The legion was the basic fighting unit of Ancient Rome, and was an extremely effective fighting force that conquered a huge part of the then known world¹, creating an empire stretching from Britain to the borders of the Parthian and the Sassanid empires in what is now eastern Turkey. They left Europe with a rich legacy from writing to democracy. The first legions were formed in the 8th century BC, and reformed into a permanent sanding army 107 BC during the Roman Republic. The legions continued to expand and defend the empire until fall of the western empire around 476 AD. After the sack of Rome the Eastern Empire with its capital at Byzantium (Constantinople or Istanbul) survived for another 1000 years. The legions continued to defend them, isolated from the west they eventually became a mercenary force with few Romans in their ranks. They continued to defend the eastern empire until its fall around 1453 AD.

From A Kingdom To A Republic

The kingdom of Rome was founded during the 8th century BC. The origin of the Roman army can be traced to these early days when elected kings ruled Rome. In 509 BC, the last king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was overthrown, from then Rome and the lands it had conquered was then ruled by the senate. When the senate needed an army it conscripted or "levied" a legion(s) from the property owning classes² The Latin for levy is legio, and gave this Roman army name "Legion". Fortunately for this citizen army, a normal campaigning season was short, if a campaign was over a long period, a new legion was often called up and sent to take over from the serving legion. All legions were disbanded when they were no longer required. The problem with this system was, the further away they travelled from home, the less effective they became.

Early Roman battle tactics

During the years of senatorial era two basic fighting systems were developed. In the 4th century BC a system known as the Camillan was in use. At this time Rome was a tribal culture consisting of 4 Urban Tribes ³ and 31 Rural Tribes⁴. At this time the forces of Rome were organised by social rank and tribal affiliation. And fighting mainly with spears using swords in close combat, all very heroic and possibly influenced by the form of Trojan or Greek tactics used at Troy. One of the foundation myths of Rome mentions Aeneas Prince of Troy who settled to the south of Rome after defeating King Turnus in battle. This if true could provide a possible explanation the origin of Rome's tactical superiority on the battlefield.

As Rome started to expand men were recruited from the new provinces and by the 3rd century BC the tribal influences upon the military had become less important. A new fighting system known as the "Polybian tactics" was introduced. Unlike the Camillan system this system required that all infantrymen to carry 2 of the newly introduced throwing spears or pilum. The pilum was designed to pierce the enemy shield the untempered iron shaft would then bend making the shield unusable. It's a lot easier to kill an opponent without a shield. Once the pilum had been thrown they fought with swords and not spears. This was the system that developed over time into the legionary battle tactics. Scipio (Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus) is the general who stands out from this period, was a strong influence on the development Imperial battle tactics.

When Rome had expanded to the point that a full-time standing army became essential, Gaius Marius a Roman general and statesman, introduced reforms in the senate and created laws that in 107 BC, allowed the forming of a permanent standing army. ⁵

The Empire

The Imperial Army

During the 500 years the legions existed they were constantly evolving to meet the needs of Rome. The Imperial era began when in 49 BC The then Governor of Gaul, Gaius Julius Caesar crossed the River Rubicon, with the XVII legion and established himself as the first Roman Emperor.

This is a simple description of a legion is serving during the time in which Claudius was Emperor, and the Roman invasion of Britain took place. As there is often confusion about the structure of a Roman legion, and the officers, so it is worth taking a closer look at the way a legion was organized.

A normal standard Roman legion consisted of approximately 6,000 men. ⁶ Any recruit to the legion made a big commitment as he enlisted for the standard term of service of 25 years. The completion of a full 25 years of service was generously rewarded by a land allotment and a good pension. And as retiring legionaries tended to settle in frontier areas, this system also assisted the colonisation of new provinces, and provided a useful reserve force in case of trouble. The only way out of the Roman army before retirement age was death or severe injury. Those men who were discharged as an honourably injured soldier, were referred to as a "Causarius". The fate of any deserters was execution, insubordination and cowardice in the face of the enemy could also carry the death penalty (more of that later).

The Basic Equipment of A Legionary Soldier

The basic issue for all men from Legionary to Centurion was very similar.

