Roman Army

Roman ArmyThe Romans were a brilliant war nation. They adapted many strategies from other nations and used them to conquer other countries to get a great amount of land. Although they became a great war nation, they started small and feeble.

One of the first tactics used by the Romans was called the phalanx. It was adopted from the Greeks. It was a large group of people that made a so called "human bunker". They would have some shield bearers put their shields out in front of them and others above their heads. In-between the shields, spears were stuck out to act as a sort of barbed wire so the attackers could not get in. In the middle of the phalanx there was an opening for archers or javelin throwers to throw or shoot out of. This tactic was abandoned very early on in the Roman army because it was so slow moving.

The Romans (Doctor Who)

Sub-rectangular scuta. Note the curved, semi-cylin...

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It also was no good on hilly terrain because the opposing archers would just shoot at the middle of the phalanx and kill the Romans.

After the phalanx, the Romans moved to a new battle formation. In this formation there were three rows of men. The first line of soldiers were called the hastate. Behind them in the second row were the principes. The last row were called the triarii. The hastate line of soldiers wore body armor and held a square shield to protect them. They carried a sword and several javelins as their weapons. The principes and triarii had heavier body armor than the hastate. They would also carry a sword and a spear as weapons and they had a circular shield. When fighting, the hastate were the front line. When they would get tired, they would step back and the principes...