How does the army change during the time of Augustus and where does the Roman empire expand to?

Answer 1

Augustus reorganised the Roman legions and regularised them. During the civil wars the leaders of the warring factions had levied and paid their own legions. Augustus reduced the number of legions from 60 to 28 and discharged many soldiers to bring down the size of the army to manageable levels. He settled the discharged soldiers in colonies (settlements) where that were given a plot of land to farm. The size of the Roman was 150,000 men.

Augustus completed the creation of a standing army. This process had begun with the Marian Reforms of the army of 107 BC where soldiers were given a career of 16 years and on discharge, the grant of a sizeable sum of money (nummaria missio) or a plot of land to farm (agraria missio). However, recruitment was carried out by individual military commanders and occurred as and when needed. With Augustus, recruitment was carried out centrally by the emperor's government and soldiers staid in the army all year, not just during the military campaigning season (March to October). Thus the Roman army became a fully standing army. Augustus also increased the length of military service to 20 years and set a 5 year period for reservists, the evocati (singular evocatus) soldiers who enlisted voluntarily after discharge at the invitation of their military commanders.

Augustus reintroduced the auxiliaries, non-Roman soldiers who fought in units which supported the Roman legions which were made up of Roman citizens. Previously these soldiers hag came from Italian peoples who were Roman allies. Since the Italians had been given Roman citizenships, Augustus' auxiliaries were non-Romans form the other parts of the empire. He set the length of their career at 25 years. Their pay was lower. On discharge they were granted the nummaria mission or the agraria mission. In addition, they were also entitled to apply for Roman citizenship. Augustus set the same structure and training as the Roman legions for the auxiliary troops. The number of auxiliaries was the same as that of the legionaries.

Augustus created a separate military treasury (the ell'aerarium militaris) which was financed by taxes on sales and the inheritance tax. Therefore, the soldiers were paid by the imperial government instead of, as previously, by military commanders. This ensured loyalty to the emperor.

Augustus stationed the bulk of the legions in the frontier provinces of the empire because they needed to be defended. He reached a settlement with the senate where the senate retained control of the older provinces of the empire (as it had before) and their legions but he was given control of the border ones and their legions. Since the bulk of the legions were in the frontier provinces, this effectively gave Augustus control over the army

Augustus' rule was one of the most expansionist ones in Roman history. He completed the conquest of Spain, by defeating the Cantabrians of north-western Spain. He expanded the borders of Libya and Tunisia inland. He annexed Mauretania Tingitana(the eastern part of the coast of Algerian and part of the northern coast of Morocco). He annexed two client states: Galatia (in central Turkey) and Judaea. He annexed Moesia (an area along the Danube which included southern Serbia, northern Macedonia, Bulgaria and the part of Romania south of the Danube) after the Scythians attacked a Roman ally there. In 16 BC Noricum (Bavaria, Slovenia and most of Austria) was annexed following an attack into north-eastern Italy by the Pannonians which Noricum joined. In 15 BC he had Rhaetia (central and eastern Switzerland) conquered by his generals. He wanted to secure it to strengthen the defence of Italy form possible attacks form the north. In 6 AD Augustus annexed Pannonia (eastern Austria, western Hungary, and northern Croatia and Serbia) after its people joined the next door Desitiates in the Great Illyrian Revolt which was suppressed by Augustus' generals. In 13 BC his general Drusus pushed deep into centralGermanyfollowing attacks into northern Gaul from there. However, in 9 AD thee Roman legions were routed and Augustus decided to abandon this area and withdraw the frontier of the empire back to the river Rhine.

Answer 2

During the time of Augustus, the Roman army underwent significant reforms. Augustus professionalized and expanded the army, increasing the number of legions, establishing a standing army, and providing better training and equipment to soldiers. As for the expansion of the Roman Empire, under Augustus, it expanded into various regions, including parts of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Some notable territories conquered during this time include Egypt, Spain, Gaul, and parts of Germany.