• Helmet - this a plain helmet with neck and cheek guards. It would have a horsehair crest mounted front to back if the man was an officer, Optio or above. For recognition a centurions helmet crest was mounted ear to ear.
• Helmet liner - this was thick felt and protected the wearer from heavy blows and the heat of the summer sun.
• Neck scarf - served to absorb perspiration and could be used as a field dressing if necessary.
• Tunic - commonly red.
• Kilt or breeches in cold weather - knee length commonly red.
• Military sandals "caliguli"⁷ - these had metal studs for grip, hard wear and kicking the enemy.
• Gladius a short sword - this was a thrusting weapon for close combat.
• Sword scabbard - with shoulder strap hung on the left shoulder, so the sword hung from the right hip.
• Body armour - Lorica Segmentata plate armour or mail, protecting back, front and shoulders. Lorica Segmentata replaced the earlier legionaries chain mail armour around the time of the invasion of Britain. It took some years to re equip all the legions, chain mail it remained the standard issue armour for the auxiliary units and the marines units of the Roman navy.
• Sporran -or Apron. A belt with metal plated heavy leather strips hanging over the groin.
• Pugio a Dagger - A military dagger for very close quarters, and dispatching wounded enemy.
• Shield - "Scutum" A rectangular shield for regulars An oval shield for Auxiliaries.
• Shield cover - A shield would warp if soaked in foul weather, the cover was removed for battle.
• Greaves - Shin guards issued to Centurions only.
• Standard issue mess kit - a standard issue for all ranks.
• A blanket -.
• A kit bag and carrying yoke-.

When a legion was on the march, the men had to carry their personal equipment and possessions, to carry this they were issued a yoke. This was carried on the shoulder with the man's kit hanging from each end of it. If the legion was attacked on the march, the men simply dropped their kit and rapidly form battle lines. If they were marching into battle all kit was left in the care of the transport section.

There was a formal structure within every legion, with all ranks up to centurion living, working and fighting together. The purpose of this structure was to create strong bond of trust and comradeship between the men and their junior officers.

A Legion was made up of a series of units, they each unit had a command structure and could if necessary be detached from the Legion and operate independently with their own officers, eg; a scouting party, the garrison of a fort, patrol duties, supply escort the list is almost endless. This allowed the the commanders huge flexibility in how they used the men under their command.

The only qualification that was required to join a Legion was you had to be a freeman⁹ (a Roman citizen, a Plebeian a Roman commoner or a Peregrini a commoner from the provinces) or an ex slave (Liberti) who had received a grant of manumission.¹⁰. If you were not a Roman citizen you could join the legions auxiliary units such as one of the cavalry support units. The officers of any auxiliary unit the Optio and the Centurion would have been Roman citizens.

The medical services were not restricted to Roman citizens (although many were) and Greek physicians were regarded as the best.

A Contubernium also informally known as an octet. On active service was the smallest unit of the legion and consisted of 8 men it is not as random as it first appears, as a goatskin Roman tent housed 8 men. On active service (or in barracks) these groups of 8 men were known as a tent section or Contubernium. They lived, worked and fought together, the term "a band of brothers" would be a very apt description of these units. This was well thought out, the men of the section were a mixture of different ages and levels of experience, the older more experienced men steadying the younger men when in combat. This small group was the closest thing the soldier's had to a family. The Contubernium was commanded a senior man Decanust¹¹. Ten contubernium made up a century.

The Century

The century or "centuria" was the basic fighting unit of the legion. Despite a quite reasonable expectation that a century consisted of 100 men, over time the number varied. This has sometimes caused confusion regarding the number of fighting men in a Century. The cause of this was reorganisation of the centuries during the 500 years of their existence.

To simplify this during the early senatorial period, the years of Rome's early expansion, a century contained 120 men. This was subsequently reduced to 100, during the late senatorial period.

Finally during the reign of Emperor Augustus (from 30 BC) the imperial century was reduced again to 80 men.

At this point the first officers appear, regardless of the Centuries ranking in the legion the command structure would have been as follows. In ascending order the ranks of the officers were in ascending order.

