Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The Roman army of the Republic - like any other army - was first and foremost a fighting organization. Its prime purpose was to defeat the enemy in battle. To achieve this goal, a body of men was assigned various tasks and structured into units. The instruments that were used to perform their task on the battlefield included not only weapons and military equipment, but also tactical means that were based on training, discipline, and experience. Moreover, no army could stay in the field for long without a supporting organization. Structure, weaponry, tactics, and organization were determined by the need to perform the army's prime function effectively. If not, the army would soon have ceased to exist. However, no army is solely shaped by its primary purpose. Armies function in a landscape and are part of society, which, if they do not exactly determine the army, at least set bounds to its shape and functioning. Ecological factors and the economic, social, and political features of society partly explain the characteristic features of an army. As Roman society changed, so did the army. Moreover, the geography and climate of the lands in which the armies operated shaped the way Roman wars were fought. In his Histories, for example, the second-century historian Polybius notes the tenaciousness with which the Romans and their opponents fought during the wars in Spain. Only the approach ... log in or subscribe to read full text