Tap to unmute
The Impressive Training and Recruitment of Rome’s Legions
Embed
- Published on Mar 26, 2023 veröffentlicht
- This video covers the process and philosophy of training and recruitment in the Early Roman Empire, with close reference to the writings of Vegetius' "de re militari".
I would greatly appreciate any support you would like to give this channel, as it will help me create more quality content for you in the future!
Patreon: www.patreon.com/FilaximHistoria
Media used in the video:
Total War: Rome II
(clip-share.net/channel/UC2Vw...)
Mods for ROME:
"Divide et Impera" (Part 1-4)
"Roman Legions for Divide et Impera"
Introduction (0:00)
Recruitment (0:55)
Desirable Feats (2:01)
Infantry training (3:37)
Cavalry training (9:15)
Passing the trial (10:48)
I hope you all enjoy this little stray away from my original series on the Legions. Due to the much appreciated interest from your side, I decided to make a smaller series about the way the Legions operated, to make sure we are all on the same page as I continue my main series. I'll be making a couple more of these kinds of videos in the future. As for now, the story of the 14th Legion is next!!
Ok.
the romans have been conquered by the muslims and had very strong generals in the past it would be cool if you made a video
According to the thumbnail, you start off ripped and train to be fat?
Thanks for this informative and entertaining video! As a scientific illustrator myself I would really appreciate if you could mention the artists of the original drawings and paintings where possible. We don't have a lobby like the music or games industry but it's still a lot of work that goes into this art.
An odd note on roman legionnaires that may also account for the crazy levels of stamina they exhibited in battle was the fact legionnaires in a block formation would be rotated in and out of the front rank at approximately 1 minute of combat so they stay consistently fresh and receive about a 7-minute breather before they were upfront again. This is also an impressive feat of coordination as maintaining a battle line while rotating men between the front and back ranks would have required intense displine.
And they marched thousands of miles just to get in a fight. If you aren't in shape, I bet carrying your gear and your butt a thousand miles will get you there.
HBO's Rome best show
@Hoàng Dũng Nguyễn okay so then it shouldn't be said they run as fast as a horse.
That's like saying I run as fast as a car... when the car is going 5 mph.
@J S 25-35 mph is a full gallop. Many cavalry formations charge at a trot (i.e. about 8 mph) to maintain cohesion, so it's possible for running light infantry to keep up. This does not mean his claim about Indians running as fast as horse is entirely correct, but it does mean such things CAN happen with certain tactics or situations.
@otuku cocker don't know who you heard that from. Horses average 25-35 mph.
The fastest recorded human sprint over a short distance was 27.5 mph. That's with modern sports science, diet and training and he was as fast as a slow horse for a very short amount of time.
Every legionarre was also part modern day construction worker. The days before battle, two warring bodies would often camp with sight distance of the other. It was extremely demoralizing for most Roman antagonists to wake, only to find rows of palisade with towers and other entrenchments built overnight, the siege of Alesia being an excellent example.
@rick lopez In a similar fashion yes, the Roman fish scale formation was derived from Greek Hoplite tactics
Did they fight like Spartans 🤔
There were modern construction workers hundreds of years ago????
Stop reviving old arguments, but a Roman legionnaire is far from a "modern" day construction worker, could be "ancient" but yeah.
@PlaneTruths tell me you’ve never worked construction without telling me. The average construction worker has a warrior mentality but also has to be smart and efficient or they will get buried in work. Let alone the mental monsters out there that do the best work the fastest, definitely a good analogy that you’re sleeping on.
As a former US Marine, I'm amazed at how similar modern military training is to ancient Roman military training. Not much has changed. In basic training, Marine recruits are first taught close order drill and formation. Then, the next 'phase' begins in which they are taught certain practical survival skills - such as swimming, sowing, first aid training, navigation (using a map and compass), etc. We are also issued our rifles in this 'phase' and taught how to properly operate it (though we are not yet allowed to fire live rounds). The final 'phase' of training was the actual combat training. Getting to *use* all these weapons you were only learning about before (now we got to fire live rounds); learning advanced infantry tactics and maneuvers, conducting combat exercises to practice these techniques, etc. We had to live in the forest pretending we were at war; digging and sleeping in fighting holes, eating nothing but MREs, getting only 1-2 hours of sleep a night, one team of recruits conducting mock patrols while opposing teams conduct mock ambushes, 'shooting' at each other with blank ammunition. The 10-20 mile forced march was also a common thing in Marine training, with each Marine recruit carrying nearly 100 lbs of gear too, just like ancient Roman troops.
It's very interesting to see that the modern US Marine Corps follows the same training program and 'curriculum' as ancient Roman military. I guess "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
- 'Phase' 1: The absolute basics. Such as formation, close order drill, physical fitness.
- 'Phase' 2: Practical survival skills and basics of equipment/weapons/tools.
- 'Phase' 3: Full-fledged combat training. Actually *USING* all the weapons, rather than just learning about them. Actually *DOING* all these infantry tactics and maneuvers, rather than just learning about them.
