Roman Weapons
The superiority of the Roman Army was both in its training and its weapons. To examine the weapons most commonly used, we first must divide the army into two parts, the Legion and the Auxiliaries.
Weapons of the Legion
Each legion was an army unto itself. That is, it carried the variety of weapons it needed for both offensive and defensive efforts. It could march into hostile territory and within short order, throw up a substantial defensive works or come across a Celtic oppida or hill fort or even eastern fortified walls such as the city of Jerusalem and be able to attack with siege train and artillery.
The staple of the legion though was the common soldier. His arms and armor changed quite a bit over the early Republic and into the Imperial Age, but since LEGXXII PR is a mid to late first century AD unit, we will focus our attention to the weapons of that time. The common legionary had three basic weapons.
Pilum – a unique throwing spear designed to damage the fighting capability of the enemy. This spear had a 4’ wooden shaft of about 1-1/8” with a conical cap on the bottom. At the top, a 2-3’ narrow iron rod of about 3/8” was attached and at the tip, a pyramidal point or barb. The tip alone was hardened so that when thrown the spear would penetrate and then bend. The result was that shields so penetrated would not easily release the bent spear and the item would have to be dropped. The first “non-returnable” spear! It gave the heavily armored legionary with 4’ tall shield an incredible advantage.
Gladius – This was the basic sword of the legionary. Double edged and short, the gladius was a stabbing sword. Fighting in compact lines with overlapping shields, the short gladius was perfect for the close quarters encounters and “pushing” type offense the Romans used. Three main varieties of gladius have been found. The cavalry used the Spatha, a narrower blade and longer, reaching 32-36”. In the late BC period and early 1st century AD the infantry used the Mainz pattern, a wider, somewhat longer stabbing sword, but by the middle of the 1st century AD the most popular design was the Pompeii pattern, a narrower, shorter sword with a chisel point.
Pugio – Every soldier also carried a wide bladed dagger. This dagger had a thick grip and strong mid-rib down the center for strength. If the soldier lost his gladius, the pugio was still a formidable weapon. Many pugio are found with highly decorative scabbards, which was one way for the common soldier to show his wealth.
Aside from the soldier, the legion was armed with a variety of artillery. It is difficult to determine the exact number of field artillery pieces would accompany a Legion, but the Roman historian Vegetius suggests that each century of the legion would be provided with a carroballistae. An additional 10 onagri would be assigned, 1 to each cohort. There is some argument that the 10 onagri would simply replace 10 of the carroballistae for a total of 59 artillery pieces in the Legion. The pieces would be drawn, mounted on a carriage, by either oxen or mules and each required 10 artilleryman (Libritors) to operate. Each piece would apparently fall under the command of the centurion within each century that it was assigned to
Some general descriptions of a couple of common Roman Artillery pieces:
Carroballistae:
The ballista was essentially a giant crossbow and worked on the same principle by firing iron tipped bolts towards the enemy positions. It was a smaller weapon than the catapult (onager) and was used to kill and injure the enemy soldiers advancing or those within a fort, trying to sustain a siege. The ballista came in a range of sizes with varying ranges. A ballistae bolt could be fired anywhere from 300 yards to 550 yards. It was loaded with a 3 ft bolt that could be fired at up to 115 mph. The effect of impact could be devastating.
Onager:
The Roman catapult, the onager, Latin for wild ass, was a very large and cumbersome piece of equipment. It could fire rocks of up to 150 lbs to be used to smash through walls and fortifications. It could also be loaded with the equivalent mass of smaller stones or fiery pitch to use against enemy troops or to bombard the inside of a fort. Its range was much shorter than that of the ballistae and could be in danger of attack by enemy bowman during a siege.
Auxiliary Weapons
The discussion of weapons used by accompanying auxiliary is a subject in its own right. While the legion was an infantry unit by nature, the variety of auxiliary units was amazing. Archers, using mostly recurve bows, slingers, firing small football shaped lead or stone “bullets”, cavalry, using the Roman Spatha sword or spear, infantry, carrying the Roman gladius or strong fighting spear called a Hasta, skirmishers carrying small shields with throwing darts called Plumbata, and even men who threw rocks. The auxiliary forces were chosen depending on the need. They would operate sometimes alone, but often in conjunction with the legion on invasions or assaults.
