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MARCHING ORDER OF THE TROOPS OF A ROMAN LEGIONARY ARMY

Great attention was paid to marches and march discipline, and they were made elements of prime importance in war. The many forced marches developed and demonstrated Roman soldiers' powers of endurance. Caesar was like Napoleon in his use of long, hard, speedy and unexpected marches.

BREAKING CAMP

When the bugle blew the first call (signum profectionis) to break camp (castra movere), tents were struck and baggage packed (vasa conligere). At the second signal the baggage was put on the pack animals and in the carts. At the third signal the army began its march which was regularly conducted in column, like that of most other armies, ancient and modem.

THE ADVANCE GUARD (Primum Agmen)

First came the scouts, the cavalry and the light-armed troops whose duty it was to reconnoiter, to take note of all enemy preparations, to guard against surprise, and if necessary to hold the enemy until the main body was deployed and ready for battle. Flank guards were also furnished, and distant reconnaissance carried out. Witness the reporting of the information of Ariovistus' movements when he was twenty-four miles away. Also with the advance guard there would be a party of centurions and surveyors (metaiores or mensores) , commanded by a tribune whose object was to reconnoiter, select, occupy (locum idoneum castris deligere) and mark (castra metari) a position for the camp site.

MAIN BODY (Agmen Legionum)

Then would come the legions, one behind the other, and each followed by its own baggage train. The last legion would detail two or three cohorts as a guard for its train and so would form the rear guard of the whole army. If the enemy were near, about three fourths of the legions would march ahead of the combined trains.

REAR GUARD (Novissimum Agmen)

The remaining fourth of the legions, ordinarily the most recently raised units (Proxime conscriptae), acted as rear guard, but would of course be strengthened in withdrawals or retirements.

WIDTH

Each cohort marched in column of centuries, and the ordinary peacetime width of Roman columns, officers, five files and file closers, was about twenty feet.

MARCHING IN LINE OF BATTLE (APPROACH FORMATION)

When the legions neared the enemy, an "approach formation" was taken up in which the packs and saga were laid aside, shield coverings removed, helmets and crests put on. Sometimes this approach formation was started seven or eight miles away and might take two or three hours. This arrangement was generally in a line of three parallel cohort columns, each cohort in column of maniples with the centuries abreast or in column. In the first case (centuries abreast), each legion was placed directly in rear of the previous one so that the whole army marched in a line of three parallel columns of maniples and could easily be faced to the right or left. Terrain permitting, the second case (centuries in column) was used, and all legions were placed abreast; thus an army of four legions marched in twelve parallel columns of centuries.

AGMEN QUADRATUM

Sometimes, in the presence of overwhelming enemy forces, the march was conducted in the agmen quadratum (square corps), the ten cohorts of each legion forming a rectangle with the baggage train and drivers in the center.

ORBIS

A legion in this formation attacked by large numbers could form a circle (orbem facere) several ranks deep and facing outward. Naturally an enemy preferred to attack while the army was on the march (in agmine or in itinere), carrying full packs (sub sarcinus) and otherwise encumbered (impeditus).

LENGTH OF A DAY'S MARCH

The ordinary day's march (iustum iter) began at four or five o'clock (sunrise) and lasted about seven hours till midday. The afternoons were spent in fortifying, foraging, collecting wood, cooking, mounting guard, etc: The average day's march was about sixteen or seventeen miles. There were occasional forced marches (magna itera) of twenty-five or thirty miles. Caesar records one of forty-eight miles in twenty-four hours with only three hours' rest. According to the tactical situation some marches began as early as two or three o'clock or even at midnight (tertia vigilia). The order of precedence, then as now, was probaly changed daily so that the same legion might not always be in the lead.

RIVER CROSSINGS

Rivers were crossed on existing permanent bridges, on hastily constructed pontoon or wooden military bridges, or forded. Having no modem ammunition or motor vehicles, an ancient army could in general use deeper fords (four or five feet) than a modern army. Sometimes a line of cavalrymen was placed across the stream to break the force of the current and a second below to catch men swept away.

ORDER OF FORMATION OF TROOPS FOR ACTION
Tactical Arrangement and Disposition of Lines in Battle Array

The legions of the Kingdom and the early Republic appear to have been phalangeal. But this formation was soon found to be too rigid and unwieldy for the rough and uneven ground over which much of the Roman fighting had to take place. In the time of Camillus, about the fourth century B. C., the manipular system began to be adopted. The legions were arranged in maniples, with the centuries one behind the other. This arrangement made it easy to reinforce the first line; i.e., it satisfied the tactical needs of disposition in depth and provided for a reserve. In general the system continued down to Marius. But considerably before his time there had been recognized the need for a tactical unit larger than the maniple. At any Late, Marius seems to have divided the legion into ten larger tactical units, the cohorts.

