What made the Roman army so powerful?
The Roman army was one of the most successful armies of the ancient world, taking control over lots of different countries and different people to help create an empire.
They were well-trained, used strong weapons and took ideas from people that they captured or added to the army, adding new weapons or tactics that could help them to win all over the world.
A Roman soldier could march 20 miles a day, wearing all his armour and equipment and was well prepared to fight at the end of it.
Important words
Important words on life in the Roman army.
| Keyword | Definition |
|---|---|
| Auxiliaries | Soldiers in the Roman army who were not citizens and were usually recruited from across different parts of the empire for their skills. |
| Citizen | Someone belonging to a certain place. A Roman citizen was protected by laws and enjoyed more freedoms than non-citizens. |
| Centurion | The leader of a group of 80 soldiers and 20 non-soldiers, making 100 in total. |
| Legion | The largest unit in the Roman army, usually of around 4,000 to 6,000 men. |
| Legionaries | The most elite Roman soldiers who were citizens of Rome, meaning that they were protected by Roman laws. |
| Pilum | A metal-ended javelin that was used to throw at the enemy before charging towards them. |
Who was in the Roman army?
Only men could be in the Roman Army, no women were allowed.
There were two main types of Roman soldiers:
- Legionaries (the most elite Roman soldiers who were citizens of Rome)
- Auxiliaries (soldiers in the Roman army who were not citizens)
The legionaries were the very best soldiers.
A legionary had to be over 17 years old and a Roman citizen (a Roman citizen was protected by laws and enjoyed more freedoms than non-citizens).
Legionaries signed up for at least 25 years' service, but if they lived, they were rewarded with a gift of land they could farm.
An auxiliary was a soldier who was not a Roman citizen, he was only paid a third of a legionary’s wage.
Auxiliary soldiers were often taken from places that the Romans had conquered, using their knowledge of different weapons and fighting styles to boost the Roman army.
Roman soldiers weren't just from Rome, they came from all over the Roman Empire. Hadrian's Wall was manned by soldiers from as far away as Africa and Spain.
How did the Roman army fight?
The Roman army was huge.
It was divided up into groups called ‘legions’ (the largest unit in the Roman army).
Each legion had between 4,000 and 6,000 soldiers.
A legion was divided into groups of 80-100 men called ‘centuries’.
The man in charge of a century was known as a ‘centurion’.
Some soldiers shot bows and arrows, flung stones from slingshots, or could swim rivers to surprise an enemy.
They hurled javelins and drew their swords, before charging into the enemy.
The cavalry (soldiers riding horses) then chased anyone who tried to run away.
Roman soldiers were given ‘standard’ weapons and armour.
This meant that they all had the same as each other, rather than having different types of swords, shields and armour.
This allowed them to fight more effectively as one soldier’s equipment wasn’t better or worse than someone else’s.
Watch: What was a Roman fort like?
Take a trip around the famous Roman fort at Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall.
Find out about Vindolanda.
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.
Now, for the Romans, barbarians were local tribes who lived on the other side of the wall in what’s now, northern England and Scotland.
But it wasn’t the legionaries that guarded the wall. This was the job of auxiliary soldiers who came from right across the Roman empire… places like Belgium, Spain, Greece, and even as far away as Africa.
After 25 years working as an auxiliary, you could become a Roman citizen. And when the soldiers weren’t on duty guarding the wall, they lived here with their families. These are their barracks. And we can still see their remains today.
Barracks are soldiers’ homes. These ones at Vindalanda used to have two floors and an attic on top.
This was the main road in the middle and it would have been humming with activity with the soldiers coming out and washing themselves in the morning and at the end of the day.
That big building that you can see at the end there, that was basically the posh bit, that was where the centurions slept so they were the bosses keeping their eyes on all the soldiers down here.
This is one of the three public loos that’s been left here at Vindalanda. You’d have had twelve wooden seats along here. You’d sit down, do your business straight into the drain below and probably have a chat with some of your friends as you did so.
And I know it looks a bit odd but that’s because in Roman times people always used to go to the loo at the same time, together so it wasn’t very private.
For the last forty years, archaeologists who are really like detectives, have been digging carefully through layers of soil, finding extraordinary evidence of the lives of the soldiers who once lived here.
Justin Blake, Archaeologist: What we’re looking for is the little things that they’ve dropped and left behind: shoes, writing tablets, little bits of weapons and armour and like a detective, those are the clues that we use to find out what the Roman people were doing here all that time ago.
Presenter: And what’s particularly special about what’s been found here?
Justin Blake: The undoubted highlight from Vindolanda are the amazing writing tablets that we find and these are tiny little postcard sized scraps of birch and alderwood that the Roman soldier have written to each other and further afield with an old fashioned iron pen that they dip into the ink and write straight on top of the bits of wood.
And from those letters we just have an enormous amount of information about the Roman soldiers but others as well and exactly what they thought about living right at the edge of the empire on Hadrian’s Wall.
Presenter: The letters reveal the most fantastic details about the soldiers’ lives, how they miss their friends and their families and the good wine back at home. But the main thing that they seem to moan about is the freezing cold up here in the north of England.Luckily some of their mates could send them supplies.
“I have sent you some pairs of socks from Satura, two pairs of sandals and two pairs of underpants. I pray that you live in the greatest of good fortune.”
Well it’s good to know that even the Romans had to wear pants.
Think like a historian
Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.
What evidence might we have about the Roman army in Britain? How do we know they were here and the types of weapons and armour that they used?
Why might the Roman army have been able to give all of their soldiers standard equipment that was all the same?
Why might the Roman army have changed tactics or size over time?
Archaeologists and historians have found lots of examples of Roman weapons, tools and armour in the remains of forts across the country. They have found the ruins of buildings, wax tablets with writing on them and even a whole collection of shoes at Vindolanda in Hexham.
The Romans had a strong and rich empire which meant that they had access to lots of materials. The Romans could give their soldiers good weapons, rather than the soldiers making them themselves. If one soldier’s shield wasn’t as good as someone else’s, then they would be weaker and might not fight as well.
The Romans changed their tactics and size over time as different weapons and ideas developed. When taking over new lands, there would be new threats to the empire or if there was peace, you might not need as large an army.
Activities
Activity 1: Roman legionary's equipment
Click on this Roman legionary below to find out about his equipment.
Activity 2: Quiz – Roman army
Grown-ups corner
Are you a parent, carer or teacher?
Take a look at some of the links below on KS2 History which are packed full of knowledge, videos, quizzes and activities.
KS2 History: The Romans
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
KS2 History: The Romans. 3: The Roman army
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
KS2 History: The Romans. 7: Letters from Vindolanda
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade game! game
Play Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade KS2 History
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