From ‘fortes milites’ to ‘muli Mariani’ – the Physical Strength of the Soldiers of the Roman Army in the Period of the Roman Republic

Ireneusz Łuć

Abstract


During the Roman republic the compulsory military service forced Romulus’s descendants to pay special attention to physical fitness and mental strength. Both elements played a special role during military service and were important from the perspective of individual citizens as well as that of the entire Roman society. Therefore, the author of this article attempted a reconstruction of the process of military training, which consisted in various forms of exercises and physical tasks, and which effectively prepared Romans for the hardships and dangers of service in the legions. Information on the psychophysical strength of Roman soldiers, which was a phenomenon commonly known in their times, was derived from various types of sources (narratives, inscriptions, papyri and archaeological artifacts). The literature referenced in the study supports the claims made by the author.


Keywords


Roman army, legion, military training, physical fitness, mental strength, equipment, logistics, military discipline

Full Text:

PDF (Język Polski)

References


Źródła

Ammianus Marcellinus, Rerum gestarum libri / Res gestae, texte établi et traduit par É. Galletier: Ammien Mar­cellin, Histoire, I–VI, Collection des Universités de France. Série Latine, Paris 1978–1999 / Ammianus Marcellinus, Dzieje rzymskie, t. 1–2, tłum. I. Lewandowski, Warsza­wa 2001–2002.

Appianus, Historia Romana / Roman History, ed. and transl. by H. White, 4 vols., LCL London 1958 (rep.).

Caesar Gaius Iulius, Bellum Africum / De Bello Africo / Caesar Alexandrian, African and Spanish Wars, ed. and transl. by A.G. Way, M.A., LCL, Harvard 1955.

Caesar Gaius Iulius, Commentarii belli civilis, edidit A. Klotz, BT, Lipsiae 1969.

Caesar Gaius Iulius, Commentarii rerum gestarum. Bellum Gallicum, edidit O. Seel, BT, Lipsiae 1968.

Cato Marcus Porcius Censor, De agri cultura / On Agriculture, ed. and transl. by W.D. Hooper / Marcus Terentius Varro, On Agriculture, LCL, Harvard 1934.

Cavenaile R., Corpus Papyrorum Latinarum, Wiesbaden 1958.

Ciceronis M. Tulli, Orationes, t. 1–6, ed. by W. Peterson, OCT, Oxford 1960–1965 (rep.).

Ciceronis M. Tulli, Tusculanarum disputationum libri, recognovit R. Klotz, BT, Lipsiae 1871.

Cicero Marcus Tullius, De Officiis, ed. and transl. by W. Miller, LCL, London 1913.

Cicero Marcus Tullius, De re publica, ed. by J.E.G. Zetzel, Cambridge 1995.

Cicero Marcus Tullius, In M. Antonium Orationes Philippicae XIV, edidit P. Fedeli, BT, Lipsiae 1982.

Digesta, recognovit Th. Mommsen, Berolini 1905 / Digesta Iustiniani. Digesta Justyniańskie, Księgi 1–50, t. 1–7, red. T. Palmirski, Poligrafia Saleziańska, Kraków 2013–2017.

Frontinus Sextus Iulius, Strategmata, edidit R.I. Ireland, Leipzig 1990.

Livius Titus, Ab Urbe condita / Livy, vol. 1–14, ed. and transl. by H. Baldwin Foster, F.G. Moore, Evan T. Sage, and A.C. Schlesinger, and R.M. Geer, LCL, London 1919.

Plautus, Amphitruo, ed. and transl. by P. Nixon: Amphitryon, vol. 1–4, LCL, London 1916.

Plutarchus, Vitae Parallelae / The Plutarch’s Lives, vol. 1–11, ed. and transl. by B. Perrin, LCL, London 1914–1926.

Polybius, Historiae / The Histories, vol. 1–6, ed. and transl. by W.R. Paton, LCL, London 1922–1927.

Sallustius Gaius Crispus, Catilinae Coniuratio, Bellum Iugurthinum, Historiae = Sallust, ed. and transl. by J.C. Rolfe, LCL, London 1921.

Seneca Lucius Annaeus (Minor), De Brevitate Vitae / On the Shortness of Life, ed. and transl. by W. Heinemann, LCL, London 1932.

Seneca Lucius Annaeus (Minor), Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, edidit O. Hense, BT, Lipsiae 1914.

Suetonius Gaius Tranquillus, De vita Caesarum libri VIII, ed. M. Ihm, Lipsiae 1907.

Vegeti P. Flavii Renati, Epitoma Rei Militaris, edidit A. Önnerfors, Stvtgardiae et Lipsiae 1995 / Vegetius, Epitome of Military Science, translated with notes and introduction by N.P. Milner, Liverpool 1996.

Opracowania

Adcock F.E., The Roman Art of War Under the Republic, New York 1960.

