The Impressive Training and Recruitment of Rome’s Legions

I hope you all enjoy this little stray away from my original series on the Legions. Due to the much appreciated interest from your side, I decided to make a smaller series about the way the Legions operated, to make sure we are all on the same page as I continue my main series. I'll be making a couple more of these kinds of videos in the future. As for now, the story of the 14th Legion is next!!

"What's your name, lad?" "Biggus Dickus, Sir." "Get him outfitted, he'll make general one day."

When panic and fear hits, you fall back to your training, which is why they emphasized it so much and why it is paramount for success.

An odd note on roman legionnaires that may also account for the crazy levels of stamina they exhibited in battle was the fact legionnaires in a block formation would be rotated in and out of the front rank at approximately 1 minute of combat so they stay consistently fresh and receive about a 7-minute breather before they were upfront again. This is also an impressive feat of coordination as maintaining a battle line while rotating men between the front and back ranks would have required intense displine.

Every legionarre was also part modern day construction worker. The days before battle, two warring bodies would often camp with sight distance of the other. It was extremely demoralizing for most Roman antagonists to wake, only to find rows of palisade with towers and other entrenchments built overnight, the siege of Alesia being an excellent example.

A sense of humour being a desirable feat for the legion was unexpected for me.

As an unemployed person I found this Informative.

All this just to become a recruit...Triarii, the veterans who made it to old age, must've been some absolute beasts..going through this training, and then surviving through countless battles for several decades..

As a former US Marine, I'm amazed at how similar modern military training is to ancient Roman military training. Not much has changed. In basic training, Marine recruits are first taught close order drill and formation. Then, the next 'phase' begins in which they are taught certain practical survival skills - such as swimming, sowing, first aid training, navigation (using a map and compass), etc. We are also issued our rifles in this 'phase' and taught how to properly operate it (though we are not yet allowed to fire live rounds). The final 'phase' of training was the actual combat training. Getting to use all these weapons you were only learning about before (now we got to fire live rounds); learning advanced infantry tactics and maneuvers, conducting combat exercises to practice these techniques, etc. We had to live in the forest pretending we were at war; digging and sleeping in fighting holes, eating nothing but MREs, getting only 1-2 hours of sleep a night, one team of recruits conducting mock patrols while opposing teams conduct mock ambushes, 'shooting' at each other with blank ammunition. The 10-20 mile forced march was also a common thing in Marine training, with each Marine recruit carrying nearly 100 lbs of gear too, just like ancient Roman troops. It's very interesting to see that the modern US Marine Corps follows the same training program and 'curriculum' as ancient Roman military. I guess "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". - 'Phase' 1: The absolute basics. Such as formation, close order drill, physical fitness. - 'Phase' 2: Practical survival skills and basics of equipment/weapons/tools. - 'Phase' 3: Full-fledged combat training. Actually USING all the weapons, rather than just learning about them. Actually DOING all these infantry tactics and maneuvers, rather than just learning about them.

How about a movie showing a guy signing up for the legion, going through boot camp, and eventually getting deployed in the front?

A sincere sense of humor indicates a man is comfortable in his own skin and not unstable or insecure.

I think that an important part of Roman army training was the contubernium (“tent-together”), which was composed of eight legionaries, who trained together, fought together and (as the name suggests) always shared the same tent. They also could be rewarded or punished together as a unit. I am sure that these small permanent squads really helped Roman unit cohesion.

You forgot the most important thing about the sling! Back then it had more range than the bows of the period. Also they manufactured metal standardized sling ammunition with a hole in it to cause it to whistle. They were often found with derogative messages etched in them. Kind of like how we write messages on bombs we drop. Great job on the video and hope to see more!

I can see myself getting successfully kicked out of the program.

Their methods were so good, they're still being taught almost 2000 years later.

Their biggest strength was standardization. They could quickly field large groups of legions, train them, equip them, and navigate them throughout the empire. So in Judea, Gaul, Germania, Hispania, Egypt, or Scythia you might have a local rebellion and kill 2-3 locally based legions, take, the standards, and perhaps capture the governor. For many empires this would be back breaking but for Rome they would field, train, and throw 6 legions back at you the next year to kick you in your teeth. The only group that consistently beat rome in the open field for extended periods of time was Hannibal. Even he was eventually weakened and beaten by Rome's endless supply of soldiers.

I always liked the "train harder than the real task at hand" mentality. Makes one good at their job, whatever that is.

Q: "How many catapults are attached to your cohort?" A: "5000."

I think you missed the most important reason to be taught to march: synchronized (marching in step) is the only way to move large bodies of men efficiently over distances. If not synchronized, their movement becomes chaotic with constant stopping and starting—basically a slow muddle. Roman legions were known for rapid movement over long distances, a nasty surprise for their enemies.

Slingers hurled lead weights, not stones, though I'm sure they hurled stones in time of necessity. The lead projectiles had standard shapes and weights. They were marked with the identification of their legion. After successful battle they were gathered up and recovered for reuse. They are commonly found archaeological artifacts and have been used to track the movements of legions or detachments from them. There are excellent You Tube programs on how to use a sling and related weapons. They could be very formidible. Consider a volley of low velocity large shotgun slugs as an equivalent. Since their enemies typically had no equivalent missles but only relatively weak archery without compound bows and fired at high trajectories this could be a decisive weapon by breaking up enemy formations and unit cohesion. I certainly wouldn't want to face a volley of well delivered slung lead projectiles.