@Jeffrey Fassnacht 4 overseas tours in the marine = 1.5 army tours 😎 your deployments are a vacation away from the wife for us.
Drill is absolutely useless. It comes from a time when you moved and fought in formations. We don't do that anymore. Such a waste of time.
"not much has changed"
it's a lot more likely that we're actually digging in past records to incorporate these methods today than it is for them to not have changed.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it I hate this mentality so many commands are shite bc of this mentality
This guy is great, hardly any historians ever actually describe the training, they are usually just like "the legionnaire's intense training made them very effective." Then move on
No he is not great. Half of what he said is false and I'm not sure about the other half.
@911s73targa dude, you really need to work on your reading skills, reading comprehension and critical thinking. It says right in the description of the video that it is based on a primary source, AKA not on a historians work...
How did you even come up with that he based it on some historian? You just made that up?
pretty sure actual historians did all the leg work to document it.. They just didn't put it on youtube. And he just took their intel, made the video and annotated it.
Well historians who make guest appearances are pressed for time to explain very large time frames in shows. And actually academic texts need to ruthlessly through with references or they get picked apart and these are often paygated. They don't have the luxury like this guy have, with that said I love the work and the video don't get me wrong, to lay forth details without large amount of references and supportive reasoning.
All this just to become a recruit...Triarii, the veterans who made it to old age, must've been some absolute beasts..going through this training, and then surviving through countless battles for several decades..
@Jonathan Smith I think you are coping with something, why else would you bully and bother people who happen to be short? So insecure that you have to pick on other people's physical attributes.. What a man lol...
In reality, Triarii were really used as the VERY last line of defense/offense, considering their absolute value to an legion or army, so they’d quite literally be forced to sit down on a hill while the recruits downhill would fight the battle.
@Guibe they raised a whole legion of 6feet + dudes very quickly. The idea that everyone in ancient times was short is stupid. The average was short because in times of famine a whole generation of children might get stunted.
@Jonathan Smith Height is no match for precision
@Jonathan Smith imagine bragging about height. just goes to show youve done nothing of consequence with your life, that you have to resort to arbitrary traits that you have no control over
Their biggest strength was standardization. They could quickly field large groups of legions, train them, equip them, and navigate them throughout the empire. So in Judea, Gaul, Germania, Hispania, Egypt, or Scythia you might have a local rebellion and kill 2-3 locally based legions, take, the standards, and perhaps capture the governor. For many empires this would be back breaking but for Rome they would field, train, and throw 6 legions back at you the next year to kick you in your teeth. The only group that consistently beat rome in the open field for extended periods of time was Hannibal. Even he was eventually weakened and beaten by Rome's endless supply of soldiers.
@Brian Onuscheck I still can’t believe there were no movies made of his journey across the alps and then his 10 years fighting in Italy. Trebbia, Trasimene and Cannae could have been a series of movies.
Hannibal Barka was not a “group” of people, rather a general from Carthage which was in modern day Tunisia.
Carthage was Romes’ only real threat to controlling the entire Mediterranean Sea for quite some time.
Rome was a first a major land power, but had to build up their Navy considerably before they even dreamt of invading Carthage. Carthage was conversely a major sea power that was able to fend off Rome for centuries due to their naval prowess.
Eventually Hannibal comes along and decided to train war elephants, cut through what’s now Spain, cross the Alps, and damn near sacked the city of Rome itself.
Eventually the Romans recovered, sent their Army to Carthage, and quite literally killed every single person that lived there.
Of course Rome decided to occupy the area, and to this day Northern Tunisia has the most fantastic and well preserved Roman ruins of any country on Earth.
Thank you for sharing this important detail... and simultaneously explaining a major reason Rome fell, as did or does every other similar system. .. using up most able-bodied men to serve a wealth-hungry central power infrastructure
@Franz_makes_art Too far from Rome to take out completely. That's about it really. They weren't pushovers or Rome would have done it, and for brief periods they may have been better on the battlefield, but over long centuries there's no comparison.
One more victory and we are undone
A sense of humour being a desirable feat for the legion was unexpected for me.
@Eric Longoria Amen
@Dag Dibrimi haven't heard that quip in a long time. Some of the British privates next door to us at Grafenwor Germany would answer up with that 😂
@Marius Muresan a big Amen to that 😅
Military members quickly developed a sense of humor that civilians often cannot appreciate.
Teambuilding war beasts
Interestingly the part about "lively eyes" was also a desired feature in men recruited to the Swedish Army in the 1700's actually. They wanted applicants to have "good spirit, the sense of being a good comrade and have the ability to sing tunes" as well. I do not know if these requirements were inspired by the Romans though, or if it was just well understood that these features in men made good soldiers.
@Baphelonantisocial savant, 😆🤣
The Swedish army in the 1700's being top brass in Europe at that time it surely had undergone vigorious research to aquire such recruitment standards. Would not be suprised if such practices were indeed inspired by the roman empire.