The individual private soldier was known as a "Miles", and was assigned to a unit of men known as a contubernium. A century was made up of 10 contubernium.

Standard Bearer The Signifer of the century, a Non Commissioned Officer often known incorrectly as "The Eagle", a term normally applied to the standard of the legion(s).

Optio The Deputy Centurion, the junior Non Commissioned Officer or optio Centuriae signified by helmets with black and white crest mounted fore and aft.

The senior Non Commissioned Officer (The term Non Commissioned Officer, or "non commissioned officer" is a modern term and although not strictly correct, however it describes the system ranks of the legion very well.), in charge of the century was the Centurion who rose from the ranks by skill and effort, signified by helmets with a crest mounted from ear to ear, and the vine cane they carried.

There were many Standard bearers in a legion. Not only did they provide a focus for the men on the battlefield. They could be used to give simple visual signals to the men. Each century had a standard in addition the Legions standard, this was the most important standard as it was the spirit of the legion. ¹² .

A commissioned office the Legates and Tribunes were normally appointed to the legion by the emperor or the senate. Almost always from influential senatorial families, often inexperienced and reliant on the skill of the centurions to get the job done. If they did well in the army it assisted their later political career.

It was often necessary for one or two centuries to be detached to man a fort or for other duties. If this was necessary a small force called a Maniple was created. The name latin name maniple simply means "a handful", the unit had a temporary standard known as a vexillum. A legionnaire was appointed as vexillarius to carry the standard. This in turn has given rise to the term "the Vexillation fortress" a fort manned by a small garrison, a term often used by archaeologists, it is however unclear if the Romans used the term.

The structure of The Cohort

Made up of 6 centuries normally a cohort consisted of 480 fighting men. The first cohort was the elite core of the Legion and was double strength numbering between 800 to 960 elite men.

The officers of a cohort. The overall command of the cohort was given to the senior of the 6 Centurions that commanded each of the centuries that formed the cohort, a Signifier was appointed as the standard bearer of the Cohort.

The Structure of A Legion

The legion consisted of 10 cohorts, an important thing to remember is the cohorts were not all of equal strength or experience. This could be due to casualties, retirement and sickness, there was a constant flow of men into any active Legion and they not be effective until basic training was completed. Also as the men approached the end of their 25 years service many would be in the 40's or older and clearly not as agile as the younger men. Over the years a system had to be developed that enabled the commander to use his men appropriately on the battlefield.

Over the years a system developed to allow the commanders to use the men under his command in the most effective way. The men were distributed amongst the legions cohorts by age, battle experience, training and ability. Thus the commander of the legion always know where his best and most experienced troops were.

In a legion the 10 cohort centurions had an order of seniority starting with the centurion of century I of cohort I. In the absence of senior officers he could could take charge of the men.

Cohort I. Known as the first spear “Primus Pilus”. This was the largest of the cohorts with a complement of 800 fighting men these were also the best troops in any legion. It should be remembered that cohort 1 was not the only cohort with experienced troops. The men of cohorts 3, 5, 8and 10 (although half the size) were also experienced and battle hardened, with veteran troops who formed the front-line and support troops. The battle casualties of Cohort I were usually replaced by experienced men from the other cohorts.

The second line or reserve was formed by Cohorts 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9 contained a higher proportion of inexperienced men or recruits. This was very much "on the job training", and as they gained experience the best men from these cohorts replaced the casualties of the front line cohorts. It would be misleading to say the men in these cohorts were poor quality soldiers, far from it they simply lacked experience and training, they were an equal to any potential opponents. This system of organisation two benefits, i) it simply ensured the best men were in the front line, and ii) any commander appointed to a legion knew where to find the experienced men.

Cohort I: The best men of the legion with the most experience of battle. The cohort was double the size of the other cohorts for a reason. It had the most experienced men, and it led the legion into battle. The cohorts job was to be the rock on which an enemy charge would break itself upon. Once the initial charge of the enemy had stalled this cohort normally led the advance, ruthlessly cutting down the enemy as it moved forward. An example of ruthless efficiency of this system was the battle fought by the Roman Governor of Britain, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus and a force of 10,000 men. His defeat of Boudicca and the slaughter of most of her army of 80,000.

