The Roman Empire was a very strong empire and conquered a vast amount of land. The peak of the Roman Empire was at 117 A.D. where the Romans had overridden countless tribes and stretched the Roman Empire to a size of over 2 million square miles. The reason they could and did conquer all this land was because of their legion. Back then, the Roman Legion was like an unstoppable tank nowadays! No one could defeat them!
Roman Legion:
consisted of 6000 men
Parts of Powerful Roman Legion:
Contubernium: 8 men
Centuria: 10 Contubernium, 80 men
Centuria (80)
Contubernium I (8)
Contubernium II (8)
Contubernium III (8)
Contubernium IV (8)
Contubernium V (8)
Contubernium VI (8)
Contubernium VII (8)
Contubernium VIII (8)
Contubernium IX (8)
Contubernium X (8)
Cohorts: 6 Centuriae, 480 men
Legio: 10 Cohorts + 120 man cavalry unit, 5240 without officers
Legion:
Cohort I: Consists of 5 centuriae, but double strength = 800 men. Cohort I consists of also all the elite troop and is commanded by Primus Pilus (meaning “First File”) , the most respected and highest rank in the legion.
Centuria I (80)
Centuria II (80)
Centuria III (80)
Centuria IV (80)
Centuria V (80)
X2 ⇐(double the strength)
800 men
Cohort II: One of the four weaker cohorts
Cohort III:
Cohort IV: One of the four weaker cohorts
Cohort V:
Cohort VI: Consists of the “Finest Young Men”
Cohort VII: One of the four weaker cohorts
Cohort VIII: COnsists of the “Selected Troops”
Cohort IX: One of the four weaker cohorts
Cohort X: Consists of the “Good Troops”
There were also 59 to 60 generals leading the cohorts and branches below them. They were the rest of the legion making it consist of 6,000 men. The Primus Pilus was one of them (the highest rank in the whole entire Roman Legion). Because of this, the Roman Legion was very organized and strong.
Roman Weapons:
Gladius - Over the time, the sword, one of the ancient Roman weapons, went through many changes. Caesar used a type of sword called "Gladius". It was slightly curved and was used as a thrusting weapon in close combat. Gladius was sheathed and worn on the left side of the body. It was a short sword with a wide blade.
Helmets - Helmets were headgear worn by ancient Roman soldiers to protect their heads, necks and the sides of their faces. Helmets were a significant part of the ancient Roman defense weaponry and was made of iron or a tough alloy of copper.
Body Armor - Body armors were war tunics worn by ancient Roman warriors. It was made using a combination of iron and leather. The soldiers also used flexible limp armors to protect their arms and legs.
Shield - Roman shields were made of thick wood bordered with copper alloy or iron. The shields were oval, rectangular or hexagonal.
Swords - One of the weapons carried by ancient Roman soldiers was the sword. It was a powerful weapon used during the 3rd century BC. It was a long, pointed and double-edged Iberian weapon called the "Spanish sword". With the passage of time, the ancient Romans also made changes to the basic design of the sword.
Dagger - Another ancient Roman weapon was the dagger. A dagger had an elaborately decorated sheath with precious stones studded in it. The blade of the dagger was ridged to impart stiffness and lightness. A dagger was made either of a copper alloy or iron.
Spear - Mainly three kinds of spears were used by ancient Roman soldiers - light javelins, thrusting spears and two-handed lances.
Pilum - This was an ancient Roman weapon used as a short-range assault instrument. A pilum resembled a heavy javelin with a pyramidal head on a long iron shank mounted on a long iron shaft.
