Course outline
Module 1
Module 1: Origins and Evolution of the Roman Legion
Origins and Evolution of the Roman Legion
Knowledge check
Q1. According to Livy's tradition, which king is credited with the earliest organisation of the Roman army into centuriae based on wealth and property?
- A. Romulus
- B. Servius Tullius ✓
- C. Tarquinius Priscus
- D. Numa Pompilius
Why: Livy and later sources attribute the census-based organisation of the army into centuries to Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome, who linked military service to property ownership.
Q2. What was the approximate size of a Roman legion during the Republic's mature period (around the 2nd century BC)?
- A. About 1,000 men
- B. About 3,000 to 6,000 men ✓
- C. About 20,000 men
- D. About 500 men
Why: During the middle Republic a legion typically numbered roughly 3,000 to 6,000 men, with the exact figure varying by period and levy size, before the later Marian reforms reshaped the force.
Q3. Which general's reforms around 107 BC are traditionally associated with recruiting landless citizens (capite censi) into the legions?
- A. Sulla
- B. Julius Caesar
- C. Gaius Marius ✓
- D. Scipio Aemilianus
Why: Gaius Marius, during his consulship around 107 BC, opened recruitment to the capite censi, the propertyless citizens, which shifted legionary loyalty toward their commanders and the provision of land.
Q4. What was the basic tactical subunit of the Roman legion in the manipular system?
- A. The cohort
- B. The century
- C. The maniple ✓
- D. The decury
Why: In the manipular system of the middle Republic, the maniple, a formation of about 120 to 160 men, was the basic tactical unit, allowing flexible movement across rough terrain and within the battle line.
Q5. Which two units were the principal components of a legion's heavy infantry in the earlier phalanx-influenced Roman army, before the manipular system fully developed?
- A. Cavalry and velites
- B. Hastati and principes ✓
- C. Triarii and archers
- D. Centuries and decuries
Why: The early and middle Republican legion's heavy infantry was divided into the hastati (younger men in the front line), principes (experienced men in the second line), and triarii (veterans in the rear), though the triarii were the last line of defence.
Module 2
Module 2: Structure and Ranks of the Legion
Structure and Ranks of the Legion
Knowledge check
Q1. Approximately how many soldiers were in a standard Roman legion during the Principate (early Empire)?
- A. About 1,000 men
- B. About 5,000 men ✓
- C. About 10,000 men
- D. About 20,000 men
Why: A standard legion of the early Empire numbered roughly 5,000 men, though actual strength often fell below this figure in practice.
Q2. What was the basic tactical subunit of a Roman legion, consisting of roughly 80 soldiers?
- A. The contubernium
- B. The century ✓
- C. The cohort
- D. The maniple
Why: The century (centuria) was the basic subunit of the legion, nominally commanded by a centurion and containing about 80 men. The contubernium was the eight-man tent group within a century.
Q3. Which officer commanded a century in a Roman legion?
- A. Tribune
- B. Legate
- C. Centurion ✓
- D. Optio
Why: Centurions commanded individual centuries and were the backbone of the legion's professional officer corps. The optio was the centurion's second-in-command, not the commander himself.
Q4. How many cohorts made up a standard legion of the early Empire?
Why: A legion was divided into 10 cohorts. The first cohort was the largest and most prestigious, containing five double-strength centuries.
Q5. Which legionary officer was typically a young man of senatorial or equestrian rank, serving as a staff officer in the legion's command structure?
- A. Primus pilus
- B. Aquilifer
- C. Tribune (military tribune) ✓
- D. Hastatus
Why: Military tribunes were young aristocrats, often of senatorial or equestrian background, who served on the legion's command staff as a step in their political or military careers. The primus pilus was the senior centurion, not an aristocratic officer.
Module 3
Module 3: Auxiliary Forces and Their Role
Auxiliary Forces and Their Role
Knowledge check
Q1. Who were the auxiliary forces (auxilia) of the Roman army primarily recruited from?
- A. Roman citizens living in Rome itself
- B. Non-citizen provincials, such as peoples from the frontier provinces
- C. Freed slaves who had purchased their citizenship
- D. Mercenaries hired from beyond the empire's borders only
Q2. What was the typical term of service for an auxiliary soldier during the early Empire?
- A. Six years
- B. Ten years
- C. Twenty-five years, with citizenship granted at the end
- D. Until the age of forty, regardless of rank
Q3. What was the primary reward auxiliaries received upon successful completion of their service?