Cohort II: This is where the new recruits were placed and mixed with more experienced men to steady them in battle and learn by following the example of senior men.

Cohort III: Fully trained battle hardened troops.

Cohort IV: Another of the four weaker training cohorts with a mixture of veterans and new men.

Cohort V: Fully trained unit front line ready.

Cohort VI: Made up of inexperienced troops but containing "the Finest of the Young Men".

Cohort VII: One of the four weak cohorts and a likely place to find trainees and raw recruits.

Cohort VIII: Contained men referred to as "The Selected Troops".

Cohort IX: Another of the four cohorts for the trainees and raw recruits.

Cohort X: Made up of men referred to in writings of the time as "The Good Troops".

At first the system appears a little odd, but the point of the men who organisation was to allow any commander to take charge of any legion and know which cohorts had the best men. Over the years a system developed to allow the commanders to use the men under his command in the most effective way. As far as the men of the legion were concerned, this system developed Loyalty to the legion, to the cohort and absolute loyalty to the century. Battle casualties were inevitable so it a priory to ensure that the front line cohorts were kept at full strength. The best men from cohorts 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9 were transferred to replace the battle losses of cohorts 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10.

One of the reasons the legions were such an effective as a fighting force was the way senior officers were appointed. A concept that is still in use today.

The system that Rome used to appoint senior officers is today called the system of commissioning. This had several advantages, 1)the most able men could be chosen, 2) they could be rapidly replaced if inept or there were any hints of disloyalty¹³. 3) All commissions were dated or given for the duration of a campaign officers could be re assigned without causing any political problems. These officers are today referred to as "commissioned officers". All commissioned officers were expected to supply their own military equipment and servants at their own expense.

An army or any large body of men, is a very powerful weapon and it is a good policy to place it in the hands of a loyal and competent commander. As a further safeguard it is also wise to appoint the commanders junior officers for the same reasons. With this in mind the Emperor and the Senate carefully chose the men they put in command or the legions. The final sanction was that the officers extended family, wealth and estates were in the hands of Rome, the final forfeit in case of disloyalty.

Provincial military governor appointed by the Emperor or Senate.

• An Imperial Legate. Legatus Augusti. The General, a senator, a provincial governor, and the overall commander of 2 or more legions stationed within in his province.

Other Senior officers appointed by the Emperor or Senate.

• The Legate. Legatus legionis. The a senator appointed as commanding General of a legion appointed by the Emperor, often chosen for his experience, after a distinguished career in the legions starting as a junior Tribune. Often in command of several legions each operating individually he was often HQ based, he passed the field command of individual legions to the senior Tribune under his command. This was not unusual as Caesar had 4 legions under his command when he invaded Britain, each often operating individually.To assist the Legate a Cornicularius ('administrator') was appointed as an administrative assistant to the Legate and the Tribunes.

Other officers appointed by the Senate or by Imperial patronage.

• The Senior Tribune. Tribunus Laticlavius. The senior of the legions 6 Military Tribunes. An experienced officer his rank was designated by the broad purple band on his tunic. Acting under direct the orders of the Legatus legionis he was the effective commander of the legion in the field.
• The Praefectus Castrorum. or Camp Prefect. He was an Non Commissioned Officer and the 3rd officer in the legions chain of command. If the Legatus legionis was not with the legion he serve as the legions 2nd in command in the field. A time served senior Centurion a Primus Pilus and finished his 25 years of service. He was in charge of the training of the legion, an experienced head the other officers could rely upon. In battle he would command a cohort of auxiliary foot. One of his administrative duties was to ensure that the casualties received the best medical care. Making sure the Base Hospital and its staff dealt efficiently with the wounded as they arrived. This included organising post treatment convalescence of the men at suitable spa towns.
• The Tribune(s). There were 5 Junior Military Tribunes Medicus¹⁴ in the legion, who were the field commanders of the legion. They did not hold equal military status, they were ranked in order of authority. All Tribunes were chosen from the Roman upper classes they were usually sons of experienced former officers and were prepared for service in the army. A successful time in the legions gave these men the opportunity to advance their when they returned to civilian life. The rank of Tribunes Medicus was designated by the narrow purple band on his tunic.
• The Quaestor. A senior officer in charge of the legions supplies and transport.

