) and rented out to Roman tenant-farmers. The rest would be returned to the defeated enemy in return for

26850-406: The size of cohorts (a tenth the size of legions), due to the much greater flexibility of the smaller unit size. Further, the regiments were of three types: ala (cavalry), cohors (peditata) (infantry) and cohors equitata (mixed cavalry/infantry). The evidence for the size of the Augustus' new units is not clear-cut, with our most precise evidence dating to the 2nd century, by which time

27029-422: The third century BC, the confederation successfully repulsed the invasion of Pyrrhus and of Hannibal, which threatened to subject the whole peninsula to Greek and Punic domination respectively. The last such levy was as late as 60 BC, on the eve of Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul itself. At the same time, the military burden on the socii , though heavy, amounted to only around half that on Roman citizens, since

27208-593: The three legal denominations in Roman Italy ( Italia ) along with the core Roman citizens ( Cives Romani ) and the extended Latini . The Latini , who were simultaneously special confederates ( Socii Latini ) and semi-citizens ( Cives Latini ), derived their name from the Italic people of which Rome was part (the Latins ) but did not coincide with the region of Latium in central Italy as they were located in colonies throughout

27387-410: The top end of the range, due to their close concentration of individuals and frequent movements across the empire. This probably led to a steep decline in military numbers, which only recovered at the end of the century under Diocletian (r. 284–305). The recruitment shortfall caused by the crisis seems to have led to recruitment of barbarians to the auxilia on a much greater scale than previously. By

27566-418: The two top property classes, which were also the smallest numerically, a result that is clearly nonsensical. Instead, the reform must date from much later, certainly after 400 BC and probably after 300. (Indeed, it has even been suggested that the centuriate organisation was not introduced before the Second Punic War and the currency reform of 211 BC. The sextantal as , the denomination used by Livy to define

27745-408: The unit strengths may have changed. Cohortes were likely modelled on legionary cohorts i.e. six centuriae of about 80 men each (total about 480 men). Alae were divided into turmae (squadrons) of 30 (or 32) men, each under a decurio (literally: 'leader of ten'). This title derives from the old Roman cavalry of the pre-Social War republic, in which each turma was under

27924-459: The votes (98 of 193 centuriae ), despite being a small minority of the population. Their precise proportion is unknown, but was most likely under 5% of the citizen-body. These classes supplied a legion's cavalry, just 6.6% of the unit's total effectives (300 of 4,500), which is probably greater than their proportionate share, as the lowest class was excluded from legionary service. Overall, votes were allocated in inverse proportion to population. Thus

28103-505: The war, owed much to the Numidian cavalry provided by king Massinissa , which outnumbered the Roman/Latin cavalry fielded by two to one. From then, Roman armies were always accompanied by large numbers of non-Italian cavalry: Numidian light cavalry and, later, Gallic heavy cavalry. For example, Caesar relied heavily on Gallic and German cavalry for his Conquest of Gaul (58–51 BC). As

28282-533: The wealthiest echelon of society. The centuriate organisation of the Roman citizen-body may be summarised as follows: N.B. An extra four centuriae were allocated to engineers, trumpeters et al., to make a total of 193 centuriae . There is a discrepancy in the minimum rating for legionary service between Polybius (400 drachmae ) and Livy (1,100). In addition, Polybius states that the proletarii were assigned to naval service while Livy simply states that they were exempt from military service. In both cases, Polybius

28461-475: Was a major city in the period from 625 to 500 BC, when it had an area of c. 285 hectares and an estimated population of 35,000. This made it the second-largest in Italy (after Tarentum) and about half the size of contemporary Athens (585 hectares, inc. Piraeus ). Also, few scholars today dispute that Rome was ruled by kings in its archaic period, although whether any of the seven names of kings preserved by tradition are historical remains uncertain (Romulus himself

28640-420: Was a patchwork of different ethnic groups, languages and cultures. These may be divided into the following broad nations: Ancient historians' accounts of the history of Rome before it was destroyed by the Gauls in 390 BC are regarded as highly unreliable by modern historians. Livy, the main surviving ancient source on the early period, himself admits that the earlier period is very obscure and that his own account

28819-446: Was a world of continuous struggle for survival, of terrores multi for the Romans, a phrase from Livy that Eckstein uses to describe the politico-military situation in the peninsula before the imposition of the pax Romana . The reasons for the Romans' ultimate triumph was their superior manpower and political and military organisation. Eckstein points out that it took 200 years of warfare for Rome to subdue just its Latin neighbours, as

28998-588: Was also a veteran unit . Inscription evidence tells us under Domitian the unit was also in Noricum and then later in Raetia , possibly at Faimingen . Auxilia The auxilia ( Latin: [au̯kˈs̠ɪlia] ; lit.   ' auxiliaries ' ) were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 27 BC. By

29177-450: Was assured by limiting eligibility to hold the republican offices to patricians only. The establishment of a hereditary oligarchy obviously excluded wealthy non-patricians from political power and it is this class that led plebeian opposition to the early Republican settlement. The early Republic (510–338 BC) saw a long and often bitter struggle for political equality, known as the Conflict of

29356-447: Was brought to an end in 493 BC by the conclusion of a treaty called Foedus Cassianum , which lay the foundations for the Roman military alliance. According to the sources, this was a bilateral treaty between the Romans and the Latins. It provided for a perpetual peace between the two parties; a defensive alliance by which the parties pledged mutual assistance in case of attack; a promise not to aid or allow passage to each other's enemies;

