Rome's Republican Legions

Background info about the Polybian/Manipular Legions

In this certain phase, the state did not give troops arms and armor, that would be reserved for the reforms of Gaius Marius in 105 BC, and most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. During this time, the system of roles in the battlefield was superimposed on an older class based on wealth and age originating during the Roman Kingdom, traces of which still remained.

At this time it was a conscription based system, and each province had to raise a specific amount of troops for the campaigning season. This number varied, depending on the threat on hand. The age requirement was usually 17-46, though this could change as well. After the Battle of Cannae, the recruiting age was lowered (though it was not specified how much it was lowered).

Property qualifications had to be met in order for Romans to actually join once the call to arms came. The Romans mostly would have needed enough land to support a family, or 400 Greek Drachmae (Wiki says 1 Drachmae = 46.50 US dollars. So 46.50 x 400 = 18,600 USD). Anyhow, this was because they were expected to provide their own arms because either the state did not want to spend its own money, or could not. Another reason is that property owners would have been more or less literally fighting for their own homes which would have made them fiercer fighters.

At this time, the Romans did not have a standing military. Rather, there were often campaigning seasons, when consuls would ring the call to arms, and everyone would join up. Each campaign's length would have varied but as time went on, the wars became longer and longer, often taking place out of Italy. It was for this reason that the Roman military would soon become a full-time occupation with a standing army.

Velites (Latin for “fast men”)

These were the youngest or the poorest men of the Republican Legions, and they were stuck in the skirmisher class due to their poor wealth and experience as infantrymen. They were equipped with a small circular shield, a gladius, numerous javelins (similar but not exactly the same as pila), and wolf heads for identification on the battlefield. Sometimes the slightly richer Velites could afford helmets to provide some meager protection. After they had accumulated enough wealth or proven themselves in battle, they moved up to the Hastati class of infantry. When out of battle, these men could have been used for special missions, foraging or scouting.

The Velites were organized into maniples of 120 men. It is possible that they did not actually have officers of their own, and would have attacked as a single swarm or in waves.

Hastati (Latin for “spearmen”)

Slightly older than the Velites (Hastati were typically in their early twenties or late teens), they were richer and as a result, could afford better equipment. They changed their equipment to reflect their new role on the battle field, that is to say, become the heavy infantry we all know and love. As a result, they were primarily armed with the scutum, gladius and two pila. And because of their wealth, they could buy body armor. This body armor typically consisted of a small bronze plate called a pectorale or a tri-disc plate, both of which covered the chest region. They would also buy helmets for themselves, often just a simple bronze bowl with cheekpieces. Sometimes they would employ a bronze greave on their left leg.

They were the first in the line of battle, as the Romans used a checkboard system of sorts. After the Velites were done fighting, they would have stepped up to try and hack a bloody path through the enemy lines.

The Hastati were organized into maniples of 120 men. They, unlike the Velites, had their own officers.

Princeps (Latin for “first men”) - Princeps on left. Triarii right, Hastati rear row

These men were of their mid to late twenties, and had gained lots of experience in the art of war and had some considerable wealth. Most would have upgraded to chainmail, and purchased additional equipment, like a greave for the left leg or a new helmet. But as for the most part, it is likely they would have kept whatever equipment they had received while a Hastati.

They were in the second line, used as a reserve just incase the Hastati failed to break the enemy. If the Hastati did fail, the enemy were tired and injured, and the Princeps were well-rested and were even better than the Hastati. Most enemies of Rome would have failed at this point.

The Princeps were organized into maniples of 120 men.

Triarii (Latin for “third men”) - Triarii on left, Hastati right

These guys were the pinnacle of Roman might. However, they were armed slightly differently compared to their sword armed counter-parts. They retained the Hasta, the thrusting spear, a holdover from the older phalanx style the Romans used during the reign of kings (no not that shitty medieval DayZ game). However, they still used the Gladius as a backup weapon. They were also the oldest, and the wealthiest, and therefore it is often correct to assume that they were heavily armored and very well experienced.

These guys were the last in the line of battle. If everything else went to shit, victory were solely upon these guy's shoulders.

The thing to realize about Triarii, was that there was not many of them. Therefore, they were organized into half sized unit sizes. While this may have severally limited their combat capabilities, their experience made them exceptionally fierce fighters. Therefore, they were organized into half-maniples of 60 men.

An Equites (Latin for "horseman") fighting a Greek peltast

Unlike the infantrymen, these men, or rather, politicians were mounted atop horses. Just in general, they were the richest, their wealth was comparable to that of a Triarii, though their political background did matter. A bit like the Triarii, they were armed with a Hasta, to give them an advantage over sword armed infantry/cavalry in charges. But, they were also given small circular shields like the Velites, as they could not carry the twenty pound scutum on horse back.

The Roman Equites would have actually looked more like Greek cavalrymen, since they mostly borrowed like all of their equipment from the Greeks. However they would have differed slightly, perhaps in the use of chainmail and local variants of whatever Greek equipment was available for production.

Bonus info: The Equites class was extinct by the time of Julius Caesar. Some time between 102-58 BC, the cavalry class was entirely abolished, at least for the Romans. Auxiliaries filled the gap now, but the young politicians eager to serve would have become officers who were still mounted on horseback, though they would almost never participate in direct combat.

The Equites were organized into turma of 300 men.

The Socii Legions/Alae (Allied troops to the Romans) derping around

To put it bluntly, these men were essentially the auxiliaries for most of the Republican period. They were recruited from areas and peoples conquered by the Romans, so they would have recruited from Tuscany or Sicily, to name a few recruiting places. However, they were not Roman citizens which was probably why they were segregated. This type of segregation led to the Social War of 90 BC, where most of the non-Romans fought for citizenship. After this, all of Italy was given citizenship, and they served as normal legionaries, whereas barbarians would have been auxiliaries.

We do not know much about the Socii troops, who were drawn up from territories conquered by the Romans. But from what we can deduct, is that their organization, tactics and equipment was largely the same and used the same system. However, we do not know much about their training, but because the Socii were placed on the wings of their Roman counterparts, we can say that perhaps, they were not as reliable in combat.

They compromised half of the Roman army, and provided most of the cavalry, as much as three times the number of their Roman cavalrymen. And similarly, they had a small force comparable to that of the Triarii, called the Extraordinarii. They were handpicked by their generals and were at his immediate disposal, and as their name would suggest, they were quite in fact, extraordinary troops.

Misc Notes

After this I might do a short post on the Servian system that came before the Polybian system, though there's not really a whole lot to talk about. My last (and first) post did horribly, so here's hoping to this one goes over well.

I mostly did this in response to the newest Roman post on the FP right now. Link: http://imgur.com/gallery/ki1ut

Sauces used (for further reading if you wish)

The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy

Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity by J.E. Lendon

An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Uniforms of the Roman World by Kevin F. Kiley

The Roman Army A Social & Institutional History by Pat Southern

Ghosts of Cannae by Robert L O'Connell