Roman legion

Visual representation of the post-Marian Reform Legion showing size and disposition for Infantry formations

A re-enactor as a Roman centurion, c. 70.

A re-enactor, showing a Roman miles, (2nd century).

The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–38), showing the legions deployed in 125

A re-enactor, portraying a legionary at the end of the 3rd century

An historical reenactor in Roman Centurion costume

The largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of the Roman Empire (27 BC – AD 1453)

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Auxilia

Etruscan funerary urn crowned with the sculpture of a woman and a front-panel relief showing two warriors fighting, polychrome terracotta, c. 150 BC

Slingers from the cast of Trajan's Column in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2nd century AD

The cavalry Witcham Gravel helmet from Cambridgeshire (England), 1st century AD

Rhine frontier of the Roman empire, 70 AD, showing the location of the Batavi in the Rhine delta region. Roman territory is shaded dark. Their homeland was called the Insula Batavorum by the Romans and corresponded roughly with modern Gelderland province, Neth. Their chief town was Noviomagus (Nijmegen, Neth.), a strategic prominence in an otherwise flat and waterlogged land that became the site of a Roman legionary fortress (housing the legion X Gemina) after the Batavi revolt ended in 70 AD. The name is of Celtic origin, meaning "new market", suggesting that the Germanic Batavi either displaced or subjugated an indigenous Gallic tribe

Tombstone of the Flavian-era eques alaris (ala cavalryman) Titus Flavius Bassus, son of Mucala. A Dansala, (i.e. member of the Thracian Dentheletae tribe), he belonged to the Ala Noricorum (originally raised from the Taurisci tribe of Noricum). He died at age 46 after 26 years' service, not having advanced beyond the lowest rank. Bassus' adopted Roman names, Titus Flavius, indicate that he had gained Roman citizenship, doubtless by serving the required 25 years in the auxilia. The names adopted would normally be those of the emperor ruling at the time of the citizenship award. In this case, they could refer to any of the 3 emperors of the Flavian dynasty (ruled 69–96), Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian, all of whom carried the same names. The arrangement of the scene, a rider spearing a man (the motif of the Thracian Hero), indicates that Bassus was a Thracian, as does his father's name. Date: late 1st century. Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne, Germany

Roman cavalry spatha, a longer sword (median blade length: 780 mm [30.7 in]), designed to give the rider a longer reach than the gladius

Roman cavalry from a mosaic of the Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, 4th century AD

Routed Sarmatian cataphracts (right) flee for their lives from Roman alares (auxiliary cavalrymen), during the Dacian Wars (AD 101–106). Note full-body scalar armour, also armoured caparison for horses (including eye-guards). The Sarmatians' lances (as well as the Romans') have disappeared due to stone erosion, but a sword is still visible, as is a bow carried by one man. It was apparently in the period following this conflict (perhaps as a result of the lessons learnt from it) that the Romans first established their own regular units of cataphracts, and deployed them in the Danubian region. They were most likely equipped as the Sarmatians. Panel from Trajan's Column, Rome

Roman archers (top left) in action. Note conical helmets, indicating Syrian unit, and recurved bows. Trajan's Column, Rome

Roman slingers (funditores) in action in the Dacian Wars. Detail from Trajan's Column, Rome

Tombstone of Marius son of Ructicnus. The inscription states that he was a miles (ranker) of the Alpine infantry regiment Cohors I Montanorum, who died in his 25th year of service (i.e. in the final year of the minimum term for an auxiliary and just before qualifying for Roman citizenship). His heir, who erected the stone, is named Montanus, the same ethnic name as the regiment's, meaning a native of the eastern Alps, most likely the origin of the deceased. Note (top corners) the Alpine edelweiss flowers, called stella Alpina ("Alpine star") in Latin. These were either a regimental symbol, or a national symbol of the Montani. The crescent moon-and-star motif between the flowers may be either a regimental emblem or a religious symbol. Date: 1st century, probably ante 68. From Carinthia, Austria

