Roman military personal equipment
Roman military personal equipment was produced in large numbers to established patterns, and used in an established manner. These standard patterns and uses were called the res militaris or disciplina. Its regular practice during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire led to military excellence and victory. The equipment gave the Romans a very distinct advantage over their "barbarian" enemies, especially so in the case of armour. This does not mean that every Roman soldier had better equipment than the richer men among his opponents. Roman equipment was not of a better quality than that used by the majority of Rome's adversaries. Other historians and writers have stated that the Roman army's need for large quantities of "mass produced" equipment after the so-called "Marian Reforms" and subsequent civil wars led to a decline in the quality of Roman equipment compared to the earlier Republican era:
Initially, they used weapons based on Greek and Etruscan models. On encountering the Celts, they based new varieties on Celtic equipment. To defeat the Carthaginians, they constructed an entire fleet de novo based on the Carthaginian model. Once a weapon was adopted, it became standard. The standard weapons varied somewhat during Rome's long history, but the equipment and its use were never individual.
Weapons of a Roman legionary
''Pugio''
A pugio is a dagger that was used by Roman soldiers, likely as a sidearm. Like other items of legionary equipment, the dagger underwent some changes during the 1st century. Generally, it had a large, leaf-shaped blade 18 to 28 cm long and 5 cm or more in width. A raised midrib ran the length of each side, either simply standing out from the face or defined by grooves on either side. It was changed by making the blade a little thinner, about 3 mm, and the handle was also made out of metal. The tang was wide and flat initially, and the grip was riveted through it, as well as through the shoulders of the blade.Around 50 AD, a rod tang was introduced, and the hilt was no longer riveted through the shoulders of the blade. This in itself caused no great change to the pugio's appearance, but some of these later blades were narrower, had little or no waisting, and had reduced or vestigial midribs.
Throughout the period, the outline of the hilt remained approximately the same. It was made with two layers of horn, wood or bone sandwiching the tang, each overlaid with a thin metal plate. Often the hilt was decorated with inlaid silver. The hilt was 10–12 cm long overall and the grip was quite narrow; which produced a very secure grip. An expansion or lump in the middle of the handle made the user's grip even more secure.
''Gladius''
Gladius is the general Latin word for 'sword'. In the Roman Republic, the term gladius Hispaniensis referred specifically to the short sword, 60 cm long, used by Roman legionaries from the 3rd century BC. It is considered to be the primary weapon used by soldiers in war. Several different better-known designs followed; among collectors and historical reenactors, the two primary kinds of swords are known as the Mainz gladius, and the Pompeii gladius which follows the Mainz type, which had itself followed the Hispaniensis. More recent archaeological finds have confirmed the appearance of the earlier version, the gladius Hispaniensis. The legionaries wore their gladii on their right hips. In order to craft a sword with the strength and flexibility of the gladius, blacksmiths used harder steels on the outer layers of the sword while using softer steels in the centre of the blade.''Spatha''
A spatha could be any sword, but most often one of the longer swords characteristic of the middle and late Roman Empire. In the 1st century, Roman cavalry started using these longer swords, and in the late 2nd or early 3rd century, Roman infantry also switched to longer swords, as well as mostly changing from carrying javelins to carrying spears.Shorter weapons were known as semispathae or half-swords. A large 3rd-century hoard from Künzing included one triangular-bladed short sword and several narrow-bladed short swords. Bishop and Coulston suggest that some or all were made from broken spathae.
Spears and javelins (''hastae'')
''Hasta''
Hasta is a Latin word meaning a thrusting spear. Hastae were carried by early Roman legionaries ; in particular, they were carried by and gave their name to those Roman soldiers known as hastati. However, during republican times, the hastati were re-armed with pila and gladii, and only the triarii still used hastae.A hasta was about 1.8 metres in length. The shaft was generally made from ash while the head was usually of iron, although early republican hastae also had tips made of bronze.
