I have just joined the Roman Army. What is my life going to be like from now on?

Okee doke! Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this one, but I'll do my best to give it the justice it deserves! And by that, I mean that I'm going to attempt to cover a soldier's life from his recruitment to his retirement. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask whatever you wish! My primary sources here are going to be Goldsworthy's excellent The Complete Roman Army, Southern's The Roman Army: A History 753 BC-AD476, Bowman's Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier, maybe a bit of Goldsworthy's Augustus, and Roth's The Logistics of the Roman Army at War.

The Roman Army, as /u/XenophontheAthenian noted, has a history of over a millenium, which always makes it fun to chat about! The most commonly imagined period, however, is that of the early Imperial army, which was established by Augustus. As it’s also the period of the military that we know most about (And the ultimate post-Marian progression), as well as the first time when the Roman army was….well...standardized, I feel that it would be best to use this period as my example here.

JOINING THE ROMAN ARMY, or as I like to imagine the thought process of these new recruits, MARS HELP ME, I’VE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE.

Okay, so not too wealthy, not too poor, eh? Well, let’s go ahead and say that your father was….a butcher. You guys make enough to make ends meet, and business is always good and constant, but you’ve never been fond of the life, and you’ve always dreamed of marching in order with the glorious legions who keep the barbarians at bay. Not only that, but you’re a bit practical. You know that there’s no way you can run away from home without being completely broke, and the army will provide you with food, clothing, some of the best medicine in the Roman world, job security and the wage that went with it, huge advantages in the legal system, the right to make a will while your father is still alive, and, of course, the potential for glorious things! You’re young, and you’re not weighing the downsides too much yet - 25 years doesn’t seem like too long to spend in the army, and having a wife can wait until then! It’s not like you’ll be without female companionship - all of the girls around town are sighing about men in uniform.

As the son of a butcher, you would be a preferred recruit for the army, as you not only had experience with chopping meat, but you also are stronger than those less manly professions, like sissy pastry chefs or weavers. So you already had an advantage going onto the first stage - or the probatio (Ever wonder where we get our word for “probation? ;) ). Probatio established a few things before you ever got close to the army itself: you had to provide proof of citizenship (which was rarely heavily investigated unless you were challenged on it, in which case you could provide some witnesses to prove your case), and you had to pass a medical examination (poor eyesight or other physical disabilities were grounds for you not getting in). If you could provide letters of recommendation, you could skip most of the scrutiny - and, depending on the letters, be fast tracked for promotion.

If you made it through the probatio with no problems, then you would be sworn into the army by taking the sacramentum, which was an oath to serve the Emperor. They were then given their signaculum (small lead tablet which they wore around their necks - think modern day dog tags), and they were given three gold coins of “traveling money.” Needless to say, this “traveling money” would not last long, and stealing/swindling/cajoling these new recruits out of their newfound fortune was probably a popular method of hazing them on the way to their camp. You’re definitely not one of the lucky ones, as you spend your money to impress your newfound ‘friends,’ and after a couple of rounds of wine and women, you’re broke. In fact, most of the guys with you are flat broke as well, for the same reasons. There are a couple of guys (those nerds) who managed to hold on to the majority of their money, mostly because they had friends who let them know what was up with it.

The man who led your merry band of recruits to their unit (Men were shipped to the location of the unit in question before they began their training. For the purpose of this exercise, you and your unlucky little band are being shipped off to the cold wastes of the end of the world. Also known as Britain) would carry something similar to this letter with him:

Copy C. Minucius Italus to Celsianus, Give instructions that the six recruits approved by me for the cohort under your command be entered on the records with effect from 19 February. I have appended their names and distinguishing-marks to this letter.

| | |
---|---|----|---- C. Veturius Gemellus | aged 21 | No Distinguishing Marks | C. Longinus Priscus | aged 22 | Scar on Left Eyebrow | C. Julius Maximus | aged 25 | No Distinguishing Marks | -. Julius Secundus | aged 20 | No Distinguishing Marks | C. Julius Saturninus | aged 23 | Scar on Left Hand | M. Antonius Valens | aged 22 | Scar on Right Side of Forehead |

Received 24 February AD 103, through Priscus, singularis. I, Avidius Arrianus, cornicularius of Cohors III Ituraeorum, state that the original letter is in the records office of the cohort.

