What made the Roman Army So Successful?

What was the structure and discipline of the Roman Army?
• What were the ranks in the army?
• Ascending order.
• Optio – The centurion chooses the Optio. They carry wax tablets to write the orders of the day and passwords. The best legionaries are able to be chosen to be the Optio.
• Centurion – He was the leader of a century of 80 men. They wore different armour, so the troops could easily find them during battle. He carried a vine stick to punish his men for doing the wrong thing. They could marry and have wives live with them in their barracks. They rode on horseback.
• Primus Pilus – The Primus Pilus was basically a Centurion. But instead of being in charge of a normal cohort he was in charge of …show more content…
The Gladius was a short sword used by everyone in the army. It was first used by the Spanish. During the Second Punic wars between Rome and the Carthage the Roman General Scipio Africanus took a liking to the sword and began the sword to the legions as their main weapon. During combat it could be used for stabbing or slashing but it was normally used for sword to sword combat. It was used for the rest of the Roman Republic and into the early years of the Empire. This weapon helped Rome win battles for 600 years. But they had to get rid of them because in the 3rd century cavalry became more important as the Asians started …show more content…
Along with the Gladius the Pilum was one of their main weapons that each soldier had. It was one of the reasons Rome became dominant in combat during the ancient times. It is basically a heavy javelin with a long iron arrow on the end called an iron shank. The iron shank on the end had a barbed tip helping to pierce through the enemy’s armour. The shaft was a metal ball on the neck of the shank to help it pierce the armour. The shaft was designed to be long enough to be able to go through the shield and hit the man behind. Lots of the Germanic and Celtic unarmoured soldiers had to leave behind their shield because when the Pilum hits something the shank bends making it nearly impossible to get it out and if they did get it out they couldn’t throw it back. The Romans normally carried two of the pilums around, and they were used when they were charging into the battle to get rid of enemy shields and kill enemies.
• The Hasta
• Hasta is a Latin word meaning spear. It was the first and last main Roman weapon. It measured at around 2m and had a shaft made of ash. They were used by the Romans third line which were the veterans of war. During the late Roman Empire, they switched back from the sword to the Hasta. They were forced back to using the Hasta by the growing threats around them. It was a very effective weapon against