Military Terms

The person I interviewed was Mr. Ireton:

1. What is a legion in modern military terms?
A legion is a battalion, and can be broken down into a squad which would be like a Roman ducuriae. The legion in Roman times was basically a small army which included men, cavalry, and artillery whereas now they are divided into different branches of service. A Roman legion included 5,000 men whereas a battalion includes 500-1500 men.

2. What is artillery in modern day military terms?
It is usually self propelled machines such as mortars, anti-aircraft batteries, howitzers, and rocket artillery. The Romans would have had scorpions, archers, and catapults available to them.

3. What is modern day infantry called and like?
They are called foot soldiers or ground-pounders. They are armed with a gun, wear camouflage, wear Kevlar armor, boots, and other gear such as a helmet, water and other stuff such as water and camp out gear. The Roman infantry were called Auxiliaries and wore a breast plate, greaves, a gladius, sandals, maybe some chain mail, a helmet, a shield, and some Hasta.

4. What is cavalry in modern day military terms?
They would be things such as tanks (the M1 Abrams), Bradley support vehicles, Humvees, and other support vehicles. In the Roman military they would have numbered about 300 per legion, and would have actually been men on horseback. They would have also been like the shock troops and would have been able to brake up a unit of the enemy.

5. What are formations in modern day military terms?
There are many formations for marching in parade form but there are also squad forms such as diamond formation or other assault or defensive formations. In Roman times some formations were manipuli (double companies, centuriae (which were made up of two centuries and fought in the quincunx-fashion), cohortes (which were batallions of three maniples), and the tortoise shell which provided cover from missile attack.

6. What are officers in the modern day military like?
They are the ones who gave out the orders and stay mostly in the back so they they do not have a chance of being killed. They give their orders down to the sergeants and sometimes captains to carry out the orders. The Roman Imperator was one of the main officers in the Roman legion and and his general staff. They would usually hang behind the main army during combat, but on the rare occasion would join in the combat usually to fight for their life. There were smaller commanders as well called Centurions that were in charge of 80 men. The Legate was in charge of a legion.

7. What is the modern day chain of command?
I goes as follows from lowest to highest: squad(9-10), platoon(16-44), company(62-190), battalion(300-1,000), brigade(3,000-5,000), division(10,000-15,000), corps(20,000-45,000), army(50,000+). The Roman chain of command goes as follows from lowest to highest: Contubernium(8), centuria(made up of 10 contubernium, 80 men commanded by a centurion), cohort (six centuriae, 480 men), legio(consisted of 10 cohorts, 5,000 men), Eques Legiones(120 cavalry).

8. What is the modern day special force unit for your branch?
The Green Berets are sent ahead before major operations and are also sent instead of the army in a conflict that can be solved by a small force. They are made up of 4500 men and deal with reconnaissance and direct action. The Roman special forces would have included engineers which repaired armor, build bridges, repair weapons, etc. The evocati were volunteers who would do extra tasks and would be ranked above the rest of the legionaries and would ride on horseback during marches.

Chapter 5

Note: This was the one that was having posting problems. Had to create new post.
After his death the Helvetii did nevertheless what they had decidedon, to go away from their territories. When they thought they were prepared for this engagement, they set fire to all their towns, the number was twelve, four hundred villages, and the homes that remaine. They burnt up the corn, except what they carried with them. After that destroying the hope of returning home, they were more ready for passage of all dangers. They ordered every one to carry away from home provisions for three months for himself. They persuaded their neighbors the Rauraci, and the Tulingi, and the Latobrigi, to go on the plan. After burning down their towns and villages, to set out with them. And they bring together themselves as confederates the Boii, who had lived across the Rhine River, and crossed over into assaulting Norican territory.

1. erat 3rd person sing imperfect indicative active of "esse"meaning "to be"
2. Persuadent- 3rd person plural Indicative pluperfect of "pursua" meaning "to persuade"
3. essent: 3rd person singular indicative pluperfect of "esse" meaning "to be"
4. exeant: 3rd person plural present subjunctive active of "exio" meaning "to go out"
5. facio: 2nd person singular present indicativeactive of "facere" meaning "to make"

1. The Helvetian War- In 58 B.C. the Helvetii got up out of their province and attempted to cross all 360,000 of themselves across the heart of Gaul and into Spain.
2. ut...exeant- in application with id means to go forth
3. ea res- towns, fortified or capable of defense
4. uti- the older form of ut which is common throughout Caesar's writings
5. ad- cf.1.8 above

Esse Injunctions

Present Indicative
sum
es
est
sumus
estis
sunt
Future Indicative
erim
eris
erit
erimus
eritus
erunt
Imperfect Indicative
eram
eras
erat
eramus
eritis
erint
Perfect Indicative
fui
fuisti
fuit
fuimis
fuistis
fuerunt
Pluperfect Indicative

Future Perfect Indicative
fuero
fueris
etc.

Gladiator Choice

If i were to choose what gladiator I wanted to be, it would be a Retarius. This is because they were the fastest gladiators on the field, and had to have great agility and endurance. Because I am pretty fast and have some agility, this would probably would be the best choice for me. I would be armed with a trident, net, shoulder guard, and greaves. I would have to be quick enough to dodge the blows and then catch the enemy with my net to bring him down and then kill him with my trident.

Gladiator Movie