The main weapon of the Roman ship was the marines. If the Greeks and the Hellenistic states used mostly ramming as their main tactic, then the Romans, back in the First Punic War, relied on a decisive boarding battle. Roman manipularii(marines) had excellent fighting qualities. The Carthaginians, relying on the speed and maneuverability of their ships, had more skilled sailors, but could not match the Romans with similar soldiers. First, they lost the naval battle of Mila, and a few years later, Roman quinqueremes, equipped with boarding "ravens", crushed the Carthaginian fleet at the Aegates Islands.

Since the time of the First Punic War, the assault ladder - "raven" (lat. corvus) becomes almost an integral attribute of Roman ships of the first class. The "Voron" was an assault ladder of a special design, ten meters long and about 1.8 wide. He was named "Raven" because of the characteristic beak-shaped form of a large iron hook () located on the lower surface of the assault ladder. Either by ramming an enemy ship, or simply breaking its oars in a glancing blow, the Roman ship abruptly lowered the "raven", which pierced the deck with its steel hook and stuck firmly in it. The Roman marines drew their swords... And after that, as Roman authors usually put it, "everything was decided by the personal prowess and zeal of the soldiers who wanted to distinguish themselves in battle in front of their superiors."

Despite the skepticism of individual researchers, which contradicts not only common sense, but also the primary sources, the fact that throwing machines were used on the ships of the Roman fleet can hardly be doubted.

Despite all the described technical and artillery refinements , ram(lat. rostrum) was a much more reliable and powerful ship weapon than ballistas and scorpions.

Rams were made of iron or bronze and were usually used in pairs. A large battering ram (the rostrum proper) in the form of a high flat trident was under water and was designed to destroy the underwater part of the enemy ship. Rostrum weighed very, very decently. For example, a bronze battering ram from a Greek bireme found by Israeli archaeologists was tightened by 400 kg. It is easy to imagine how much the rostrums of Roman quinquerems weighed.

Small ram ( proembolone) was above water and had the shape of a lamb, pig, crocodile head. This second, small, ram served as a buffer that prevented a) the destruction of the stem of the ship in a collision with the side of an enemy ship; b) too deep penetration of the rostrum into the hull of an enemy ship.

The latter could have unfortunate consequences for the attacker. The ram could get stuck in the enemy corps and the attacker completely lost maneuverability. If the enemy ship was on fire, it was possible to burn with him for the company. If the enemy ship sank, then it was possible, at best, to be left without a ram, and at worst, to drown with it.

A very exotic weapon was the so-called "dolphin". It was a large oblong stone or lead ingot, which before the battle was raised to the top of the mast or to a special shot(that is, on a long rotary beam with a block and a winch). When the enemy ship was in close proximity, the mast (shot) was filled up so that it was above the adversary, and the cable holding the "dolphin" was cut off. A heavy blank fell down, breaking the deck, rowers' benches and / or the bottom of an enemy ship.

It is believed, however, that the "dolphin" was effective only against deckless ships, since only in this case could it break through the bottom and drown an enemy ship. In other words, the "dolphin" could be used against pirate feluccas or liburns, but not against a first-class ship. For this reason, the "dolphin" was more of an attribute of an unarmed merchant ship than a Roman trireme or quadrireme, already armed to the teeth.

Finally, various incendiary means were used on Roman ships, which included the so-called. "braziers" and siphons.

"Braziers" were ordinary buckets, into which flammable liquid was poured immediately before the battle and set on fire. Then the "brazier" was hung on the end of a long hook or shot. Thus, the "brazier" was moved five to seven meters ahead along the course of the ship, which made it possible to empty a bucket of flammable liquid onto the deck of an enemy ship even before the proembolon and / or ram came into contact not only with the side, but even with the oars adversary.

It was with the help of "braziers" that the Romans broke through the formation of the Syrian fleet at the Battle of Panorma (190 BC).

