Legionnaire combat training

[john m roberts]

Cato the Elder states that he taught his son to ride, swim and fight with a sword, skills he would need when he joined his legion. Since Cato was by his own modest admission the very embodiment of Roman virtue, I think we can assume that, at least in the Republican period, most recruits were expected to be at least partially home-trained in the sword and spear by fathers and uncles by the time they joined their legions, leaving the legion to concentrate on mass drill. Gladiator trainers were brought in when especially large drafts of new soldiers were called up to meet an emergency, and many young men not of traditionally military families were put under arms.