Tombstone of Titus Calidius Severus, a Roman cavalryman. The career summary in the inscription shows that Severus joined the auxiliary regiment cohors I Alpinorum, rising from eques (common cavalryman) through optio to decurion. He then switched to a legion (presumably after gaining Roman citizenship after 25 of his 34 years of service) and became a centurion in Legio XV Apollinaris (it appears that legion cavalrymen used infantry ranks). He died at age 58, probably a few years after his discharge. Note the portrayal of his chain-mail armour, centurion's transverse-crested helmet and his horse, led by his equerry, probably a slave. This soldier's long career shows that many auxiliaries served longer than the minimum 25 years, and sometimes joined legions. Erected by his brother, Quintus. Dates from ante 117, when XV Apollinaris was transferred from Carnuntum (Austria) to the East

Roman Empire during Hadrian's reign (AD 125)

The Auxilia (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and, in addition, provided almost all of the Roman army's cavalry (especially light cavalry and archers) and more specialised troops.

Cenotaph of Marcus Caelius, 1st centurion of XVIII, who "fell in the war of Varus" ('bello Variano').
Reconstructed inscription: "To Marcus Caelius, son of Titus, of the Lemonian tribe, from Bologna, first centurion of the eighteenth legion. 53 1⁄2 years old. He fell in the Varian War. His freedman's bones may be interred here. Publius Caelius, son of Titus, of the Lemonian tribe, his brother, erected (this monument)."

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest

Map showing the defeat of Publius Quinctilius Varus at Kalkriese

Invasions of Tiberius and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus in c. 3 BC–AD 6

The Teutoburg Forest on a foggy and rainy day

Reconstruction of the improvised fortifications prepared by the Germanic coalition for the final phase of the Varus battle near Kalkriese

Germanic warriors storm the field, Varusschlacht, 1909

Political situation in Germania after the battle of the Teutoburg Forest. In pink the anti-Roman Germanic coalition led by Arminius. In dark green, territories still directly held by the Romans, in yellow the Roman client states

The Roman commander Germanicus was the opponent of Arminius in 14–16 AD

Coin showing Germanicus holding an Aquila

Roman coin showing the Aquilae on display in the Temple of Mars the Avenger in Rome

The archeological site at Kalkriese hill

Schleuderblei (Sling projectiles) found by Major Tony Clunn in Summer 1988, sparked new excavations

The Roman ceremonial face mask found at Kalkriese

Grab des Arminius (Grave of Arminius), Caspar David Friedrich, 1812

Hermannsschlacht, drawing by Crown prince Frederick William IV of Prussia, 1813

Hermann zersprengt die Ketten von Germania (Hermann breaks the chains of Germania), Karl Russ, circa 1818

Der siegreich vordringende Hermann (The victorious advance of Hermann), Peter Janssen, 1873

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest - Furor Teutonicus, Paja Jovanović, 1889

Unfortunate campaign of Germanicus, unknown artist, circa 1900

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster (Clades Variana) by Roman historians, took place at modern Kalkriese in AD 9, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.

Arminius

Magna Germania in 9 AD. The yellow legend represents the areas controlled by the Roman Republic in 31 BC, the shades of green represent gradually conquered territories under the reign of Augustus, and pink areas on the map represent tributary tribes.

This Roman sculpture of a young man is sometimes identified as Arminius

Arminius says goodbye to Thusnelda, Johannes Gehrts (1884)

Arminius (Hermann, ; 18/17 BC – 21 AD) was a Roman officer and later chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, in which three Roman legions under the command of general Publius Quinctilius Varus were destroyed.

Coin showing (obverse) head of the late Roman emperor Julian (ruled 361–363 AD) wearing diadem and (reverse) soldier bearing standard holding kneeling barbarian captive by the hair, legend and Myth VIRTUS EXERCITUS ROMANORUM ("Valour of Roman army"). Gold solidus. Sirmium mint.

Roman army

The armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (to c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval continuation, the Eastern Roman Empire.

God Bes as a Roman soldier. Sword in right hand and spear and shield in left hand. Limestone slab, in relief. Roman Period. From Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London

Boxwood relief depicting the liberation of a besieged city by a relief force, with those defending the walls making a sortie (i.e. a sudden attack against a besieging enemy from within the besieged town); Western Roman Empire, early 5th Century AD

Levy of the army, detail of the carved relief on the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus, 122-115 BC.