ACIES TRIPLEX

This was the usual formation for battle. It consisted in drawing up the legion in three lines. The first was composed of four cohorts, ordinarily the first, second, third and fourth, from right to left, the best cohorts. The second line had three cohorts, the fifth, sixth, and seventh; and the third line also three cohorts, the eighth, ninth, and tenth. The latter cohorts generally and naturally were manned by recruits with the least experience. All cohorts in each line were separated by medium-sized intervals, and the second line cohorts blocked the intervals between those of the first line. The legions stood side by side, with intervals of perhaps one hundred and twenty feet, and formed the center (media acies) of the battle line.

The three maniples of the cohort also stood side by side at intervals of about twelve feet, and in each maniple the second century was some eight or nine feet behind the first. The depth of the cohort formations must have varied with circumstances, as the depth of attacking formations does now. There was perhaps a distance of three hundred feet between the first and second lines. The third line, possibly one hundred and fifty feet from the second line, was used as a reserve so that the commander could influence the action in the way he wanted, to the front, or the flank, or the rear as was the case in the battle with the Helvetii.

The cavalry and light-armed troops were usually stationed on the flanks (cornua), separated from the center by small intervals, and used as further reserves for such purposes as flank protection and pursuit. Occasionally the auxilia would be posted in front to make a show of force, to open the engagement by skirmishing, to fight a delaying action; or they might be used to draw the enemy's attack to themselves if the legions were to change position. The cavalry, sometimes placed by Caesar behind the first or the third line, might have to oppose the enemy cavalry or attack the enemy's flank. But participation by these troops in the actual battle was small. The chief reliance was put on the legions, and the tactical scheme was arranged with that idea in view.

FRONT

On the assumption that a legion's full or near full strength was about 6,000 men, the front line would have 2,400 men in four cohorts or twelve maniples, ten ranks deep. The second and third lines would each have 1,800 men in nine maniples of the same depth. There would thus be 240 of the most experienced soldiers of the legion along the front rank. The ranks and files were separated by about six feet, thus giving sufficient space for the use of sword-play. This was the formation used against the Helvetii, Ariovistus, the Usipetes and Tencteri, and probably against the Belgae and Nervii.

OTHER FORMATIONS

As in any good army, formations varied and were flexible, so we occasionally find the duplex acies or two lines of five cohorts if a wider front was needed or if there appeared to be no need for a reserve. Or there might even be a single line (acies simplex) if the Romans were far outnumbered by the enemy, as at the battle of Ruspina near Hadrumetum. On at least one occasion there were four lines, at the battle of Pharsalus where the fourth line constituted the Army Reserve.

SPECIAL FORMATIONS

In a battle on uphill ground, in storming a walled town or fortified camp, or in any case where troops were exposed to a plunging fire, the "turtle shell" might be formed. The front-rank men, closed in, held their shields in front, the flank men holding theirs on the sides, and the others raising theirs overhead like overlapping shingles on a roof. This formation gave almost complete protection against all but the heaviest missiles.

CUNEUS

Another formation was the wedge or cuneus, an attack in a mass of deep columns, used mainly for penetration.

ROMAN MODE OF ATTACK

Roman tactics were usually offensive. The ideal battle ground from the Roman viewpoint was on a gentle hill slope with the enemy at the bottom (ex superiore loco). This gave the Romans increased range for their missile weapons and added impetus and momentum to their attack, while the enemy, having started from the foot of the hill, would be breathless from their charge, Quite often there would be brief addresses by the general (adlocutio, cohortatio), passing from legion to legion, after the troops were drawn up in battle formation (acies instructa).

THE BATTLE

After the signal to advance had been given by the bugles (signa inferre), the first line of the three moved forward with even step (certo gradu) until five or six hundred feet from the enemy. Then the bugles blew the signal to attack. The men advanced at double time (concursu), the first two ranks with javelins poised in their right hands (pilis infestis). When within range, these two ranks delivered their deadly volley. The next three ranks hurled their javelins over the heads of those in front. Then as the enemy was met, there followed a series of hand-to-hand individual conflicts, sword duels, repeated again and again since whenever a front-rank man fell, he was pulled back and the man behind replaced him. Men exhausted or slightly wounded would retire and be relieved by fresh men. The five rear ranks then took the place of these fallen or exhausted men, or perhaps increased the number of the attacking troops.

