Quote:I am of the opinion that Legionaries and auxillia carried more the one entrenching/construction item with the dolabra being one of them or the most common tool carried from the below list:
Pick/hoe
Rope
Shovel
Axe
Turf cutter or maybe the were de barkers or multipurpose tools
Chain
Sickle
Hook (perhaps these were like modern brush hooks)
Shovel
I think other essential items like baskets hammers and nails etc may have been carried in the unit trains
I'd have to agree. I bet you had each member of your contubernium assigned to different tasks when setting up a camp, so each one carried one or two different tools associated with said task.
Somewhere, maybe here on RAT, maybe De Res Militaris, I read that each soldier carried two of the tools listed, but not everybody carried the same ones. Makes sense (although that's not a criterion for the ancient thinkers vs. modern thinkers). Not everybody had a pickaxe.
I also remember that everybody DID have a length of chain and a wicker or other dirt-hauling basket.
jkaler48 post=344987 Wrote:I am of the opinion that Legionaries and auxillia carried more the one entrenching/construction item with the dolabra being one of them or the most common tool carried from the below list:
Pick/hoe
Rope
Shovel
Axe
Turf cutter or maybe the were de barkers or multipurpose tools
Chain
Sickle
Hook (perhaps these were like modern brush hooks)
Shovel
I think other essential items like baskets hammers and nails etc may have been carried in the unit trains
I'd have to agree. I bet you had each member of your contubernium assigned to different tasks when setting up a camp, so each one carried one or two different tools associated with said task.
i see, but your assumtions, are they based on regular legionaries?
you see, my impression is going to be a batavian auxiliary infantryman stationed on the raetian limes in todays passau
so if i am an auxiliary on garrison, stationed at a fort, do i really need the gear a normal legionary needs thats in the field when the regular patrol is not compareable to a legions march ?
i've added a bag for the cloak made out of canvas cloth
reworked my linen bag to resemble one of those leather satchels
and finally added a sheep fur for the looks
Well the only real differentiation between Legionnaires and Auxilia was in equipment and citizenship.
Other than using a slightly different style of chainmail, different helmets, (sometimes) a spatha, a hasta, and a clipeus, auxilia heavy infantry were the same for the most part as legionnaires. All auxilia were expected to carry the same marching kit as Legionnaires pretty much. The tools they would have used were the same as tools legionnaires would have used.
I'm sure someone more knowledgeable could correct me on this though. The auxilia I know best are those of the Late Roman Empire