Bronze bust of a Young Commander recovered from the Villa dei Papyri in Herculaneum 1st century BCE-1st century CE

Recreation of a Roman soldier wearing plate armour (lorica segmentata), National Military Museum, Romania.

Roman relief fragment depicting the Praetorian Guard, c. 50 AD

Ancient Roman statue fragment of either a general or an emperor wearing a corselet decorated with Selene, and two Nereids. Found at èmegara, dating from 100 to 130 AD.

Relief scene of Roman legionaries marching, from the Column of Marcus Aurelius, Rome, Italy, 2nd century AD

Emperor John II Komnenos, the most successful commander of the Komnenian army.

At first there were only four Roman legions.

Bust formerly attributed to Marius, at Munich Glyptothek. It likely depicts instead Scipio Asiaticus.

Gaius Marius

Roman general and statesman.

So-called "Marius" bust, marble, Roman artwork of the 1st century BC, restored by Alexander Trippel, now in the Vatican Museums

Denarius of the quaestor Gaius Fundanius, 101 BC. The obverse depicts the head of Roma, while the reverse depicts Gaius Marius as triumphator in a chariot; the young man on horseback is probably his son. Marius was awarded this triumph for his victory over the Teutones.

The migration of the Cimbri and the Teutons. : Roman victories.: Cimbric and Teutonic victories.

Possible portrait bust of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Marius's former legate and the general he would fight with for control of the Mithridatic War

He was also noted for his important reforms of Roman armies.

Roman Kingdom

The earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings.

A map of Rome in 753 BC. Colours show topography, with green lowlands and brown highlands. The Latin names of hills are included in all caps.

Growth of the city region during the kingdom

A map of the City of the Four Regions, roughly corresponding to the city limits during the later kingdom. The division is traditionally, though probably incorrectly, attributed to Servius Tullius. The seven hills of Rome are shown in green, with Latin names.

The Capitoline Brutus, an ancient Roman bust from the Capitoline Museums is traditionally identified as a portrait of Lucius Junius Brutus

As the king was the sole owner of imperium in Rome at the time, he possessed ultimate executive power and unchecked military authority as the commander-in-chief of all of the Roman legions.

Centurion

A centurion (centurio,.

A cenotaph to Marcus Caelius, a centurion of Legio XVIII killed at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Note the prominent display of the vine staff, his sign of office.

In a Roman legion, centuries were grouped into cohorts commanded by their senior-most centurion.

Legio V Macedonica

This coin was issued by Roman emperor Gallienus to celebrate the V Macedonica, whose symbol, the eagle, is crowned of wrath by Victoria. The legend on the reverse says LEG V MAC VI P VI F, which means "Legio V Macedonica VI times faithful VI times loyal"

Sestertius minted in 247 by Philip the Arab to celebrate Dacia province and its legions, V Macedonica and XIII Gemina. Note the eagle and the lion, V's and XIII's symbols, in the reverse.

Roman Inscription found near Battir mentioning the 5th and 11th Roman Legions

Tombstone of Legio V Macedonica soldier, found near Emmaus. On display at the Hecht Museum, Haifa

Shield pattern of Legio V Macedonica in the early 5th century as depicted in Notitia Dignitatum, Or. VII.

Legio V Macedonica (the Fifth Macedonian Legion) was a Roman legion.

The Orator, c. 100 BC, an Etrusco-Roman bronze sculpture depicting Aule Metele (Latin: Aulus Metellus), an Etruscan man wearing a Roman toga while engaged in rhetoric; the statue features an inscription in the Etruscan alphabet

Roman citizenship

Privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance.

The Mausoleum of the Julii, located across the Via Domitia, to the north of, and just outside the city entrance, dates to about 40 BC, and is one of the best preserved mausoleums of the Roman era. A dedication is carved on the architrave of the building facing the old Roman road, which reads: SEX · M · L · IVLIEI · C · F · PARENTIBVS · SVEIS Sextius, Marcus and Lucius Julius, sons of Gaius, to their forebears It is believed that the mausoleum was the tomb of the mother and father of the three Julii brothers, and that the father, for military or civil service, received Roman citizenship and the privilege of bearing the name of the Julii

Socii or foederati were citizens of states which had treaty obligations with Rome, under which typically certain legal rights of the state's citizens under Roman law were exchanged for agreed levels of military service, i.e. the Roman magistrates had the right to levy soldiers for the Roman legions from those states.

