The Daily Life of a Roman Soldier
- A boy who wanted to serve in the Roman army as a legionary, became a tiro, soldier in training, when he was about 17-18 years old.
- After he was trained as a legionary he was put in a centuria. When the legionary was trying to do the best he could do, and he had talent, he could become an optio.
- When the optio was good and had success, and a centurio died or resigned, the optio could be promoted to the rank of centurion.
- When the centurio was very good, and was respected he could even be promoted to primus pilus. A normal soldier couldn't reach any higher rank then that. It wasn't easy to make such a career, and it almost never succeeded.
- So the most soldiers became after their 22 years of serving a veteranus, veteran. He was about 45 years old then.
- A new recruit would have to train twice a day and march eighteen miles in full armour, three times a month.
- Each person had to be able to march twenty miles in five hours.
- The Roman commanders kept the troops busy in practising battle formations and techniques, building roads, and building forts.
- When the army would move into enemy territory, there were tasks to perform. They started the day before dawn packing up their tents and equipment.
- Their weapons weighed on average thirty pounds (fourteen kilograms) in total. Each group of eight soldiers was responsible to carry their own equipment, including tent, cooking utensils, and digging equipment that weighed a total of forty pounds (eighteen kilograms).
- They then formed into columns to march to their next location. During the day, cavalry scouts were sent out to check for ambushes. Scouts were also sent ahead to look for a good campsite.
- When the main troops arrived, they set a guard and the rest began digging a rampart.
- To develop a rampart, troops dug a ditch around the camp piled up the dirt into a small hill. They then placed sharpened stakes on the top of the hill forming a palisade of sorts around the camp.
- The camp was laid out in the exact same format as a fort, so all the men were able to make their way around without any confusion.
- The day was spent doing chores and training, amongst other duties.
- In the evening, a soldier could spend time gambling, going to the baths for a chat or visit the local taverna.