- A. A plot of land in Italy
- B. A large cash bonus only
- C. Roman citizenship for themselves and their children
- D. Promotion directly to the rank of centurion
Q4. Which of the following best describes the typical role of auxiliary units in the Roman army?
- A. They served as the heavy infantry core of the battle line
- B. They provided specialised skills such as archery, cavalry, and light troops, and supplemented the legions
- C. They were used exclusively to guard supply trains
- D. They functioned only as a reserve force in Rome
Q5. Auxiliary units were typically commanded by which type of officer?
- A. Legionary centurions promoted from the ranks
- B. Equestrian officers (prefects and tribunes) with the auxiliaries led by a prefect
- C. Senators serving their first term of public office
- D. Hereditary tribal chieftains who were never replaced
Module 4
Module 4: Recruitment, Training, and Discipline
Recruitment, Training, and Discipline
Knowledge check
Q1. Which group of citizens was primarily targeted for recruitment into the Roman legions during the Republic's early centuries?
- A. Freedmen from the imperial household
- B. Property-owning citizens of Rome and Italy ✓
- C. Conquered Gallic tribesmen
- D. Urban slaves purchased by the state
Why: During the Republic, legionary service was tied to property qualifications, so men who owned land in Rome and Italy formed the core of the levies, since they could equip themselves.
Q2. What was the length of the basic training period for a Roman recruit under the Principate, as described in Vegetius' later account of Roman military practice?
- A. Roughly one week of drill
- B. Several months of intensive instruction ✓
- C. Exactly one year
- D. Two weeks followed by immediate deployment
Why: Vegetius describes recruits receiving extensive instruction in weapons handling, marching, and formation over a period of months, reflecting the emphasis Roman authors placed on disciplined preparation.
Q3. What was the Roman disciplinary punishment in which a unit was collectively punished by being put on barley rations instead of wheat?
- A. Decimation
- B. Fustuarium
- C. Hordeatio ✓
- D. Vitis
Why: Hordeatio (from hordeum, barley) was a collective punishment for units that had shown cowardice or failed in their duty, marking them with a humiliating diet as a sign of disgrace.
Q4. In what situation was decimation traditionally applied in the Roman army?
- A. To punish every tenth recruit who arrived late for training
- B. To execute one in ten men of a unit guilty of mutiny or cowardice ✓
- C. To select one in ten soldiers for a suicide mission
- D. To reduce the size of a legion after a defeat
Why: Decimation involved selecting one man in ten by lot from a unit found guilty of serious offences such as mutiny or flight, making it the most severe collective punishment in Roman discipline.
Q5. What was the typical length of service for a Roman legionary during the Principate?
- A. Ten years
- B. Five years
- C. Twenty-five years ✓
- D. Until the age of forty regardless of service
Why: During the Principate, legionaries generally served for twenty-five years, with the term later reflected in the practice of granting discharge and veteran privileges after completing that period.
Module 5
Module 5: Equipment, Weapons, and Logistics
Equipment, Weapons, and Logistics
Knowledge check
Q1. Which piece of armour was the Roman lorica segmentata primarily made of?
- A. Bronze scales sewn onto leather
- B. Overlapping iron or steel strips (bands) fastened with buckles and hinges
- C. A single cast bronze breastplate
- D. Chainmail woven from iron rings
Q2. What was the standard Roman legionary short sword called?
- A. Spatha
- B. Pilum
- C. Gladius
- D. Sica
Q3. What was the main purpose of the pilum carried by legionaries?
- A. To be used as a digging tool in camp construction
- B. To be thrown at close range to finish off enemies
- C. To be thrown before close combat, with its soft iron shank designed to bend and hinder enemy shields
- D. To be used as a lever for breaking enemy gates
Q4. What was the name of the Roman unit of supplies and the soldier's daily ration of grain wheat was often paid for through deductions from?
- A. The annona, paid to soldiers as a bonus after victory
- B. The stipendium, the soldier's pay, from which the cost of rations and equipment was deducted
- C. The tribute, collected from conquered provinces and distributed in camp
- D. The viaticum, a travel allowance paid only to veterans
Q5. What was the name of the leather or wooden-framed large rectangular shield used by Roman legionaries in the imperial period?
- A. Clipeus
- B. Parma
- C. Scutum
- D. Hoplon
Module 6
Module 6: Battle Formations and Tactical Doctrine
Battle Formations and Tactical Doctrine
Knowledge check
Q1. Which Roman military unit typically formed the main battle line of a legion during the Republic, composed of experienced veterans?