When the first line as a whole had done its best and become weakened and exhausted by losses, it gave way to the relief of fresh men from the second line who, passing through it gradually, pressed forward one by one, or in single file, and worked their way into the fight in the same way. Meanwhile the tired men of the original first line, when sufficiently rested, reformed and re-entered the fight. This continued until all men of the first and second lines had been engaged. This does not presuppose an actual withdrawal of the first line, but rather a merging, a blending or a coalescing of both lines.

Thus the enemy was given no rest and was continually opposed by fresh troops until, exhausted and demoralized, he yielded to repeated attacks. Sometimes the onset of the first ranks was suf1icient to put the enemy to flight. For this reason the, best marksmen with the pila and the best swordsmen were put in the forward positions. The standard-bearers were not in the front ranks, but were kept behind the good men of at least the first two ranks who were perhaps called "antesignani".

There was at times a natural tendency to close in, probably from the right, the exposed flank (latus apertum) to the left, and this necessitated commands to open ranks and extend intervals (laxare manipulos). For this and other reasons the first cohort on the right of the line had the best men in the whole legion. But the readiness and steadiness of all troops, officers and men, in sudden emergencies showed the excellent tactical training they had received. Battles were won by these persistent attacks, and the Gauls, once defeated, suffered heavy casualties, being mostly cut down or captured and sold as slaves.

ROMAN ARMY IN FORTIFIED CAMPS (Castra)

From the earliest times it was the peculiar practice of the Roman army - and this to a degree of importance unparalleled in modern warfare - regularly at the end of each day's march to build carefully a well-fortified camp (castra aestiva). The success of the Romans was largely due to this practice, by which the commander could be more independent, choose his own time and place for battle, reduce the chances of enemy night attacks, and have always a base to which he could return if forced to withdraw or retire. The camp, even if intended to be occupied but one day and no matter how little the likelihood of attack, was constructed with the same care as if it were to be occupied for an appreciable period in the midst of threatening enemy forces. So regular was the construction of the camp that such expressions as "tertiis castris" (in three days' march) are common. This rule of nightly resting in a fortified camp continued without interruption down to the era of the Emperor Gratian.

CASTRAMETATION

This process was really a part of the Roman religious ritual, a branch of augural science, like laying out on a fixed plan new cities in blocks or planting new colonies. The camp, being a place where the auspices were taken, was in itself a sort of templum, a definite space of consecrated ground. The cardo and decumanus, cross lines of a temple, were the two main streets of the camp, meeting at its heart where were the auguraculum and the commanding officer's headquarters (praetorium). There, too, was the altar, where the general worshiped and sacrificed for the welfare and victory of the army, and the forum in which his soldiers assembled when he wished to address them. So both the religious and political sides of life in a Roman community were represented in the camp, which grew to be the miniature symbol of the "home town", a place of rest and security after the labors and dangers of the day and a temporary bit of homeland for its citizens on foreign service.

LOCATION, SITE AND FORM OF THE CAMP

Military considerations, of course, governed the choosing of the camp site. In general what was desired was a gently sloping hillsiGe at the top of which the rear of the camp could be placed. Near by must be abundant supplies of wood for fuel and fortifications, facilities for getting water (aquatio) and for foraging (pabulatio). The hillside would reduce somewhat the labor of fortification and would give a commanding position against the enemy, provided there were no dense forests or dominant hills in the the immediate vicinity. There should be sufficient ground in front of the camp for the legions to deploy, and another desirable feature was to have the rear or one side of the camp parallel a river. The shape of the camp was square or rectangular with rounded comers, or as near this shape as the configuration of the ground would. permit.

WALL AND DITCH

Using earth and stones dug up by making a ditch or moat and carried in baskets, the legionaries constructed a rampart or wall (vallum) from five to twelve feet high and from six to ten feet broad at the top so as to give room for maneuver. This was surmounted on its Outer edge by a palisade or stockade (lorica) of stout wooden stakes (valli or sudes) four feet high, wattled and battlemented, thus giving protection to men firing missiles or to the sentries. If time permitted, the sides of the embankment were covered partly with sods to hold the earth and partly with bundles of brush and sticks.