Roman Empire

The post-Republican period of ancient Rome.

The Roman Empire in AD 117 at its greatest extent, at the time of Trajan's death (with its vassals in pink)

The Augustus of Prima Porta
(early 1st century AD)

The Barbarian Invasions consisted of the movement of (mainly) ancient Germanic peoples into Roman territory. Even though northern invasions took place throughout the life of the Empire, this period officially began in the 4th century and lasted for many centuries, during which the western territory was under the dominion of foreign northern rulers, a notable one being Charlemagne. Historically, this event marked the transition between classical antiquity and the Middle Ages.

The cities of the Roman world in the Imperial Period. Data source: Hanson, J. W. (2016), Cities database, (OXREP databases). Version 1.0. (link).

A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, overlooking Crag Lough

A 5th-century papyrus showing a parallel Latin-Greek text of a speech by Cicero

Bilingual Latin-Punic inscription at the theatre in Leptis Magna, Roman Africa (present-day Libya)

A multigenerational banquet depicted on a wall painting from Pompeii (1st century AD)

Citizen of Roman Egypt (Fayum mummy portrait)

Dressing of a priestess or bride, Roman fresco from Herculaneum, Italy (30–40 AD)

Slave holding writing tablets for his master (relief from a 4th-century sarcophagus)

Cinerary urn for the freedman Tiberius Claudius Chryseros and two women, probably his wife and daughter

Fragment of a sarcophagus depicting Gordian III and senators (3rd century)

Condemned man attacked by a leopard in the arena (3rd-century mosaic from Tunisia)

Forum of Gerasa (Jerash in present-day Jordan), with columns marking a covered walkway (stoa) for vendor stalls, and a semicircular space for public speaking

Reconstructed statue of Augustus as Jove, holding scepter and orb (first half of 1st century AD).

Antoninus Pius (reigned 138–161), wearing a toga (Hermitage Museum)

The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138) showing the location of the Roman legions deployed in 125 AD

Relief panel from Trajan's Column in Rome, showing the building of a fort and the reception of a Dacian embassy

The Pula Arena in Croatia is one of the largest and most intact of the remaining Roman amphitheatres.

Personification of the River Nile and his children, from the Temple of Serapis and Isis in Rome (1st century AD)

A green Roman glass cup unearthed from an Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD) tomb in Guangxi, southern China; the earliest Roman glassware found in China was discovered in a Western Han tomb in Guangzhou, dated to the early 1st century BC, and ostensibly came via the maritime route through the South China Sea

Solidus issued under Constantine II, and on the reverse Victoria, one of the last deities to appear on Roman coins, gradually transforming into an angel under Christian rule

Landscape resulting from the ruina montium mining technique at Las Médulas, Spain, one of the most important gold mines in the Roman Empire

The Tabula Peutingeriana (Latin for "The Peutinger Map") an Itinerarium, often assumed to be based on the Roman cursus publicus, the network of state-maintained roads.

A map of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greco-Roman Periplus

Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii

Roman hunters during the preparations, set-up of traps, and in-action hunting near Tarraco

Construction on the Flavian Amphitheatre, more commonly known as the Colosseum (Italy), began during the reign of Vespasian.

The Pont du Gard aqueduct, which crosses the river Gardon in southern France, is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.

Cityscape from the Villa Boscoreale (60s AD)

Aquae Sulis in Bath, England: architectural features above the level of the pillar bases are a later reconstruction.

Public toilets (latrinae) from Ostia Antica

Reconstructed peristyle garden based on the House of the Vettii

Birds and fountain within a garden setting, with oscilla (hanging masks) above, in a painting from Pompeii

Bread stall, from a Pompeiian wall painting

An Ostian taberna for eating and drinking; the faded painting over the counter pictured eggs, olives, fruit and radishes.

