What is the name of a Roman military group?

Answer 1

There are various names for Roman military units depending upon their size. The smallest was the contubernium, then the century, the cohort, and the legion. Several legions were considered an army. Although the whole army were called "Legion"

Answer 2

The Roman army adapted their battle formations to the situation they were facing. In the open field, they would place their heavy infantry in the center with auxiliaries on each side. Calvary cohorts would either be further on the wings or on the rear flanks. There would always be a reserve of infantry behind the main force. They had another formation called the "pig's head" which was a v shaped wedge which would push into the enemy with their shields. Several cohorts in this formation could entrap the enemy in the sides of the v enabling either the v formation to turn and fight them or the reserves to come up and fight them. If they found themselves surrounded they would form a square with interlocking shields. During a siege they used a formation called the tortoise. The men in the front and sides interlocked their shields and the men in the back lines put their shields over their heads, thus forming a protective "turtle shell".This protected them from arrows, stones,l and all other types of nasty things being fired at them from the walls of the town. This formation was so strong it is said that in training a chariot could be driven over the top.

Answer 3

There were three different phases of Roman Militaryformations:

1. Phalanx Formation

2. Tortoise Formation

3. Maniple Formation

History on the Evolution Roman Military Formation

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The ancient Greek Phalanx was the original formation used by the Roman army and it made them a dominant force within the Mediterranean, but enemies eventually found the weaknesses of this formation. When Brennus and his Celtic army forced the Romans to rethink their formation by humiliating their defenses and easily overwhelming the city, the Roman's adopted a tighter pattern of the same formation. They called it the "Tortoise" formation and it worked well until they found themselves in the hilly regions of the heel of the Italian peninsula during the Samnite Wars. Their revamped formation was quickly exploited on the rough and uneven terrain. Here, they learned and developed the tactics of the Samnites; a 'maniple system', which utilized the legionnaires in a checker board fashion. Squares of around 120, or so, men formed the basic unit, a maniple. Skirmishers could then fall back through the gaps in the checker board formation. The first two rows of maniples would form a single line when confronting enemy heavy infantry. The Roman army was organized so that three of these battle lines could be formed to face the enemy like three-sided shield. The front two maniple rows, which was the first battle line, were made of inexperienced recruits called hastati, who would do the dirty work by absorbing charges by the enemy until they were too exhausted to fight on. They then could fall back through the gaps in the maniples behind them. The next two rows of maniples, called 'principes', would then defend the enemy in battle. These were the experienced warriors and they were expected to finish off their tired and battered opponents; it was more efficient t put fresh troops against opponents that were sore and already battered. However, if this line fails the final two rows of maniples, the Triarii, would then form the final line of defense. These would be the battle hardened veterans, and their deployment meant the situation had become desperate.

The Maniple Formation was highly effective and used for many years after.

Answer 4

The building block of the Roman army was the century. From the late monarchy to late in the early republic they were lined up in the formation of the Greek phalanx. After the defeat of the Caudine Fork by the Samnites in 320 BC, the Romans adopted the formation of the Samnite maniples. The reform of the army by Gaius Marius in 107 BC introduced the cohort. In the actual fighting, the Romans used a variety of battle formations and these depended upon the enemy, the terrain and if they were laying siege to a city.

The basic formation for open field fighting was as follows: the heavy infantry would be in the center three ranks deep, with the auxiliaries on both the right and left sides. The cavalry was either waiting in the rear or placed on the wings (either one or both) beyond the auxiliaries. Another formation was called the Pig's Head, which was a wedge-shaped formation wherein the infantry would push into the enemy with a wall of shields. This formation was often used to trap the enemy in the "pockets" of the vee that the side by side units would establish. In situation where they were surrounded, the Roman units would form a square formation with interlocking shields, and in siege situations, they used the famous tortoise formation, which was achieved by the men on the sides and in front interlocking their shields while the men in the back lines placed their shields over their heads making the protective "shell".

Answer 5

The army corps of the Romans was the legion. It was made up of 10 cohorts. Cohorts 2 to 10 were made up of 6 centuries and cohort 1 was made up of 12 centuries. The centruries were subdivided into contubernia (singular contubernium) of 6 men who shared a tent.