Beginnings of an Empire Rome started as a
Beginnings of an Empire – Rome started as a small village on the Tiber River. u u u Latin tribes. As the story goes, Rome was founded by the decedents of the Trojans? Another story says that Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus – Twin sons of Mars the Roman god of war and Rhea a priestess – Romulus kills his brother and founds the new city – After founding Rome he created the Senate and the legions
Beginnings of an Empire – Roman Republic 500 BC-50 BC u u u Replaced by the Empire 50 BC-500 AD By 250 BC Rome dominates the Italian peninsula. Greeks and the Carthaginians in the South defeated, Gauls in the North defeated.
Roman Warfare
Roman Roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire. Roman roads served 3 main purposes u They enabled the Romans to move armies, trade goods and to communicate news throughout the empire
Roman Roads
Body Armor was layered and made of metal Roman Legion Sandals were studded and were very intimidating when marching on Roman Roads
Reforming the Legion u u u Reforms of Gaius Marius 100 BC Standardization of the legion All soldiers will be equipped with the same weapons. “Marius’ Mules” Carry most of their supplies and equipment Limit the support needs of the legion.
ROMAN LEGIONARY EQUIPMENT “MARIUS’ MULES” 100 LBS OF GEAR
Roman Legion u The Legion was a tactical formation composed of units – Phalanx – maniples – Later cohorts u u In each unit each man had 6 feet for action The maniples were arranged in 3 waves of 10 maniples each in a checker-board fashion
Roman Legion
Roman Legion The Cohort legion consisted of 5000 to 6000 infantry in 10 cohorts u Each cohort was fully self-sufficient to fight at a distance from the legion, operating basically as a "mini-legion” u
THE LEGIONARY CAMP u A Roman army on the march never bivouaced without constructing an entrenched camp (castra) large enough to contain the whole force.
THE LEGIONARY CAMP
THE LEGIONARY CAMP u The marching kit of the Roman soldier included a number of stakes for use in forming the palisade with which the earthen mound (vallum) surrounding the camp was strengthened.
Roman Siege craft
Roman Siege craft
Roman Siege craft
Roman Conquest
Competition for Empire Rome vs. Carthage u u u Punic Wars Fight for control of Western Mediterranean 1 st Punic War (265 -242 BC): Rome gets control of Sicily.
Competition for Empire 2 nd Punic War (218 -201 BC): u u u Fight for control of Spain. Hannibal marches his forces over the Alps to raid the Italian Peninsula Romans main territory. Hannibal Battle of Cannae 216 BC Hannibal defeats 80, 000 Romans with a smaller army of 50, 000. For the next decade Hannibal campaigns in Italy.
Competition for Empire: 2 nd Punic War Cont. u Battle of Zama 202 BC u Scipio Africanus invades Carthaginian home territory. u Defeats Hannibal and ends the war. u Rome gains control of the Western Mediterranean and North Africa. u Battle of Zama
Rome vs. Macedonia “the Greeks” Roman wars against the Macedonians were: A fight for control of the Eastern Mediterranean. The major battle was the Battle of Pydna 197 BC Roman legions defeat the Macedonian Phalanx u u – – Maneuverability, stronger and, better trained fighting force Pydna
Rome vs. Gauls u u u Roman wars against the Gauls were a glory chase. Julius Caesar campaigned in modern France against the Gauls for land fame. He conquers Western Europe. Then he marches on Rome. Battle of Alesia
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