Roman Soldier
A. Joining the Army - Qualifications if any
- Pay or benefits received - Initial
training no boot camp in those days -
Soldiers oath (page 6 Legionary book) B.
Life at the Fort -
Accommodations - Food - Showers bathrooms -Free time - No
weekends off but
had all religious holidays off - Religion - Temple of Mithras,
he was most of
the soldiers god, You had to pass 7 tests of skill to become of
full Mithras
brotherhood C. Duties - Sentry duty - Cooking / Cleaning - Working
(pg. 16
Legionary book) - Built roads\bridges - Made tiles for public buildings
-
Built aqueducts - Drained marshes to build new forts on - Quarry, stones
for
buildings etc. - Polished iron armor and weaponry - Sweeping - Only a
select few
got out of bad jobs and they were clerks, cobblers, smiths D. The
Centurion -
Was the boss of all the soldiers who worked - Dress was much
more elaborate -
Carried a vine wood stick - was a badge of honor also
used as a whip for
disobedient soldiers - Professional\Officers -Were harsh
taskmasters -
Punishments - petty such as being late would be to make the
soldier look like a
fool and make them stand outside w/o weapons or armor to
show he is not worthy
to be a soldier - serious crime such as sleeping on
guard or deserting resulted
in flogging, rank lowered. At the time of war the
penalty was death - If a unit
disgraced itself in battle it might be
"decimated" - 1 in 10 selected
to be clubbed or stoned to death by the rest
of the army - Decimation was
stopped after Emperor Trajan ruled E. Family
Life - Forbidden to marry - That
was not strictly enforced - Was not unusual
to keep wife and children in nearby
homes F. Pay - Pay was low - Deductions
were taken out for worn out gear,
bedding food, boots, clothes etc. - Often
got a bonus in pay to celebrate an
important event (annual) I wanted to join
the Roman Army ever since I was a
young boy playing in the fields of my home
in (NAME A TOWN OR CITY RELATED TO
ROME HERE). My father was a legionaire
in the Roman Army for 25 years. It was my
goal in life to follow in his
footsteps. The hard part of being a Legionaire in
the Roman Army was not
becoming a soldier. To become a soldier you jsut had to
be somewhat
physically fit and be at least 5 feet 8 inches tall. The pay for
being a
legionaire was also not all that attractive to me. I got
paid
250(DOLLARS, PESOS, FRANCS???) per month. There were many deductions
taken out
of that 250 that I did not like. Roughly 10 for my bedding, 80 for
food and 60
for clothes. So after all those deductions I was not left with
all that much.
The signifer kept track of all my money and savings I had.
When I first became a
legionary there was no inital training or boot camp to
become an official
soldier. I just showed up and was given my equipment and
instructed on where to
go and what to do. I was given a few questions to make
sure I was a genuine
citizen before I could take the Soldiers Oath. After the
oath I was given 4
motnhs bonus pay which was very nice and then instructed
on which century I was
to report to. A century is an 80 man company. Six
centuries made a cohort and
ten cohorts made up a legion. Living inside the
fort was not all that bad. I was
fed very well and my living quarters were
quite fitting to me. The food I ate
varied quite often. It all depended on
what the men in teh auxillary killed
while hunting. Most often it was buffalo
which I have liked since I was a child.
We all showered in a big open
area made of concrete. We showered about once per
week on average. The
bathrooms were a large room with two long rows of benches
on each side. It
was a punishment if you were assigned to clean the bathroom.
One of the
things I did not like about living at the fort was that I got very
little
free time to myself. I worked from sunrise to sunset each day with
no
weekends to myself. Although I did get all of the religious holidays which
was
very enjoyable. I prayed at the Temple of Mithras. Mithras was most of
the
soldiers god. To become a full Mithras brother I had to pass 7 various
tests of
skill. There were many jobs that had to be done around the fort on a
daily
basis. On any given day I could be building new roads or bridges which
was very
labor intensive. Making tile for all of the new various buildings
that were
constantly being built. Building aqueducts for the new areas under
renovation.
As land filled up with forts we would have to drain marshes
to build new forts
on. I would end up in the quarry busting up stone quite
often which was one of
the worst jobs. A very boring job which involved just
sitting down was the
constant polishing of armor and weaponry. If it was a
slow day and I thought
there was nothing else to be done I would always end
up sweeping out the
buildings just to keep busy. Only a select few people
were ever able to get out
of all that labor. Those were the people who were
the clerks, cobblers or
smiths. I would do anything to have one of there
jobs. Although they do not get
treated with as much respect by all of the
other soldiers because they are
thought to have it easy. About once a month I
would get sentry duty. Sentry duty
was guarding the building which was the
shrine of the standards. In order to
maintain discipline throughout all of us
soldiers there was a centurion. I never
liked any centurion who was assingned
to my cohort. Many of the centurions
seemed to be on a power trip. The
centurions dress was much more elaborate than
the regular soldiers. He had
shiny armor all decorated with various medals. The
centurion carried a
vinewood stick. His stick was not only a badge of honor to
distinguish him
from other soldiers but it was also used for disobedient
soldiers. The
centurions were harsh taskmasters. They gave out the worst
punishments. If
the soldier did a small petty fault such as having dirty armor
or being late
on parade then the centurion would make him look like a fool. I
arrived one
time with dirty armor and teh centurion made me stand outside the
fort with
no armor or weapons and tell all who passed by me that I was not
worthy of
being a Roman soldier. The centurions took pride in making people
look
foolish. For a more serious crime such as sleeping while on guard or not
showing
up for guard duty at all would result in being beaten, flogged or
being lowered
in rank. If a soldier was caught sleeping at a time of war the
penalty was
death. If a whole group of soldiers were disobedient they would
often be put on
a ration of food, just enough to survive. My centurion was
not happy with my
centuries work so he made all 80 of us sleep outside the
fort walls. We had to
make our own shelters for the nite and leave extra men
on guard. That was a
night that will not be soon forgotten. If a unit had
disgraced itself in battle
the worst of all punishments that I hated to see
was decimstion. Decimation was
when one out of every ten of the disgraceful
soldiers soldiers were selected to
be clubbed or stoned to death by the rest
of the army. A Roman Soldier was
forbidden to marry. Although that rule was
not strictly enforced. It was not
unusual for a soldier to keep a wife and
children in nearby homes outside
the
fort.