Motivation is key.
Men join a war because they get fed one side's propaganda. Every soldier starts with the mindset to fight for the good cause and defend morale.
Then in battle, the soldier does most actions for survival. Protect yourself and your comrades. The closer the soldiers feel, the easier they are to motivate.
ok
@Baphelon Savants are not antisocial, they are asocial.
I think that an important part of Roman army training was the contubernium (“tent-together”), which was composed of eight legionaries, who trained together, fought together and (as the name suggests) always shared the same tent. They also could be rewarded or punished together as a unit. I am sure that these small permanent squads really helped Roman unit cohesion.
Slingers hurled lead weights, not stones, though I'm sure they hurled stones in time of necessity. The lead projectiles had standard shapes and weights. They were marked with the identification of their legion. After successful battle they were gathered up and recovered for reuse. They are commonly found archaeological artifacts and have been used to track the movements of legions or detachments from them. There are excellent You Tube programs on how to use a sling and related weapons. They could be very formidible. Consider a volley of low velocity large shotgun slugs as an equivalent. Since their enemies typically had no equivalent missles but only relatively weak archery without compound bows and fired at high trajectories this could be a decisive weapon by breaking up enemy formations and unit cohesion. I certainly wouldn't want to face a volley of well delivered slung lead projectiles.
They also carved derogatory messages and penises into then they rarely just carved their legion into it
Stones were a very common missile in the sling. Taken from creek beds
@Gavin Taggart im pretty sure that story is meant to imply the holy Father giving that stone a perfect trajectory and not about technological advantage...
Professional slingers surely have different slings and lead or stone ammunition (shaped) but i don't know about every slinger.
Miyamoto Musashi says in the Book of Five Rings that being proficient in only one weapon is just as much of a weakness as being proficient in none. A real fighter needs to know how to properly handle all the weapons available, and know which is the better in each situation.
Really interesting to see completely different cultures sharing the same mindset.
@Gigachad Longshanks Malleus Scotorum et Iudaeorum Japanese swords were made from tamahagane, which is a type of "sand-like iron" that requires a lot of work before becoming usable. Your comparison with pig iron just nullify your comment because it shows how little you know about the subject.
The ideas of Musashi Miyamoto are very valuable because he was very good at killing people. From the age of 16 to 26 he already killed more than 60 people. What were you doing when you were 16?
I made that comment because I wanted likes. And mentioning topics that people are interested in is a way to get likes.
I could have mentioned Sun Tzu from China, Yi Sun Sin from Korea, Hannibal Barca from Carthage, Harald Hardrada of Norway. Kublai Khan from Mongolia. These are all interesting people that had a lot of experience in several subjects people are interested in hearing about.
Those are more interesting people than you and me. It is our duty as adults to learn from our past and pass the torch forward. So stop wasting your time complaining about what other people are saying and bring some useful topic to the conversation.
I have depicted you as a soyjak
It’s not that interesting. They individually come to the conclusion through trial and error what works best and what doesn’t. It’s like being amazed that different cultures all made round wheels and not some a square shape or whatever. It works best thats why.
You were just being pretentious and wanted an excuse to drop a quote from Musashi.
Btw katanas are garbage swords made from pig iron lol
@devriestown Hold on
in astrology the same is suggested as it is with mma
You forgot the most important thing about the sling! Back then it had more range than the bows of the period. Also they manufactured metal standardized sling ammunition with a hole in it to cause it to whistle. They were often found with derogative messages etched in them. Kind of like how we write messages on bombs we drop. Great job on the video and hope to see more!
They would be deadly when used in a defensive position especially when used in volume. They would have been small and easy to carry.
When panic and fear hits, you fall back to your training, which is why they emphasized it so much and why it is paramount for success.
It didn't save them at teutoberg LOL
I like to hear keep it coming
animals have instincts humans make their own.
Stil true today. Back in the 1980s west german army weapons drills was done to a point that even a decade later the average reservist would instinctively go through weapons safety drills if handed a service weapon. And the average german does NOT handle guns on a regular base.
“Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, but brains saves both.”- Rommel
Brilliant! This is the stuff I wish we learned in school. Students would be a lot more interested in learning about history if it were thought through human perspective. Great video! Thanks!
They had two-a-days for recruits. And everyone built things and also knew how to tear things down. I think the word 'professional' would describe Roman soldiers and they were many times up against enemies whose training didn't even come close to mastering the military skills of the Romans. Add to this that Rome was a wealthy nation/state and could provide the best of everything their soldiers needed and you have a formula few other nation/states could match.
I just finished reading the art of war by Vegetius, it's amazing and a blessing that such a document survived until today. I highly recommend it, a direct look inside more than 2000 years ago. Makes me feel proud being somewhat descendant of the Roman culture
I always liked the "train harder than the real task at hand" mentality. Makes one good at their job, whatever that is.
Hi. So, a Roman mile is slightly longer than a modern mile. I was winded when he said that they marched for 5 hours straight with 60 pounds of gear. When converted that is 22.2 miles in 5 hours, or 4.5 miles an hour with roughly 43.5 pounds of gear.
