What happened to old legionaries at the time of the 2nd PW?

[Anonymous]

I read that only men up to the age of 46 were used in the legions, but that older men were used for garrisons and "home defence" - would these men have kept all their equipment?<br>
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In hte context of Hannibal (not) marching on Rome after Cannae, would there have been large numbers of well equipped elderly men able to fight in its defence? <p></p><i></i>

[Matthew Amt]

Ave!<br>
<br>
In the Republic, equipment was personally owned. The gear you were required to provide yourself with was dictated by your wealth. So yes, veterans would presumably keep their weaponry.<br>
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I'm not sure, however, if they were required to do so after the normal age of service. If not, it's possible that a lot of them sold off the stuff--heck, it's worth money. But if they were normally expected to do garrison and "reserve" duty, my guess is that they still had to stay equipped.<br>
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Not really my area of expertise, though, so does anyone else have better information?<br>
<br>
Vale,<br>
<br>
Matthew/Quintus <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

The defence of Rome after Cannae would have revolved around the walls of Rome. The general panic after Cannae in Rome would be indicative of there general inability to defend themselves. Hannibal didnt march on Rome as he knew he would be unable to sustain a siege of any length and knew he wouldnt be able to breach the walls. <p></p><i></i>

[Uwe Bahr]

Avete omnes,<br>
<br>
I always wondered what kind of mural defenses had been around Rome at the time when Hannibal was <em>ante portas</em>.<br>
The huge walls whose remnants are still standing, have been built by Aurelian, some hundred years later. How effective were the fortifications during the 2nd Punic war, so that Hannibal did not start a siege?<br>
<br>
Uwe <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=uwebahr>Uwe Bahr</A> at: 5/19/04 12:38 pm<br></i>

[Praefectusclassis]

Probably only the Servian walls, of which parts are still visible in for instance Termini station. <p>Greets<br>
<br>
Jasper</p><i></i>

[StrategyM]

The Servian walls are it indeed - though I wouldn't call them "only". Moreover, at the time of the Second Punic war it was already one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean. Given its sizable population, it would have been anything but easy to capture if the citizens resisted - even more so given the often continuous presence of a strong garrison in Rome during the war. This would essentially rule out any form of assault, and maintaining a siege essentially presupposes that Hannibal's army 1) had the wherewithall to maintain a siege (Gauls were notoriously useless for this), and 2) could be free off Roman armies that would move in to harass him during the siege.<br>
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Regarding the older men - I seriously doubt any of them would sell off their equipment unless they had to. Prescisely because of its value, I think it is far more likely that armor would pass from father to son. In addition, by this time we are entering the period when the state was increasingly being called on to provide equipment to the legions, so we would see a larger proportion of cheap breastplates. <p>Strategy <br>
Designer/Developer <br>
Imperium - Rise of Rome</p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=strategym>StrategyM</A> at: 5/20/04 2:10 am<br></i>

[Anonymous]

since i have done some reading on this i feel i can give a fair answer. When the property owners were the only people admitted to the legions then they did own their weapons for life. Such as would have been the case during the second punic war. However, when marius came around he introduced a law to allow the head count to be admitted into the legions because the republic didn't have enough property owners to form the proper numbers in the legions. Since the head count had little money the weapons belonged to the republic, hence when their fighting days were over the weapons were returned i believe. A problem with the head count was that it forced the senate to find land for these troups after their service. The most important backlash of the head count in the army was that it held a bigger loyalty to the general than to the republic, which led to rome being marched on by their own armies, sulla led the way followed by marius and eventually caesar. This was one of the biggest impacts of the fall of the republic. <p></p><i></i>