Salve! I have made this blog to share my knowledge and passion of Greco, Roman culture, language, and history. On this page, I will post weekly about anything from personal experiences in Italy to some of the more niche topics in the classics world. I thought it would be interesting to write about something on the more exciting side/ something I find intriguing, the Roman battle formation.
The Romans’ main battle tactic, and the one that they are most famous for, was the Testudo. In a Testudo, Roman soldiers would form rows and pack for shields to gather as close as possible; it was only about as wide as four soldiers. The Romans used shields to cover heads from any incoming javelins or spears. The Testudo served as a nearly impenetrable shield wall. The Testudo would approach the enemy army and hack down using short swords to never break formation. The greatest strength of the Testudo was its mobility and ability to break off into separate units to act individually. “The maniples were mobile, disciplined in their close formation” (world history.com)Eventually, the Roman army would try to get around their enemy and surround them.“The formation should be four soldiers wide. The attached archers should be at the front of their units. The cavalrymen organic to the units should guard both flanks of the formation. Behind them should come the guard cavalrymen, and behind them the legionary horsemen, then the catapults, then the standard of the Fifteenth Legion ” ( First hand account of Arrian of Nicomedia). It was also very important for the Romans to strategically plan where the battles would be so they could use the terrain to their advantage. One of the most crucial components of the Roman army was the ability to break up into units so it was possible to find enemies.The army was also split into legions, which served as their armies. At the height of the Roman empire, there were about 30 legions, which had around 6000 soldiers within it. Each of these regions was given in Aquila, which was an eagle stander that represented Rome’s power Each legion was additionally, separated into 10 cohorts, which were units of about 600 men.”The legion should consist of ten cohorts, the first of which exceeds the others both in number and quality of its soldiers, who are selected to serve in it as men of some family and education.“(First hand account of Vegetius) At the head of each region was the Legionnaire, who served as the leader of the army. The second in command of his armies was the Tribunus Laticlavis who was usually a senior member of the army. In addition to the legions cavalry unit and the numeri who were barbarian allies to the Roman forces were used to bolster the armies force. Additionally, the Roman army used technology to gain advantages and war like the ballista and catapults, that would rain Greek Fire on enemies.