A Study of Ancient Roman Military Service System

• Main Authors: Tze-Yi Chiang, 江則誼
• Other Authors: 施正權
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/61783691394444668829

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 國際事務與戰略研究所碩士班 === 94 === Rome had its army when Rome was a small village on Tiber bank. The Earliest Roman army consisted of king, his bodyguard, and the members of clan-groups living in Rome. It was believed that the first Roman military structure was based on three ancient tribes. Each tribe provided 1000 men, these 3000 men formed a “Legio”, another 300 men, who could afford equip themselves with horses, made up a small body of cavalry. It is said that in the late 6th century B.C. the sixth king, Servius Tullius, conducted the first census of the Roman people and divided the population into classes according to their wealth. These “Servian Constitution” which divided into five classes was for voting purposes and eligibility for military service. However, it has been doubted that such a complex constitution was established at such early date. Originally a single class probably existed, composed of those able to afford to equip themselves, with the five classes developing later. For Roman citizen defense of the state was a duty, a responsibility and a privilege. With longer and more distant campaigns, recruiting soldiers became more and more difficult. Newly won provinces had to be held by garrison, and inevitably the part-time militia army changed to full-time professional one. The successive reductions in the property qualification for military service reflect a falling away in the number of small or middling proprietors who traditionally provided the bulk of the legions’ manpower. The change has sometimes been associated with Caius Marius. Military service became a career which lasted for much of a man’s adult life, soldiers were increasingly separated from civilians. After the civil war, Augustus increase the period of army service to 16 and then 20 years. In AD 6 he established a military treasury for discharge payment. Under the empire, legionaries were mostly volunteers, drawn initially from Italy, but increasingly from the provinces. The military system created under Augustus was still recognizable three centuries later.