The wall was quite steep on the outside so as not to be washed down by rains and was made easr of access and strengthened on the inner side by being sloped gradually so that steps of brush or logs could be constructed. Further protection was afforded by the ditch (fossa) around the camp. One built by Caesar was twenty feet wide and twelve feet deep, although usually they were much smaller, perhaps twelve feet wide at the top, ten feet deep and three feet wide at the bottom and not ordinarily filled with water. If the danger were great, there would be additional redoubts and along the wall towers at regular intervals.

PLAN

When the main body came up, men were at once detailed to complete the work started by the billeting-party with the advance guard (castra munire) . Helmets, shields, spears and swords were laid aside and the men commenced to "dig in" under the protection of fully armed men. Though the task was not easy, constant practice had made the legionaries capable of near perfection. The soldiers, hardened and trained to use pick and spade, worked quickly and as easily as possible. The ordinary camp could be finished in from two to five hours of intensive labor, depending on the ground, etc.

All legionary troops, all the light-armed troops, all the cavalry, all the slingers and archers, had regularly appointed positions for their tents. Every cohort, every maniple, every decury, every officer and every man knew its or his assigned place and went there without confusion.

GUARDS

Each of the four main gates of the camp (on two sides in the center and on the other two off center) and the principia were securely guarded in daytime by a cohort apiece in two reliefs and at night special sentinels (vigiles), regularly inspected by the tribunes, patrolled at short intervals the outer rampart, around the prindpia and the tents for each cohort. In times of great danger two cohorts might guard each gate. There were four reliefs. Hence the term vigiliae was applied to the four equal periods into which the time from sunset to sunrise was divided. The length of each period was three hours more or less, of course, varying with the time of year. Midnight always marked the end of the second relief (secunda vigilia) and the beginning of the third relief (tertia vigilia). The three reliefs off duty slept upon their arms, ready for instant action.

Individual gate guards were known as custodes or custodiae, other sentries as excubiae or excubitores. A password (signum) was changed each night. It was written on wooden tablets (tesserae) and given by the commander to the tribunes who passed it on to the men on guard duty. The camp itself was at all times well patrolled, and in addition strong outposts of infantry and cavalry called "stationes" gave local security. Occasionally if the tactical situation demanded, small redoubts (castella) were built at a distance from the main camp, and sometimes outguards as strong as two legions were used, as at Avaricum. Also if the legions left the camp for a battle; a strong guard was left behind, varying from four or five cohorts to one or two complete legions.

THE CAMPS IN WINTER QUARTERS

These, the castra hiberna or stativa were built on the same plan as the ordinary camps, but utilized more space and were larger, had stronger fortifications, and the men were made more comfortable and protected from the weather by cantonments of thatched (scramentum) wood and earth huts or barracks (casae) sometimes covered with hides. Horses and pack animals were provided with permanent or semipermanent stables. Towers were erected along the walls at frequent intervals and connected by covered galleries or gangways (pontes). Unless compelled to remain in the field during the winter, the Romans habitually made use of these winter camps, often placed near friendly towns or villages.

"CHESTERS"

Many of these permanent camps became the nuclei of settlements which survive in cities of today. The most conspicuous example of a town preserving the outlines of a Roman camp is Chester (castra) in England. The walls are nearly complete, the town is divided into quarters by two main streets at right angles with the gates at the ends.

INTERIOR OF THE CAMP

All gates which were usually about forty feet wide were protected by elbow-shaped, curved, and transverse earthen ramparts (claviculae) which compelled all strangers, friend or foe alike, to approach with the unprotected (right side) facing the Roman sentries standing with javelins ready. Ordinarily this was enough protection, and the gates were left open so that sallies and sorties could be made, but in emergencies the gates could be walled up solidly.

A space two hundred feet in width (intervallum) was left clear and unoccupied behind the rampart on all sides for security and rapid communication. The tents or huts were thus beyond the ordinary range of stones, spears, and darts, because of this space and the outer fortifications. The auxilia were quartered nearest this intervallum on both sides.

The front gate facing the enemy, the porta praetoria or general's gate, was joined with the rear gate (decumana) by a road fifty feet wide (via Praetoria - Decumana) broken beyond the center of the camp by a large space, one hundred yards in width in which were the Principia (praetorium and quaestorium). About two thirds of the distance from front to rear, the via Praetoria (Avenue of the Generals) was intersected by another road, one hundred feet in width, the via Principalis ("Main" or "High Street"). This road joined the two side gates, right and left (porta principalis dextra and porta principalis sinistra). Army headquarters fronted on this street, and at the intersection there was an altar (ara) and at left a tribunal, a sodded mound of earth (rostra, suggestus), from which the general spoke to the men in the forum. While not the mathematical center here was the very heart and religious center of the camp.