Tactics

The tactics of the Roman fleet were simple and highly effective. Starting a rapprochement with the enemy fleet, the Romans bombarded it with a hail of incendiary arrows and other projectiles from throwing machines. Then, approaching closely, they sank the enemy ships with ramming strikes or fell into boarding. The tactical art consisted in energetically maneuvering to attack one enemy ship with two or three of our own and thereby create an overwhelming numerical superiority in a boarding battle. When the enemy fired back intensely from their projectile engines, the Roman marines formed up turtle

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Abstract on the topic:

Turtle (order of battle)

Plan:

Introduction

• 1 Description
• 2 Combat use and tactical significance
• 3 In fine arts
• 4 In fiction
Notes

• 6 Gallery

Introduction

"Turtle"(lat. testudo) - the battle order of the Roman infantry, designed to protect against projectiles during field battles and sieges. In the army of the Byzantine Empire, a similar battle formation was called "Fulcon".

1. Description

At the command "Testudinem format!" the warriors formed a rectangle with minimal spacing between rows. The first rank closed the shields, holding them straight in front of them, and the subsequent ranks - above their heads (balancing on helmets), and the edges of the shields found each other. If necessary, the extreme warriors in each rank turned their shields outward (for protection from the flanks), and in the last rank they retreated (for protection from the rear). Thus, a solid wall of shields was obtained. Dio Cassius reports that the "tortoise" was so strong that even horses and wagons could drive over it.

In accordance with the reconstruction of P. Connolly (English) Russian , a "turtle" of 27 warriors would look like this: six people standing in the front row take cover behind the shields of the four standing in the middle, and the two extreme ones turn the shields outward. In the second, third and fourth rows, each consisting of seven people, the outermost two turn the shields outward, and the five standing in the middle hold the shields above their heads. According to Connolly, the "turtle" could consist of any number of warriors, as long as there was one less person in the front row than in the rest.

Plutarch describes the use of the "tortoise" in the Parthian campaign of Mark Antony in 36 BC. e. :

"Turtle". Historical reconstruction.

"When the Romans descended from some steep height, the Parthians hit them and shot with arrows, while they slowly descended, but then the shield-bearers moved forward, took the lightly armed under their protection, and themselves knelt down and put up their shields. Those who were in the second row they covered them with their shields from above, and the soldiers in the next rows did the same.This construction, similar to a tiled roof, somewhat resembles a theatrical spectacle, but serves as a reliable protection against arrows that slide off the surface of the shields. knee, the Parthians considered this a sign of fatigue and exhaustion, put down their bows, took up their spears and drove up almost close, but then the Romans, uttering a battle cry, suddenly jumped to their feet and, acting with a throwing spear like a pike, laid the front ones in place, and turned everyone else on the run."

2. Combat use and tactical significance

"Turtle" was used to protect against all types of projectiles, except for projectiles from heavy projectiles. Its main disadvantages were that, due to the density of formation, hand-to-hand combat was extremely difficult, and that, due to the need to keep the formation, it was necessary to sacrifice speed of movement. The shortcomings of the "turtle" in the confrontation simultaneously with heavy cavalry and horse archers are shown by Dion Cassius in the description of the battle of Carrah:

"... (2) If they [the Romans] decided to close their shields in order to avoid the arrows fired by the Parthians with the density of their formation, then the spearmen who attacked them killed some of them with their onslaught, and some completely dispersed; if they separated the formation, so that this 3 At that time many died, mad with fear at the mere arrival of the spearmen, and many were slaughtered by the cavalry, being in a stalemate, and others were struck down by the blows of the spears, or they were carried off, pierced.(4 ) And projectiles, at the same time falling on them often and everywhere, killed many with a mortal blow, and made many incompetent. armor and depriving the warriors of this protection, forced them to expose themselves before new wounds, (5) so that while a person defended himself from arrows or removed those already pierced in him, he received more wounds one after another. it was difficult for them to move, but it was difficult for them to remain still; because they had no security in either case, but both brought death, one - because they could not do it, the other - because in this case it was easier to hurt them.

During sieges, to fight the "turtle", the opponents of the Romans threw heavy objects from the walls (stones, logs), poured boiling oil over the "turtle" to force the legionnaires to break the line, and also sought to make bridges along which the Roman soldiers climbed the wall (shaft) , slippery (for example, during the siege of Jotapata, the Jews threw bridges with boiled Greek opal).