Alston R., Arms and the Man. Soldiers, Masculinity and Power in Republican and Imperial Rome, w: When Men were Men: Masculinity, Power and Identity in Classical Antiquity, red. L. Foxhall, J. Salmon, London and New York 1998, s. 205–223.

Astin A.E., Cato the Censor, Oxford 1978.

Astin A.E., The Lex Annalis before Sulla, „Latomus” 1957, 16/4, s. 588–613.

Atkinson D., Morgan L., The Wellingborough and Nijmegen Marches, w: Roman Military Equipment. The Accoutrements of War. Proceedings of the Third Roman Military Equipment Research Seminar, red. M. Dawson, Oxford 1987 (BAR Intern. Series 336), s. 99–108.

Baronowski D.W., Polybius and Roman Imperialism, London 2011.

Barton C.A., Roman Honor. The Fire in the Bones, Berkeley–Los Angeles–London 2001.

Bishop M.C., The Pilum. The Roman Heavy Javelin, London 2017.

Bishop M.C., Coulston J.C.N., Roman Military Equipment from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome, Oxford 2006.

Bonner S.F., Education in Ancient Rome from the Elder Cato to the Younger Pliny, London–New York 2012.

Breeze D.J., The Logistics of Agricola’s Final Campaign, „Talanta” 18–19 (1986–1987) s. 7–28.

Brand E., Roman Military Law, Austin 1968.

Broughton T.R.S., The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, t. 1: (509 B.C.–100 B.C.), t. 2: (99 B.C.–31 B.C.), New York 1951–1952.

Brunt P.A., Italian Manpower 225 B.C.–A.D. 14, Oxford 1971.

Cagnat R., Militia, w: Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romains, t. 3/2, red. Ch.V. Daremberg, E. Saglio, Paris 1904, s. 1891.

Charles M.B., Vegetius In Context. Establishing the Date of the Epitoma Rei Militaris, Stuttgart 2007.

Chevallier R., Voyages et déplacements dans l’Empire romain, Paris 1988.

Connolly P., Greece and Rome at War, London 1981.

Cornell T.J., La guerra e lo stato in Roma arcaica (VII–V sec.), w: Alle origini di Roma, red. E. Campanile, Pisa 1988, s. 89–100.

Cornell T.J., The Beginnings of Rome. Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000–264 BC), London 1995.

Cornell T.J., The Conquest of Italy, w: The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 7/2, red. F.W. Walbank et al., Cambridge 2008, s. 351–419.

Coulston J.C., How to Arm a Roman Soldier, w: Modus Operandi. Essays in Honour of Geoffrey Rickman, red. M. Austin, J. Harries, and C. Smith, „Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Supplement” 1998, 71, s. 167–190.

Erdkamp P., Hunger and the Sword. Warfare and Food Supply in Roman Republican Wars (264–30 B.C.), Amsterdam 1998.

Eyben E., Restless Youth in Ancient Rome, London 1993.

Eyben E., Was the Roman “Youth” an “Adult” Socially?, „L’Antiquité Classique” 1981, 50, s. 328–350.

Fields N., Early Roman Warrior 753–321 B.C., Oxford 2011.

Fields N., The Roman Army: The Civil Wars 88–31 B.C., Oxford 2008.

Fields N., The Roman Republican Legionary 298–105 B.C., Oxford 2012.

Forcellini E., Totius Latinitatis Lexicon, vol. 1–2, Londini 1828.

Forsythe A., A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War, Berkeley–Los Angeles–London 2005.

Fuentes N., The Mule of a Soldier, „Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies” 1991, 2, s. 65–99.

Fuentes N., The Roman Military Tunic, w: Roman Military Equipment. The Accoutrements of War. Proceedings of the Third Roman Military Equipment Research Seminar, red. M. Dawson, Oxford 1987 (BAR Intern. Series 336), s. 41–75.

Green C.M.C., Did the Romans Hunt?, „Classical Antiquity” 1996, 15/2, s. 222–260.

Gwynn A., Roman Education from Cicero to Quintilian, Oxford 1926.

Harmand J., L’armée et le soldat à Rome de 107 à 50 avant notre ère, Paris 1967.

Harkness A., The Military System of Romans, New York 1887.

Hild J.-A., Virtus, w: Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romains, t. 5, red. Ch.V. Daremberg, E. Saglio, Paris 1892, s. 926–927.

Jones A.H.M., Martindale J.R., Morris J., The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, vol. 1: AD 260–395, Cambridge 1971.

Johnston P., The Military Consilium in Republican Rome, New Jersey 2008.

Jundziłł J., Elementy wychowania przez pracę w rzymskiej teorii wychowania w rodzinie okresu republiki, „Studia Pedagogiczne” 1987, 14, s. 43–56.

Keppie L., The Making of the Roman Army. From Republic to Empire, London 1984.

Kuleczka G., Studia nad rzymskim wojskowym prawem karnym, Poznań 1974.