The US army standard training ruck march clocks in at 12 miles in 3 hours, or 4 miles an hour with 69 (nice) pound ruck sacks. Neat!
Legions were in effect special operations and had the highest standards but also did the toughest jobs. Rome also had axillary forces that would not have been as capable and was also used as a proving ground for those that may have wanted to enter the legions.
Their methods were so good, they're still being taught almost 2000 years later.
@Harry as someone who who is 6’4 what your saying makes zero sense troll
There was a brigade of Legionnaires where every soldier was in todays height equal to 6’8” approximately. Huge dudes! Shield 🛡 wall for Odin’s Valkyrie!
@Eimantas Butkus I never said it was a problem. It obviously wasn't. I just pointed out that the optimal height is still the same (to clarify it ever further).
This is very interesting about the selection process. I believe it is important even today for any successful operation. In my Infantry unit, most of the sub-standard's were discharged with in the first year of service.
That's interesting about the slingshot being highly respected. Cassius Dio talks* about the Balearic islanders being awesome at using slings and repulsing a Carthaginian force using them during the punic wars.
Thank you so much for the deep dive into some generally forgotten details of the Roman Imperial Army, & just what made them such a force to be reckoned with.
The "constant Improvement" philosophy of the Roman military has been emulated ever since. And remains the standard for modern military to this day.
This absolute still resonates today. Good, strong men make good, strong soldiers. Discipline and honour also make good warriors.
Discipline and Honor in what? Roman Discipline and Honor was centered around defending Rome by any means necessary.
And most Roman soldiers took “Any means necessary” to heart. Countless children were kidnapped, raped and butchered simply so Romans could know what it’s like to “Break in a young savage.”
I read that Napoleon had a great sense of humour and that's probably why his troops would follow him to the ends of the earth. From my army experience the best NCO's were always very funny men that could yell at you and make you laugh at the same time.
@Aritra Dey quiet u clown
@MyCommentsRMaturelol No, I don't. I'm not an officer.
But there is a lot of literature for leading troops and I'd also suggest books about leadership from not a military pov.
Personally, I don't mean you should make too many jokes and come off as unserious. But just be chill and not be the cold drill sergeant 100% of the time.
Finally, the thing is. Being a hard-ass might be the only way some ppl will fall in line, while ppl like me respect a more chill personality. Others would perhaps see a chill personality as weak and thus not obey such a person. For them it's all out "full metal jacket" as the solution.
And don't quote me in any of this; these are just my personal thoughts regarding what worked for me.
@Wistbacka this is really interesting. It's a long shot, but do you have anything I could read on commanding troops? I never would have thought to add humor but its genius
@Đeath in real-time lmao
@Pete Draper the English only fought Napoleon three times and, while they won twice, they had the Ottomans and Prussians carry them throughout both. Also Waterloo was a “British led coalition” (not including the Prussians) that had 31,000 British with 36,000 troops from the rest of the coalition (Netherlands, and some German states) then Prussia came in with 50,000 troops and saved the day.
0:46 Changes in military recruitment did contribute to the fall of the Roman Republic, but not to the decline of the Empire, and not due to a decline in the power of the Roman military. These changes occurred as part of the Roman Revolution, and they contributed to the Revolution politically by enlisting men living in third world conditions, whose subsistence depended entirely upon their military leaders. These generals took advantage of their troops' allegiance to turn their armies on the State.
The recruitment changes were made in 104 BC, and by the reign of Trajan, in 117 AD, the Empire had tripled in size. Most of the best Roman structures were built after these military changes.The Empire became richer and stronger because of the political changes resulting from recruitment changes. Running an Empire with a city-state government turned out to be unsustainable. All it took was a little chaos among a small group of men in a small forum to topple the entire system. The Imperial government had way more to manage, and was able to do so for another 1500 years (if you count the Byzantine Empire, which you should). So if anything these recruitment changes helped save the Roman Empire.
@TheChiconspiracy ew sounds like someone I would not like to learn more about 😅
These assumptions are based of Vegetius, but he needs to be taken with a HEAPING spoonful of salt, since he was an armchair "general" who was never actually in the military, and was not only wrong about the Roman army of his day in many ways (contradicted by actual Army sources, artistic depictions, archaeology, ect), but also is largely incorrect about many aspects of the older legion he looks at with ahistorical glasses.
Nice video, I hear many translated citations that I remember from translating De Re Militari, very nice to hear. What I also found striking from the book was Vegetius' talking about men from warmer climates bleeding out more easily than men from colder climates due to them having thinner blood.
This was a great idea for a vid and very well done! Please do more detailed explorations like this!
I think they actually used lead balls with the slings, not rocks. I vaguely remember watching a video where the Roman army had laid siege to a fort and there were tons of lead balls at the site still to this very day. They had pummeled the fort with lead balls almost like artillery.
I expected they were very well trained, but I didn't expect they were that big and so able in multiple abilities beyond sword fighting!!
