Maintaining legion strength

[Crimson]

Greetings,

In Caesar's Gallic campaign, how did he go about replenishing troops for his legion during such a long campaign?

[Nathan Ross]

As far as we know, he didn't - when he needed new troops, he just raised new legions. The Roman army at the time of the Gallic and Civil wars still apparently operated on something like the old Republican model, with legions being raised together, serving together and being disbanded together at the end of the campaign. When Caesar took up his command in Gaul, he had a couple of legions already in the province, at least one of which already had battle experience (possibly in Spain) - this indicates that the old system was already beginning to break down. Rather than replenish losses in battle, however, Caesar used his governorial prerogative to raise two fresh legions each year in Cisalpine Gaul and attach them to his army.

This did mean that his legions were steadily depleted - one legion, the sixth, was down to half its strength by the battle of Zela, but this was after seven years of near-constant campaigning. I believe the principle might have been that a single hard-core body of veteran troops were of more use than a mixed formation of fresh recruits and veterans, or a full-strength legion of recruits. Later, of course, with the Augustan establishment, the legions were transformed into standing bodies of men with regular recruitment to keep up numbers.

This topic was actually discussed some time ago, in connection with S Dando-Collins' book about the tenth legion. The thread is here:

Recruitment Thread

Jona Lendering's site also provides a useful breakdown of the legions under Caesar's command:

Caesar's Legions

- Nathan

[Crimson]

Thank You Nathan