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

Chapter 5
The Roman Army at War
Doctrine and Stra tegy
From their earliest begi n n i n gs to the late Empire , the Romans con s i s ten t ly
adopted a warlike disposition. This attitude was inbred into the majority of the
senatorial class of the Republic, who regarded war as part of life, the primary
means of achieving lasting fame and glory for Rome and for their descendants.
The absolute stubbornness of the Romans ensured that even though they were
sometimes thoroughly beaten in a battle or a series of battles, in the end they
won thro u gh sheer staying power. Th eir adva n t a ges in the Rep u blic inclu ded
t h eir or ga n i z a ti on and ad m i n i s tra ti on , t h eir discipline, and not least the fact
that their manpower was potentially unlimited, at least in the short term, since
they could call upon their own citizens and their allies in Italy. The wars of the
early Republic could be described, with a little imagination, as mostly defensive,
but once the theater of war extended into other territories and Rome discovered
the Med i terranean worl d , t h en wars of a ggre s s i on , s om etimes but not alw ays
l e ading to con quest and annex a ti on , also en tered into the Roman et h i c . Af ter
the early years of the second century ad, expansion via annexation was rare, but
the emperors were no less aggressive than the Republican Senate. The wars with
Parthia were most often begun by Rome, as preemptive strikes or reactions to
perceived threats, but these expeditions did not result in a steady eastward progression
of Roman dominion. Elsewhere, wars were more often reactions to internal
rebellions or to attacks or incursions by Rome’s neighbors.
Each war fought by the Romans was portrayed as a justified action, or bellum
justum. Whether it was a defensive action, a punitive expedition, a war of
conquest, or a war of pure aggression, the politicians of the Republic, and later
the Imperial equivalent of modern “spin doctors” cleverly placed all the blame
on the enemy, whatever the circumstances. An example of the tortuous political
prelude to wars is provided by Octavian’s elimination of Mark Antony. It was
Antony who was the rival who stood in Octavian’s way, but since Antony was a
Roman and there had been enough civil wars to last for several lifetimes, Octa-
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