session 3: roman soldiers and army life
The impact of a legion coming into a newly 'acquired' territory must have been amazing. I doubt any society in the pre-Roman world north of the Alps would have ever seen that many people all together in one place, serving one purpose, let alone all wearing similar clothes, armour and weapons.
There are any number of works from Roman writers to 21st century websites that enumerate and analyse the numbers, fort architecture, kit styles and fighting tactics of the Roman armies.
But here's a sideways thought: all that cloth for tunics. All that leather for boots, shields and scabbards. All that food. Supplying goods and services to these regiments must have been beyond lucrative. So apart from hurt pride, invasion by the Romans may not have been altogether unwelcome.
There are any number of works from Roman writers to 21st century websites that enumerate and analyse the numbers, fort architecture, kit styles and fighting tactics of the Roman armies.
But here's a sideways thought: all that cloth for tunics. All that leather for boots, shields and scabbards. All that food. Supplying goods and services to these regiments must have been beyond lucrative. So apart from hurt pride, invasion by the Romans may not have been altogether unwelcome.
|
Among the things we talked about was the notion of what evidence of all of this survives for the archaeologist - the concept of 'taphonomy' ie how things decay.
When you consider the vast numbers of Roman soldiers that existed, and multiply that by items of kit, strictly speaking we should be standing on a thick layer of Roman military detritus! Many class mebers talked of even recent times when recycling wasn't a trend but a necessity, and we have to logically conclude that most Roman kit got recycled one way or the other. I expect even old sweaty tunics would be cut up and made into either mop-rags or felt cloth. We owe a big debt to the dedicated bands of modern-day re-enactors who have provided many practical insights into how Roman military kit was worn in reality. |