mquish

Just for the record, I wasn't comparing the legitimacy or warfare, only making a point that blaming one event alone on the ultimate fall of the empire (when it happened 500 years before the collapse of the west) is failing to take into account all the events that led up to it, and all those that may have occured as a result or in spite of its occurence. If that makes sense [edit]At any rate, though it may seem to some I am a supporter of Caesar, I am for the most part neutral on the matter. I just respond in such a manner when I feel that issues in the ancient world are being labelled in a context of modern morality. If that's not the case I apologize, its sometimes just a vibe that I pick up. Primus pilus, you seemed to be one of the top dogs if you like on this website, therfore you must know the rules exstensively. I have a couple of questions id like to ask concerning these and would be grateful if you would take the time to answer them. 1) Why do i have to provide a link to a site that i copied information from and how do i create a url in my post to link to that site. 2) Do i have to provide a link or can i just give credit to the site, like typing at the end of a post where the information was retrieved. 3) Is it forbidden to copy information from a source and place it in a post. Im not the fastest typer in the world and sometimes its easier to copy from other sources to provide answers to people who need answers. If i am too tired to type up a post from scratch or if it would take me too long, i dont see the crime in copying from a source with good intentions at heart.

Taken verbatim from Wikipedia. Mquish, you must give credit to your sources when posting. how?

Gaeus Maximus I Was in tears laughing during that scene of the life of Brian.

Im not sure what you mean by lull, but it was common practice for the acies prima(frontline) to rotate with acies secunda(second line) when they got tired. The number of men in a legions line(depth) depended on many factores.ie, How many men were available, The number of enemies, Locations and many other variables. I will explain what a legion was made up of and maybe this will help you understand battle lines more clearly. A roman legion consisted of many groups. It was made up of many smaller groups grouped into bigger and bigger ones. The lowest unit was called the pedite, a single soldier. Next would be the grouping called a Centuria, a pack of 100 men led by a Centurion. Two Centuria would team up to form a Manipulus. A Cohors would be made by binding 3 Manipuli together. A legion would be formed by getting together 10 Cohorts. The legion would be led by a general. The usual battle formation was the triplex acies. It consisted of three parts. 1) The prima acies ( the strongest troops stationed at the frontline). The first line consisted of four cohorts(2400 men) 2) The Acies secunda made up the second line and consisted of three cohorts. These were usually mediochre troops used mainly for plugging gaps in the frontline defensive. 3)The last line was called the Acies tertia. This line again contained three cohorts. Thse troops were the weakest and were used to protect against flanking and in the case of the second line needing more men to fill in the gaps of the frontline. I hope this information is helpful. I

Fist of all, someone is asking a question and usually when someone asks a question they are looking for an answer not a link. And secondly, im new at this sight, how am i supposed to know which threads are old and which are new. And thirdly, i believe it was you who told me to be courteous in my posts, so instead of telling me what i am doing wrong, you could try telling me how i can solve them. ps: how do i provide a link ( Computers science isnt my speciallty)

[ Boudicas forces were made of iceni, trinovantes and other british tribes. Yes I suppose so, but why did you quote me to say it? My post has nothing to do with the tribes who revolted. Sorry, i misread the post. I have a habit of doing that.

The testudo was best used when sieging an enemy. It was used to shield the soldiers from arrow fire as they advanced toward the main wall to climb ladders. It became a problem in certain situations. The primary problem with the formation was that it was so tight that the soldiers had great difficulty fighting in hand-to-hand combat

Boudicas forces were made of iceni, trinovantes and other british tribes.

I agree. Yes he might have been just a party animal to some and is known for his neglicting of empire matters, but when it came to the big picture, as you have described above, if it wasnt for him the fall of the empire might have come much sooner than it did. Some say he couldnt have done it without the spear of destiny......Actually its just me saying that.

