Content Area Social Studies 2: The Roman Army

The Roman Empire was a great power in ancient times. But the first Roman army was made up of ordinary citizens. Young men did the fighting. Older men cleaned weapons and defended their cities. They served only in crisis or war. Then the time came when Rome needed well-trained men. A new army of full-time, paid soldiers was created. The men were called legionaries. Legionaries stayed in the army for 20 years. They trained, fought, and built roads and bridges. The legionaries served in groups called legions. Each legion was made up of about 6,000 men. At the height of the Roman Empire, around 27 B.C., 28 legions served the empire.

Legionaries carried their weapons, clothes, tents, food, and cooking pots. They marched about 21 miles a day. When they came to a river, they built a bridge. Each night they set up camp. They built earth walls to protect the camp from attack. They also built roads so the army could march between towns and camps. About 50,000 miles of highways were built. They connected all parts of the Roman Empire. (Some parts of these roads still exist today.)

Sometimes the Roman army attacked towns. A town might have walks made of thick stone. Its gate would be heavy and wooden. The town's soldiers defended the town, hurling spears and shooting arrows from the top of the wails. The attacking Roman soldiers used a movable tower. They pushed the tower toward the enemy's wails. They lowered a drawbridge from the tower to the top of the wall. Then the Roman soldiers swarmed across the drawbridge to capture the town. At their peak, no one equaled the Romans, their army, or their empire. They had no rivals.

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