The promotion of other officers were made within the legion, these required any political approval or commission, and could referred to as non commissioned officers.

The officers promoted from the ranks of the legion by the Legate or Tribunes, due to their skill and leadership ability.

• The Centurions. the front line commanders of each century.
• The Optios. The Centurions second in command taking command of the century if the centurion fell in battle.
• The Decanus¹⁵.

All standard bearers ranked above an ordinary legionary soldier, this meant that in extreme circumstances they could take command of small units if other officers were out of action.

• The Aquila the Eagle¹⁶.
• The Imaginifer¹⁷ This standard, bearing the image of the emperor.
• The Signifer(s) The signum was the standard for each centuries of the legion, there would be 10 Signifers in a legion.
• the Vexillarius vexillum standard was a cloth banner (forerunner of the flag, hanging from a cross shaped staff), mainly used in auxiliary units of both infantry and cavalry.
• For the purpose of recognition it was customary for Standard bearers to be distinguished, this was achieved by the wearing an animal skin, a practice adopted from the Celtic tribes of Gaul. The animals skins used were Boars, Bears or Lions. the head of the animal was worn on the helmet, the skin used as a cloak over the uniforms.

• The Cornicens were an important members of the legion and they were the only method the commander had to rapidly issue movement orders to the legion whilst on the battlefield. Every Cohort had a Cornicen as verbal orders were masked by the noise of battle.

Any Legion would have a mixture of three types of Legionary soldiers, based upon training, experience and special abilities or skill.

• Munifex or Miles The basic legionary Soldiers (equivalent to a private soldier).
• Triplicarius This was not a rank it was a reward given to a senior soldier who had special skill and was rewarded with a
  rate of pay three times that of an ordinary legionary.
• The Vocati Veteran soldiers.
• Immunes Legionary Soldiers with special skills. These skills included surveyor, carpenter, builder and mason.
• Beneficiarius A title given to a soldier chosen from the legionary troops. They could serve as an orderly or aide assigned to a senior officer, or serve in an administrative capacity within the legion. The benefits of the status was a pay increase, lighter duties and better chance of promotion.
• Beneficiarius Consularis - A Consular aid.
• Beneficiarius Tribuni - An Aid to a Tribune.
• Beneficiarius Interpretes - Interpreters.
• Beneficiarius Notarii - Secretaries.
• Beneficiarius Librarii - Archivists.
• Beneficiarius Exceptores - Short-hand writers.
• Beneficiarius Exacti - Recorders or clerks.
• Beneficiarius Haruspices - Religious seers.
• Beneficiarius Classis - Fleet quartermaster, often based in the shore forts such as Portchester (see maps below).

• The medical staff; A Capsarius a Doctor/Surgeon or Medicus, Doctors and Medical Orderlies were some of the most skilled of their time. A medical team a Medicus and several orderlies were a part of every ala, or cohort. The standard of Roman battlefield care was not matched until WWI. Many Greeks serves as legionary doctors and surgeons. the Greek doctors were widely regarded the best doctors of the time.
• The Officers Body-guards (Cohors Praetoria) of the senior officers, "The Tribuni Militum" Officers were often political appointees all were members of influential families. As some of these men were destined for high political office extra protection on the field of battle was desirable.

It should be noted that as every man in the legion had received training in battlefield first aid, and dressings ware available in the battlefield. This meant the Roman army had one of the highest survival rates for battlefield injures.

The Legion would have a fixed fortified supply base and hospital, normally as an annex within a camp or a Legionary fort. When moving through hostile territory very time the legion stopped for the night a fortified marching camp would be constructed. The marching camp was taken down each time the legion moved on, so a potential enemy could not make use of it. Each time the legion stopped the marching camp was rebuilt on the new site, and was ready for use the following night. This was very important precaution whilst campaigning in hostile territory.