This answer is not based on your question but i thought id throw it in anyway. Here is a list of my six best emporers. 1) Nerva 2) trajen 3) Hadrian 4) Antonius pius 5) Marcus Aurelius 6) Lucius verus

The first step in building the city is contructing the walls. The camp would be surrounded in fossa (ditch) and an agger (wall). This ditch and wall system made it difficult to attack, and often would slow down the enemy. The Roman Camp was shaped like a square, with entrances at the midpoint of each of its sides. The entire camp perimeter was made of a strong wall, built up by a vallum. This vallum had walkways that were constantly guarded by centurions, and each portae is guarded by an additional watchtower. The guarded gates in the vallum were called portae. The camp was connected by roads which were built as straight as possible. The way the road system worked was that the Via Principia connected the eastern and western portae, and the Via Praetoria connected the north and south portae. All the soldiers were quartered inside cantebernium, which were tents that could hold eight men at a time. The general's tent, called the Praetorium, was located in the center of the camp, where the main roads intersected. Outside the general's tent was a flagpole. When certain flags were raised, battle could be signaled. Also in the center were the Taburnaculae, known as the merchant tents.

Gladiator is based around the time of the co emperors Marcus aurelius and Commodus (177-192). Every soldier was equipped with the basic defensive and offensive equipment. All clothing was military standard, so everyone would look uniform. There were three basic defensive tools used to prevent attack. The Lorica, also known as the breastplate, was built to withstand frontal attack. The Galea, Latin for helmet, was made to prevent crushing blows to the head and face. The most important of the three however was the Scutum. This shield was used to ward off attack in close battle, and utilized for many other protection schemes. The offensive tools consist of two types of weaponry. The first is the javelin. The javelins were constructed to bend once inside the enemy, that way the enemy could not pull them out or reuse them for their own needs. The second offensive weapon the soldier was equipped with was the Gladius. This was the basic short sword that was good for close attacks. Side by side with these weapons were the standard issue clothing. As a soldier, you were required to wear certain clothing. The first of which was the Tunica. The Tunica was like an undergarmet we have today. The next layer of clothing was much like a jacket, a cloak of sorts that was worn over the tunica. And to top off the look, every soldier wore a pair of Caligae, extremely heavy boots made for marching. In addition, all the equipment was carried over the soldier's shoulder in a sarcina. The sarcina would weigh about 50 pounds when completely full. The romans used a type of ancient morter of unknown composite. It was very effective as a water proofant. Historians believe it was also used in the colliseum when it was flooded to stage huge naval games. Although this is debatable. The road systems were seen as advanced because they were built to give greater tactical and logistical movement to the army. It allowed Romes armies to march long distances quickly and effeciently as the were always built in straight lines. It also meant that because the army didnt need to travel over rough terrain, they didnt tire as easily.

I think you are talking about the signifier, well educated men who stood in fron of the centurian. You could also be talking about A draconius, a dragon-head with a fabric tail made to whistle in the wind

The Areani were agents in Imperial Roman military units based in Roman Britain during the later part of the Roman occupation of the island. They were used both as scouts for the legions and as undercover spies. Many of them were mercenaries; at the time of the Great Conspiracy, which they helped instigate, a good deal of them were sailors. Due to their participation in the Conspiracy, Count Theodosius disbanded them. They are sometimes (inaccurately) called Arcani

Dacian Wars [removed wiki text and replaced with link to article =PP]

De oppido expugnando was a tactic used when besieging cities. It was divided into three phases: In the first phase, engineers (the cohors fabrorum) built a fortified camp near the city with walls of Contravallation and at the command 'turres extruere' (watch towers) in order to prevent enemies from bringing in reinforcements. Siege towers were built, trenches were dug and traps set all around the city. Also sometimes walls of Circumvallation were built around the city's perimeter, as Caesar did at the Battle of Alesia. Sometimes the Romans would dig tunnels or mines to sap enemy's walls. The second phase began with onager and ballista fire to cover the approach of the siege towers, full of legionaries ready to assault the wall's defenders. Meanwhile, other cohorts approached the city's wall in testudo formation, bringing up battering rams and ladders to breach the gates and scale the walls. The third phase included opening of the city's main gate by the cohorts which had managed to break through or scale the walls, provided the rams had not knocked the gate open. Once the main gate was opened or the walls breached, the cavalry and other cohorts entered the city to finish off the remaining defenders. [link from original added Roman infantry, tactics, etc. =PP]

