12-15-2013, 02:16 AM
• What were the procedures for recruiting and enlistment of soldiers? Did they do recruiting drives at regularly scheduled intervals, say, each January or each spring? Was there a standard "boot camp" as with modern armies, or were Roman soldiers trained on an ad hoc basis? Did they have specifically designated staging/muster grounds that they used in the empire's heartland, say in Ravenna, Antioch, etc., where the recruits were assembled and trained before being assigned to a legion?
I believe there were many volunteers to be a soldier, but Legionaries were also levied when men were needed, such as before a major campaign. Somewhat like a draft or conscription, it was called a dilectus.[i][/i]
• Did the Roman state still supply the weapons, armor, etc. for each soldier? I read that before the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I (491-518), the troops were provided gear by the state but the cost of it was deducted from their pay, and that one of his reforms gave the troops their pay "in full" but with the caveat that they had to purchase their own gear. Was this the situation in the Western Empire too?
Though I believe equipment was issued free of charge upon enlistment - any replacements were to come out of the man's pay. Take the case of an arrow piercing a shield - the shield must be repaired at the cost of the Legionary.
I believe there were many volunteers to be a soldier, but Legionaries were also levied when men were needed, such as before a major campaign. Somewhat like a draft or conscription, it was called a dilectus.[i][/i]
• Did the Roman state still supply the weapons, armor, etc. for each soldier? I read that before the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I (491-518), the troops were provided gear by the state but the cost of it was deducted from their pay, and that one of his reforms gave the troops their pay "in full" but with the caveat that they had to purchase their own gear. Was this the situation in the Western Empire too?
Though I believe equipment was issued free of charge upon enlistment - any replacements were to come out of the man's pay. Take the case of an arrow piercing a shield - the shield must be repaired at the cost of the Legionary.
Mark S.
Thundering Third - Consummate Professionals
Thundering Third - Consummate Professionals