Immediately behind these was placed the general's tent (tabernaculum ducis), to the right and left of which the cohors praetoria, if any, camped. Just behind the general's tent was the quaestor's tent (quaestorium), and near by were the tents of the lieutenant generals, hospital, and workshops. Thus the general and the officers were placed toward the rear of the camp, ordinarily on higher ground, whence a view could be had over that part of the camp which was nearest the enemy and which contained most of the enlisted men.

That part of the camp between the via Principalis and the porta praetoria was perhaps known as the praetentura; that on either side of the praetorium, quaestorium and forum as the latera Praetorii, and the space in rear the retentura. About one-third of the distance from front to rear the via Quintana crossed the camp at right angles to the via Decumana and parallel to the via Principalis. Here were most of the centurial tents, separated by narrower roads twelve feet wide, and so arranged thgt they stood back to back between streets.

TENTS

These (pelles, tentoria, tabernacula) were made of leather or hide and sheltered from five to eight or ten men each. Centurions were probably allowed more space. An army in camp was spoken of as "sub pellibus" exactly as we say, "under canvas".

SIEGE OPERATIONS AND WORKS

The fortification of most Gallic towns, while primitive, was undoubtedly effective. Walls with deep moats presented regular rows of log ends separated by massive stones. No one log could be pulled out because all the logs were securely fastened together far inside the wall. Nor would they bum easily, being imbedded in solid earth and stone. The battering ram, fearful weapon that it was, could demolish solid stone walls, but the framework of timbers, earth, and stone seemed to defy it. Caesar therefore relied comparatively little on breaching walls.

His engineers, however, became very skillful both in the art of taking walled cities and in the construction of defensive works. The systematic investment and siege of fortified places was an important and well-studied feature of the Roman military art and gave them an immense advantage over semibarbarous and ignorant people.

Occasionally towns could be captured out of hand, or again a persistent blockade, maintained by lines of contravallation, was enough. Sometimes a vigorous assault using all available appliances was necessary. But the Roman engineers planned their siege work so carefully, used engines of such great power, and attacked with so much force and violence that very rarely indeed did Caesar fail to take a city that he wanted. And vice-versa, there is no instance on record where the Gauls were able to defeat even small numbers of Roman soldiers when fighting behind their well-planned entrenchments.

ASSAULTS, INVESTMENTS AND SIEGES

This, the oppugnatio repentina, was used where a town, although well provisioned, had inferior walls and few defenders and where there was a chance of success without great loss. There were no siege preparations, and the light-armed troops, slingers, archers, and artillery kept the walls at any rate partly clear of defenders. A testudo of shields might then be made, and the moat, if any, filled in with earth and bundles of brushwood and wicker­work (crates). Scaling ladders (scalae) and wall hooks were issued and rams to batter down the town gates or torches to set them on fire. Heavily armed shock troops would then make a violent attack. Such towns usually surrendered and their capture (expugnatio) was immediate, so this method was not often used. If the attempt was made right from the march and before camping, it was called ex itinere oppugnare.

THE BLOCKADE

Called "obsidio" or "obsessio", this consisted in a ring of entrenched fortifications, breastworks, palisades, towers, redoubts (munitiones), and their garrisons (praesidia) placed around a town to cut off supplies and succor, to keep the defenders in, and so to starve them into surrender. It was used against towns impregnable by assault or siege and not well provisioned. In general it was too slow a process and was used by Caesar only twice in the Gallic war, partially at Gergovia and again at Alesia. There a counter-ring of fortifications of greater circumference and facing in the opposite direction, called circumvallation, had to be constructed. Between the two rings the besieging forces were divided up among several camps to protect all sectors. All this was made necessary by the 80,000 Gauls in Alesia itself and the relieving , army of 250,000 men.

FORMAL ACTIVE SIEGE

Oppugnatio longinqua or oppugnatio operibus were the names applied where use was made of the agger and towers against strong towns and forts well defended, well provisioned and difficult, but not impossible, of access. As before, the moat was filled and levelea. The gates were set on fire, and the wall was tom down by wall hooks or breached by the ram, or sometimes undermined by advancing galleries (cuniculi) supported by timbers which when completed were set on fire and caved in, wrecking the fortifications above; Such a siege was commonly a work of weeks or months.