Yes, in the end the gladius and the pike finished the job but i think you are underappreciating the important role the pilum played. The use of the pilum had a huge role in winning some of the most important battles for rome. One example out of alot would have to be Battle of watling street, britian. Boudica had being on the rampage for weeks and had gathered an army of 60,000 men. When paulinas arrived to met boudica he had an army of 10,000 men. Boudica sent her chariots and cavalry to taunt paulinas down from the hill from which he had the advantage. They threw spear after spear but paulinas wouldnt budge. Eventually boudica got impatient and sent her entire army up the hill. As the reached the top of the hill paulinas ordered his 10000 men to launch there spears in unision. Such a devasting affect it had on the britons that no sooner had they engaged with the romans did they run back down the hill. The britons were so sure of that their victory they had brought their familys to watch in wagons lined up along the entire length of the rear escape rout. They were trapped and slaughtered. Now the importants of this battle was that if boudica had won, roman rule in britain would have been at an end. So, for me and im sure many others who have knowledge of great battles the pilum was an essential weapons against any enemyboth physically and mentally( the sight of 10000 spears was sure to give even the bravest of warriors a fright and demoralise them).

I wouldnt rule him out completely. There is good evidence to suggest that a king by the name of arthur existed in the region of wales. The mythical stories that go with him are unlikely to be true but the exsistence of the name, many archeologists believe is true.

The Roman fortification was easily built in about six hours. The first step in building the city is contructing the walls. The camp would be surrounded in fossa (ditch) and an agger (wall). This ditch and wall system made it difficult to attack, and often would slow down the enemy. The Roman Camp was shaped like a square, with entrances at the midpoint of each of its sides. The entire camp perimeter was made of a strong wall, built up by a vallum. This vallum had walkways that were constantly guarded by centurions, and each portae is guarded by an additional watchtower. The guarded gates in the vallum were called portae. The camp was connected by roads which were built as straight as possible. The way the road system worked was that the Via Principia connected the eastern and western portae, and the Via Praetoria connected the north and south portae. All the soldiers were quartered inside cantebernium, which were tents that could hold eight men at a time. The general's tent, called the Praetorium, was located in the center of the camp, where the main roads intersected. Outside the general's tent was a flagpole. When certain flags were raised, battle could be signaled. Also in the center were the Taburnaculae, known as the merchant tents.

Communication is known but im not sure of the latter. The romans used three types of horns to give signals for specific battle tactics. The first signalling device was called the Cornu. This horn had a deep loud sound that was blown for basic formations. The Tuba, which looked like the trumpet we have today, gave precise battle commands. The Bucina was a lot like a bugle. The Bucina told the soldiers when lunch breaks were happening and signaled preliminary formations. Last but not least, the Lituus was used to signal the cavalry.

[ The ledgend of king aurthur is said likely to come from the dark ages after the Romans left britain, during the time when numerous small kindoms and kings sprung up, and i too have read theories that the remaining samaritan horsemen may have contributed to this legend. He is beleived to originate from the south of england in the cornwall area i beleive. Arthur was a prince of the tribe of Britons called Silures, whose country was South Wales,- the son of Uther, named Pendragon, a title given to an elective sovereign, paramount over the many kings of Britain. He appears to have commenced his martial career about the year 500, and was raised to the Pendragonship about ten years later. He is said to have gained twelve victories over the Saxons. The most important of them was that of Badon, by some supposed to be Bath, by others Berkshire. This was the last of his battles with the Saxons, and checked their progress so effectually that Arthur experienced no more annoyance from them, and reigned in peace, until the revolt of his nephew Modred, twenty years later, which led to the fatal battle of Camlan, in Cornwall, in 542. Modred was slain, and Arthur, mortally wounded, was conveyed by sea to Glastonbury, where he died, and was buried. Tradition preserved the memory of the place of his interment within the abbey, as we are told by Giraldus Cambrensis, who was present when the grave was opened by command of Henry II. in 1150, and saw the bones and sword of the monarch, and a leaden cross let into his tombstone, with the inscription in rude Roman letters, "Here lies buried the famous King Arthur, in the island Avolonia." This story has been elegantly versified by Warton. A popular traditional belief was long entertained among the Britons that Arthur was not dead, but had been carried off to be healed of his wounds in Fairy-land, and that he would reappear to avenge his countrymen, and reinstate them in the sovereignty of Britain.

Yes, this is true, but advances in new technology has always come hand in hand with the abandonement of old