The Romans 3

• History
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 1

2. The Time of Greeks and Romans

The Romans 3: From Republic to Empire

What you will learn in 

this lesson

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1. Which question(s) would you like to be discussed in class when we check this lesson?

answer this at the end...

The Roman army (1)

The Romans could not have built their Empire without an army to capture new provinces, keep them under control and guard the Empire’s borders. The heart of the Roman army was its legions: infantry made up of Roman citizens. 

There were about 6,000 men in each legion. Eight soldiers shared a tent. A 'tent party’ was the smallest unit in a legion. Ten tent parties made a century, led by a centurion. Six centuries made a cohort; ten cohorts made a legion. 

The first cohort was always twice the size of the rest, so a legion had 5,300 soldiers. The rest were skilled men, such as engineers, clerks or doctors. 

legionary soldier

Legionary soldiers were always Roman citizens.

They served in the army for 25 years, mostly at the borders of the empire.

After their long service they were rewarded with a pension: they received money and a piece of land where they could enjoy their old age (if they lived that long...)

2. A century was a unit in the Roman army that
consisted of 80 soldiers

1. true
2. false

3. Use the legion overview and the map to calculate the size of the Roman army. How many soldiers did Rome have approximately (=ongeveer)?

4. What do you notice about how the legions are
spread across the empire?
Can you explain that?

The Roman army (2)

The army also had auxiliaries: infantry and cavalry who were not Roman citizens but came from captured provinces. 

They were made citizens at the end of their time in the army. They never fought in their own province, in case they decided to join local tribes rebelling against Rome. 

The Roman legions spent a lot of time training. They practised hand-to-hand fighting with wooden swords. They threw javelins and fired stones from a sling made with the leather strap they always carried. They trained to move and fight as a unit so that in battle they easily performed complicated manoeuvres.  

auxiliary soldier

Auxiliary soldiers were different from legionaries.

They were NOT Roman citizens. They came from the provinces (= lands that the Romans had conquered), like Gaul, Spain or Egypt.

Auxiliaries wore different, simpeler (cheaper) armour.

After 25 years of service they became Roman citizens as a reward.

5. What was the main difference between legionary soldiers and auxiliary soldiers?

6. Why were auxiliary soldiers never stationed in the province they originally came from?

The Roman Army (3)

As with any modern army the Roman army also had officers who trained the soldiers and gave them orders.

The most famous (and most feared by the soldiers) was the centurion. He commanded a "centuria", a group of 80 men.

On his helmet he wore a crest made of feathers or horse hair. On his chest he wore decorations (medallions), earned for bravery and in his hands he held the "vitis", the stick that he used to strike his soldiers with if they did not obey his commands quickly enough.

The highest officer in the army was the "legate", or legion commander. This could only be a patrician citizen.

centurion

photo of a reconstructed (very handsome) Roman centurion.

Centurion was the highest rank a normal soldier could get.

vexilarius

The vexilarius carries the flag of the legion.

He wears an animal skin (wolf) over his helmet.

cornicen

The cornicen uses his trumpet (cornu) to give orders on the battlefield.

centurion

an older, less handsome centurion.

Notice he is the only officer who wears greaves on his legs

optio

The optio is the replacement of the centurion. He marches behind the soldiers and makes sure they keep in step

signifer

the signifer carries the century's standard, the signum.

The number of discs may indicate to which century within a cohort the unit belongs (in this case the sixth century)

7. Think of reasons why the Roman army made use of trumpets, flags and standards during a battle.

Roman cavalry attacking a village in Gaul

8. Describe in your own words, and in detail, what's happening on the training ground.

Testudo, or tortoise formation

9. In what circumstances would the Romans use the formation of "testudo" during a war?

Julius Caesar

the general

Julius Caesar was born in Rome in the year 100 BC. He was born to a patrician family that could trace their bloodlines back to the founding of Rome. His parents were well-off, but they weren't rich by Roman standards. His full name was Gaius Julius Caesar. 

In 59 BC Caesar was elected consul. This was nice, but he wanted more. After his year as consul he became commander of the Roman army in Gaul. The Gauls rebelled against Rome and Caesar spent the next 9 years fighting the Gauls. Caesar's soldiers won many victories and they loved Caesar. After all, a succesful commander could distribute a lot of war booty between his men.

The soldiers became more loyal to Caesar than to the Senate in Rome.

Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix, king of the Gauls, surrenders his weapons to Caesar.

Julius Caesar

Civil War

Some people in Rome were afraid of Caesar's power.

In 49 BC Caesar and his army set out for Rome, where he intended to be elected consul again.

The senate ordered Caesar to come without his army. Caesar refused. He crossed the Rubicon river (the border between Gaul and Italy) and entered Italy with his army.

The senate declared that Caesar was now an enemy of Rome. This marked the start of a civil war.

With his army Caesar defeated all his enemies (mostly senators) and chased them across the empire, even in Egypt. Here he fell in love with Cleopatra, sister of the pharaoh.

Back in Rome he was now the only ruler. He allowed the Senate to remain, but he did not want to share his power with the senators.

 

Caesar crosses the Rubicon

Cleopatra

picture from a Hollywood movie about Cleopatra and Julius Caesar

Today, "crossing the Rubicon" means: to make a decisive decision. Can you explain this?

Julius Caesar

murder

He made himself "dictator", a ruler with absolute power.

To many senators, "dictator" sounded much like "monarch".

They believed that Caesar wanted to become a king and turn the republic into a monarchy.

Outraged, some 60 senators met secretly. They planned to assassinate (murder) Caesar. The leader of the group was Brutus, the so-called friend of Caesar.

On the "ides" (the 15th) of March 44 BC Caesar was murdered in the senate.

Brutus and his men believed that they had saved the republic. But many Romans were outraged by Caesar's murder. caesar was well liked because he had made many reforms that improved peoples' lives. He had lowered taxes and had given many people land to farm. He also made citizens of many people in the provinces.

"Et tu, Brute?"

These were Caesar's final words before he died. They mean: "You too, Brutus?" Realizing that even his friend had turned against him he stopped resisting, fell to the floor and died.

from republic to empire

After Caesar's death, a new civil war broke out. Several leaders fought each other to control Rome.

One of them was Caesar's adopted son Octavian.

Octavian Caesar defeated his rivals in 31 BC and led Rome into a new era.

Octavian brought peace to the Roman Empire and became a popular leader.

In 27 BC the senate voted to give him the title "Augustus", meaning "respected one". He also chose the name "Caesar" in honour of his adopted father. So he became Caesar Augustus. He did not call himself an emperor, but he sure was one. He had all the power.

All Augustus' successors used "Caesar" as a title. After a while the name Caesar became the word "keizer".

With Augustus, Rome was a monarchy again.

Caesar Augustus

statue of Octavian, who changed his name and became known as the first emperor of Rome: Caesar Augustus.

Explain why so many people still think that Julius Caesar was a Roman emperor.

Copy this in your notebook and fill in the gaps.

Summary Romans 3

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Romans 3

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