3. In the fine arts

Trajan's Column
Column of Marcus Aurelius

4. In fiction

R. Sutcliff. Eagle of the Ninth Legion.

Notes

1. Dio Cassius. Roman history. XLIX, 30.
2. 1 2 Connolly P. Greece and Rome. Encyclopedia of military history. M.: Publishing House of EKSMO-Press, 2000. S. 298.
3. Plutarch. Comparative biographies. Anthony, 45.
4. Dio Cassius. Roman history. XL, 22.

6. Gallery

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This abstract is based on an article from the Russian Wikipedia. Synchronization completed on 07/19/11 22:38:52
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Description

At the command "Testudinem format!" the warriors formed a rectangle with minimal spacing between rows. The first rank closed the shields, holding them straight in front of them, and the subsequent ranks - above their heads (balancing on helmets), and the edges of the shields found each other. If necessary, the extreme warriors in each rank turned their shields outward (for protection from the flanks), and in the last rank they retreated (for protection from the rear). Thus, a solid wall of shields was obtained. Dio Cassius reports that the "tortoise" was so strong that even horses and wagons could drive over it.
In accordance with the reconstruction of P. Connolly, a “tortoise” of 27 warriors would look like this: six people standing in the front row take cover behind the shields of the four standing in the middle, and the two extreme ones turn the shields outward. In the second, third and fourth rows, each consisting of seven people, the outermost two turn the shields outward, and the five standing in the middle hold the shields above their heads. According to Connolly, the "turtle" could consist of any number of warriors, as long as there was one less person in the front row than in the rest.

Combat use in field battles

"Turtle" was used to protect against all types of projectiles, except for projectiles from heavy projectiles. Plutarch describes the use of the "tortoise" in the Parthian campaign of Mark Antony in 36 BC. e. :

When the Romans descended from some steep height, the Parthians struck at them and shot with arrows, while they slowly descended, but then the shield-bearers moved forward, took the lightly armed under their protection, and themselves knelt down and put up their shields. Those in the second row covered them with their shields from above, and the soldiers in the next rows did the same. This building, similar to a tiled roof, is somewhat reminiscent of a theatrical spectacle, but serves as a reliable protection against arrows that slide off the surface of the shields. Seeing that the enemy was kneeling, the Parthians considered this a sign of fatigue and exhaustion, put down their bows, took up their spears and drove up almost close, but then the Romans, uttering a battle cry, suddenly jumped to their feet and, acting with a throwing spear like a pike, put the front ones in place and everyone else was put to flight.

The main disadvantages of the “turtle” were that, due to the density of the formation, hand-to-hand combat was extremely difficult, and because of the need to keep the formation, it was necessary to sacrifice the speed of movement. The weaknesses of the “tortoise” in the confrontation with heavy cavalry and horse archers are shown by Dion Cassius in the description of the battle of Carrah:

... (2) If they [the Romans] decided to close their shields in order to avoid the arrows fired by the Parthians with the density of their formation, then the spearmen who attacked them, with their onslaught, killed some of them, and completely dispersed some; if they separated the system in order to avoid this, then they were hit with arrows. 3 At this time many died, maddened with fear at the mere arrival of the spearmen, and many were slaughtered by the cavalry, finding themselves in a stalemate; and others were struck down by the blows of the spears, or they were carried away, pierced. 4 And the projectiles, at the same time falling on them frequently and everywhere, slew many with a mortal blow, and many were rendered incapacitated. But they did not give rest to everyone: after all, they pierced their eyes, hit their hands and other parts of the body, and, piercing the armor and depriving the soldiers of this protection, forced them to be naked before new wounds, (5) so that while a person defended himself from arrows or extracted already pierced into him, he received one after another more wounds. Therefore, it was difficult for them to move, but it was also difficult for them to remain still; for they had no security in either case, but both brought ruin, one because they could not do it, the other because in this case it was easier to hurt them.

