The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1868-01-03
Roman Soldiers.

Roman HOtQlefS.
The Roman soldier was trained to march
twenty miles "a day, under burden of
eighty pounds yea, to swim rivers, to
climb mountains, penetrate forests, and to
encounter every kind Of danger. He was
taug ut that his destiny was to die in bat
tie. He expected death. He was ready to
die. Death was his duty, and his glory.
/ He enlisted iii the armies with little hope
of revising his home He crossed seas
and deserts aud forests, With the idea Of
spending his life in the service of his coun
try. His pay was only a denarius daily,
equal 10 about sixteen cents of our money.
Marriage was discouraged or forbidden. He
belonged to the state, and the state was
exacting and hard He was reduced to alb
ject obedience, yet he held in his hand the
destinies of the empire And however
Insignificant was the legionary as man, he
gained, importance from the great body with
which he was identified He was the serv-
ant and the master o. the state He had
an intense esprit dc corps He was bound
| up in the glory of his legion. Both relig
ion and honor bound him to his standards.
! The golen eagle which glittered in his front
was the object Of his fondest devotion.
Nor was it possible to escape the penalty of
/ cowardlce or streachery, or dlsobedlence.
| He could be chastised with blows by his
| centurion ; his general could doom him to
death. Never was the severity of military
/ disci pline relaxed Military exercises were
| incessant, IN Winter and Summer. In the
1 midst of peace the Roman troops were fam
| iliarized with the practice of war.
1t was the spirit which animated the Ro-
man legions and the discipline to which they
were insured which gave them their ire
sistable strength When we remember that
they had not our firearms, we are surprised
at their efficiency, especially in taking
strongly fortified cities Jerusalem was
defended by a triple wall and the most
elaborate Notifications, and twenty-four
thousand soldiers, beside the aid received
from the citizens and yet it fell In little
more than four months before an army of
eighty thousand, under Titus. How great
the science to reduce place of such great
| strength in so short time, without the aid
! of other artillery than the ancient catapult
and battering ram Whether the military
science of the Romans was superior or in
feilor to our own, no one can question that
1T was carried to the utmost perfection
before the invention of gun powder We
are only superior in the application OF this
great invention, especially IN artillery.
| There can be no doubt that a Roman army
in the brightest days of chiyalry. The
world has produced no generals superior to
Cesar, Pompey, Sulla, and Marius. No
armies ever won greater victories over su-
perior umbcrs than the Roman, and no
armies of their size ever retained in su5mls
SION to so great an empire, and tor 50 long
a time. AT no period in the history
of the empire were the armies so large as
those sustained by France in time of peace.
Two hundred Thousand DICTIONARIES, con-
trolled diverse nations and powerful mon
arches. The single province of Syria once
boastcd of military force equal in the
number Of soldiers to that welded by Ii
berius. Twenty five legions made the con-
quest of the world, and retained the con-
quest for FIVE hundred years. The self
sustained energy of Caesar in Gaul puts to
the blush the effort of all modern generals,
except Frederick H., Marlborough, Napo
leon, Wellington, Grant, Sherman and
| few other genius which \ warlike age de-
veloped nor is there better text book ON
the art of war than that furnished by
Caesar himself, in his Commentaries. And
the great victories of the Boman over bar
barians, over Gauls, over Carthagenians,
| over SyrlanS, were not the result of
/ short lived enthusiasm, like those of Attila
anu iaiipOiiano. D'e oAtChhCu ONOi Iiou'
sand years. The Romans were essentially
military in their tastes and habits. Lux.
| urlsus Senators and mobiles showed the
| greatest courage and skill in the most diff
cult campaigns Antony, Caesar, Pompey,
! Lucliius were at home eneryated and lux
urious, but at the head of the lcgious were
capable Of any privation and fatigue. The
| Roman legion was most perfect organiza
| ton, a great mechanical force, and could
sustain furious attacks after vigor, patriot
ism and public spirit had fed. For three
| hundred years vast empire was sustained
| oy mechanism alone-1he Old Roman
| World, By John Lord.