Classical Armies in Warfare Rome Carthage and Alexander

Classical Armies in Warfare Rome, Carthage and Alexander

Big Questions • Why did Rome become the single most powerful empire in the world? • How did their military effect politics and vice versa? • How did the phalanx evolve over the course of its lifespan?

Big Ideas • Rome demonstrates that the ingenuity of the common soldier can win major battles, despite tremendous odds • Shows again the power of skilled, professional army • Demonstrates the danger of a military leading the government not the other way around

Greeks vs. Romans • At the height of their power, the largest Greek city states could muster 10, 000 helots • At the height of the Roman Republic, the Roman army numbered 350, 000 legionnares in a single battle and around 3. 5 million overall at its height.

Roman Military Strategy • Rome excelled by dedicating a large portion of its resources to creating an army of overwhelming power, capable of surviving and adapting to any situation.

Roman tactics • Rome begins as a tribe of Greek descended warriors known as the Etruscans. – Copy tactics used by Alexander the Great • Use phalanxes in complex formations to hide your numbers • Combine phalanx attacks with cavalry charges to disorient enemy • Rely on highly trained men skilled in multiple weapons and combat situations

Rome establishes itself • Etruscans establish themselves through military conquest – Much of Italy controlled by Greek colonists, part of Alexander’s Magna Graecia – Etruscans wage war of conquest against Greeks – Greeks send brilliant general named Pyrrhus with 20, 000 men to defeat the advancing Romans

Who was Pyrrhus of Epirus? • Close friend of Ptolemy, King of the Egyptian portion of Alexander’s former Empire – Won several battles against barbarian tribesmen threatening Greek holdings – Considered a military genius

Pyrrhic Wars • Pyrrhus lands 25, 000 troops from Greece to Italy, including a contingent of war elephants

Battle of Heraclea, 280 BC • Battle of Heraclea indicative of the course of the war – 50, 000 Roman troops battle a contingent of 25, 000 Greek troops including elephants – Pyrrhus sets up his forces across a nearby river, waiting to attack Roman – Both sides clash against each other for the better part of a day. • Thousands die, but neither phalax is able to break through the other’s line

Battle of Heraclea • Entry of war elephants onto the field throws Romans into disarray • Calvary bolts at the sight of these “strange and brooding creatures” • Roman infantry retreats

Battle of Heraclea • Pyrrhus wins the battle but takes staggering losses. • Of 25, 000 men, 12, 000 die – Origin of the term Pyrrhic victory – Pyrrhus wins nearly every battle he fights, but loses the war due to attrition

Why such heavy losses • Neither the Romans nor Greeks were used to fighting phalanx to phalanx • When fighting less organized troops (such as at the Battle of Thermopylae) the phalanx works extremely well • When one phalanx fights another, it becomes a grueling war of attrition in which the victory is determined by whichever side can kill their way through the other’s shield wall

The Roman Legionnaire • Designed to fight in multiple combat situations – Weapons: • Pugio: a short, broad dagger. Used for close infighting, could double as a spade • Gladius: main close-quarters weapon, 24 -inch short sword designed for stabbing

Weapons • Javelin or Pilum: Spear designed for throwing. Used against enemies at medium range. Weighted tip designed to pierce armor • Sagitarri: Recurved bow, generally carved out of horn material, used at long ranges • Darts and caltrops: Legionaries typically carried up to a dozen iron throwing darts clipped to the back of shield, for taking down fleeing enemies, or caltrops for slowing down attackers.

Armor • Carried iron scale armor, that protected entire body and head. – Left only face, neck and underarms vulnerable to attack • Scutum: Large tower shield, made of wood with metal bolted on the front

Armor • Chainmail: Roman soldiers of the Republic used chainmail armor – Made of linked chains of iron or bronze – Light and effective, armor compressed if struck, taking some of the force of the blow

Other equipment • Sarcina (Kit): Each Roman soldier carried a complete toolkit on marches this included – Saw, hammer, shovel, and nails, cooking utensils • Roman soldiers were expected to craft a fortified camp before they slept every night

Roman Camp • Camps contained earthwork defenses, walls, latrines and tents. • These would be set up every day on a march

Power of Rome • Over 50% of collected taxes went to funding Roman military – Military reflected Roman class system: • Commanders were made up of the Patrician class. Generals were wealthy individuals who funded much of their army’s from their own personal wealth • Gained a measure of the spoils of any conquest. Made supporting the army a potentially lucrative endeavor

Power of Rome • Soldiers were taken either from citizen volunteers or from levies of non-citizens – Required draft quotas set for each province of the Republic and later Empire • As the Romans transitioned between Republic to Empire, the Legions increasingly became an all-volunteer professional force, supported by mercanaries

Rome becomes a Global Power: The Punic Wars • Fought between 264 BCE-146 BCE • Rome increasingly found itself competing with a rival Empire for control of Mediterranean • This Empire operated out of capital of Carthage, people referred to as the Carthaginians or the Punics (due to their Phoenician ancestry)

1 st Punic War: 264 -261 • Rome enters war ostensibly to fight for a third party threatened by Carthage: the Italian Islands. • Carthage attempts to avoid battle with Legions, instead using superior navy. – Rome in danger of losing control of Med

1 st Punic War • Romans vastly expands navy but Carthage’s ships are too fast and maneuverable for standard ramming • Solution: Roman legions invent the corvus a large extendable bridge that can be deployed between 2 moving ships – Extremely dangerous with a high failure rate. – Leads to an unbroken string of Roman victories • Carthage signs peace treaty, evacuates Sicily

