How the Roman Army was Organized

The Roman army was feared by almost all in their area, but they weren’t always like that. This is what their army looked like.

During war, all citizens could volunteer to fight (Note: not including women or slaves). The army was divided into groups called centuries, there were 100 men in a century, each group of 100 was led by a man called a Centurion. Each Centurion had a second in command dubbed an Optio, each century also had a Signifier, they carried the flag. Each Centurion also had a Tesserarius, they carried his passwords mentally. These centuries were placed into Legions, each legion had 5000 men, or 50 centuries. The Legions also had “auxilia” or less trained men working for their citizenship. These Legion were commanded by a “legatus”. There were usually 3 or 4 legions in an army. The equipment they used was as follows, a helmet to protect the brain and eyes, shoulder plates that also covered the sides of the neck, a body plate that connected to the shoulder plates, a woolen tunic underneath, a dagger on the left hip, a sword on the right, a javelin that would be thrown at first contact, groin protection, a skirt, sandals, and a very large shield. In conclusion, the Romans were powerful not because of their strength, but their organization.