chapter two

Chapter Two:
A Roman Soldier
I am going to focus on two main areas in this chapter. The first is the dress i.e. uniform and armour of a Roman soldier, and the second is the weaponry he would have.
Because there were several types of soldier within the Roman Army at its height, I am going to consider the generic Roman Infantry soldier.
The first and one of the most important pieces of uniform to consider is the footwear of the Roman soldier. He wore caligae, a type of sandal. A picture of what they would look like can be found at the end of this chapter. Whilst they look as if they would not offer much in the way of protection or tread, they were actually quite cleverly constructed. The tops were made from leather straps, and the shape of the shoes themselves, and the open design helped in the prevention of blisters forming on feet which were expected to walk up to 25 miles a day.
On the underside of the shoe were iron studs, which were not supplied by the Roman Army, and a soldier would have to buy these himself. These helped the soldier’s feet grip when walking over rough terrain, and were also useful for stamping on the enemy in the midst of battle.
The soldiers garments consisted of linen underclothes covered by a short sleeved tunic which was knee length. ‘Although the Romans had originally considered the wearing of trousers (bracae) a foreign and effeminate habit, legionaries in cold climates were allowed to wear trousers made of wool or leather which were skin tight and reached just below the knee.’
On top of the tunic came the breastplate, or the ‘lorica segmentata’ ‘(The expression 'lorica segmentata' is an expression created by scholars to describe the armour, rather than being the term necessarily used by the Romans themselves.)’ This consisted of several overlapping iron strips fastened together by leather straps, and offered good protection to the soldier whilst retaining freedom to move and yield weaponry. There were several different versions of this kind of armour ranging from very simple, to quite complex designs. Again a picture of this can be found at the end of the section.
Around the waste of a roman soldier you would find a belt. This was housing to the dagger carried and also the apron. The belt was made of leather, and the apron consisted of numerous leather strips with metal discs attached to them, almost a medal holder, as often the discs would represent the different battles the soldier had fought in. The apron was seen to be mainly decorative, although it would have offered some protection to the lower stomach and groin area, but this would be limited, and the soldier was much more likely to rely on his shield.
The shield, or scutum was carried on the left side by the soldier and was curved to enhance its protective qualities. The shield was constructed of small flat pieces of wood, quite similar to plywood to make the shield light enough to carry when on the march. This was edged in bronze or iron, and the outside covered in leather. The handle was situated on the inside of the shield. The shield could also be used offensively as well as defensively, as in the middle, was the umbo, an iron covering for the hand grip, which was a solid raised piece of iron or bronze, and could be used to hit an enemy in the face causing them quite substantial damage.
Often the soldier would wear a woollen scarf around his neck to prevent the breastplate or helmet rubbing against him. The helmet (cassis or galea) was constructed from bronze and shaped so that it touched the soldiers head only at the rim. This would make the soldier seem taller, thus intimidating his enemy, and offer protection against otherwise potentially fatal blows to the skull. On the picture at the end, it is possible to see a protrusion from the front of the helmet, which prevented a sword blow from splitting the helmet. On the back on the helmet was a section that covered the neck from both swords and rebounded or deflected objects from shields. On the sides of the helmet were two hinged sections, which protected the cheeks and jawbone of the soldier and fastened together with a leather tie at the bottom.
We now move on to examine the weapons of a Roman soldier.
The first of these weapons is the dagger, or pugio. This was carried on the left hand side of the body and attached to the belt. It consisted of an ergonomically designed handle and a pear-shaped blade, made from iron or bronze. The dagger was occasionally used in warfare, especially in close combat, but was also used as a general multi-purpose knife, just as a pen knife might be used today.
The next item of weaponry a soldier would possess would be the gladius or sword. It is described as a ‘a double-bladed weapon two feet long and two inches wide, often with a corrugated bone grip.’ This was located on the right hand side of the soldiers body, regardless of which hand he was naturally inclined to use. The soldier was trained to draw the sword with his right hand and use a thrusting motion, which could be repeated very quickly, and was tactically sound as the Romans fought battles in units of men stood with their sides touching, not individually, and thus using the sword in this way caused the least interference with the person at the side of them.
Each soldier also had in their weapon range ‘two javelins of different weights, each two metres long and with a metal head.’ These pilums were used primarily for disarming the enemy, and were thrown as soon as the enemy was in range. The heavier of the two were most likely reserved for defence against cavalry forces.
A soldier fighting in the light infantry section of the army would also carry missile weapons such as bows and arrows, javelins and slings, and these would be targeted at the oppositions light infantry section in an attempt to divert any fire upon their heavy (more close combat) infantry away towards another area.


These pictures were all taken from the same source- see the bibliography.

Bibliography:
Books:
- Kamm, Antony. ‘The Romans: An Introduction’ (London: Routledge, 2003)

Websites: Text references:

- Legionary Equipment: http://www.roman-empire.net/army/leg-equip.html
- Romans in Britain http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_dagger.htm
- Romans in Britain: http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_footwear.htm

Websites: Pictures:
-Romans in Britain: [http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_belt.htm]
-Romans in Britain: [http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_breastplate.htm]
-Romans in Britain: [http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_dagger.htm]
-Romans in Britain: [http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_footwear.htm]
-Romans in Britain: http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_helmet.htm
-Romans in Britain: http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_shield.htm
-Romans in Britain: http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/mil_roman_soldier_sword.htm