Combat use during sieges

The description of the combat use of the "tortoise" during the siege of Jerusalem (70 AD) was left by Flavius ​​Josephus:

The Jews defended themselves from the height of the galleries and repeatedly repelled attacks on the walls, but were still forced to retreat before hot shooting. Then the Romans arranged the so-called turtle, which consisted in the fact that the advanced soldiers firmly rested their shields on the walls, those following them rested their shields on the previous ones, etc. The arrows that fell on this canopy glided over the surface without any action: the soldiers could now quite calmly dig the wall and have already made preparations to set fire to the temple gates.

To fight the “turtle”, the opponents of the Romans threw heavy objects (stones, logs) from the walls, poured boiling oil on the “turtle” to force the legionnaires to break the line, and also tried to make the bridges along which the Roman soldiers climbed the wall (shaft) slippery (for example, during the siege of Jotapata, the Jews threw bridges with boiled Greek opal).

In fine arts

In fiction

see also

Notes

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

The Roman army was strengthened in the process of fighting the Numidians, and then with the "barbarians", who, starting from 113 BC. e., began to periodically invade the boundaries of the Roman Republic. These were the tribes of the Cimbri and Teutons, who carried the Gauls with them. The remnants of the tribal system, preserved among these tribes, provided them with cohesion and mutual assistance in battle. The Cimbri and Teutons went to war with families, wagons and lambing.

In 105 BC. e. in the battle near Arauzione (lower Rhone) two Roman armies were destroyed. But the Cimbri and Teutons did not go to Italy, but moved to Spain, and the Romans got a few years of respite. During this time, the reorganization of the Roman army was completed, which significantly strengthened it.

In 102 BC. e. "barbarians" again attacked Italy. Marius decided to block their way. in the area of ​​the lower reaches of the river Isera (a tributary of the Rhone), where a fortified camp was built. Attacking the Roman fortified camp, the Teutons could not take it and moved around. For six days, the Teutonic hordes marched past the camp, in full view of the Roman soldiers. When the Teutons passed, the legions under the command of Marius rushed after them and defeated them under Aquai Sextii. The next year, 101 B.C. e., at Vercelli (in Upper Italy), the Romans defeated the Cimbri. 150 thousand prisoners fell into the hands of the Roman army, all of them were turned into slaves. The first wave of the so-called migration of peoples was rebuffed. The Roman legions were still combat-ready.

Shortly thereafter, Gaius Julius Caesar (44-100 BC) began to become widely known in Rome. He came from an old patrician family of Julius and received a good education. Caesar in his youth was a supporter of Marius and tried in every possible way to emphasize his democratic convictions. In order to gain great popularity among the Roman citizens, Caesar in 65 BC. e. widely pursued a demagogic policy, for which he spent all his fortune. Under Caesar, the Roman republican army reached its greatest strength. Caesar organized the legions he had recruited on new foundations. The size of the legion ranged from 3,000 to 4,500 people. Each legion included "artillery": 55 carabalists who threw heavy arrows, 10 onagers and catapults for throwing heavy stones. Siege technology has received especially great development. The convoy of the legion (500 mules) grew up, which carried camp supplies and utensils.

Foot support troops began to play a large role, including archers from the island of Crete and slingers from the Balearic Islands. The cavalry of Roman citizens was replaced by mercenaries-Germans, Spaniards, Numidians. Each legion had 200-300 horsemen. In addition, in the army of Caesar there were 4-5 thousand horsemen of friendly pebble tribes.

The battle order of the legion consisted of three lines: in the first line, 4 cohorts, in the second and third, 3 cohorts each. The second line was actually a line of support, the third line constituted the general reserve, which was used for a decisive maneuver against the front or flank of the enemy or to repulse his blow. To lengthen the front, the legion was built in two lines and very rarely - without intervals in one line. The legion's order of battle was now more stable. The reserve was organized in an organized way in the construction of the legion. "Turtle", which was previously used only during the assault on fortresses, became a defense against sudden cavalry attacks.

The skillful organization of the marching movement of troops contributed to their successful actions. They usually left the camp at dawn, but sometimes at night. Particular attention was paid to the field security service. The vanguard stood out cavalry and lightly armed infantry. The avant-garde advanced forward detachments, from which individual scouts were sent. Up to one third of all regular infantry, mainly from young legionnaires, was assigned to the rearguard. Legions were the main forces. Each legion was followed by a convoy. The usual transition was 25 km, the accelerated march was over 30 km, the forced march reached 45 km.

