Roman military personal equipment was produced in large numbers to established patterns, and used in an established manner by the military of ancient Rome. These standard patterns and uses were called the res militaris or disciplina. Its regular practice during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire led to military excellence and victory. The equipment gave the Romans a very distinct advantage over their "barbarian" enemies, especially so in the case of armour. This does not mean that every Roman soldier had better equipment than the richer men among his opponents. Roman equipment was not of a better quality than that used by the majority of Rome's adversaries. Other historians and writers have stated that the Roman army's need for large quantities of "mass produced" equipment after the so-called "Marian Reforms" and subsequent civil wars led to a decline in the quality of Roman equipment compared to the earlier Republican era:
The production of these kinds of helmets of Italic tradition decreased in quality because of the demands of equipping huge armies, especially during civil wars...The bad quality of these helmets is recorded by the sources describing how sometimes they were covered by wicker protections (viminea tegimenta), like those of Pompeius' soldiers during the siege of Dyrrachium in 48 BC, which were seriously damaged by the missiles of Caesar's slingers and archers. It would appear that armour quality suffered at times when mass production methods were being used to meet the increased demand which was very high (from the Civil and Social Wars, and following the Marian and Augustan reforms) the reduced size cuirasses would also have been quicker and cheaper to produce, which may have been a deciding factor at times of financial crisis, or where large bodies of men were required to be mobilized at short notice, possibly reflected in the poor-quality, mass produced iron helmets of Imperial Italic type C, as found, for example, in the River Po at Cremona, associated with the Civil Wars of AD 69 AD; Russell Robinson, 1975, 67 Up until then, the quality of helmets had been fairly consistent and the bowls well decorated and finished. However, after the Marian Reforms, with their resultant influx of the poorest citizens into the army, there must inevitably have been a massive demand for cheaper equipment, a situation which can only have been exacerbated by the Civil Wars... Initially, they used weapons based on Greek and Etruscan models. On encountering the Celts, they based new varieties on Celtic equipment. To defeat the Carthaginians, they constructed an entire fleet de novo based on the Carthaginian model. Once a weapon was adopted, it became standard. The standard weapons varied somewhat during Rome's long history, but the equipment and its use were never individual.
Weapons of a Roman legionary
Pugio
A pugio is a dagger that was used by Roman soldiers, likely as a sidearm. Like other items of legionary equipment, the dagger underwent some changes during the 1st century. Generally, it had a large, leaf-shaped blade 18 to 28 cm long and 5 cm or more in width. A raised midrib ran the length of each side, either simply standing out from the face or defined by grooves on either side. It was changed by making the blade a little thinner, about 3 mm, and the handle was also made out of metal. The tang was wide and flat initially, and the grip was riveted through it, as well as through the shoulders of the blade. Around 50 AD, a rod tang was introduced, and the hilt was no longer riveted through the shoulders of the blade. This in itself caused no great change to the pugio's appearance, but some of these later blades were narrower (under 3.5 cm wide), had little or no waisting, and had reduced or vestigial midribs. Throughout the period, the outline of the hilt remained approximately the same. It was made with two layers of horn, wood or bone sandwiching the tang, each overlaid with a thin metal plate. Often the hilt was decorated with inlaid silver. The hilt was 10–12 cm long overall and the grip was quite narrow; which produced a very secure grip. An expansion or lump in the middle of the handle made the user's grip even more secure.
Gladius
Gladius is the general Latin word for 'sword'. In the Roman Republic, the term gladius Hispaniensis (Spanish sword) referred (and still refers) specifically to the short sword, 60 cm (24 inches) long, used by Roman legionaries from the 3rd century BC. It is considered to be the primary weapon used by soldiers in war. Several different better-known designs followed; among collectors and historical reenactors, the two primary kinds of swords are known as the Mainz gladius, and the Pompeii gladius which follows the Mainz type, which had itself followed the Hispaniensis (these names refer to where or how the canonical example was found). More recent archaeological finds have confirmed the appearance of the earlier version, the gladius Hispaniensis. The legionaries wore their gladii on their right hips. In order to craft a sword with the strength and flexibility of the gladius, blacksmiths used harder steels on the outer layers of the sword while using softer steels in the centre of the blade.
Spatha
A spatha could be any sword (in late Latin), but most often one of the longer swords characteristic of the middle and late Roman Empire. In the 1st century, Roman cavalry started using these longer swords, and in the late 2nd or early 3rd century, Roman infantry also switched to longer swords, as well as mostly changing from carrying javelins to carrying spears. Shorter weapons (short swords and possibly sometimes daggers) were known as semispathae or half-swords. A large 3rd-century hoard from Künzing included one triangular-bladed short sword and several narrow-bladed short swords (with 23–39 cm blades). Bishop and Coulston suggest that some or all were made from broken spathae.
Spears and javelins (hastae)
Hasta
Hasta is a Latin word meaning a thrusting spear. Hastae were carried by early Roman legionaries (camillan); in particular, they were carried by and gave their name to those Roman soldiers known as hastati. However, during republican times, the hastati were re-armed with pila and gladii, and only the triarii still used hastae. A hasta was about 1.8 metres (six feet) in length. The shaft was generally made from ash while the head was usually of iron, although early republican hastae also had tips made of bronze.
Javelin
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
