Military of ancient Rome

The Military of ancient Rome (known to the Romans as the militia) means all military forces of Ancient Rome from the founding of the city of Rome to the end of the Western Roman Empire. Originally there was only the Roman army, but a small navy was added during the Second Samnite War, around 320 BC.

The Roman military was an important part of the Roman state. Josephus describes the Roman people as "as if born ready armed".Williamson G. (transl.) 1959. Josephus, The Jewish War, p. 378. It has a history of more than 1300 years. Roman armies fought in Parthia as well as in Africa, and in - what was in that time the far north - the British Isles.

After a series of reforms, the army became highly trained, and was well equipped in the middle of the Roman Imperial period. The Romans also had a powerful navy that ruled the Mediterranean and the European Atlantic coast. In the late Imperial period the military's numbers were significantly increased to cover the borders and keep internal peace. The circumstances of the Empire had changed; the Western Roman Empire now relied heavily on units of mostly Germanic tribes living within the borders, who fought in the name of Rome during the Migration Period.

 References 

 Other sources 
Primary sources 
Livy, The Rise of Rome, Oxford University Press, 1998
Polybius, History, Book 6
Tacitus, The Histories, Book V

Secondary sources 
Gibbon E., The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Penguin, 1985
Goldsorthy A., In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire, Weidenfield and Nicholson, 2003
Grant, M., The History of Rome, Faber and Faber, 1993
Heather, P., The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History, MacMillan, 2005
Jones, The Later Roman Empire,Johns Hopkins University Press, 1964
Lane Fox, Robin, The Classical World, Penguin, 2005 
Luttwak, E., The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, Johns Hopkins
Matyszak, P., The Enemies of Rome, Thames and Hudson, 2004
Santosuosso, A., Soldiers, Emperors and Civilians in the Roman Empire, Westview Press, 2001

Other websites
UNRV's Roman Military
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook 
 Military Resources 
 Armamentarium bibliography 
 The Ancient Warfare Articles of Smith's Dictionary, Bill Thayer's Lacus Curtius site.

Category:Military of ancient Rome