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

The military records were scru p u l o u s ly kept by the cl erk s , s h owing how
much money each soldier had already saved, how much he had deposited from
his current installment, and the new total in the regimental savings bank. The
Roman clerical assistants would keep at least two sets of financial records, since
their accounts were sent to the procurator (Davies, 1967).
Supplies
The Roman A rmy 111
The Romans of the Rep u blic learn ed abo ut su pp ly sys tems em p i ri c a lly, f rom
their experiences in several wars. During the long struggle with Hannibal, the
Carthaginians constantly raided and destroyed crops, so valuable supplies were
denied to the Romans. Until they had secured Sicily and Sardinia, the Romans
had to buy grain at tremendously inflated prices from Egypt and then had to
guarantee its transport, protecting their sea lanes and above all their ports.
The wars with Carthage placed the Romans on a rapid learning curve with
regard to all aspects of war and in particular about supplies. After the disaster of
Ca n n ae and Ha n n i b a l ’s ef forts to sedu ce or force the Italian cities aw ay from
their alliances with Rome, the city of Capua defected and was besieged from 212
to 211 bc. Livy (25.20.1–2) describes how the Romans secured their supply lines
for this siege to provide for two consular armies, by establishing a depot for the
collection of grain at Casilinum north of Capua and building a new fortification
at the mouth of the Volturno River, covering the routes from the west. In
the south, General Fabius Maximus fortified the port of Puteoli to ensure the
delivery of supplies for the armies in Campania.
When the Romans went abroad to fight, they fared less well. During the first
i nva s i on of Si c i ly, t h eir su pp ly lines were not fully opera ti on a l , and in Spain,
Gn aeus and Pu bl ius Scipio com p l a i n ed of the lack of su pp l i e s . S pecial disp
a tches of clothing and provi s i ons were hasti ly arra n ged by the Sen a te (Liv y
2 3 . 4 8 . 1 0 – 2 3 . 4 9 . 4 ) , but there was a scandal wh en the Romans ex peri m en ted
with the use of contractors, who failed to deliver what they had promised. The
problem of supplies in Spain had not changed much by the time Pompey the
Great arrived there, and he wrote in desperation to the Senate complaining that
he had used his own money to buy food and other supplies for his armies. It
should be noted that it is particularly difficult to maintain an invading army in
S p a i n . As King Hen ri IV of Fra n ce (1589–1610) poi n ted out , it is a co u n try
where small armies are defeated and large ones starve, so the Spanish experience
is perhaps not wh o lly repre s en t a tive of the probl ems of su pp lying Rom a n
armies campaigning abroad.
Using a variety of means, the Romans were able to obtain all their needs, including
food and water for the soldiers and animals, f u el for campf i res and
cooking, and all the materials that an army needs such as clothing, harness, and