Women in the roman army? (Combatants)

[Sean Manning]

First of all I apoligize if this is in the wrong place and if this has been asked before. My question is would it be possible for a woman to disguise herself, join (For whatever reason) and serve in the legions as a fighter?

I think that the baths would pose a problem by the Imperial period, and so would have any physical examination of recruits. I'm sure it happened at least once, especially during periods of disorder, but I'm sure that a legionary was struck by lighting at least once too!

There are a few recorded cases of women joining 18th century armies, and we only know about them because our sources are so much better then. We wouldn't know about Mary Read if she hadn't become a particularly notorious pirate after two stints in the army! However, eighteenth-century Europeans had more of a male nudity taboo than Romans of the principate did.