How long did it take to raise a legion?

[Legatus]

I guess I'd better introduce myself a little too. I'm currently doing an A-level in Ancient History (read, Roman Britain). In several of the sources we see references to people raising new legions (Caesar particularly) and I wondered how long it took. Partly this is my own interest because I love to read around my subjects and partly because I'm working on a variety of fiction pieces and this might come in handy for that.

Obviously in the Old Republic where the citizen body formed the legions the force could be raised in about as long as it took to take the arms down from the fireplace and get to the muster point. (or was there a degree of unit-level training then too?)

Post-Marius though the professional army needed to be raised from scratch, assuming the weapons and other gear could be churned out easily by any number of blacksmiths the main problem would be actually training the men summoned/recruited in individual and group combat plus all the discipline and general peacetime duties they would be expected to undertake.

So how long do you think it would take? I'd guess it could be done in 4 months or so (allowing a legion to be raised in the winter before the campaigning season).

Also any information on training methods and/or further reading would be great.

[TraderTrey9785]

Legatus,

I just finished reading the book Caesar's Legion by Stephen Dando-Collins and it is an excellent source for the raising and equipping of a Roman Legion. It was only around eighteen American dollars, so not a bad buy and the indexes give a great account of the different legions by Caesar. I can't remember if it gives a specific time frame for the legion, it might, but it details the creation and formation of Legio X. A great read!

-Trey

[arklore70]

A good Question.

I think a lot would depend also on if the unit was being created from scratch or if it was being established with a cadre of officers and NCOs already in place. Four months might not be unreasonable if equipment and cadre are on hand, but I would question its fighting effectiveness.

Basic recruit training took between 6-8 weeks according to G R Watson, but I would never use that as a estimate as a means to say that it only took 8 weeks to raise a legion.

The logistics and training involved is pretty monumental. The Varus disaster in 9 AD had multiple second and third order effects. The first true "disaster" was the loss of experienced veterans, NCOs and officers. Experienced troopers can not be raised over night and the impact t that they can have of young troopers is incredible.


Lack of experienced leaders can have devastating effects in combat

Two modern cases in point. Japanese pilots in WWII and the thinning of the NCO Corps in the united States Army during the later years of the Viet Nam conflict. Lack of experience veterans, caused increased causalities and in the case of the U.S. Army in Viet Nam, increased discipline challenges.

The second, I would deem would be the drain of serviceable equipment in that part of the Empire. If we do quick math for three legions and attachments, equipment for 18,000 is a lot of man hours and work, let alone the distribution challenges to get it to where new formations were being raised.

I have asked once, but I am not aware of any publication in English or in other language that gets past the tactical logistics and manning for the Roman Army, in any period. If there is..please let me know, because I know and believe they had to have a operational and strategic logistical and I am deeply curious on this.

Cheers!!

Mike

[Pompeius Minus]

I think a lot would depend also on if the unit was being created from scratch or if it was being established with a cadre of officers and NCOs already in place. Four months might not be unreasonable if equipment and cadre are on hand, but I would question its fighting effectiveness.

Another modern analogy is the German army in world war two, which became very effective at recreating units almost from scratch. What they found was that as long as a core of experienced officers and NCOs remained, it was relatively easy to rebuild the unit. This of course reinforces the point made above.

It also means that it's a big advantage to form a new unit from a nucleus of veterans. I remember reading somewhere (Goldsworthy?) that the Romans offered incentive for this by promoting centurions when they transferred to a newly formed legion.

[arklore70]

Yes..I do believe it was Goldsworthy. Was it the Roman Army At War or something like that. I think John Kegan did the introduction to the book.

Cheers,
Mike