What field formations were there in ancient Rome?

Junior soldiers: lack of training, forming light infantry. Equipped with ordinary javelin and darts.

Young soldier: Have certain combat experience and form the first platoon of the Legion. Equipped with two heavy javelins, a wide-edged dagger and a round shield.

Mature soldiers: aged around 30, they are the core of the army and form the second line of the legion. Equipped with two heavy javelins, a wide-edged dagger and a round shield.

Adult soldiers: the oldest and most experienced. It usually constitutes the reserve of the army. Form the third platoon of the legion. Armed with a 12-foot spear.

weaponry

Short sword: a close weapon. It is about two feet long and two inches wide. The tip of the sword is sharp and suitable for stabbing and chopping. The handle is made of wood, bone, ivory or metal.

Square shield: rectangular convex body, about four feet high and two feet wide. Wooden, covered with animal skins, reinforced with metal strips.

Javelin: A long-range weapon. The maximum projection distance is about 60 feet. A 4.5-foot-long metal rod with an iron gun tip. A long wooden pole with a rear end of 4.5 feet is wrapped with a rope. Pulling this rope at the moment of projection can make the javelin rotate forward and pierce the shield or armor. The front and rear ends are usually fixed with two pins. The biggest feature of javelin is that it is sharp and thin, so that after killing the enemy, the spear head will bend and deform to prevent the enemy from picking it up and throwing it back.

The establishment of the Roman legion

Two teams of 100 people form a basic tactical unit-the team. The team of 100 people actually has 60-80 people. A team usually has 120- 160 people. If it is an adult team, it only includes teams with 100 people.

Three teams make up a brigade, and a brigade has about 450-570 people. Including about 120- 160 young soldiers, 120- 160 young soldiers, 120- 160 mature soldiers, 60-80 adult soldiers and a team of 30 people.

Ten brigades form a Roman legion, generally consisting of 4500-6000 people. At the same time, a Roman legion is equipped with a subsidiary legion, also known as the joint legion. The organizational system of the two is similar, except that the cavalry of the regiment is 600.

Two Roman legions and two affiliated legions were isomorphic to form a group army under the command of a consul.

Roman queue

The basic unit of the world-famous Roman queue is the squad, and each squad constitutes a team. It is a common misunderstanding to confuse it with the Greek phalanx.

There are 20 people in each row and 6 people in each row. The distance between them is 1.8-2m. The lines in this row are about 30 meters apart. The ranks are staggered.

The whole queue usually consists of three lines.

The first line of young soldiers.

The second line of mature soldiers.

The third row of adults.

Legion tactics

Three-queue method is adopted. The first line, composed of young soldiers, goes first. When it is 20 yards away from the enemy, it throws javelin. At the same time, the legion began to evacuate. Often after throwing the javelin, after the evacuation is completed, the soldiers of the first horizontal team begin to charge, and the first two soldiers fight with the enemy with short swords. Soldiers in rows 6-7 behind threw javelins. A few minutes later, the second platoon composed of mature soldiers was replaced, and the first platoon retreated to rest. The light infantry, composed of young soldiers, is responsible for covering the two wings and the back of the regiment, and at the same time, it is necessary to retrieve the usable javelin and supplement it to the first row of withdrawal. A battle usually includes several rotations. Adult soldiers are the reserves of the legion.

In 70 BC, crassus, the Roman consul and governor of Syrian provinces, decided to organize a huge army to attack and rest in the Middle East today and continue to expand the territory of the Roman Empire. He set out in 60 BC with a team of 70,000 people.

In this battle, the Roman legion was defeated.

Crassus himself was beheaded.

In the battle, a soldier with more than 1 1,000 people successfully broke through. "At that time, they had nowhere to retreat and could only move on. Although I don't know what I will encounter in front, I will still encounter a rest light cavalry when I retreat. " Song, a researcher at Dongchang County Records, said.

They stopped along the Hexi Corridor. Finally, these Roman troops came to Gansu Province in China. There, they established their own fortifications and a heavy wood defense system with Roman national characteristics, and formally settled down.

Settle down, but what should I do? They can neither farm nor roam. No one attacks them now, and it is not a long-term solution to stand on the vast Gobi with a dagger and a spear all day and pray for someone to practice their hands. Become a professional mercenary.

Soldiers who left their hometown finally found their place and value. They returned to their old jobs and continued to exist as mercenaries.

"At that time, where was the battle? /kloc-more than 0/000 people formed their own team and participated in the fighting in the surrounding areas in their own formation. " Song said to him:

They found that the Xiongnu loved to fight, so they made themselves a member of the Xiongnu at a low price. Unexpectedly, their luck is still not very good. The first battle was met by a heavy cavalry unit led by Chen Tang, a military strategist of China at that time.

"The Roman army fought in a strange way." Song said: "They held a huge shield with a height of one person, 1000 people formed a phalanx, and wrapped the team tightly with the shield. Then shout slogans and March forward in unison. If the enemy is far away, throw out the spear in your hand, and make a deterrent first, regardless of whether it hurts people or not. When the enemy approaches, he will stab the spear at the enemy. If he comes near again, he will throw away all the spears and shields, pull out the short knife and fight hand to hand. "