Take on count that, at Imperial Time, average stature was comfortably 10 cm less than today, and if minimum was 168 cm, it means they were all tall, athletic and well built!! Legionaries were real beasts!!!
Man I would give my life to see ancient Rome at its peak. What it really looked like. It must have been so stunning.
Or it's just sounds cool
Just go to Rome lol
Cayenne Captain or when Roman army’s sacked cthesifon for fun and destroyed Persian armies
@G Iran had multiple empires like Rome only it's still around now
Heh, I'd prefer to be among Alaric's men to personally destroy it. Nothing is more pleasing to the eye than sending an empire to oblivion.
I did not know about the use of the sling! Everything was done in order. First traps like burning bales of hay down an incline, then the catapult, then the archers, then the sling, then the pilum and what was left was slain by sword. The enemy were lucky to have bare chest and sword. How could they lose? It is a formula for success!
Great video and I like how you explore some of the less explained stuff like the humour and the recruitment.
Hi and thanks for the video! Lots of things to learn here.
You made it very clear that the Roman army had experience and expertise in using all sorts of skills to prevail over their enemies. This also very likely extended to psychological warfare, intimidation etc. There also was a need to maintain an incentive for the Roman population to support this significant pressure of military drafts/recruitment on families and the productive economy.
Therefore I am tempted to ask: do we have any reason to believe that some of the written sources you have quoted may have overemphasised some aspects of Roman military power, in order to look good both to enemies outside and to inside political forces? (C.Julius Caesar may apparently have done this in his account of the Gallic Wars). Have we seen discrepancies between descriptions and archaeological findings? Or non-Roman sources?
I realise this may well exceed the format or scope of your video!
Thanks
Honestly making their practice weapons twice as heavy is brilliant as you mentioned, its like a runner practicing with weighted vest
Or when baseball players put weights on their bats while swinging
A very interesting and enlighten and informative video , I did know Romans soldiers used a sling shot or could swim. I just assumed they were trained to march and use the sword and shield.
Strong nations can only be defeated by themselves. Rome was no exception.
@Nathan 1000 years of Eastern Roman Empire
Rome took 100s of years to rise and took 100s of years to fall
Same happened with USSR, next in line is USA.
@Wade this makes me so sad, but I believe you are correct. Smdh. Oh! And people calling each other racist.
@Alastor same bro
Very well spoken. Clear voice and easily digestible information. Also not too much information so as to overwhelm the viewers. Great content!
There is such a Big potential for a series where the main characters go through this process
Dang interesting. I'm glad you emphasized the power of the sling. A well thrown lead projectile from a sling can go further than an arrow. The projectiles were lead usually, and sometimes had interesting letters printed on them, such as "take this!" or "ouch!" kinda hilarious.
Great video thanks for posting.
I very much doubt any military personnel these days could pass these drills.
Pretty impressive that this channel was able to go back in time and record the Roman soldiers marching
As a former Drill Instructor.... I approve of such training....
@Luger 9 Did you find those weapons of mass destruction with saddam? 🤭🤭
@Matt Matt And lead from the front.
@Matt Matt You described me perfectly and to add something everyone is extremely proud to get that Sham Shield.
@Matt Matt Well said
@jangle dangle A King by a different name still gets his cut of your labor...
Like, new Subscriber, awesome videos! the direct heirs of the legions were the Spanish "tercios". I'm not sure if you know about them, but if you really like strategy, defense, discipline, team work and military culture, it is a nice topic to dig in. Have a great day!
Edit: 6:55 shows that Guy Fieri was around and even fought the Romans back in antiquity! Legend says he's the real reason they fell. This just proves Fieri's power, longevity, and even capability of traveling through time and space and even intergalactic travel as well as interdimensional travel. This is obviously a historical painting/account, so this is officially Canon.
The first half when the narrator is talking about how they learned to march and that being the most important thing for the recruits to know .. I can imagine even way back then some raspy voiced Roman DI yelling at them
SINGLE FILE!
DRESS RIGHT DRESS AND COVER DOWN PRI!!
GET IN STEP! *GET IN STEP!!!*
ALRIGHT! YOU ALL WANNA DO WHAT YOU WANT I SEE! YOU WANNA BE INDIVIDUALS! I GOT SUM'N FOR YA THEN!
HALF RIGHT *FACE!*
it was truly based on efficiency and it’s exactly how i would do it. the countryside folk being more accustomed to work and hardships therefore being good as soldiers is purely how my thought process works and idky. never knew the process was THIS extensive
Excellent video. I had no idea about the slings that is fascinating. I know most things about Roman military history so it’s truly excellent to find something so fresh as I have never seen that before. Thank you
Was there ever a video made regarding the *"many techniques the Romans used to accomplish rains and floods"?*
You mentioned you may do one.
_Looking forward to such!!_
Imagine what a modern day Roman soldier would look like if Rome never fell.
Rome is still a powerful city on the earth.