Javelin
Although Romans often used the word pila to refer to all thrown javelins, the term pilum also means specifically the heavy Roman throwing javelin of the legions. Lighter, shorter javelins existed, such as those used by the velites and the early legions, called verutum. Other types of javelins were adopted by the late Roman army, such as the lancea and the spiculum, which were heavily influenced by the weapons of Italic warriors.''Pilum''
The pilum was a heavy javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally somewhat less than long overall, consisting of a wooden shaft from which projected an iron shank about in diameter and long with a pyramidal head. The iron shank was socketed or, more usually, widened to a flat tang. A pilum usually weighed between, with the versions produced during the empire era being somewhat lighter.Pila were designed to penetrate both shield and armour, wounding the wearer; but, if they simply stuck in a shield, they could not easily be removed. Some believed that the iron shank would bend upon impact, weighing down the enemy's shield and also preventing the pilum from being immediately re-used. Some versions of the shaft may have fallen off on impact, leaving the enemy with a bent shank in their shield. However, recent evidence suggests that many types of pilum did not bend at all, but reduced the effectiveness of enemy shields by simply getting stuck due to the shape of its larger head and thin shank. In fact, there were many cases where the whole shank was hardened, making the pilum more suitable as a close quarters melee weapon, while also rendering it usable by enemy soldiers. Newer work by M. C. Bishop states that the pila are "unlikely to bend under their own weight when thrown and striking a target or ground" - rather, it is human intervention that is responsible in some way, and that Caesar's writings should be interpreted as the pilum bent when soldiers tried to remove them. A sturdy pilum that does not bend upon impact would be in line with the numerous historical Roman writings that state the pilum was often used as a weapon in melee combat:
For example, in "The Gallic Wars" Caesar writes that at Alesia his troops used the pila as spears or pikes. In the "Life of Pompey" and "Life of Antony", Plutarch describes Caesar's men at Pharsalus jabbing upwards at the faces of Pompey's cavalry with their javelins and Marc Antony's men stabbing at Parthian cavalry with theirs. In Arrian in Array against the Alans, Arrian writes that the first four ranks of the formation should use their pila like spearmen, while the rest should use them like javelins.
Projectile weapons
Bow
The sagittarius was armed with a composite bow, shooting an arrow, made of horn, wood, and sinew held together with hide glue. However, Vegetius recommended training recruits "arcubus ligneis", with wooden bows. The reinforcing laths for the composite bows were found throughout the empire, even in the western provinces where wooden bows were traditional.Crossbow
The cheiroballistra, also known as the manuballista, was a crossbow that was occasionally used by the Romans. The ancient world knew a variety of mechanical hand-held weapons similar to the later medieval crossbow. The exact terminology is a subject of continuing scholarly debate. Roman authors like Vegetius note repeatedly the use of arrow shooting weapons such as arcuballista and manuballista respectively cheiroballista. While most scholars agree that one or more of these terms refer to handheld mechanical weapons, there is disagreement whether these were flexion bows or torsion powered like the recent Xanten find.The Roman commander Arrian records in his Tactica Roman cavalry training for shooting some mechanical handheld weapon from horseback.
Sculptural reliefs from Roman Gaul depict the use of crossbows in hunting scenes. These are remarkably similar to the later medieval crossbow.
''Plumbatae''
often carried a half-dozen lead-weighted throwing-darts called plumbatae, with an effective range of c. 30 m, well beyond that of a javelin. The darts were carried clipped to the back of the shield.Entrenching tools
Ancient writers, including Julius Caesar, documented the use of spades and other digging implements as important tools of war. A Roman legion when on the march would dig a ditch and rampart around their camps every night where established camps were not available. They were also useful as weapons.''Dolabra''
The dolabra was a pickaxe used as an entrenching tool.''Ligo''
The ligo was a pick-mattock or draw hoe, with a blade perpendicular to the handle.A mattock /ˈmætək/ is a hand tool used for digging, prying, and chopping. Similar to the pickaxe, it has a long handle and a stout head which combines either a vertical axe blade with a horizontal adze, or a pick and an adze. A cutter mattock is similar to a Pulaski used in fighting fires. It is also commonly known in North America as a "grub axe".