Corvus

2 nd Punic War • Rome begins aggressive expansion into Hispania, Carthaginian territory • In response, Carthage’s greatest general Hannibal planned a military campaign into the heart of Italy – Winning hearts and minds: Sought to liberate allies from Roman control, turn them against Rome – Won alliance of Gauls, as well as several Northern Italians

Hannibal’s Brilliant Assault • While most of the Roman Army was tied up in Hispania fighting his brother, Hannibal led his army, including a platoon of war elephants across the Alps (considered impossible at the time) • Rome suddenly found a hostile army at their back door

Hannibal’s invasion

Battle of Cannae • Read pages 10 -13 in your textbook Respond to the following questions: – What was Hannibal’s battle plan – How did he succeed against a larger force – What was the consequence of this for the Romans

Desperate Roman Counter. Strategy • Roman Consuls order army to disperse and begin harassment attacks against Hannibal. – Highly unpopular with military, dub the dictator Fabius Cunctator (The hesitant) – Hannibal losses several hundred soldiers to guerilla warfare, unable to take Rome for fear of flank attack – Sues Romans for temporary peace to regain lost prisoners

Hannibal

Hannibal’s defeat • Battle of Trebia: Greek city of Trebia rebels against Romans – Hannibal attacks city (taking severe losses) – Captures city but can’t take port from Roman Navy – Forced to retreat back to Carthage, to aid against a desperate Roman counter-invasion

Battle of Zama • Hannibal and Scipio Africanus met on the plains of Utica, Tunisia • Hannibal arrays army, relying on elephants to break up Roman lines. – Romans counter by using fire, loud horns and noise to terrify elephants. – Elephants rampage across Carthaginian Lines • Romans charge into the confusion, Hannibal’s line is routed – Carthage again sues for peace, gives up Hispania to Rome.

3 rd Punic War: Rome’s bloody Revenge • Carthage stripped of allies and territory • Required to pay a large indemnity to Rome – A punitive fee from the loser of a war to the winner, allowing the winner to recoup the lost revenue spent on war • Nevertheless, Roman Senators demand aggressive war to wipe out Carthage – Cato the Elder ends every speech with “Carthago delenda est” Carthage must be destroyed

Invasion • City of Utica defects from Rome to Carthage, Rome uses it as springboard for invasion – Carthage offers 300 hostages to avert war, Rome ignores – Engages in month-long siege of Carthage (thousands die of starvation) – Carthage is destroyed down to its frames • Area becomes a vassal state, growing grain for Rom – Myth of sowing the Earth with salt

Imperial Roman Army • Under Augustus, Roman army split into 3 distinct parts – Legio: The legions were made up entirely of citizen volunteers, each legion numbered around 5, 500 soldiers – Auxilia: Support troops made up of less organized non-citizens – Numeri: Allied but non-Roman forces, usually hired mercanaries

Ranks • Each legion commanded by a general – Generals spread orders to Equistrii who commanded large sections such as seige equipment and Infantry – Individual units were controlled by Centurions • Both Equistrii and Centurii were well paid, with bonuses given for success – Made being in the army very lucrative to Roman middle class

Roman Centurion

Praetorian Guard • Elite force of Roman soldiers chosen to guard the Emperor – Loyal to Emperor alone – Deeply involved in palace politics

Roman Siege ingenuity: Siege of Masada • 66 AD: Kanaim Revolt – Emperor Nero continues his predecessor Caligula’s notion that Emperor is a god • Demands Jews venerate Emperor • Demands placement of Emperor statute in the Temple • Roman soldiers caught looting temple of silver – Leads to massive Jewish revolt in 66

Masada • Mountaintop fortress originally designed by Herod the Great – Accessible by small path easily covered by archers – All other sides a sheer cliff-face – Able to support agriculture, and fed by a spring • Lucius Silva, leader of the X Legion, rather than attack from path, chooses to build a massive ramp up the opposite side of the mountain, completed in 76 AD

Masada

End Result • Known Roman Army can besiege the walls, Jewish forces inside commit mass-suicide rather than be captured and horribly executed.

Limits of Roman Power: Battle of Teutoburg Forest • Emperor Augustus Caesar attempts to expand Roman Empire into Northern Germany (Germania) • Romans faced stiff resistance in the form of organized barbarian tribes led by Arminius – Barbarian a Greek word meaning does not speak our language

Roman Forces • Led by Publius Varus, a consul who became famous for helping put down the rebellion in Judea – Extremely haughty, believed himself blessed by gods – Took to wearing a golden mask while on campaign

Arminius vs. Varus

The Battle • Roman legion marching through Teutoburg Forest on narrow mountain path • Varus, eager to conquer next target, allows Legion to spread out in straight line, and abandon their Wagon Train – The wagons bearing goods needed for the army’s survival • Arminius waits until Romans are in a single line in deep forest, then ambushes from high ground from two sides

Result • Entire Roman legion annihilated • Rome never advances beyond Southern Germany again • Germanic Barbarians gain fearsome reputation

Fall of Roman Empire • What part did the army play in the fall of the Empire? – Massive expense of the army required to patrol so much space leaves Rome bankrupt – More and more slack taken up by generals controlling army – Leads to a series of Barracks Emperors • Soldier-Emperors who would overthrow the Emperor and maintain power just long enough for the next soldier to attack them

Fall of Empire • Loss of talented legions in infighting meant Rome had to rely increasingly on mercanaries • Coinage issue: Money based on hard currency (gold, silver, copper), shortage of metal meant Rome adulterated currency – Made it less valuable

Collapse of Roman System • Fall of Rome in 412, leaves small tribes and petty kings in control of Western Empire – Unable to raise large armies, they instead rely on small cadres of elite cavalry • The first Knights • Large Army tactics would not be seen in Western Europe for another 9 centuries