On

CHAP. which had rendered the legions of the republic I. almost invincible, could make but a very feeble impression on the mercenary servants of a despotic prince; and it became necessary to supply that defect by other motives, of a differ-. ent, but not less forcible nature; honour and religion. The peasant or mechanic, imbibed the useful prejudice that he was advanced to the more dignified profession, of arms, in which his rank and reputation would depend on his own valour; and that although the prowess of a private soldier must often escape the notice of fame, his own behaviour might sometimes confer glory or disgrace on the company, the legion, or even the army, to whose honours he was associated. his first entrance into the service, an oath was administered to him, with every circumstance of solemnity, He promised never to desert his standard, to submit his own will to the commands of his leaders, and to sacrifice his life for the safety of the emperor and the empire*. The attachment of the Roman troops to their standards was inspired by the united influence of religion and of honour. The golden eagle, which glittered in the front of the legion, was the object of their fondest devotion; nor was it esteemed less impious than it was ignominious, to abandon that sacred ensign in the hour of danger*. These motives, which derived their strength

*The oath of service and fidelity to the emperor was annually renewed by the troops on the first of January.

+ Tacitus calls the Roman eagles, Bellorum Deos. They were placed in a chapel in the camp, and with the other deities received the religious worship of the troops.

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strength from the imagination, were enforced by CHAP. fears and hopes of a more substantial kind. Regular pay, occasional donatives, and a stated recompense after the appointed time of service, alleviated the hardships of the military life*, whilst, on the other hand, it was impossible for cowardice or disobedience to escape the severest punishment. The centurions were authorised to chastise with blows, the generals had a right to punish with death; and it was an inflexible maxim of Roman discipline, that a good soldier should dread his officers far more than the enemy. From such laudable arts did the valour of the Imperial troops receive a degree of firmness and docility, unattainable by the impetuous and irregular passions of barbarians.

And yet so sensible were the Romans of the Exercises. imperfection of valour without skill and practice, that, in their language, the name of an army was borrowed from the word which signified exerciset. Military exercises were the important VOL. I.

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and

* See Gronovius de Pecunia vetere, 1. iii. p. 120, &c. The emperor Domitian raised the annual stipend of the legionaries to twelve pieces of gold, which, in his time, was equivalent to about ten of our guineas. This pay, somewhat higher than our own, had been, and was afterwards gradually increased, according to the progress of wealth and military government. After twenty years service, the veteran reecived three thousand denarii (about one hundred pounds sterling,) or a proportionable allowance of land. The pay and advantages of the guards were, in general, about double those of the legions..

+ Exercitus ab exercitando, Vairo de Lingua Latina, l. iv. Cicero in Tusculan, l. ii. 37. There is room for a very interesting work, which should lay open the connection between the languages and manners of nations.

CHAP. and unremitted object of their discipline. The

recruits and young soldiers were constantly trained both in the morning and in the evening, nor was age or knowledge allowed to excuse the veterans from the daily repetition of what they had completely learnt. Large sheds were erected in the winter quarters of the troops, that their useful labours might not receive any interruption from the most tempestuous weather; and it was carefully observed, that the arms destined to this imitation of war, should be of double the weight which was required in real action. It is not the purpose of this work to enter into any minute description of the Roman exercises. We shall only remark, that they comprehended whatever could add strength to the body, activity to the limbs, or grace to the motions. The soldiers were diligently instructed to march, to run, to leap, to swim, to carry heavy burdens, to handle every species of arms that was used either for offence or for defence, either in distant engagement, or in a closer onset; to form a variety of evolutions; and to move to the sound of flutes, in the Pyrrhic or martial dance +. In the midst of peace the Roman troops familiarised themselves with the practice of war; and it is prettily remarked by an ancient historian who had fought against them, that the effusion of blood

was

* Vegetius, 1. ii. and the rest of his first book. illustrated by M. le + The Pyrrhic dance is extremely well Beau, in the Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxxv. p. 262, &c. That learned Academician, in a series of Memoirs, has collected all the passages of the ancients that relate to the Roman legion.

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was the only circumstance which distinguished a CHAP. field of battle from a field of exercise

It was

the policy of the ablest generals, and even of the emperors themselves, to encourage these military studies by their presence and examples and we are informed that Hadrian, as well as Trajan, [frequently condescended to instruct the unexperienced soldiers, to reward the diligent, and sometimes to dispute with them the prize of superior strength or dexterity. Under the reigns of those princes, the science of tactics was cultivated with success; and as long as the empire retained any vigour, their military instructions were respected as the most perfect model of Roman discipline. Nine centuries of war had gradually intro- The legions duced into the service many alterations and improvements. The legions, as they are described by Polybius, in the time of the Punic wars, differed very materially from those which atchieved the victories of Cæsar, or defended the monarchy of Hadrian and the Antonines. The constitution of the Imperial legion may be described in a few words. The heavy-armed inC 21

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fantry

* Joseph. de Bell. Judaico, 1. iii, c. 5. We are indebted to this Jew for some very curious details of Roman discipline." ↑ Plin. Panegyr, c. 13. Life of Hadrian, in the Augustan History.

See an admirable digression on the Roman discipline, in the sixth book of his history.

A Vegetius de Re Militari, 1. ii. c. 4. &c. Considerable part of his very perplexed abridgment was taken from the regulations of Trajan and Hadrian; and the legion, as he describes it, cannot suit any other age of the Boman empire.

under the emperors.

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Arms.

CHAP. fantry, which composed its principal strength*, was divided intosten cohorts, and fifty-five companies, under the orders of a correspondent number of tribunes and centurions. The first cohort, which always claimed the post of honour and the custody of the eagle,was formed of eleven hundred and five soldiers, the most approved for valour and fidelity. The remaining nine cohorts consisted each of five hundred and fiftyfive ; and the whole body of legionary infantry W amounted to six thousand one hundred men. Their arms were uniform, and admirably adapted to the nature of their service: an open helmet, with a lofty crest; a breast-plate, or coat of mail.tw greaves on their legs, and an ample buckler on their left arm. The buckler was of an oblong and concave figure, four feet in length, and two and a half in breadth, framed of a light wood, covered with a bull's hide, and strongly guarded with plates of brass. Besides a lighter spear, the legionary soldier grasped in his right hand the formidable pilum, a ponderous javelin, whose utmost length was about six feet, and which was terminated by a massy triangular point of steel of eighteen inches. This instrument was indeed much inferior to our modern firearms;

*

Vegetius de Re Cæsar and Cicero, the Militari, 1. ii. c. 1. In the purer age of e word miles was almost confined to the infantry. Under the lower empire, and in the times of Chivalry, it was appropriated almost as exclusively to the men at arms, fought on horseback,

+ In the time of Polybius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1. v. c. 45.), the steel point of the pilum seems to have been much longer. In the time of Vegetius, it was reduced to a foot, or even mine inches. I have chosen a medium.