Initially, the Roman legion was a city militia, assembled only for the conduct of war, and at its end disbanded. The legion included spearmen, javelin throwers, and a small cavalry force that included wealthy citizens from the upper class. However, such an army was only suitable for raiding neighbors, so in the middle of the IV century BC, a reform was carried out: the legions were no longer disbanded, and now the soldiers were paid a salary to maintain their equipment.
The Legion was now divided into maniples-separate combat units, which increased its maneuverability . If the phalanx, which was an undivided dense formation of spearmen, was vulnerable in a battle on rough terrain due to a violation of the system, then the manipular arrangement avoided this disadvantage and generally allowed for more flexible tactics; for example, it became possible to withdraw part of the legion from the battle and replace it with another without losing organization.
Fighters began to be divided primarily by experience, and not by the type of weapons.
The youngest warriors who had just joined the legion, armed with a short sword, a growth shield and light armor (most often just a plate on the chest), were called hastati and formed the first line of the battle order.
After them were the principles – the same swordsmen, but more experienced, who served about half of the term (about 10 years), they made up the main force of the Roman army.
Last of all were the most experienced and oldest of the Triarii warriors, armed with spears. If the situation was very tight, the triarii covered the legion's regrouping in a tight formation, or, maneuvering, repelled attacks from the rear and flanks. In this regard, in Rome there was a saying "it came to the triarii", which meant a critical state of affairs.
Light-armed riflemen-velites-were located between the battle lines and moved according to the situation in the battle.
The flanks of the legion were covered by cavalry from the Equites (horsemen) – the highest class that had power and privileges; later, the cavalry also included the mounted detachments of the allied peoples.
The legion was led by two consuls.
Each legion was divided into 10 cohorts of 360 people, the cohorts, in turn, were divided into 3 maniples of 120 fighters, the maniples were divided into 2 centuries, and the centuries – into 6 tens. At the head of each century was a centurion commander.
Such a structure and the resulting possibilities of construction have repeatedly proved their effectiveness in battles with the Latins and Greeks, as well as with the Punians and Macedonians, who used the most effective system of the previous era – the already mentioned phalanx.
However, there was a problem of heterogeneity of the troops, as some soldiers could not afford a full set of equipment, which affected the combat effectiveness of the squad. In addition, the wars with Carthage showed that the infantry needed support in the form of strong cavalry. Therefore, in 107 BC, Gaius Marius reformed the army.
The maniples were abolished, and the remaining components of the legion-the cohorts-became less specialized. Each legionary now had several small darts, a short gladius sword, a dagger, a large shield, and heavy armor that covered most of his body. It no longer mattered whether a person was Roman or Latin. Armament was at the expense of the state, the service life was 20 years, and after service, the soldier received a land allotment. Soldiers also began to be paid a higher salary .
The legions of the Empire period were somewhat self-sufficient. Each legion was accompanied by specialists (options) - engineers, lawyers, medical professionals. The centuries were now numbered. The centurion of the First century of the First cohort was called primipilus and was an assistant to the commander of the legion; his centurion was made up of selected soldiers. The cavalry became more heavily armed and numerous, but it remained forever only an auxiliary part of the army.
One of the reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire in the end was the discouragement of the army – during the Late Empire, the Romans began to rely more and more on mercenaries , land was no longer enough for everyone, and the steppe peoples in several major battles showed that heavy cavalry in battle is better than infantry. But it was the Romans who proved that the organization and management of troops on the battlefield is much more important than their number, and sometimes quality. The Romans laid the foundations of the army system that are still used today.
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Источник статьи: How the Roman Legion was organized..