Roman Army Research Paper

The Roman army was an awesome force, their size and power wouldn’t be matched for over a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Romans believed they were the decedents of Mars; Mars was believed to be the god of war. This essentially made all romans the children of the God of war. The Roman army started small just farmers and land owners fighting for what was theirs or trying to take over new land because theirs had become un farmable. This group of framer/citizen warriors over many years began to evolve into a fierce fighting force. Composed of the most elite soldiers, they became the one of the world’s first fulltime professional Army. The Roman citizens all supported the Army before anything else. Everything
This gave birth to the gladius or the Hispanic sword as the romans referred to it. The gladius was a small thrusting sword the gladius was the main weapon used by the Roman army. They also developed a heavy duty javelin that the romans referred to as the pilum. Roman legionaries where armed with the pilum, the pilum and gladius were the two main weapons Rome provided to its soldiers. The roman soldiers where a fierce opposing force, outfitted with the gladius the pilum and a full body length shield they won most battles effortlessly. The gladius and Pilum are the two most notable weapons from the roman arsenal but these where not the only weapons of the Roman soldiers. The hasta was a 6-7-foot-long spear with an iron head. The pugio was essentially the side arm of the Roman legionnaires this was a 9-11-inch dagger that the romans kept on their hip. The spatha was another sword option for the romans it was a longer version of the popular gladius. One of the last weapons the Romans added to their arsenal was the plumbata this was a weighted throwing dart. The romans could equip up to six of these and secure them to the back of their
Romans lost over 100 thousand men in the first and second Punic wars. The men that where left after they had savagely beaten anyone that stood in their way had no trouble taking over the entire Mediterranean. There were lots of battles fought and won during this time. After the first and second Punic wars Rome set it sights on the Iberian Peninsula. During these battles Rome took over what is today Spain and Portugal. Rome had already foothold in Africa during the Punic wars but this wasn’t enough for them. Rome wage war against the Jugutha and Numida of northern Africa in what became known as the Jugurthie