Pre-Marian marines

[FarDarter]

The question came up when I was thinking about Rome: Total War II. What did Roman marines look like before the Marian reforms? One would think that they mirrored the army, being divided into hastati, principes, and triarii. But the reasons for having three kinds of soldiers on land would not carry over to naval matters; it wasn't like they have four hastati, four principes, four triarii, and four skirmishers aboard each trireme. Or did they?

[M. Demetrius]

First, each ship's company was regarded as a "century". The leader of that Marine army group was a centurion. On a liburnam or hemiola, that might be only twenty or thirty or less; on a trireme it might be a hundred or more, particularly when heading into a known battle. Vegetius says they wore a light blue tunic, the color of the sea (which of course is various colors, so we don't know exactly what that does. I don't know if the tunic color could be useful, since the Game will have various factions.

There was a non-military officer who was the skipper of the ship, and what he said about how things went as to running the vessel and commanding the crew was law. The centurion was in charge of the troops, not the crew and oarsmen,

All marines were auxiliary members of the army, not legionary troops, though it's possible some legionaries might have been sometimes posted on ships. As aux troops, they would not be equipped with pila, most seem to think. They were paid less than legionaries. On ship, they likely went barefoot, like most all sailors in the wood deck days before and since. When sent on shore, they surely wore some kind of shoes, but we are not sure what kind. Evidently these land shoes did not include hobnails, as there is at least one account of the Marines requesting a hobnail allowance from the Emperor when on extended land maneuvers.

The grave stones I've seen show them sometimes wearing hamata, and usually carrying hastae, though there is one centurion who has what looks a lot like a weighted pilum. Oval shields would be the norm, not the rectangular and curved scuta. Helmets were likely just like any soldiers, as would be the pugio and gladius. Javelins, arrows, and ballistae were used. A projectile weapon called a harpax, which resembled a larger pilum with a long iron point attached to a wood end, connected to multiple lines. When fired into the hull of an enemy ship, it would be used like a long-range grapple, to pull the ships together for boarding. The long iron point kept the wooden shaft further away, so it could not be chopped off, and the lines could not be cut. Must have been a booger to lay out all those lines so they'd feed correctly when the bolt was launched.

The Marines were considered by legionaries to be weaker soldiers, and they were looked down upon by them, or so it's said by many. I'm sure not a few altercations erupted at the local tavernae when both Marines and Legionaries were together. Who won? Well, that's for the game designers to settle. Most likely the one who got the first good fist in, like in every other era. Heh. Who wins when the US Coast Guard and the US Navy have similar "discussions"? That's why they basically keep separate bars, right?

The short answer would have been, "The Marines looked pretty much like barefoot auxiliary infantry troops". But I got carried away.

[Publius Claudius Strabo]

Hi,

as the question was for pre-Marian marines Vegetius description is hardly applicable.

in the period before Marius, and even as late as Actium it seems that regular legionaries fought onboard the Roman fleet. A fleet which varied considerable in size, and depending heavily on allies like the greek cities of southern Italy or Rhodes in the eastern mediterranean.

[M. Demetrius]

Yes, the legions did assign troops to ships, Claudius, but there were also troops whose primary function was marines. There's a difference between land soldiers on ships, and soldiers who are rarely used on land. Areas of training were different, and the styles, modes and of the battle were different.

Of course, once it boiled down to one on one, hand to hand, a fight is a fight. But the strategy is somewhat different when the soldiers fight in the narrow confines of a decked ship as opposed to a broad plain. No doubt either kind of soldier could quickly adapt to the differences. The point is there were land troops and troops whose main station was on the deck. There are differences between sea-fighters and marines and land infantrymen.

In the Punic Wars, the Carthagenians initially were successful because they had marines already trained on ships, and officers who understood sea battling better. The Romans had to adapt to the different style, and were not very successful for quite some time. Once their soldiers got the feel for it, they became better at what they needed to do, and eventually put down the most successful navy/marine force in their world.

[Publius Claudius Strabo]

to my understanding "real" marines were a phenomen of the imperial era.

earlier navies which come to my mind like the mighty Athenian navy used regular hoplites fighting onboard their triremes, etc.
The initial naval successes of the Carthaginians were not founded by better trained marines but by better trained sailors and rowing crews. The first Roman naval victory belonged to the corvii which enabled Roman infantry to board the enemy ships turning a naval battle into close combat, where the legions ruled supreme.
the Roman navy slowly gained the upper hand by pressing the ships of allied cities of southern Italy into their service and by training their own crews of sailors and rowers. These were the key to success in the ancient naval tactics like ramming or shearing off the oars of enemy ships.

after Actium the Roman navy radically changed, demobilising larger crafts - Hexeres and bigger (battleships), retaining mostly liburnae (destroyers/ frigates) beside some Quinquiremes as flagships. The time for the big naval battles was over, changing the navy more in some higher grade "Coast Guard", and several river flotillas. These changes probably requested some specilisation like marine soldiers

the anecdote about the marines asking for an additional :!: clavarium (which was refused by Vespasian - urging them to go barefoot instead) clearly shows that marines also used caligae, at least while operating on land.

the status of marines seems not to have been especially low, as two legions (I & II Adiutrix) were formed by Nero and Vespasian

[M. Demetrius]

"... urging them to go barefoot instead) clearly shows that marines also used caligae, at least while operating on land.

Well, at the risk of splitting hairs, it shows that they wore SOME kind of leather shoes--though not necessarily caligae, but that they were not allowed extra money for hobnails. Our marine unit wears shoes like this, which are attested more or less in some statuary. Whether Marines wore them in history is presently unknown to us. Ours do not have hobnails.