The period covered by Praetorians starts
in the year 58 B.C. Gaius Julius Caesar
has formed an alliance with Marcus
Crassus, the richest Roman Proconsul, and
Gnaeus Pompey, called the Great - Rome’s
most celebrated general. The alliance is
known as the first Triumvir, or "rule by
three." Their goal is to rule the entire
known world and beyond.
The Roman Legion had two functions – the
first as a precision killing machine, the
second as combat engineers to build
bridges, roads, fortifications and siege
weapons – which they generally had to do
under fire. The Roman army was controlled
by a military manual and code issued by
the senate in 102 B.C., and it was a
general order that at night a roman army
build either a fortified camp for a
legion, or a fortified enclosure with
watchtower for a cohort or century moving
independently. In battle, the Legion
would form up in three lines, with its
cavalry on each flank. Whenever possible
it would do so on high ground to gain the
advantages of better sight, missile fire
and momentum.
Battle tactics comprised of waiting for
the enemy until they were 20 yards from
their front line (the Roman soldier was
safe, protected with his helmet and a
semi-cylindrical shield from eyes to
shin). At 20 yards, the order would be
given to throw the first javelin (pilum),
and then when the enemy faltered getting
over their dead the second was thrown.
The order to advance was then given so as
not to receive an attack in a static
position. Just prior to contact the
legionary would slam his shield into the
enemy, then stab with his short sword
(gladius), which was then twisted and
pulled out before the movement was
repeated. Legionaries were taught to aim
under the enemies arm, or anywhere on
their trunk. A four-inch wound was enough
to kill or disable.
After about ten minutes the rear line
would push its way through the front line
after discharging its pilums, and the
first line pulled back behind the third
to rest, dress wounds and be re-supplied
with pilums. The discipline and centurion
organization which made this movement and
replacement possible gave the Romans a
tremendous advantage over barbarian
enemies, and is the main explanation why
small Roman forces, under good
leadership, were able consistently to
defeat vastly larger aggregations of
barbarians.
Even in drawn-out battles the casualties
of a victorious army in antiquity were
usually relatively light, while the
losses of the defeated were frequently
catastrophic. This was particularly true
of Roman battles. Caesar also instigated
a reform where his legions each had 30
ballistae and catapults. He deemed these
his field artillery and they were capable
of inflicting terrible damage before,
during and after a battle was fought.
The Romans were not very vulnerable to
cavalry due to their defense techniques -
a cohort of pilum throwing infantry could
bring down enough horses to stop a charge
from the front. The enemy cavalry only
occasionally gained the advantage of
turning a flank, as happened to Caesar’s
right at Pharsalus in 48 B.C. He
responded with six cohorts armed with
pikes and siege spears that skewered the
front ranks, bringing down horse upon
horse, eventually routing 8,000 cavalry
and turning the battle.
The Roman armies of the period were in a
state of change. Less than 50 years
before, seven times consul of Rome, Gaius
Marius, had changed the composition of
the army legion from a checkerboard
formation of centuries using four
distinct types of infantry to one
standard legionary capable of providing
his own missile power. They were still
organized in centuries of 80 men under a
centurion and his deputy. Each century
had its own standard bearer, who had a
very important role – the standard could
never be allowed to drop.
There were six centuries to a cohort and
ten cohorts to a Legion. The only
exception to this was the first cohort,
which had double sized centuries of 160
men and provided the Praetorian Guard for
the legion commander called a legate.
Several legions made up an army; Caesar
had eight for his conquest of Gaul, six
of which he had to raise from scratch.
Originally Rome raised one legion of
Allies to fight alongside one Roman
Legion. Now, with the total conquest of
the whole of Italy, it was the practice
to raise cohorts of Auxiliary troops to
fight alongside Roman legionaries. These
consisted of infantry and cavalry, and
specialized light troops such as archers
and slingers. The Centurions who
commanded these had superior pay and the
title of Prefect.
The role of the centurion was central to
the functioning of the legion from
control of the 60 centuries to the battle
command of the whole legion. Each legion
had 59 centurions, the five senior
centurions of the 1st cohort were the
most senior, the centurion of the 1st
century, and 1st cohort (primus pilus)
was the equivalent of a modern Regimental
Sergeant-Major. The command of the Legion
was given to a legate appointed by the
senate a political command; he had six
tribunes to act as staff officers, all
hoping eventually to command an army. The
legates deputy was the Camp Prefect
(praefectus castrorum) who was the
highest-ranking centurion, his was a
permanent appointment made from a Primus
Pilus of at least 25 years experience. It
can be seen then that all tactical
control of the Legion was in the hands of
centurions of various ranks and these
helped make the Roman army the ruthless
machine of war feared throughout the
known world. |