- A. Hastati
- B. Principes ✓
- C. Triarii
- D. Velites
Why: The principes were the second line of a Republican legion, made up of experienced soldiers in their prime. The hastati were younger men in the first line, the triarii were veterans held in reserve, and the velites were light skirmishers.
Q2. What was the basic tactical subdivision of a Roman legion that could operate semi-independently on the battlefield?
- A. The century
- B. The cohort ✓
- C. The maniple
- D. The contubernium
Why: The cohort, roughly 480 men in the Marian and Imperial periods, became the standard tactical unit of the legion and could fight as a self-contained formation. The century was a sub-unit, the maniple was an earlier Republican tactical unit, and the contubernium was a squad of eight men sharing a tent.
Q3. Which formation involved soldiers locking their shields together and advancing in a tight block, often used to resist missile fire and enemy charges?
- A. Wedge formation
- B. Testudo (tortoise) ✓
- C. Orb formation
- D. Echelon
Why: The testudo was a defensive formation in which soldiers interlocked their scuta to form a protective shell overhead and on the front and sides. It was used for assaulting walls and defending against arrows and stones. The other options are not standard Roman formations of this type.
Q4. During the Republic, what was the primary role of the velites in Roman battle formations?
- A. Holding the reserve line to protect the army's rear
- B. Serving as light infantry to harass the enemy and open the battle ✓
- C. Forming the core of the cavalry screen
- D. Commanding the baggage train during marches
Why: The velites were lightly armed skirmishers who carried javelins and a small shield. They engaged the enemy at range, disrupted formations, and then withdrew through gaps in the line. Reserve duty belonged to the triarii, and cavalry was a separate branch.
Q5. What was the purpose of the 'quincunx' formation used by Roman legions during the Republic?
- A. To maximize the speed of a cavalry charge
- B. To arrange maniples in a staggered, checkerboard-like pattern allowing flexibility and depth ✓
- C. To prepare a siege around an enemy city
- D. To guard a river crossing during retreat
Why: The quincunx, named after the five-spot pattern on Roman dice, arranged maniples in staggered rows so that each unit could advance or withdraw through the gaps in front of it. This gave the legion flexibility and allowed reserves to reinforce the line without disordering it.
Module 7
Module 7: Siege Warfare and Frontier Defence
Siege Warfare and Frontier Defence
Knowledge check
Q1. Which Roman siege engine was designed to hurl large stones at enemy walls and was typically mounted on a wheeled carriage?
- A. Scorpio
- B. Onager ✓
- C. Ballista
- D. Testudo
Why: The onager was a torsion-powered catapult that hurled stones in a high arc. The scorpio was a bolt-shooting bolt-thrower, the ballista a similar bolt-shooting engine, and the testudo was a shield formation used by infantry, not a siege engine.
Q2. What was the primary purpose of a circumvallation in a Roman siege?
- A. To serve as a supply depot for the attacking army
- B. To encircle the besieged city and prevent relief forces or escape ✓
- C. To provide a staging point for the assault ladders
- D. To store captured siege equipment
Why: A circumvallation was a ring of fortifications built around the enemy position, cutting it off from outside help and preventing defenders from escaping. Caesar famously used double lines of circumvallation and contravallation at Alesia.
Q3. What was the name of the Roman frontier fortification built across northern Britain under Hadrian?
- A. Antonine Wall
- B. Hadrian's Wall ✓
- C. Limes Germanicus
- D. Trajan's Rampart
Why: Hadrian's Wall, begun around 122 CE, stretched roughly 117 km across northern England from the Solway Firth to the Tyne. The Antonine Wall was a later, shorter turf barrier further north in Scotland.
Q4. What was a testudo formation?
- A. A battering ram covered by a protective roof
- B. A tight formation of soldiers with interlocking shields forming a protective shell ✓
- C. A type of defensive ditch filled with sharpened stakes
- D. A tower built on wheels to approach city walls
Why: The testudo, or 'tortoise', had legionaries hold their shields overhead and to the sides to form a near-impenetrable shell, useful for approaching walls or deflecting missiles. The covered battering ram was a different device, the vinea or musculus.
Q5. Which legionary auxiliary or sub-unit was commonly responsible for garrisoning and maintaining frontier forts on the limes?
- A. Praetorian Guard
- B. Equites singulares
- C. Auxiliary cohorts ✓
- D. Triarii
Why: Auxiliary cohorts, recruited largely from non-citizen provincials, formed much of the garrison along the frontiers, while legions were typically stationed in larger fortresses further back. The Praetorian Guard guarded the emperor in Rome, and the triarii were a veteran rank within the early republican legion.