While this individual letter was for an auxiliary cohort, it would have been very similar to one for the legions themselves. The good news, though! Despite being stuck out in the ass end of nowhere, where people painted themselves blue and the sun never shone, you were still well-connected to the Roman world through the virtue of their marvelous road system and their methods of “Romanizing” the areas in which they lived. Depending on your connections, here are a couple of examples of early letters which you may have sent when you got there. Luckily, we have a whole bunch of letters to and from a certain Flavius Cerialis! Now, I might just be strange, but these letters bring the Roman world into a light more vivid than any other. Here’s to hoping I can convey the same feeling to you!

To his Crispinus. Since Grattius Crispinus is returning to [...] and [...] I have gladly seized the opportunity, my lord, of greeting you, you who are my lord and the man whom it is my very special wish to be in good health and master of all your hopes. For you have always deserved this of me right up to the present high office (?). In reliance on this [...] you first [...] greet (?) [...] Marcellus, that most distinguished man, my governor. He therefore offers (?) the opportunity now of [...] the talents (?) of your friends through his presence, of which you have, I know, very many, thanks to him (?). Now, in whatever way you wish, fulfil what I expect of you and [...] so furnish me with very many friends that thanks to you I may be able to enjoy a pleasant period of military service. I write this to you from Vindolanda where my winter quarters are (?).

Or this one!

Flavius Cerialis to his Brocchus, greetings. If you love me, brother, I ask that you send me some hunting-nets (?) [...] you should repair the pieces very strongly.

Or…

Flavius Cerialis to his September, greetings. Tomorrow, which is October 5, as you wish my lord, I will provide some goods (?) [...] by means of which (?) we may endure the storms even if they are troublesome.

(Fun part about this last one! There’s actually a slight error on the tablet. These letters were dictated, so the writer wrote down “et hiem,” which was crossed out, and right above it, “etiam” was written. So yep, people still corrected mistakes in the same way that you do now!)

Anyways. Back to your training, rather than letter-writing. We’re past the point of joining - now we’re at…

BASIC TRAINING

Much like today’s soldiers, basic training involved building a man up from the basics. Physical fitness and close-order drill were the first, most important, and most constant exercises that could be expected - so lots and lots of marching. You’re going to march until the soles of your feet turn to leather, then march until your feet fall off. By the end of your training, you were expected to march 20 Roman miles in five hours, or up to 24 Roman miles in 5 hours at the quick step. And, of course, since that’s definitely not enough, you could definitely expect to stuff your pack full of rocks for the journey! Some things in boot camp never change ;) Finally, you would be taught how to swim and how to ride - both being considered essential skills for every soldier.

Of course, by now you’re probably wondering when the hell you actually get to look at weapons. Well have no fear! You get to start with a wooden sword and a dummy shield, both weighted to be much heavier than the actual equipment. Don’t you feel loved yet? Starting off, you’ll be attacking a post. Because it’s a post. And it’s there for being smacked. And you’re definitely not ready to spar with anything but a post yet. Interestingly, this training method was taken from the gladiator schools. The Romans were very fond of adopting what worked, and this was certainly one of them. That post would become your best friend, as you would learn to chuck your pila (throwing spears) at it, you would mount targets on it for artillery practice, you would learn missile weapons such as the sling and bow with it….essentially that post would be very well used.

Eventually, you would get to the point where you could evolve past the post. Units would engage in mock battles with either fake weapons or weapons with covers on them, similar to modern wargames. This basic training would last for months, but it was expected that training in general would continue throughout the entire career of the soldier - older soldiers doing the same wargame exercises and just bringing in the newer guys - to keep the legions in a state of constant readiness.