Linderski J., Rzymskie zgromadzenie wyborcze od Sulli do Cezara, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków 1966.

Łuć I.A., Boni et mali milites Romani. Relacje między żołnierzami wojsk rzymskich w okresie Wczesnego Cesarstwa, Kraków 2010.

Łuć I., Craftsmen in the Structure of the Roman Legions: Their Status and Tasks, „Anodos” 2011, 11, s. 203–212.

Łuć I., Kary i środki represyjne w rzymskim sądownictwie wojskowym okresu republiki, w: Przemoc w świecie starożytnym. Źródła, struktura, interpretacja, red. D. Słapek, I. Łuć, Lublin 2017, s. 83–99.

Łuć I., Marcus Antonius as a Commander and Comrade in Arms, w: Marcus Antonius. History and Tradition, red. D. Słapek, I. Łuć, Lublin 2016, s. 35–58.

Łuć I., Sulla and Marius – Two Visions of the Roman Army?, w: Lucius Cornelius Sulla. History and Tradition, red. D. Słapek, I. Łuć, Lublin 2013, s. 41–56.

Macdona M.K., Vegetius and the First Cohort, w: Polybius to Vegetius: Essays on the Roman Army and Hadrian’s Wall Presented to Brian Dobson to Mark his 70th Birthday, red. P.R. Hill, The Hadrianic Society 2002, s. 163–177.

McDonnell M., Roman Manliness. Virtus and the Roman Republic, Cambridge 2006.

McDonnell M., Roman Men and Greek Virtue, w: Andreia: Studies in Manliness and Courage in Classical Antiquity, red. R.M. Rosen, I. Sluiter, Boston 2003, s. 235–261.

Paddock J., Some Changes in the Manufacture and Supply of Helmets under the Later Republic and the Empire, w: The Production and Distribution of Roman Military Equipment. Proceedings of the Second Roman Military Equipment Research Seminar, red. M.C. Bishop, BAR Inter. Ser. 275, Oxford 1985, s. 142–159.

Paddock J., The Bronze Italian Helmet: The Development of the Cassis from the Last Quarter of the Sixth Century B.C. to the Third Quarter of the First Century A.D., vol. 1–2, London 1993 (Diss.).

Prag J.R.W., Auxilia and Gymnasia: A Sicilian Model of Roman Imperialism, „The Journal of Roman Studies” 2007, 97, s. 68–100.

Rawson E., The Literary Sources for the Pre-Marian Army, „Papers of the British School at Rome” 1971, 39, s. 13–31.

Roth J., Rzymska sztuka wojenna, Warszawa 2011.

Roth J., The Logistics of the Roman Army at War (264 B.C.–A.D. 235), Leiden 1999.

Sekunda N., McBridge A., Republican Roman Army 200–104 B.C., London 1996.

Smith R.E., Service in the Post-Marian Roman Army, Manchester 1958.

Spence I.G., The Cavalry of Classical Greece: A Social and Military History with Particular Reference to Athens, Oxford 1995.

Stawecka K., Virtus jako ideał życiowy w piśmiennictwie przedcycerońskim, „Roczniki Humanistyczne” 1968, 16/3, s. 73–92.

Strauss B., Military Education: Models from Antiquity, „Academic Questions” 2008, 21, s. 52–61.

Syme R., Rewolucja rzymska, Poznań 2010.

Śnieżewski S., Koncepcja historii rzymskiej w Ab Urbe Condita Liwiusza, Kraków 2000.

Taylor L.R., Seviri Equitum Romanorum and Municipal Seviri: A Study in Pre-Military Training among the Romans, „The Journal of Roman Studies” 1924, 14, s. 158–171.

Thuillier J.-P., Athletic Exercises in Ancient Rome. When Julius Caesar Went Swimming, „European Review” 2004, 12/3, s. 415–426.

Walbank F.W., A Historical Commentary on Polibius, t. 1, Oxford 1957.

Walbank F.W., A Historical Commentary on Polibius, t. 2, Oxford 1967.

Walbank F.W., A Historical Commentary on Polibius, t. 3, Oxford 1979.

Walbank F., Polybius as Military Expert w: Polybius to Vegetius: Essays on the Roman Army and Hadrian’s Wall, Contributor Brian Dobson, Hadrianic Society 2002, s. 19–30.

Wnętrzak T., Znaczenie pojęć filozoficzno-politycznych w De Civitate Dei św. Augustyna, Kraków 2002.

Vossen I., Groot M., Barley and Horses: Surplus and Demand in the Civitas Batavorum, w: TRAC 2008: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Amsterdam 2008, s. 85–100.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/rh.2018.46.29-54
Date of publication: 2019-04-25 10:00:24
Date of submission: 2018-08-22 16:24:55


Statistics


Total abstract view - 1606
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF (Język Polski) - 803

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2019 Ireneusz Łuć

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.