The Commissariat Beneficiarii the clerks and stores orderlies, they had to keep up with a legion the move and needed a well organised system of distribution, this was the responsibility of the Beneficiarii. Each legion had approximately 1,400 mules to be used pack or draught animals. The problem of feeding the transport animals was one of several reasons operations were restricted to the summer months, as in winter grazing was not available. Large carts and heavy baggage were pulled by oxen.

It is difficult to determine whether the non-combatants such as, field surgeons and clerks were ever included in the roster, or simply helped bring the total number of men up to the official 6,000.

Support Personnel

• Explorator a scout - the term also applied to spies working with forward units.
• Mensor a surveyor - a team of surveyors was referred to as Metatore.
• Cerarius a book keeper - named after the cera, the wax tablet he always used.
• Mulio a mule driver - part of the impedimenta (baggage train) mainly used for carrying the tents, food and tools.

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The Artillery

The artillery were a separate unit in combat who were responsible for the transportation (heavy artillery were often moved by teams of oxen), operation and maintenance of the various missile firing machines used by the legion. The machines loosely referred to as Catapults. varied from stone throwing machines designed to demolish walls and palisades, to long range bolt throwers, that looked similar to a oversized crossbow on a stand, that could be used against massed enemy troops or defended walls.

• The Onager a heavy stone thrower. This was used against fortifications and was capable of demolishing fortified gateways and walls.
• Vitruvius a Ballista or stone thrower. Used against fortifications, buildings and troop formations.
• Scorpion a bolt shooter. Against ships, buildings and troop formations and timber fortifications.
• Manuballista a powerful long range bolt shooter. Excellent against ships, buildings and troop formations and timber fortifications. Also used on large Roman navy vessels
• The Xanten¹⁸ a bolt shooter. Good for siege work and also excellent against shipping, and timber forts.
• Polybolos "multi shot", a repeating bolt-shooting machine. Used against fortifications, cavalry and troop formations

The Auxiliaries were a very important, separate units recruited from the local population and trained in Roman style combat. They were used as an addition to the legion's forces. Their training was similar to that of the legionary. The main difference was the auxiliary forces were issued different kit to that of the legions. The main differences were -I) They were only ever issued chain mail armour, with bronze or iron helmets. II)The shields of all auxiliary units were Oval, not the the rectangular shield of the Legions.

The issue of different equipment was an important distinction as it enabled their easy recognition and avoided confusion on the battlefield. The Roman army had two distinct types of Auxiliary forces, foot and cavalry.

It was also procedure that whenever possible, auxiliary forces were not used in the province in which they were recruited. This was to avoid any possibility using these men against their own people that is why there there many records of Gauls serving in Egypt and men from Dacia (Romania) and the Euphrates on Hadrian's Wall. However taking advantage of long standing tribal hostility, some local tribesmen were recorded as being recruited as auxiliary forces, and used during the conquest of Britain.

The Auxiliary Foot were established in units of similar size to a cohort. The units were led by a legionary centurion (often coming to the end of his 25 years service), and an Optio. These units were used as transport guards or as garrison troops for forts protecting supply routes or frontier towns. The Auxiliary often included a unit of slingers, a group of these men could be extremely effective on the battlefield. The Auxiliary units were granted a standard barer and their own standards. Garrisons of forts were often supported by a unit of Auxiliary Cavalry.

There were two basic cavalry units, the standard unit the Ala Milliaria commanded by the senior Prefectus¹⁹ Alae. This unit was largest and had between 720 and 960 mounted officers and troops, that were divided into 32 Turmae of 22 to 30 men commanded by a Decurion.

The second unit was the Ala commanded by a Praefectus Alae. Each Ala had 480 mounted troops, divided into 16 units or

turmae

As the Roman army did not have cavalry in the regular forces, the preferred option was to recruit troops from the native population of the provinces.

Officers were Roman citizens appointed as legate commanders of auxiliary cavalry cohorts. Besides supporting the legion on the battlefield, duties included patrols and scouting, acting as messengers, guarding supply transports and providing bodyguards for senior officers or government officials.