@Kruppt808 facts
@carpenter155 Murica fuk yeah!
Terrific video! I'm fascinated by the specifics of Roman military training.⚔️🏹
Could be totally wrong but I'm guessing the modern day evolved form of vaulting in gymnastics comes from ancient horse vaulting. Gymnasts use a vaulting table now but the older version was actually called a horse. If those are connected that's pretty cool!
You sir, just got a sub.
This is actually more fascinating that historical battles.
One thing that was not mentioned in talking about a stab vs a slash. It takes less room to make a stab than it does a slash. You can tighten your front line more if you are stabbing than if you are slashing.
Great video. I'm looking forward to your vid on how they handled floods or crossing rivers, hope it comes out soon!
I think you missed the most important reason to be taught to march: synchronized (marching in step) is the only way to move large bodies of men efficiently over distances. If not synchronized, their movement becomes chaotic with constant stopping and starting-basically a slow muddle. Roman legions were known for rapid movement over long distances, a nasty surprise for their enemies.
When doing forced marches over large distances you're not doing the same thing as close order drill. In short when we go on a 20 mile hump we're not synchronized. The synchronization is so there isn't chaos in exactly what it's called "close order drill" This allows the commanding officer of any number of units to position and move large or small groups into and out of formation without chaos. Watch Marine Corps Drill Instructors for a company or battallion take their platoons on and off the parade deck to see what I'm talking about. We aren't doing that to cover large distances. It also to a degree lets the unit commanders show what they wantsto show to the opponent. Example four columns of men arranged in order of height (dressing) going back 30 ranks deep does not appear from the front as 120.
@Paul Homsy 100 km in one night. Are you nuts, in Switzerland we made 80 km in 2 days. 100 km in one night is impossible, even if you smoke c0-ke.
@John Smith I agree after the 3rd A C 130 rolling down the strip bringing xyz company down the road it get's old fast.
According to a cousin (career military) that is still one of the reasons the British Army spend so long on the parade ground ensuring the troops can all march in time (something you often see comments on in regard to videos of the Changing of the Guard). If needed they can, do, still manage to cover vast distances in a surprising amount of time (though not often needed with mechanisation).
Good video, very nicely put together.
Just a question on the wooden training gladius supposedly being twice as heavy as the regular one: I do not remember, is the source of that information Vegetius? Because I have also heard arguments dismissing this practice as, while it would help increase the strength of the recruit, it would also create a different feeling and muscle memory making the movements with the actual gladius less accurate. I have never tried to train with heavier weapons myself, so I cannot tell whether this is true or not.
That's the first time I've ever heard that ALL legionaries were skilled with the slingshot. Hitherto I'd been given to understand that slingers were a speciality of more lightly armoured auxiliaries. Many thanks for sharing...
As an active duty soldier, there are MANY parallels between the training I've done and legionnaires.
Nothing like a good ol Ruck March.
Training and Logistics are 80% of any military capacity and readiness. Please do a series on Building Forts and Logistics.
So if my math is correct, they were required to complete that march at a power walk with 60 pounds of equipment. That would be pretty hard even on a flat track, even without the equipment. A fit backpacker can do about that distance in a day, but not at that pace. The faster version would be a light jog. This is pretty similar to the forced marches they do for special forces selection. It's astounding to me that the average Roman recruit was fit and healthy enough, that their bare minimum physical fitness is equivalent to that of our most elite fighters today. The guys who make it through special forces training in modern armies are very exceptionally gifted in terms of athleticism. Only a small percentage of recruits in modern armies even have the genetic potential for that level of fitness, much less the mental fortitude to develop it. I think the only conclusion you can draw is that the average person was better off genetically back then, and that they must have been healthier on average. Really makes you stop and think about our modern lifestyles and what it's doing to us as a species.
So why are we told
Their life expectancy was so
Short?
So why are we told
Their life expectancy was so
Short?
They didn’t have Twinkies and McDonalds
This is not how the evolution timescale works. In fact, these 2000 years or so makes almost no difference in the genetics without a strong selection pressure (like the one that we did in the same timespan with pets and vegetables, for instance).
In this case, the difference in nutrition and knowledge makes a much bigger role on individuals potential than genetics.
How about a movie showing a guy signing up for the legion, going through boot camp, and eventually getting deployed in the front?
@DevilFrog61 the last centurion was better.
FullMetal Scutum
Read Simon Scarrow - Eagle Series. It begins with a patrician joining the Legions and going through training with a especially special kind of Centurion
they already did that
Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, by Steven Pressfield does this for the Spartans.
Man thank you so much for that bit about the slings that the legionaires used. I didn't know that at all and that's badass that you mentioned that.
Great content, did 4 years in the Marines plenty enough couldn't imagine 20 years.
Very informative! I've often wondered how things were done back then
Awesome video man! I already had a good idea on how the Legions worked from Simon Scarrow's novels, but there still where some new things for me in there - the amount of training and organisation in Roman legions never seizes to amaze.
