CLAS 21405 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Ballista, Greek East And Latin West, Firing Pin
20 Sep 2017
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Document Summary
It is possible to understand how an ancient battle took place by examining the armor and thinking about what a soldier could reasonably be expected to do while wearing it. It was originally oval in shape but was rectangular like the one you see on this slide by the early imperial period. It was made by stretching a leather covering over a wooden frame: the scutum was designed to protect the soldier carrying the shield alone. The most important strategic unit in the roman army was the legion: the provincial garrisons were designed around them. Despite the name, a century only had 80 men: within the century there were 10 contubernia or tent groups, within the legion, the first cohort was the most prestigious. Although the auxiliary soldiers were non-roman citizens, they did receive their full roman citizenship when they retired after 25 years of service.
