08-05-2013, 03:46 PM
Quote:Conscription existed right along side voluntary recruitment. For a while at any rate, new legions seem to have been raised in Italy, but what inducements were used to get the men to volunteer, is unknown at least to me.
Problems with finding recruits during the early empire only seemed like an occasional problem that arose under exceptional conditions, such as the disasters you mentioned, but on the whole, recruiting the legions up to strength didn't seem to pose a great problem for the authorities before the end of the 3rd century A.D..
As in all societies throughout history, poor people who lived at subsistence level had always provided the best military material, as life as a professional soldiers provided them a steady income, clothing, and all the basic needs. Regarding the risk of death, the probabilities of dying of disease and hunger as an undernourished civilian were probably greater than dying of a sword as a soldier, considering the harsh living conditions of a farm labourer in the countryside or a slum dweller in the city.
As far as citizenship was concerned, it has been known that in times of dire necessity, thousands of non-citizens were granted with Roman citizenship in order to be recruited into the legions.