Could you maybe add your sources to the video description? I am currently starting to study history and would love to get into some of the sources after watching your video :D
@Filaxim Historia Awesome, thanks!
That's awesome! The only source is already in the first sentence in the description. One thing you should know about Vegetius is that he writes about the "ideal" Roman army to him, rather than how it actually was, so many things will be a bit over exaggerated. He also seems to mix early and late Roman legions together, as if they were the same unit (he was probably a bit confused himself).
What Vegetius is particularly good at, is his simple approach to making you imagine warfare at that time, and all the things a good commander had to keep in mind in raising, managing, and disciplining an army, which would be mostly accurate. It was a very good read, and I based the whole video in his simplistic style! Cheers!
According to Vegetius all recruits and veterans were required to be able to successfully vault a wall while in full armor and battle kit. For a contemporary example of what this would require look at Olympic male gymnasts vaulting the pommel horse and think of them in armor with gear. There are multiple videos of Malay and southern Phillipino warriors vaulting walls while armed during training demonstrations. The Romans would be doing an even more difficult drill. The purpose of all of this was to overcome temporary battlefield fortifications like brush and log walls or piles of stones or trenches. They would also be used in assaulting prepared fortifications.
The classic legions would have been an extremely scary and difficult army to face.
Back then:
Basic reading and writing skills --> Eligible to apply for centurion position
Today:
Masters degree and PhD in engineering with 15 years of experience --> Eligible to apply for senior vice janitor position at Tesco
lol
Unless you're a woman it's nearly impossible as a man in the Marines.
@Daniel K to keep your commission, yes. You need like 90 cr (junior) to commision but you need a degree within like 10 years to keep your commission or else you have to forfeit it and either become an NCO or a WO. Thats for the Army anyways. I dont know about the other branches of service.
@Salty brick holding a degree is the equivalent of being a high school drop out in the 30s.
It shows your incapable of learning yourself
how many people realistically died from such adverse training, specifically through disease and weather conditions? do you think this was also taken into consideration when finding the appropriate amount of men needed to start the training?
I'd really like to know who had designed such an effective and complex training structure to become a legionnaire
It was learned through experience of war.
I read somewhere that the sling ammunition was lead shot painted to blend in against the sky and in many cases with crude insults scratched into the lead, though Im sure stone was sometimes used in its place... I cant help but imagine how much more damage a lead projectile would cause.
Do you have some idea on how much of their success was due to the massive size advantage they possessed? Obviously the programs they implemented was vital regardless.
By the way, this is an excellent description of the screening and training procedures. Thanks for an excellent video.
Interesting, is it because of the food or the genetics ?
The stones they fired from slings also had small holes in them which meant that they made a whistling sound as they flew through the air.
“The discipline of the Romans made them triumph over the tall height of the Gauls, the strength of the Germans, the cunning of the Greeks and over all the other populations of the world" Vegetius, De Re Militari
*Laughs in Persian
@poppop artist And then, Rome stomped Hannibal - and Hannibal's city state. Forever.
@Stormtrooper Migration was indeed a real problem for the empire, starting in about 290 AD. No historian I have ever read disagrees. Not one. Granting citzenship did not change their native , tribal culture to that of being "roman." They had a profound and lasting effect upon both the beaurocracy and the army as they evetually rose through the ranks. As the central authority of Rome began to erode along the frontiers, these officers and civil officials began to favor their own tribes over the principa roma, and desintegration slowly took over. Immigration is NOT the same as migration - the latter being un-controlled.
@Spider BugBear It wasn't the land mass that the later Mogols conquered, but it was - by far - the most populated and sophisticated area of the earth in those centuries, outside the Indus or Far East. It had the most varied weather and topography, and the most diverese peoples found anywhere in the world. The Romans brought it all together with modern roads and a peaceful, stable civic system simlar to the Chinese, but with better fresh water systems and technology.
Truly love history. Good channel as well. Thoroughly enjoy your content.
Fantastic video, perfectly narrated!
This was an enjoyable video that I watched from beginning to end which is very rare for me. Well done, expertly handled and submitted.
No wonder the Romans were once upon a time the most feared army. Properly structured training makes you an unstoppable force!
Love your videos. Would love to see more about the life of Romans. However I highly doubt using the heavier throwing javelins were for better accuracy. You train with what you know. For strength, for sure. But not accuracy. Otherwise they would always be off their mark, due to being used to the heavier weight of the training javs.
It's not that big of a deal. It's to build up the muscles for the activity. Eventually they would use their real pilums and adjust accordingly
I can see you becoming one of those big history channels. keep with the good work, mate!
Ave amicus
@Filaxim Historia Use the internet resources to check your height conversions. I know that you are not very familiar with the metric system and that is the reason you made that small mistake.
wtf is lanius doing here
I think this channel and kings and generals are the best
I agree. You’re doing a fantastic job!
Do you guy's know how huge that SLING thing is? It means every legion was effectively a heavy armored archer unit who is excellent at melee. Ancient super soldier.