Roman cavalry were equipped with a long oval shield, long Celtic style sword and spear, and protected by a long chain mail coat and helmet, (as some helmets even had the iconic nose guard), they would have been very similar in appearance to a "Norman Knight". The cavalry units were mainly used against lightly armed foot or for skirmishing with enemy cavalry. The Romans did not use heavy cavalry, this was mainly because although they had a robust and solid saddle, the stirrup had not yet been thought of ²⁰ and lacked the extra stability that stirrups would have provided. and could be more easily pulled from his mount. That does not mean the Roman military saddle was bad, far from it, it was well designed. It had a saddle tree, this is a frame that distributes the weight of the rider and preventing pressure on the horse's spine. Known as a four horn saddle it had two curves horns to the front curved so the riders legs could provide firm support. The two rear horns were curved slightly outward and prevented the rider from slipping backwards.

To provide a garrison to man the defences, the Romans created a border force known collectively as the Limitanei formed to perform this static duty freeing the legions for more important duties. The Limitanei were found on almost all the empires borders and in times of trouble the Legion stationed in the area would provide support.

There were many minor offences in the legion, all punished in relatively minor ways. Fines deducted from the offenders pay, extra duties patrol or guard, or demotion. Digging latrines was universally unpopular.

A life in the legions was hard the training and discipline were harsh but the men were proud of the reputation of their legion. Most times would fight against almost overwhelming odds and win. But things could go wrong. As most of the officers, above the rank of centurion, were serving in the army to gain a good military reputation for senatorial service in later life. If things went wrong whilst they were in command, their punishment was a ruined reputation and humiliation in Rome and no political power or public life.

Those of the rank of centurion and below could suffer a very different fate. For major offences they could face the death penalty. The main offences were desertion, murder, insubordination on the battlefield, and cowardice in the face of the enemy.

The main punishments for individuals or small groups were, stoning, or crucifixion.

For larger groups such as a century cohort or even a legion, the sentence of decimation could be ordered by the commanding General. Decimation means "one of ten", and was a psychological as well as a physical punishment. A condemned unit had to draw lots to see who lived. 1 man (who picked the black token from the jar), out of every 10 was chosen to be beaten to death by the lucky men (who picked one of the 9 white tokens). The psychological twist was the men were killed by their close comrades who had to live with the memory. That meant if a cohort underwent decimation, 72 men issued with pickaxe staves, had to beat to death the 8 men who were chosen by fate for execution. And the unit had to live with the disgrace of the punishment for many years. Any awards the unit had one were also declared void and removed from the standard.

Stoning was also a unit punishment the victims were encircled by members of their unit and heavy stones were thrown at them until they died.

Crucifixion needs little explanation, the victims were placed in prominent places such as the camp gates. The nails were not put through the hands but just above the wrist where the bones would support the victims body weight, ensuring the victims took days to die.

Officers of the legion were not above punishment minor offences could lead to the disgrace of reposting to a minor command or even dismissal. For serious offences the offender could face the death penalty. If he did not fall on a sword or take poison he could choose death by beheading, a more honourable fate than crucifixion.

Before we judge the Romans, give this system some thought, if stoning, crucifixion and decimation were replaced with hanging, the firing squad and flogging. You have a similar level of punishment brutality that was in use in the British army from the time of Cromwell to World War I.

A legion was also tasked with consolidating newly conquered provinces. As engineers were a part of a legion they were given the task of building roads, bridges and fortifications. Hadrian's Wall and the numerous stone forts around Europe give witness to this.

After the fighting was over the legions engineers also built towns and public buildings such as markets, bathhouses, mills, harbours, temples, hospitals. In short they were a force not just of conquest but of colonisation, leaving in their wake men who had completed their 25 years with the eagles who settled the area and helped populate and "romanise" the new settlements.

The legacy of the Romans in Britain was the military road system many parts of which are still in use today. The best known parts of this road system are,

To to give an idea of the empires communication system the map links below show some of the major ports and naval bases the in Europe and North Africa. All these installations connected be by major roads. This shows the huge system created by the legions.