The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

The Army of the Roman Republic
Chapter 3
The Roman Army
O ri gi n s
The Roman army of the pre - Rep u blican regal peri od com pri s ed 3,000 infantry
and 300 cava l ry drawn from the wealthiest of the equ e s trian order, who could afford
to provi de their own horses and equ i pm ent and whose name e q u i te s den o te s
t h eir assoc i a ti on with the mounted secti on of the army. The ro u n ded figures ref
l ect an equal con tri buti on of 1,000 infantry and 100 cava l ry from the three
tri bes of Rom e , the Ra m n e s , Ti ti e s , and Lu cere s , perhaps repre s en ting the Lati n s ,
the Sa bi n e s , and the Etru s c a n s , re s pectively. As Lawren ce Keppie (1984) poi n t s
o ut , h owever, these names are all Etru s c a n , i n d i c a ting that Rome was under the
i n f lu en ce of h er Etruscan nei gh bors . Th ere is no inform a ti on abo ut how the
a rmy of the kings was or ga n i zed , or how it was com m a n ded , but one fe a tu re was
to prove constant thro u gh o ut the history of Rom e : it was call ed the l egi o, wh i ch
means “the ch oo s i n g,” and refers to the met h odof rec ru i tm en t , or the lev y.
The So-Called Servian Reforms
Etruscan influence on the early Roman army was likely considerable, given that
Rome itself was ruled by Etruscan kings. The Etruscan armies were modeled on
the Greek phalanx, heavy infantry or hoplites armed with the round shield (hoplon),
and a long spear. The introduction of the phalanx in Rome is linked to
the so-call ed Servian con s ti tuti on , trad i ti on a lly dated to the sixth cen tu ry bc.
The penu l ti m a te king, Servius Tu ll iu s , reor ga n i zed the el ectoral body and the
army on the basis of wealth, ensuring that voting rights were related to military
service. The cavalry was drawn from the middle classes, as before. The infantry
was provided by the rest of the population, divided into five classes. The men of
the first class could afford to equip them s elves with a round shiel d , c u i ra s s ,
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