ARMY ACTIVITIES, SERVICE AND PAY

The primary activity of the Roman Army was training and fighting. They were highly trained, organized and disciplined warriors. The basic tactical unit was the cohort. This was composed of 6 centuries to deliver commands and maintain discipline and unity. They relayed messages through signals by using either a round horn or a long straight trumpet. Roman soldiers also carried out the duty of working in building camps. This included, tending the wounded, quarrying stones, building walls and fortifications and building roads and bridges. These all carried out for a long term of service. The maximum was 16 years and approximately 6 of the years were of active duty. The pay was not very much; it was 112.5 denarii per year which is equal to $2200 American dollars.

-Brittany Kaminski

Roman Army Equipment and Artillery

The Roman Army was extremely powerful. They used various different types of equipment to help them in battle. Some pieces of equipment that they used included: Cassis which were helmets, Lorica Segmentata-armor, Gladius- swords ranging from 18-24 in. long, Pilium-throwing spears, Scutum- shield, Red Battle Cloaks and Sandals. They Roman Army used four main artillery pieces: the Scorpio similar to a crossbow, Ballista similar to a catapult, Onager a smaller version of a Ballista and Catapult. One of the reasons the Roman Empire was so successful in its military defeats, is because the men were so close to each other. It soldiers thought of each other as brothers and the army was a close knit family.  

Posted by: Melanie Wallis

The Real Story of the Last Stand of the 300 by: Patrick Swisher

Now many people have seen the movie "300", which tells the story of the 300 Spartan warriors who made a miraculous last stand against a mighty Perisan army. While the film was excellent, it was not hundred percent historically accurate. Actually the movie changed my historical facts and left out other key facts to the battle. The movie also did not give a background to what happened before the battle that led up to it. There were many years of preparation, work, and engineering feats to get the battle of the 300 Spartans underway.

This video above is by the History Channel. It sets up a timeline of events leading up the battle and then explains the real story of the battle and the 300 Spartans. It also looks at the Persians and how the movie made them look like such bad people, and they really were not. The video also looks at some of the engineering feats that made this battle possible. Everyone deserves to see what really happened in this battle and this video explains it all.