Roman \'Special Forces\' ?

[Marcus Artorius Silvanus]

Ave,<br>
<br>
I've been reading up a bit about the US Special Op groups, and I started wondering...did the Romans have any groups that could be classified as a 'Special Forces' type unit? At anytime in their long history that is.<br>
<br>
A type of unit that would be called in to perform small scale covert actions such as scouting/recon, spying or sabotage, or perhaps even assassination.<br>
<br>
Or was it more lose, with no set unit that would do such a thing, with simply volunteers from the Legions or, mroe likely, the Auxiliaries performing such deeds.<br>
<br>
Just curious, so if anyone has any info, I'd appreciate it.<br>
<br>
M. Artorius <p></p><i></i>

[Vincula]

<em>speculatores</em>. (Supposably.) <p></p><i></i>

[Robert Vermaat]

Maybe the <em>areani</em>/<em>arcani</em> (sp. varies) as border scouts?<br>
<br>
But infantry units could also do unarmoured night attacks in boats. Meaning there may not have been so much as Special Forces, but special tasks?<br>
<br>
Valete,<br>
Valerius/Robert <p></p><i></i>

[Vincula]

Quote:</em></strong><hr>not so much as Special Forces, but special tasks?<hr><br>
There are definately units specialising in scouting (<em>exploratores</em>) and units/individuals specialising in covert spying (<em>speculatores</em>). <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I don't think there were any "special forces" as we understand the concept nowadays, since the tactics of the Roman army relied on the opposite of stealth: high visibility and massive intervention whenever possible and sometimes even when it was not possible (See the fiasco of XII Fulminata in Judea..).<br>
Naturally that is not to say they did not know spying, covert action and assassination, because there is ample proof they did know, used and enjoyed these methods. <br>
It seems that it was expected that when an army set up camp somewhere there would inevitably be spies around.<br>
Although some instances are known (Marius' Jugurthine war) regular soldiers were not really trained for commando type ops. The persistent failures of the Roman army faced with the guerilla type tactics of the Germans is proof of it.<br>
They were however involved in police work and that implies some intelligence gathering. For this, regular army types were used such as the frumentari, or speculatores.<br>
The exploratores and antecursores were more army scouts than Special Forces or Ranger types, I think. They marched ahead of the army but they did not operate independently like the Ranger do for instance.<br>
But for all the spying that went on, it definitely looks like it was done by "amateurs" and that there was no "official" outfit comparable to a modern intelligence service.<br>
It is to be noted that some German tribes used stealth to a great extent. Tacitus (Germania XLIII) writes about the Harii, a tribe living in southern Poland: "Black shields, painted bodies; to fight, they choose the darkest nights. The horror and the shadow marching along this army of lemurs are enough to bring terror, no enemy being able to stand this astounding and hellish sight, for in battle, defeat begins in the eyes". <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=antoninuslucretius@romanarmytalk>Antoninus Lucretius</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://lucretius.homestead.com/files/Cesar_triste.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 6/3/04 1:37 pm<br></i>

[Anonymous]

Welllll.....<br>
<br>
dont forget the MILES ONAGERALIA, the MILES BALISTAE.....<br>
<br>
the special troopers of the Roman army who were shot over the walls of enemy cities, carrying theig light-weight Leather UMBRELLAE or PARA CHUTAE.......<br>
<br>
I know this was never actually mentioned in any writings or even in any sculptures or reliefs.... however these units were very very secret.....<br>
<br>
you also had the OPTIONES SPECIALES, or the later<br>
spec-ops..<br>
<br>
Really?? hehehehehehehehe<br>
<br>
<p><span style="color:yellow;font-family:times new roman;font-size:medium;">M.VIB.M.<br>
V COH II<br>
LEGIO X GEMINA<br>
EX GER INF</span></p><i></i>

[Vincula]

Check the [url=http://p200.ezboard.com/fromanarmytalkfrm1.showMessage?topicID=977.topic" target="top]Machine in Tacitus' Histories[/url] thread for soldiers being hoisted over walls! <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Roman Airborne?<br>
<br>
HOOOYAAA!!!!!!<br>
<br>
What would the Latin translation of HOOOYAAA be? <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Jokes aside, my supposition would be the Pratorian Guard.<br>
<br>
They went around in Civilian CLothes.<br>
Carried concealed weapons.<br>
In many cases they were long term veterans and Officers with lots of service and combat experience.<br>
<br>
So the Pratorian Guard might be your Elite SF units.<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Vincula]

or pampered city boys? <p></p><i></i>