THE AGGER

In theory, this was a siege terrace with a broad rampart or "mole". More specifically it was a huge, vast embankment or causeway with a core of earth, stones, timber, and brush, and revetted with logs. It was, too, an inclined plane or ramp built out at right angles to the enemy wall and which from the rear gradually sloped up to equal, or nearly equal, in height that part of the town fortifications against which it was raised. It was commenced out of range of enemy fire, some four to five hundred feet away, and as the construction was continued, it gradually neared the very strong town walls that required its building. Some idea of what it looked like may be gained for modern readers by imagining a double-tracked railway fill across a relatively narrow valley.

Fifty to eighty feet high, the latter figure the height of the Avaricum agger, it varied in width from forty feet to as much as three hundred feet and was naturally four to five hundred feet long. An agger of a height of eighty feet usually had eight or ten levels. On each level it is possible, though not at all probable, that there was a gallery ten or twelve leet wide and eight or ten feet high extending the whole length.

As a lot of wood was used, the agger could be set on fire with relative ease, and so the exposed portions were faced with stone or earth and covered with skins or wet cloths. Through the galleries mentioned above, if they did exist, building materials could be conveyed without danger, although part of the agger was now in range of enemy weapons. As the head of the agger neared the wall, the workmen being in easier range became more and more exposed to enemy fire and required various protective apparatus which will be described below.

When only a few yards from the wall itselt, archers, slingers, and artillery from towers and screens kept that part of it near the agger clear or partially clear of defenders. Enough material, brushwood, logs, stones, sods, etc., to fill the gap was collected. Then the gap itself was filled in, and a space of fifty feet, or one easily wide enough for a maniple of men, was leveled off. Then the massed, heavily armed legionaries awaiting orders in the assigned reserve would swarm over the steps at the rear of the agger, over its top, now a roadway of approach, and so into the town, using scaling ladders if necessary and probably entering at the weakest point of the walls, at which the agger was invariably aimed.

It was constructed in detail as follows: First, logs twenty to forty feet long and one to two feet in thickness were placed firmly on the ground, parallel .to each other and at suitable intervals. Then upon these a second layer of logs was placed at right angles. The open spaces between the logs were filled with earth, stones, sods, and brush. As has been stated above, it is possible, though highly improbable, that through the middle was left an open gallery ten to twelve feet wide. The work was continued this way until the sides reached a height of eight or ten feet when the open passage, if there was one, would be covered overhead with a layer of timber placed across it. This first section of the first level of the agger was now finished. Screens were next moved forward forty to fifty feet, and the second section of the first level was constructed in the same manner. Thus the work went on until the first level was finished. Materials for the second and every other level were carried through the sheds up the stairs in rear of the gradually mounting agger to landings extending over its whole width and protected by screens. Other levels were constructed in like manner and so after long and tedious labor the work was finished.

TURRES AMBULA TORIAE

These imposing and important objects were solidly built towers on rollers, moved by means of levers and constructed out of the enemy's range. Some were twenty-five, thirty, or even forty feet square at the base and twenty, twenty-five, or thirty feet square at the top. The highest one mentioned by Caesar had ten stories (tabulata) all connected by stairs and was one hundred and eighty feet in height. In case the agger was not as high as the wall, towers could be added to it, generally one on each side. The lowest story often contained a battering ram to breach the epemy's wall when the wall was low and on level ground so that the tower could be pushed up. Near the wall drawbridges were let down from upper stories of about the same height as the wall. Also in those upper stories higher than the wall were archers, slingers, and artillery to lay down protective fire for the Roman besiegers charging over the drawbridge or for the men working the ram below. The enemy often attempted to set fire to these towers, but this was checked by covering them with moistened hides.

ARIES

The battering ram, a long, ponderous, huge beam with heavy iron or bronze head resembling a ram, was from sixty to one hundred feet long and was suspended horizontally by ropes or chains. When swung back and forth endwise by a number of men, the impact was terrific. One used by the Romans against Carthage in 148 B. C. was said to be so huge that it took 6,000 men all pulling at once to work it.

FALX MURALIS

This was a single or double heavy iron wall hook on the end of a long beam to tear down the enemy walls. It was suspended from upright supports.

MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PROTECTING THE BESIEGERS

These "grape arbors" were sappers' huts or sheds open at both ends to protect workmen on the agger as they neared the enemy wall, and were in consequence comparatively easily moved on their rollers. They were of heavy timber and wickerwork with a sloping roof which, with the sides, was protected against fire by green hides. They were about sixteen feet long, seven feet wide, and eight feet high. Placed end to end, several would afford safe passage to the wall for men and material.

PLUTEI

These were shields or screens in heavy standing frames, eight feet high and covered with thick wickerwork and skins to turn missiles. They were mounted on three rollers and had loopholes through which arrows could be fired. They could not protect the small parties behind them against the heavier missiles.

MUSCULI

These "little mice" were similar to the vineae but larger, twenty-five feet square, and more heavily built. They were huts with one end open and the other partially dosed. The sloping roof was able to withstand great stones. After being pushed up dose on their rollers, they were used to undermine the enemy's walls.

TESTUDO ARIETARIA

This was a strongly built shed on rollers to house the tremendous battering ram.

MEANS AND METHODS OF RESISTANCE

Fenders made of bags of straw or wool, or masses of wood or wickerwork, were lowered by the attacked to deaden the blows of the ram. In case a breach was being made, a retrenchment behind the breach was prepared at once. Rocks were rolled down on men and material. Nooses or huge tongs were let down to catch the ram and wall hooks, draw them up and break them or at least turn them aside. Fire balls of pitch and suet and blazing arrows were fired at agger and towers. And above all there was a continual shower of missiles. Mines were met by countermines. By frequent sallies (eruptiones) attempts were made to drive out the workmen, destroy the works, or set them on fire. Efforts were exerted to undermine and undercut the agger. Occasionally the height of the town walls could be increased by employing towers equal in height to the besieging towers.

ARTILLERY

This word, used by the Romans to denote artillery, comes from the word torqueo, "twist", since all the propelling power used was derived from ingenious arrangements of firmly twisted and highly elastic ropes or cables made of specially treated and tightly stretched strands of hemp, strong horsehair, or sinews from the necks of bulls and from the legs of goats. The Roman artillery, like modern, was divided into three classes: garrison or siege artillery, field artillery and heavy machine guns.

GARRISON OR SIEGE ARTILLERY

This was a heavy howitzer that shot stones, balls, beams, and blocks of wood or metal, weighing from 100 to 130 pounds. The "barrel", a grooved track, was sharply inclined and fired the missiles into the air on a high, forty-five-degree angled curve. In Book II of the Civil War Caesar says that one ballista fired iron-pointed beams or poles twelve feet long which had enough force to pass through four rows of plutei and stick in the earth beyond. A crew of from six to ten men operated this engine. Maximum range with some projectiles might have reached upwards of one thousand yards.

ONAGER (Medium)

This, "the wild ass", was a medium mortar that fired stones weighing 160 pounds to a distance of 2,400 feet. In some ways It resemble a smaller ballista, but differed in having one arm and that a lever which, pulled to a horizontal position by a windlass, was then released and flew back to the vertical position with great violence. It is not mentioned by Caesar, but if it was not used in his time, it became standard equipment shortly thereafter.

CATAPULT (Light)

This, a flat-trajectory field piece, fired heavy arrows, darts, javelins, or bolts horizontally or nearly so. It might be compared to our highpowered rifles. The arms of the catapult were straight sticks of timber, and its elasticity or power of recoil was produced by the torsion of a large rope or cable twisted to the greatest possible tension. The two sticks of timber were inserted in the two large ropes or cables, and the ends, like a bow, were connected together by a strong cord. The carriage was then pushed forward until the claws of the trigger were over the bowspring. The middle of the cord was then drawn back in the carriage by a windlass and held in place by a hook when it had reached the rear of the nearly horizontal track, which could be raised or lowered to regulate the range.

This track was grooved to hold the long sliding carriage on the rear of which was a trigger. A block was shoved under the heavy rear end of the trigger and the claws thus held down on the cord. The javelin was laid on the grooved upper surface of the carriage with its end resting on the cord between the claws of the trigger. The block was withdrawn, the trigger fell of its own weight, and the missile was suddenly released. It was thus in reality a bow of immense power. Served by a crew of four to five men, it also was apparently capable of attaining an approximate range of 1000 yards when using certain ammunition.

FIELD ARTILLERY

The Roman artillery was not often used on the battlefield but mainly in defense or assault of fortifications or cities, and to a limited extent in the navy. It certainly lacked mobility, as mobility was known in the recent modem horse era. But Caesar used some of his artillery in the field, as did Alexander, and we know that the carroballistae had carriages similar to gun carriages and were ordinarily transported by animals. These carroballistae were regular equipment under the Empire.

