Hi to all on PF ,
As always its good to be able to review items and share on PF and this time we have a release from Linjo Models in China this time its a Roman Legionary circa 101-102 AD .
As always lets have a bit of background to these tough soldiers :
The Roman legionary was a professional soldier after the Marian Reforms of 107BC . Legionaries had to be Roman citizens and under the age of 45. They enlisted for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign. The last five years were normally on lighter duties as veterans
On the march and often in unfriendly terrain and even unfriendlier weather , the legionary would be loaded down :
This included armour commonly (lorica hamata), (lorica squamata), and in the 1st-3rd century (lorica segmentata).
A Shield or Scutum together with the helmet or galea , 2 javalin (the heavy Pilium and the lighter verutum), in addition to a short sword or gladius , a dagger or pugio .
Wearing on his feet he wore sandals called calgae , carrying also a marching pack or sarcina with 14 days food , a waterskin , cooking equiptment, 2 stakes for palusade construction , topped off with a shovel and a whicker basket .......truely a beast of burden .
Each of these items, aside from the pickaxe which was worn on the belt, was carried on a forked pole introduced by Gaius Marius call the pila muralia, which earned his men the nickname Marius' Mules.
There is some discrepancy over what was actually carried and the possible total weight. Some items at times may have been transported in wagon trains or on mules such as the legionaries' tents and millstones for grinding the corn rations.
It's been estimated that a Legionary could carry anywhere from 66 lbs. (30 kgs) to over 100 lbs. (45 kgs) of gear and weapons.
The Roman soldier underwent especially rigorous training; discipline was the base of the army's success, and the soldiers were relentlessly and constantly trained with weapons in addition to drill and forced marches with full loads and in tight formation were frequent.
Discipline was important and infractions were heavily punished by centurions ranging from extra guard duty to beatings and even death if cowardice was shown in battle
However, honours, rewards and promotions were frequently awarded to legionaries who distinguished themselves in battle or through exemplary service these could range from extra rations to gold torques and even land when the legionary left the army.
It was a hard life for sure but men were proud to serve the Empire .
A full strength legion was officially made up of 6,000 men, but typically all legions were organized at under strength and generally consisted of approximately 5,300 fighting men including officers. It is difficult to determine whether non-combatants like field surgeons and clerks were included in the 5,300 or helped bring the total number of men up to the official 6,000.
The basic structure of the army is as follows:
Contubernium: (tent group) consisted of 8 men.
Centuria: (century) was made up of 10 contubernium with a total of 80 men commanded by a centurion
Cohorts: (cohort) included 6 centuriae or a total of 480 fighting men, not including officers. In addition the first cohort was double strength but with only 5 centuriae instead of the normal 6.
Legio: (Legion) consisted of 10 cohorts.
Additionally each Legion had a 120 man Alae (cavalry unit) called the Eques Legionis permanently attached to it possibly to be used as scouts and messengers.
The Rank and File of the Roman Legion
Tirones: The basic new recruit. A Tirones could take up to 6 months before becoming a full Milites.
Munifex (or Miles Gregarius): The basic private level foot soldier.
Discens: Milites in training for an immunes position.
Immunes: These were trained specialists, such as surgeons, engineers, surveyors, and architects, as well as craftsmen. They were exempt from camp and hard labor duties due to the nature of their work, and would generally earn slightly more pay than the Milites
Continued in next post:
Nap
As always its good to be able to review items and share on PF and this time we have a release from Linjo Models in China this time its a Roman Legionary circa 101-102 AD .
As always lets have a bit of background to these tough soldiers :
The Roman legionary was a professional soldier after the Marian Reforms of 107BC . Legionaries had to be Roman citizens and under the age of 45. They enlisted for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign. The last five years were normally on lighter duties as veterans
On the march and often in unfriendly terrain and even unfriendlier weather , the legionary would be loaded down :
This included armour commonly (lorica hamata), (lorica squamata), and in the 1st-3rd century (lorica segmentata).
A Shield or Scutum together with the helmet or galea , 2 javalin (the heavy Pilium and the lighter verutum), in addition to a short sword or gladius , a dagger or pugio .
Wearing on his feet he wore sandals called calgae , carrying also a marching pack or sarcina with 14 days food , a waterskin , cooking equiptment, 2 stakes for palusade construction , topped off with a shovel and a whicker basket .......truely a beast of burden .
Each of these items, aside from the pickaxe which was worn on the belt, was carried on a forked pole introduced by Gaius Marius call the pila muralia, which earned his men the nickname Marius' Mules.
There is some discrepancy over what was actually carried and the possible total weight. Some items at times may have been transported in wagon trains or on mules such as the legionaries' tents and millstones for grinding the corn rations.
It's been estimated that a Legionary could carry anywhere from 66 lbs. (30 kgs) to over 100 lbs. (45 kgs) of gear and weapons.
The Roman soldier underwent especially rigorous training; discipline was the base of the army's success, and the soldiers were relentlessly and constantly trained with weapons in addition to drill and forced marches with full loads and in tight formation were frequent.
Discipline was important and infractions were heavily punished by centurions ranging from extra guard duty to beatings and even death if cowardice was shown in battle
However, honours, rewards and promotions were frequently awarded to legionaries who distinguished themselves in battle or through exemplary service these could range from extra rations to gold torques and even land when the legionary left the army.
It was a hard life for sure but men were proud to serve the Empire .
A full strength legion was officially made up of 6,000 men, but typically all legions were organized at under strength and generally consisted of approximately 5,300 fighting men including officers. It is difficult to determine whether non-combatants like field surgeons and clerks were included in the 5,300 or helped bring the total number of men up to the official 6,000.
The basic structure of the army is as follows:
Contubernium: (tent group) consisted of 8 men.
Centuria: (century) was made up of 10 contubernium with a total of 80 men commanded by a centurion
Cohorts: (cohort) included 6 centuriae or a total of 480 fighting men, not including officers. In addition the first cohort was double strength but with only 5 centuriae instead of the normal 6.
Legio: (Legion) consisted of 10 cohorts.
Additionally each Legion had a 120 man Alae (cavalry unit) called the Eques Legionis permanently attached to it possibly to be used as scouts and messengers.
The Rank and File of the Roman Legion
Tirones: The basic new recruit. A Tirones could take up to 6 months before becoming a full Milites.
Munifex (or Miles Gregarius): The basic private level foot soldier.
Discens: Milites in training for an immunes position.
Immunes: These were trained specialists, such as surgeons, engineers, surveyors, and architects, as well as craftsmen. They were exempt from camp and hard labor duties due to the nature of their work, and would generally earn slightly more pay than the Milites
Continued in next post:
Nap
