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Why Was the Roman Army so Successful?

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Why Was the Roman Army so Successful?
Why was the Roman Army so Successful?

Throughout the years the roman army conquered most of Europe and lands all over the world, making them one of the most successful armies of their time. This essay will explain some of the things that made them so successful such as organization, discipline and weapons. The Roman soldiers were always well equipped for battle. They had a short sword, a dagger, a spear, flexible armour, and a helmet. As well as the weapons the solders carried, there were other weapons such as the catapult used to throw huge rocks at the opponent. The army fought off all of Rome’s enemies, such as the Persians and the Germans. The Roman army was also a police force. They dealt with rebels, bandits, and gave peace to Rome’s subjects. Rome’s legions were its first-class troops. A legion was a force of 5 000 soldiers on foot. They were commanded by a legate, which was divided into cohorts of about 500 men, and centuries of 80 man. The centurion was the officer in charge of a century. The legions were made up of men from Italy. Not many would be from Rome. The Romans were highly skilled in battle. The weapons and tactics they used were no different from other armies but the main reason why they were so skilled was because they were very well disciplined. For example, a Roman soldier would never run from a battlefield. Also, before battle the Romans would line up their forces with the legion in the centre and cavalry and auxiliaries on either side. They did this so they could march forward until they were about twenty meters from their enemies, they then threw their javelins at them. Their plan was that before their oppositions had time to recover from being hit, they charged at them with their swords. With their swords and shields they would try and knock a hole in the enemy’s line-up and work their way outwards from there. Often archers or slingers were used to cause chaos in the enemy ranks before the soldiers would charge. The men in the

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