HEAVY MACHINE GUNS

This was similar to the catapult, but smaller and lighter. It fired single steel arrows of medium weight, eighteen inches in length, and small iron bolts. It could reach ranges close to 1,200 feet and was operated by one or two men. A large steel crossbow on a portable frame or standard, it may be compared to our heavy machine guns. Some are said to have been equipped with an arrow magazine, and thus were the ancient approximation of our modern rapid or quick-firing weapons. It was another flat-trajectory weapon, fast, accurate and deadly. Caesar tells of one at Avaricum that killed man after man in the same spot. These together with the sling bullets, glandes, must have been very effective weapons for covering or interdiction fire.

NAVY

Except for the invasions of Britain and the Venetan war in 56 B. C. and for transportation, ships played a comparatively unimportant role in Caesar's campaigns. No regular Roman fleet was stationed in Gallic waters until the time of the Empire, but what ships there were were considered as part of the army and. not as belonging to a separate navy. When ships were necessary, they were built according to the Roman method, or were got from allied and friendly tribes. They were manned by officers and men from the legions serving as marines, the lieutenant generals sometimes acting as the admirals.

BATTLESHIPS

These were long tow, narrow galleys, not too strong, but fast. They were called "naves longae" because of their relatively great length, ordinarily seven to ten times the breadth of the beam. Thus a ship of 20 feet beam might be over 150 feet long and of about 235 tons burden. Some of the larger ships were completely decked over, but many only at prow and stern. The draft was ordinarily about three feet. For the Venetan war, ships of even lighter draft were built for use in shoal waters. All galleys were propelled partly by sails, but mainly by a large number of oarsmen. There was usually a single mast with one square sail, rarely two masts, and in battle even this was hauled down, the sail rolled up, the tackle stored, and the ship cleared for action (expedire navem). Collapsible towers were sometimes erected for men and artillery. According to the way the oars were grouped, arranged, and manned, ships were designated as "biremes" or the more common "triremes", and not according to the number of banks or tiers of oars. Such a vessel as a quinquereme, which certainly existed, would have been an impossible absurdity.

They were steered by rudders, huge paddles or long sweeps (gubernacula) proj ecting backward on either side of the stern and controlled by the steersman or pilot, gubernator. Under full sail and oarage, they could occasionally, at least for short periods, approach the speed of modem steamers. The rowers (remiges) were not, as commonly believed, slaves chained to benches, but freemen. They did four-hour shifts and kept time to the sound of a horn or the beat of a mallet. Other than the rowers, there were a few seamen (nautae) to manage the sails and to steer. The ships were commanded by tribunes and centurions, and the admiral's flagship was distinguished by a reddish-purple square or oblong vexillum. Anchors were like ours, but were used only for short periods. For long stays and for the winter, ships were beached.

TACTICS OF NAVAL COMBAT

Seamanship and tactics were simple. Sometimes ships were made fast to enemy vessels by use of grappling hooks (harpago, copulae, ferreae manus), gangplanks were lowered across the enemy's bulwarks, and the ships boarded by the superior legionaries who could fight on both land and sea.

The Roman idea was to make naval battle as much as possible like land combat. Sometimes skillful seamanship swept the oars of a hostile ship from its side. One or more pieces of timber tipped with iron or bronze beaks (rostra) were fitted to the bows of the galleys projecting forward near the waterline or sometimes below it. Great damage might be done by ramming enemy ships with these, head on or even by a glancing blow. In the Venetan war it was found that the enemy ships had no oars, and so the Roman attack was directed at cutting the rigging, thus causing the yards to drop and so rendering the vessels helpless.

OTHER WARSHIPS

Smaller fast cruisers were sometimes attached to the larger ships for reconnoitering and less important tasks. These were called "naves speculatoriae" or "navigia speculatoria" and had both sails and oars. Naves actuariae were very fast light transport or dispatch boats propelled by both oars and sails and used to inspect the enemy's strongholds and harbors and on similar missions. As transports for landing men, horses and supplies on hostile shores, the Romans used ships of heavier build, shorter, deeper, and broader in beam, naves onerariae or freighters, propelled mainly by sails and escorted and convoyed by battleships. They were only about four times as long as broad and were consequently slower, but steadier, and could weather heavy seas more successfully. Galleys continued to be used in the Mediterranean Sea until the beginning of the nineteenth century.

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