11-20-2002, 04:24 AM
This is probably old news on the forum (I don't watch TV much) but a friend just gave me a tape of this BBC Wales show from PBS...wonderful!<br>
<br>
For those who may not have seen it, they took a contubernium of British boys and put them through Roman field training...the miracle is not that they did well, but that they did at all. And they did do well!<br>
<br>
We can all admit (as they did) that yer average 2ist-century Western boy is not quite as inured to hardship as a Roman recruit would have been. Still those guys got the sharp end of the stick - straight off the Army lorry into a Welsh winter with no preparation.<br>
<br>
Yer basic Imperial recruit going to his Legion would have had maybe a long march from the recruiting station, but he'd have marched without combat kit and been billeted in towns most nights, with his viaticum for food at the markets. On arrival he'd have had at least a few weeks training on the parade square and the exercise ground outside the fortress before they threw him into field manoeuvres, so he'd have had a reasonably warm barracks every night and (WOW!) a BATHHOUSE! The Roman Army was brutal (as most armies in the world still are), but recruits were expensive, you don't just waste them. Pitching those poor guys into field training in winter goes above and beyond, they should all get the George Cross with crossed rampart stakes.<br>
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I loved the experiments...seeing how you'd work with what you were given, like felt helmet liners as caps (the Tetrarchy pilleus must have evolved from this - and Americans in WWII were ingenious about using their helmets for nothing remotely imaginable - "Careful how you drop them beans in the coffee, Willy, we got a chicken cooking in there" - they laughed at the Germans for ditching their Fritzes whenever they could.) And turning the palisade stakes into an entanglement, once you've done it it's so obvious, as Kate Gilliver said in the show.<br>
<br>
I don't think the Romans would have had quite as much trouble with the personal impedimenta on the march, they'd have learned tricks and been taught them by the veterans. And the rusty armour problem...they probably sat around the fire every night off watch with pots of grease. You'd have to.<br>
<br>
What I'd like to see is a repeat of the experiment with a British infantry squad about 6 months into training. They'd have square drill down pat and also entrenching experience. Two days to get the general idea, then out on manoevres!<br>
<br>
Colour me impressed!<br>
<br>
E<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>
<br>
For those who may not have seen it, they took a contubernium of British boys and put them through Roman field training...the miracle is not that they did well, but that they did at all. And they did do well!<br>
<br>
We can all admit (as they did) that yer average 2ist-century Western boy is not quite as inured to hardship as a Roman recruit would have been. Still those guys got the sharp end of the stick - straight off the Army lorry into a Welsh winter with no preparation.<br>
<br>
Yer basic Imperial recruit going to his Legion would have had maybe a long march from the recruiting station, but he'd have marched without combat kit and been billeted in towns most nights, with his viaticum for food at the markets. On arrival he'd have had at least a few weeks training on the parade square and the exercise ground outside the fortress before they threw him into field manoeuvres, so he'd have had a reasonably warm barracks every night and (WOW!) a BATHHOUSE! The Roman Army was brutal (as most armies in the world still are), but recruits were expensive, you don't just waste them. Pitching those poor guys into field training in winter goes above and beyond, they should all get the George Cross with crossed rampart stakes.<br>
<br>
I loved the experiments...seeing how you'd work with what you were given, like felt helmet liners as caps (the Tetrarchy pilleus must have evolved from this - and Americans in WWII were ingenious about using their helmets for nothing remotely imaginable - "Careful how you drop them beans in the coffee, Willy, we got a chicken cooking in there" - they laughed at the Germans for ditching their Fritzes whenever they could.) And turning the palisade stakes into an entanglement, once you've done it it's so obvious, as Kate Gilliver said in the show.<br>
<br>
I don't think the Romans would have had quite as much trouble with the personal impedimenta on the march, they'd have learned tricks and been taught them by the veterans. And the rusty armour problem...they probably sat around the fire every night off watch with pots of grease. You'd have to.<br>
<br>
What I'd like to see is a repeat of the experiment with a British infantry squad about 6 months into training. They'd have square drill down pat and also entrenching experience. Two days to get the general idea, then out on manoevres!<br>
<br>
Colour me impressed!<br>
<br>
E<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>