In the situation of a possible attack by the enemy, the march was carried out in battle order. Legionnaires took off their traveling luggage and made weapons for battle. The convoy in this case was placed in the middle of the march order of the detachment.

The headquarters of the commander appeared, which became a school for the training of private military leaders. The staff consisted of legates and tribunes. Legates - assistants to the commander, appointed by the Senate and commanding large detachments of troops or separate parts of the marching order. There were 6 military tribunes in the legion; they carried out the orders of the commander and legates, commanded small detachments and participated in the military council. Young volunteers who acted as adjutants were seconded to the headquarters. There was also a personal guard of the commander.

Probably, in those days, there was nowhere such a powerful army as the Roman one. But centuries later, some scholarly historians put forward a version of why the collapse occurred?
The fallacy of their theory was that they represented the Roman legion as some kind of heavy and clumsy machine. In fact, the new archaeological evidence is giving a better idea of ​​what the legion actually looked like.

Intelligence service.

Velites ( velites) - light infantry. Her task, until the era of Gaius Marius's reform, included reconnaissance and finishing off the enemy. Since the velites did not have heavy weapons, except for a round shield and darts, they were perfectly suited for the role of scouts.
As a rule, their formations included citizens of the Republic living in high mountainous regions, where obtaining food by hunting was a very problematic business. Therefore, the velites skillfully possessed the qualities of disguise, were hardy and physically strong.

The reconnaissance of the Roman legion consisted of vanguard groups, most of which were light infantry, with horses attached to them. They always carried out reconnaissance at a small distance from the legion. They set up ambushes to make it difficult for the enemy to approach.
Thanks to such groups, the Roman generals could correctly position their troops for the offensive.

Heavy infantry and special cavalry.

When conquering Dacia, the Romans faced an interesting problem. Namely, water barriers. Which made it difficult for infantrymen and heavy cavalry to maneuver.
At first, the Dacians skillfully used this advantage, taking advantage of natural water barriers. However, their success was not long, namely exactly as long as it took the Roman captain Quintus Atius to approach with his special cavalry.
Atius was not a recognized commander, but he was very well versed in engineering. That is why it was he who created a special cavalry. It looked like this.
A team of two horses was created, two logs were attached to the sides of the horses on each side, the horses can swim, and the logs kept them afloat. Moreover, two light infantrymen were located on the logs on each side, the horses walked without riders, the infantrymen controlled the horses. (Imagine in those days, they created a kind of BTR-3 amphibian). Upon reaching the shore, the foot soldiers cut the logs and mounted on horseback, turning into light cavalry, which was so out of place for the Dacians. The light cavalry was poorly protected from arrows, but outperformed the heavy one in speed, and using the light cavalry to destroy the Dacian battle formation, the commander had time to transfer the main forces and establish a crossing.

Heavy infantry.

The legendary heavy infantry of the Roman legionaries were surprisingly highly mobile. Constant military training made a single organism out of the phalanxes of the infantry. Phalanxes could change formation depending on the threat from the enemy. Many constructions are known, for example, the "tortoise" construction. On "\u003e this example, you can see how, approximately, this happened. It is worth noting that when dispersing rallies and demonstrations, modern law enforcement agencies use just such tactics.

Another advantage of the infantry was the ability to regroup right on the battlefield. For this, veterans armed with a long shield and long spears were used. They were called triarii. The triarii lined up in a double rank throughout the entire battlefield behind the main troops, the first rank knelt down, being shoulder to shoulder, they rested the opposite end of the Greek spear on the ground, the second rank put shields in the likeness of a turtle and put their spears on the shoulders of the first rank. Thus, the triarii could hold back the onslaught of foreign troops for a long time, and thanks to the long spears, the onslaught of foreign cavalry, giving time to regroup their forces.

Clip about what happened on the battlefields of the Roman army.

Later, if you are interested, I will tell you in more detail about the Roman cavalry, the Praetorian guard and Roman spies.