ROman civil war

[Woadwarrior]

quick questio when romans fought civil wars how exactly did they distinguish there troops, form there side to the enemy side?

different color armor?

[Jona Lendering]

Tacitus, in his Histories, has a remark about shield marks.

[Chuck Russell]

ya thats a toughy. shields is it as far as i know. maybe some tunic color or vexillium but who knows. im sure there was plenty of friendly fire. sigh.. but its all guess work there. i have no proof for that statement

[Marius_Ursus]

Funny, but I never wondered about that. Man, wouldn't it have been suckful to rely on your legion standard for identifying if you were attacking an enemy century as you prayed to Mars you didn't get turned around in the fray?

[Matthew Amt]

Yes, there could be confusion! Tacitus says that two soldiers picked up shields from their fallen foes in order to infiltrate enemy lines and put a catapult out of commission. So the assumption is that the shield emblems helped to differentiate between units. He also says that in the long night battle at Cremona, units got all tangled up, and learned each others' watchwords. It may often have come down to making sure you were facing the right direction, and calling out your commander's name.

Valete,

Matthew