Cost of Roman military equipment

[Tony Riches]

Hello,

I am the author of a historical novel set on Hadrian's Wall in the 180's which will be published later this year (title 'Wounds of Honour'). I am keen to make sure that the book, and the subsequent two volumes completing the trilogy, are as realistic as possible. There's always a balance, as other authors have noted in the past, between realism and story telling, but my preference is to get as close to reality as possible.

So...I am curious as to the cost of Roman equipment (armour, helments, swords and so on) in the late 2nd century. It may be that this is not known, in which case I will just make the numbers up, but if anyone knows I will be grateful for your help.

Thanks and regards,

Tony Riches.

[zakhx150]

Iv had a look about a few places but I was unable to find anythign that directly tackles your question Tony. Hopefully others will have better luck.

Robin Birley (1994 - Garrison life on the Roman Frontier) notes a few points that may be of some small use to you:

In the mid 2nd Century, legionary pay was at around 300 denarii a year, paid in 3 equal isntallments at four-monthly intervals. This had to have been enough to attract a steady supply of recruits, Scheidel (1996) puts the figures of new recruits per annum at around 11,000.

In practice they rarely recieved half their pay, and would be owed it later and later until retirement or death

Its well attested that soldiers had to pay for clothing, weapons, food etc. items of armour were probably made by the legionary workshops


its impossible to give a fixed figure, in my mind at least, but it should by no means constitute the entire first years pay... armour would initially have been a one-off purchase taken in wage cuts as it is...

you might wish to try Vindolanda Tablets Online to see if there are figures floating about in the tablets - theres certainly a few shopping lists and itineraries.

best of luck

[Sardaukar]

If Late Republic maintenance costs for legion are any help, it was very costly business.

Operating a single 4,500-man legion for a year ran to some 4 million sestertii. (Cicero, in Pis., 86; Plutarch, Cae., 28 & Pomp., 55. Supporting this is Cicero's comment that the two under strength legions he controlled in Cilicia in 51 B.C. each cost about 3 million sestertii in pay and maintenance a year (Cicero, ad Fam., V , 20, 9, & ad Att., V, 11, 5), which was about 60% of the annual revenues of the province (Cf., Frank, pp. 136ff)).

[Sean Manning]

Just to give an idea of the likely ratios, here are average prices from early 14th century England in days' wages for a carpenter or archer. They come from a PhD thesis by Randall Storey. The main point is that spears and shields are fairly cheap, helmets and swords more expensive, and armour very expensive. I would be very interested if any figures from the Roman world are available!

Spear 2 days' pay, sword suitable for a knight 14 days' pay, great shield 5 days' pay, helmet 12 days' pay, hauberk with gambeson 55 days' pay.

[Tony Riches]

Thanks everyone, those numbers are very interesting. All I need to do now is find out what a skilled worker like a carpenter would have earned in the second century AD. The number of days you quote look like they would have been much the same in 180AD, given the amount of work that would go into each of the equipment types you mention. Certainly a good position from which to make an informed guess, and let's face it, this is fiction I'm writing (albeit fiction with as much fact as possible woven in), not a text book.

Thanks and regards,

Tony.