Romans at War: The Roman Military in the Republic and Empire

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Traditionally, Romulus fortified the Palatine Hill after founding the city, and shortly thereafter Rome was " equal to any of the surrounding cities in her prowess in war". Fearing the Spartans would take increasing control of the region, the Romans drew on help from allies to prosecute the Roman-Spartan War, defeating a Spartan army at the Battle of Gythium in 195 BC. From 100 BCE (or perhaps even earlier) the maniple was abandoned and instead a legion was divided into 10 cohorts of 4-500 men which would remain the basic Roman tactical unit. It would be a combination of all of these factors that would ensure Roman military dominance for centuries.

The second consular army duly defeated the Macedonians at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC [156] [158] and the Macedonians, lacking the reserve of the Romans and with King Perseus captured, [159] duly capitulated, ending the Third Macedonian War.The Celtic problem would not be resolved for Rome until the final subjugation of all Gaul following the Battle of Alesia in 52 BC. Presenter: The fort here at Vindolanda was the home to 800 soldiers and their job was to guard the wall against people they described as barbarians. Some soldiers shot bows and arrows, flung stones from slingshots, or could swim rivers to surprise an enemy. After swiftly recovering from the sack of Rome, [60] the Romans immediately resumed their expansion within Italy.

Punishment came in many forms and could be implemented due to mutinous dissent but also a lack of courage in battle. BC – Battle of Beneventum – Inconclusive encounter between Pyrrhus and the Romans under Manius Curius. In 144 BC, Viriathus formed a league against Rome with several Celtiberian tribes [133] and persuaded them to rise against Rome too, in the Second Numantine War. Once the attack began, the defender's walls could be overcome by building a ramp up against them using trees, earth and rocks. Generally, once conquered, only the women and children could hope to survive as an example had to be set of the futility of prolonged resistance.June – Battle of the Catalaunian Plains – The Romans with Flavius Aetius and the Visigoths with Theodoric, defend against Attila, ruler of the Hunnic Empire. By 304 BC the Romans had effectively annexed the greater degree of the Samnite territory, founding several colonies. BC Siege of Eudaemon - The supporting Roman fleet, after crossing the Gulf of Aqaba, occupied and sacked the port of Aden, securing the Roman merchant route to India in Red Sea.

The Cantabrian Wars or Astur-Cantabrian Wars, from 29 BC to 19 BC, occurred during the Roman conquest of these northern provinces of Cantabria and Asturias.Seven years after their defeat, with Roman dominance of the area looking assured, the Samnites rose again and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Camerinum in 298 BC, to open the Third Samnite War. The following is a list of Roman external wars and battles [1] fought by the ancient Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire against external enemies, organized by date. These wars, starting in 264 BC [89] were probably the largest conflicts of the ancient world yet [90] and saw Rome become the most powerful state of the Western Mediterranean, with territory in Sicily, North Africa, Iberia, and with the end of the Macedonian wars (which ran concurrently with the Punic wars) Greece as well. In Roman culture martial values were highly regarded and war was a source of prestige for the ruling class where career progression came from successful military endeavour.