How did the Romans take there empire?

Answer 1

The creation of the Roman Empire was the result of military success. This empire did not grow out of a grand design of conquest and expansion. It mainly grew out of a chain of separate events and situations, such as wars with neighbours, wars waged against Rome or her allies, wars against piracy, being drawn into the squabbles of other peoples, kingdoms being bequeathed to her, and concerns about the instability of areas bordering the empire or the defence of its borders. It grew mainly out of winning separate wars which Rome won, leading to expansion. There were very few deliberate conquests. This process took nearly 300 years and there were gaps of decades between these events. The Romans had not predicted that they would create an empire and did not predict extent of its expansion. The factors which led to this expansion were complex. Rome did not expand just through annexation. Quite often she was happy to have autonomous kingdoms which were her client states.

Rome's military success was due to a number of factors:

1) A large pool of military manpower. When Rome expanded into the mountains of central and southern Italy as a result of the Second and Third Samnite Wars (326-304 BC and 298-290 BC) she turned the peoples who lived in these areas into allies. They had to supply soldiers who fought in auxiliary troops which supported the Roman legions at their own expenses in exchange for protection and a share of the spoils of war. The allies provided 60% of the pool of military manpower available to Rome. This was the largest pool of military manpower in the Mediterranean.

2) The capability to deploy several legions on several fronts at the same time. This capability was developed during the Early Republic when Rome was frequently attacked from its north (by the Sabines and Etruscan cities) and its south (by the Aequi and the Volsci). It was further refined in the Second and Third Samnite Wars, when Rome, again, fought on two fronts at the same time, this time on larger scale. During the second Punic War, the Romans fought on two fronts, in Italy and Spain, and a war in Greece.

3) The willingness to adapt. Originally the Roman army adopted the phalanx military formation of the Greeks. When they were defeated on the mountains of the Samnites they adopted the manipular formation of the Samnite enemies because it was more flexible and better suited for mountain warfare. The Romans also adopted the Spanish sword and the Gallic design for helmets. When they needed a fleet capable to match the mighty Carthaginian fleet in the First Punic War, they adopted the ship design of the Carthaginians.

4) Sheer determination. The Romans pursued victory in war to the bitter end and by any means. One example was the very expensive building of a 180 mile long stone-paved road (the Appian Way), the first ever in history to facilitate the movement of troops and military supplies to the front during the second Samnite War. Another example was during the First Punic War. Both the Carthaginian and Roman fleet became depleted and the coffers of both states were empty. What made the difference was that the Roman rich paid for an additional fleet from their own pockets. This fleet went on to win the final battle of the war.

5) Good military training. The training of Roman soldiers was already very good when the army was a citizen militia, before it became a professional army. When it became a professional army soldiers were trained drilled regularly and the army became even more highly structured and well organised.