I doubt you'll ever read this Filaxim but I'd like to have the bibliography you used to make this video!
Great content too, keep up!
Great video. Romans were amazing warriors. Respect.
Recruits training under professional gladiators has to be the most badass thing that I've heard of Roman military culture.
They also had 3 darts in their shield. The army also needed the engineers.
I was a Canadian Infanteer for almost 10 years, and a lot of the training we did actually parallels what the roman legions did. obviously modified to modern standards. we did a 6 month training program (3 months basic, 3 months battleschool) and literally the first thing we learn, before breakfast on our first day is how to form up, and walk in formation. Its cool to think that some random roman 2000 years ago went through a similar experience to little ole' me.
@Zachary Todman New Orleans
@Zachary Todman Weird, that's not how I remember it, I just remember something something Lake Erie something something Maryland, New Orleans, New York something something HMS Macedonian, HMS Guerriere, HMS Java something something the entirety of West Florida ;) (all just jokes, I love our Canadian brothers)
@Zachary Todman ****sarcasm****
@hazor777 Fuck no! He wouldn't make it to breakfast on the first day of battleschool.
Yea, Canada's known for those legendary Infantreers - wasn't Trudeau one of those???
Are you sure about the archers? I was always told romans never used bows. They had the javelins and slings. Whenever they deployed bows it was usually mercenaries from the peninsula.
The javelin was far superior when it comes to armor penetration.
Im building my own army so thanks for this video! 👍👍
A question which bug me is what was the long term recruitment system for Legions
especially after battlefield losses , extended campaigns or years in garrisons
Important detail: you made friends. You ate and worked with them. You took care of each other, and helped each other with the equipment etc.
On the battlefield that was a big advantage. You covered the flanks of your comrades better as a result, and knew that you would not be abandoned.
How do I know? I was a Legionnaire in one of my past lives, and I remember a lot about that.
I was a roman super emperor legate in my past life
Guys, stop smoking shit.
I would love to meet you and talk about your past life. I was a Persian militant in my past life, I remember seeing you in the battlefield
This makes me appreciate all the effort that football coaches put into training the youth to come out as victorious in battle. They are literally training an army of little warriors based on what they think the key to victory will be. I’ve definitely underestimated how much freedom coaches really have to build up a team of young men. So many different strategies and I think it’s cool to be able to say I’ve of been a part of a team that has accomplished great things based on efficient training, diligent scouting, and great leadership.
I also think it’s pretty cool how some coaches even go the extra mile to instill life lessons they hold dear onto the kids they coach.
@Rusty Shakleford yeah, football is one of my favorite sports because of those reasons, it’s really about dominance and respect, and who doesn’t like that? Football is probably one of the best sports out there, nothing more fun then tackling someone or getting tackled
So true, my rugby team when we won the championship I was the captain we did everything together.
We were like a 25 man army that was extremely united and extremely aggressive towards the opposition. Looking back on it, it definitely is a form of mock battle or war.
People got knocked out lost teeth, broke bones, tore muscles and lacerations. The only difference instead of our fists and weapons is our shoulder is used to clobber people.
Sort of like huge gorillas charging at each other for dominance, but with rules and a strategic game that both teams are agreeing to engage in. A very weird display of dominance, I guess a lot better than having to kill the other team.
on my team, halfway through practice we'd have a "devotion" which taught us values and life skills, and also helped with the sport. In my opinion football is great to learn discipline and teamwork.
The logistics fueling all this activity must have been incredible.
@Thrallsbuddy Logistics was, administration definitely was not.
Can't fight properly without the guys in the back.
administration was one of the greatest roman achievements
I’ve watched a presentation from a Brazilian general a long time ago and he opened quoting someone important saying “war is logistics”
Love love love your content! Great work!❤️
I am retired today, but after 28 years of Army service I still remember fondly all the marching and running songs ... and the long marches. Well, those... not so fondly lol.
One of rare videos I watched from start to finish! Impressive stuff!
Good video! Interesting about the sling. I knew that they were common weapons of the day and very effective in war, but I ddidn't know that the legioonaries used them so extensively.
However one critique: The roman soldiers didn't use javelins, they used pilums. While superficially similar, the pilum had several significant advantages for warfare of the day.
And on rare occasions could be used to form a short spear wall against cavalry if the moment was desperate enough.
the pilum is a kind of javelin
its really cool that you use Gameplay of Total War for you Videos this gives an extra feeling how they marched etc
As an unemployed person I found this Informative.
@Daemon Zap the same US who never won a war since 1945?
@Handsome Squidward "Morituri Te Salutamus"
CARPE DIEM SON!
This was very informative and background provided more than enough visual stimulus.
Also I found your voice very pleasant to listen to, do you happen to narrate professionally?
Exellent performance.
Ceasar had two gladiator schools. They replenished the fifth legion. They will drill ten hours, doing offense and defense patterns, till they fell down. Then, until they didnot fall down anymore. Then they do full training days of ten hours straight, then they were put into the fifth legion. After a month of full training days.