29535-402: Was built after the sack of Rome by the Gauls. Servius Tullius was also credited with the centuriate organisation of the Roman citizen body which again scholars agree cannot have been established by Servius in the form described by Livy in book I.43. His centuriae were supposedly designed to organise the military levy, but would have resulted in the majority of the total levy being raised from

29714-559: Was established, at the end of which the retiring auxiliary soldier, and all his children, were awarded Roman citizenship. This is deduced from the fact that the first known Roman military diplomas date from the time of Claudius. This was a folding bronze tablet engraved with the details of the soldier's service record, which he could use to prove his citizenship. Claudius also decreed that prefects of auxiliary regiments must all be of equestrian rank, thus excluding centurions from such commands. The fact that auxiliary commanders were now all of

29893-449: Was greatly enhanced by the formation of the Samnite League by the four Samnite tribal cantons (the Caudini, Hirpini, Caraceni and Pentri). This brought their forces under the unified command of a single general in times of crisis. It took the Romans three gruelling wars (the Samnite wars , 343–290 BC), during which they suffered many severe reverses, to subjugate the Samnites. Even after this,

30072-424: Was highly militaristic. Graves with weapons and armour were common and captured enemies were often offered as human sacrifice and their severed heads displayed in public, as happened to 300 Roman prisoners at Tarquinii in 358. It took the Romans a century and four wars (480–390) just to reduce Veii , a single neighbouring Etruscan city. To the South, the Samnites had a reputation for martial ferocity unrivalled in

30251-422: Was left to their own commanders. The units varied widely in dress, equipment, and weapons. They were normally raised for specific campaigns and often disbanded soon afterwards, in a similar manner to the earlier socii militia legions. It appears that not all indigenous units were disbanded at the end of the civil war period (31 BC). Some of the more experienced units were kept in existence to complement

30430-541: Was occupied by troops from Tarquinii militarily and culturally Etruscanised. But this theory has been dismissed as a myth by Cornell and other more modern historians, who point to the extensive evidence that Rome remained politically independent, as well as linguistically and culturally a Latin city. In relation to the army, the Cornell faction argue that the introduction of heavy infantry in the late regal era followed Greek, not Etruscan, models. In addition, it seems certain that

30609-402: Was only limited in the fields of military and foreign policy, by a treaty with Rome which often varied in detail but always required them to provide troops to serve under Roman command and to "have the same friends and enemies as Rome" (in effect prohibiting them from waging war on other socii and from conducting independent diplomacy). In some cases, no territory was annexed. For example, after

30788-475: Was probably adopted sometime during the Samnite Wars (343–290 BC). Despite its formidable strength, the legion had a number of deficiencies, especially a lack of cavalry. Around 200 BC, a legion of 4,200 infantry had a cavalry arm of only 300 horse (just 7% of the total force). This was because the class of citizens who could afford to pay for their own horse and equipment – the equestrian order ,

30967-415: Was seized by Civilis. Most importantly, the eight Batavi cohorts stationed at Mainz with XIV Gemina mutinied and joined him, defeating at Bonn a Roman force that attempted to block their return to their homeland. By now, Civilis commanded at least 12 regiments (6,000 men) of Roman-trained and equipped auxiliary troops, as well as a much larger number of tribal levies. A number of German tribes from beyond

31146-509: Was standardised at this time, but we only have estimates for the Julio-Claudian period. Auxiliary uniform, armour, weapons and equipment were probably standardised by the end of the Julio-Claudian period. Auxiliary equipment was broadly similar to that of the legions (see Section 2.1 below for possible differences in armour). By 68 AD, there was little difference between most auxiliary infantry and their legionary counterparts in equipment, training and fighting capability. The main difference

31325-444: Was supplied by the Italian socii . Although the socii provided around half the levies raised by Rome in any given year, they had no say in how those troops were used. Foreign policy and war were matters exclusively in the hands of the Roman consuls and the Roman Senate . Despite the loss of independence and heavy military obligations, the system provided substantial benefits for the socii . Most importantly, they were freed from

31504-458: Was that auxilia contained combat cavalry, both heavy and light, and other specialized units that legions lacked. Claudius annexed to the empire three regions that became important sources of auxiliary recruits: Britannia (43 AD), and the former client kingdoms of Mauretania (44) and Thracia (46). The latter became as important as Illyria as a source of auxiliary recruits, especially cavalry and archers. Britain in mid-2nd century contained

31683-581: Was then the largest in the peninsula. Tarentine cavalry was renowned for its quality and celebrated in the city's coins, which often showed youths on horseback placing wreaths over their mount's head. The Tarentines' most important cult was to Nike , the Greek goddess of Victory. A famous status of Nike which stood in the city centre was ultimately transferred to the Senate House in Rome by the emperor Augustus . The rise of Roman hegemony by three main means: (a) direct annexation of territory and incorporation of

31862-504: Was thus probably bereft of cavalry (a tiny cavalry force of 120 men was probably added back to the legion under Augustus ). By the outbreak of the Second Punic War, the Romans were remedying the legions' other deficiencies by using non-Italian specialised troops. Livy reports Hiero of Syracuse offering to supply Rome with archers and slingers in 217 BC. From 200 BC onwards, specialist troops were hired as mercenaries on

32041-508: Was typical of the Principate army (80,000 cavalry out of 380,000 total effectives in the early 2nd century). The Roman/Latin cavalry was sufficient while Rome was in conflict with other states in the mountainous Italian peninsula, which also disposed of limited cavalry resources. But, as Rome was confronted by external enemies that deployed far more powerful cavalry elements, such as the Gauls and

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