The superiority of the Roman Army was both in its training and its weapons. To examine the weapons most commonly used, we first must divide the army into two parts, the Legion and the Auxiliaries.
Weapons of the Legion
Each legion was an army unto itself. That is, it carried the variety of weapons it needed for both offensive and defensive efforts. It could march into hostile territory and within short order, throw up a substantial defensive works or come across a Celtic oppida or hill fort or even eastern fortified walls such as the city of Jerusalem and be able to attack with siege train and artillery.
The staple of the legion though was the common soldier. His arms and armor changed quite a bit over the early Republic and into the Imperial Age, but since LEGXXII PR is a mid to late first century AD unit, we will focus our attention to the weapons of that time. The common legionary had three basic weapons.
Pilum – a unique throwing spear designed to damage the fighting capability of the enemy. This spear had a 4’ wooden shaft of about 1-1/8” with a conical cap on the bottom. At the top, a 2-3’ narrow iron rod of about 3/8” was attached and at the tip, a pyramidal point or barb. The tip alone was hardened so that when thrown the spear would penetrate and then bend. The result was that shields so penetrated would not easily release the bent spear and the item would have to be dropped. The first “non-returnable” spear! It gave the heavily armored legionary with 4’ tall shield an incredible advantage.
Gladius – This was the basic sword of the legionary. Double edged and short, the gladius was a stabbing sword. Fighting in compact lines with overlapping shields, the short gladius was perfect for the close quarters encounters and “pushing” type offense the Romans used. Three main varieties of gladius have been found. The cavalry used the Spatha, a narrower blade and longer, reaching 32-36”. In the late BC period and early 1st century AD the infantry used the Mainz pattern, a wider, somewhat longer stabbing sword, but by the middle of the 1st century AD the most popular design was the Pompeii pattern, a narrower, shorter sword with a chisel point.
Pugio – Every soldier also carried a wide bladed dagger. This dagger had a thick grip and strong mid-rib down the center for strength. If the soldier lost his gladius, the pugio was still a formidable weapon. Many pugio are found with highly decorative scabbards, which was one way for the common soldier to show his wealth.
Aside from the soldier, the legion was armed with a variety of artillery. It is difficult to determine the exact number of field artillery pieces would accompany a Legion, but the Roman historian Vegetius suggests that each century of the legion would be provided with a carroballistae. An additional 10 onagri would be assigned, 1 to each cohort. There is some argument that the 10 onagri would simply replace 10 of the carroballistae for a total of 59 artillery pieces in the Legion. The pieces would be drawn, mounted on a carriage, by either oxen or mules and each required 10 artilleryman (Libritors) to operate. Each piece would apparently fall under the command of the centurion within each century that it was assigned to
Some general descriptions of a couple of common Roman Artillery pieces:
Carroballistae:
The ballista was essentially a giant crossbow and worked on the same principle by firing iron tipped bolts towards the enemy positions. It was a smaller weapon than the catapult (onager) and was used to kill and injure the enemy soldiers advancing or those within a fort, trying to sustain a siege. The ballista came in a range of sizes with varying ranges. A ballistae bolt could be fired anywhere from 300 yards to 550 yards. It was loaded with a 3 ft bolt that could be fired at up to 115 mph. The effect of impact could be devastating.
Onager:
The Roman catapult, the onager, Latin for wild ass, was a very large and cumbersome piece of equipment. It could fire rocks of up to 150 lbs to be used to smash through walls and fortifications. It could also be loaded with the equivalent mass of smaller stones or fiery pitch to use against enemy troops or to bombard the inside of a fort. Its range was much shorter than that of the ballistae and could be in danger of attack by enemy bowman during a siege.
Auxiliary Weapons
The discussion of weapons used by accompanying auxiliary is a subject in its own right. While the legion was an infantry unit by nature, the variety of auxiliary units was amazing. Archers, using mostly recurve bows, slingers, firing small football shaped lead or stone “bullets”, cavalry, using the Roman Spatha sword or spear, infantry, carrying the Roman gladius or strong fighting spear called a Hasta, skirmishers carrying small shields with throwing darts called Plumbata, and even men who threw rocks. The auxiliary forces were chosen depending on the need. They would operate sometimes alone, but often in conjunction with the legion on invasions or assaults.