Still life on a 2nd-century Roman mosaic

Wall painting depicting a sports riot at the amphitheatre of Pompeii, which led to the banning of gladiator combat in the town

The Zliten mosaic, from a dining room in present-day Libya, depicts a series of arena scenes: from top, musicians playing a Roman tuba, a water pipe organ and two horns; six pairs of gladiators with two referees; four beast fighters; and three convicts condemned to the beasts

Boys and girls playing ball games (2nd-century relief from the Louvre)

So-called "bikini girls" mosaic from the Villa del Casale, Roman Sicily, 4th century

Stone game board from Aphrodisias: boards could also be made of wood, with deluxe versions in costly materials such as ivory; game pieces or counters were bone, glass, or polished stone, and might be coloured or have markings or images

Women from the wall painting at the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii

Claudius wearing an early Imperial toga (see a later, more structured toga above), and the pallium as worn by a priest of Serapis, sometimes identified as the emperor Julian

The Wedding of Zephyrus and Chloris (54–68 AD, Pompeian Fourth Style) within painted architectural panels from the Casa del Naviglio

The bronze Drunken Satyr, excavated at Herculaneum and exhibited in the 18th century, inspired an interest among later sculptors in similar "carefree" subjects.

On the Ludovisi sarcophagus, an example of the battle scenes favoured during the Crisis of the Third Century, the "writhing and highly emotive" Romans and Goths fill the surface in a packed, anti-classical composition

The Primavera of Stabiae, perhaps the goddess Flora

The Triumph of Neptune floor mosaic from Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia), celebrating agricultural success with allegories of the Seasons, vegetation, workers and animals viewable from multiple perspectives in the room (latter 2nd century)

Actor dressed as a king and two muses. Fresco from Herculaneum, 30–40 AD

All-male theatrical troupe preparing for a masked performance, on a mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet

Pride in literacy was displayed in portraiture through emblems of reading and writing, as in this example of a couple from Pompeii (Portrait of Paquius Proculo).

Reconstruction of a writing tablet: the stylus was used to inscribe letters into the wax surface for drafts, casual letterwriting, and schoolwork, while texts meant to be permanent were copied onto papyrus.

A teacher with two students, as a third arrives with his loculus, a writing case that would contain pens, ink pot, and a sponge to correct errors

Mosaic from Pompeii depicting the Academy of Plato

Portrait of a literary woman from Pompeii (ca. 50 AD)

A fresco in Pompeii depicting a poet (thought to be Euphorion) and a female reading a diptych

Statue in Constanța, Romania (the ancient colony Tomis), commemorating Ovid's exile

Brescia Casket, an ivory box with Biblical imagery (late 4th century)

Silver cup, from the Boscoreale Treasure (early 1st century AD)

Finely decorated Gallo-Roman terra sigillata bowl

Gold earrings with gemstones, 3rd century

Glass cage cup from the Rhineland, 4th century

Dionysus (Bacchus) with long torch sitting on a throne, with Helios (Sol), Aphrodite (Venus) and other gods. Fresco from Pompeii.

A Roman priest, his head ritually covered with a fold of his toga, extends a patera in a gesture of libation (2nd–3rd century)

Statuettes representing Roman and Gallic deities, for personal devotion at private shrines

thumb|upright=0.6|The Pompeii Lakshmi, an ivory statuette from the Indian subcontinent found in the ruins of Pompeii

Relief from the Arch of Titus in Rome depicting a menorah and other spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem carried in Roman triumph.

This funerary stele from the 3rd century is among the earliest Christian inscriptions, written in both Greek and Latin: the abbreviation D.M. at the top refers to the Di Manes, the traditional Roman spirits of the dead, but accompanies Christian fish symbolism.

The Pantheon in Rome, a Roman temple originally built under Augustus and later rebuilt under Hadrian in the 2nd century, dedicated to Rome's polytheistic religion before its conversion into a Catholic church in the 7th century

In the 3rd century, the Empire underwent a crisis that threatened its existence, as the Gallic Empire and Palmyrene Empire broke away from the Roman state, and a series of short-lived emperors, often from the legions, led the Empire.