Serving In The Roman Army
Joining:
Only men served in the army and most joined when they were around 19 years old. Some men volunteered for the army in hope for adventure, in hope of rising to be an officer or in hope of getting a citizenship. The Roman Government occasionally forced men to join and, to avoid joining, some men cut off their thumbs so they couldn’t fight.
New Recruits:
New Recruits had a ferocious training regime so they became very fit & disciplined. In a battle, new recruits were placed in front of experienced legionnaires during a battle because:
- It will give them confidence to know that the experienced soldiers were behind them
- It was used to stop new recruits from running away when they became afraid
- That those in front had a higher risk of being killed, and the Roman Army couldn’t afford to lose the experienced soldiers
- In the view of the Roman empire, if new recruits survived a battle, they would gain experience and become a valuable addition to the army. If new recruits died due to lack of experience, their loss wasn’t too great.
Life As Legionnaires:
Once they were in the army, and had survived through a couple of battles, the soldiers joined a legion group. A legion group is a group of soldiers who lived and fought together. Within a legion group soldiers were divided into a tent group or contubernium, which was made up of several men who shared a tent and ate together. The men in a contubernium were basically friends for life. The reason for the men being friends is because that unless they were killed, a soldier would serve 25 years in the army with the same people. As most men joined at 19, they would be around 44 when they got out of the army. This was a long time to be serving, considering that most Roman men died in their 40-50’s, so soldiers were expected to spend most of their life in the army. Soldiers weren’t supposed to get married or have children, but most did anyway.
Only men served in the army and most joined when they were around 19 years old. Some men volunteered for the army in hope for adventure, in hope of rising to be an officer or in hope of getting a citizenship. The Roman Government occasionally forced men to join and, to avoid joining, some men cut off their thumbs so they couldn’t fight.
New Recruits:
New Recruits had a ferocious training regime so they became very fit & disciplined. In a battle, new recruits were placed in front of experienced legionnaires during a battle because:
- It will give them confidence to know that the experienced soldiers were behind them
- It was used to stop new recruits from running away when they became afraid
- That those in front had a higher risk of being killed, and the Roman Army couldn’t afford to lose the experienced soldiers
- In the view of the Roman empire, if new recruits survived a battle, they would gain experience and become a valuable addition to the army. If new recruits died due to lack of experience, their loss wasn’t too great.
Life As Legionnaires:
Once they were in the army, and had survived through a couple of battles, the soldiers joined a legion group. A legion group is a group of soldiers who lived and fought together. Within a legion group soldiers were divided into a tent group or contubernium, which was made up of several men who shared a tent and ate together. The men in a contubernium were basically friends for life. The reason for the men being friends is because that unless they were killed, a soldier would serve 25 years in the army with the same people. As most men joined at 19, they would be around 44 when they got out of the army. This was a long time to be serving, considering that most Roman men died in their 40-50’s, so soldiers were expected to spend most of their life in the army. Soldiers weren’t supposed to get married or have children, but most did anyway.
Roman Soldiers.