Selected Sites of JordanMilitary Life in East & West

Summer Semester 2013/14Professor Dr. Thomas M. Weber

The Roman ArmyUnits: The Types of Legions

Roman ArmyCommand Structure

The Roman ArmyGeneral Army Units

1. Land Army 2. Sea Army - navy 3. Aviation Army – Air Force

1a. Combat Units -Infantry – heavy- - light

-cavalry – heavy- - light

-artillery – heavy- - light

1c. General Staff - Generals and Ordonances- Corps of Officers- Signals

1b. Supply Units - pioneers- scouts- ambulance- suppliers

The Roman NavyGeneral Army Units

2. Sea Army - Roman navy

The Roman ArmyLegionary Army Units

Important termsLegio (Imperial) - A legion was composed of nine cohorts and one first cohort. The legion's overall commander was the legatus legionis, assisted by the praefectus castrorum and other senior officers.

Cohors (Cohortes) - A cohort consisted of 480 men. The most senior ranking centurion of the six centuria commanded the entire cohort.

First Cohort (Cohors Prima) - The first cohort was a double strength cohort (consisting of five double-strength centuria) with a size of 800 men (excluding officers). The centurion of its first centuria, the Primus Pilus, commanded the first cohort and was also the most senior Centurion in the legion.

Centuria - A centuria consisted of 80 men under the command of a Centurion and his Optio. Six centuria formed a cohort.

Contubernium - The smallest organized unit of soldiers in the Roman Army. It was composed of eight legionaries led by a non-commissioned officer called a decanus. Ten contubernia formed a centuria.

Vexillatio - These were temporary task forces composed of one or multiple centuria deta-ched from the legion for a specific purpose. Vexillations were under the command of an officer appointed by the Legatus.

The Roman ArmyArmy Units

The Centuria

The Roman ArmyAuxilary Army Units

Ala : The ala was composed entirely of cavalry. The name is Latin for wing and derives from the use of horsemen on the flanks of an army, where they gave protection to the infantry centre. The alae were normally of a strength of roughly five hundred (quingenaria), but there were a few of the strength of roughly a thousand (millaria)

Turma : By the second century the ala quingenaria were arranged into section of sixteen turmae, whereas the ala millaria were partitioned into twenty four turmae. So a turma was not necessarily always of the same size.

Commander: praefectus alae

The Roman ArmyAuxilary Army Units: Cavalry

Ala Parthorum et Araborum (Mainz)

Arabs from Amman serving in the Roman army

The Roman ArmyGeneral Army Units

Arabian Auxiliary Troops in Service of the Roman Army

The Roman ArmyGeneral Army Units

Auxiliary Cavalry Troops in Service in exerise

The Roman ArmyAuxilary Army Units: Cavalry

Ala Augusta

The Roman ArmyAuxilary Army Units: Infantry

Cohors Dalmatorum

The Roman ArmyAuxilary Army Units: Dromedarii

Palmyra, Museum

The Roman ArmyArmy Units: Early Arab Dromedar Archers

The Roman Allies in Bilad al-ShamThe Ghassanids (Beni Ghassan)

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?185336-Lahkmid-Arabs-amp-Ghassanid-Auxiliaries

Fancy Computer-Game Ghassanid Soldiers(without any historic and archaeological evidence)

The Roman ArmyCommand Structure

The Roman ArmyMilitary Ranks: The Generals

Legatus Militum – Magister Militum per Orientem

Emperor Traian in the Dacian wars with his Generals

The Roman ArmyMilitary Ranks: The Generals

Highest Commander

Legatus Militum (or legionis) – Magister Militum per Orientem

Possible Portrait (unsecure!!!) of the Magister Militum Flavius Belisarius (Belisarios , Βελισάριος

* around 405 AD, † 565 AD

The Roman ArmyArmy Units and military ranks

Second highest commander

Tribunus Militum

High ranked officer on a temporary limited term of duty, coming from the Roman nobility. 6 Tribuni per legion with commanding power. Two ranks must be distinguished by the purple stripes of the underwear tunics:

The Roman ArmyArmy Units and military ranks

Third highest commander

Praefectus Castrorum

Camp commander without combat command. He supervised the discipline in the camp.He was responsible for food and other material supply, especially on the Department of weaponry (armentaria), the field hospital, the Department of accounting and registration (tabulinarium), the Department of custody.

The Roman ArmyArmy Units and military ranks

Primus Pilus, Centurio and Optio

The Roman ArmyArmy Units and military ranks

Official Insignia: The Fasces and the Licores (Lictor)

The Roman ArmyArmy Units and military ranks

Official Insignia: The Fasces and the Licores (Lictor)

The Roman ArmyArmy standards and tactical signs

The Eagle (Aquila) and Roman Standard (vexillum)

Vexillarius

The Roman ArmyArmy standarts and tactical signs

AquiliferSignifer

The Roman ArmyArmy standart and tactical signs

Legionary standarts: The Vexilla