All roads may lead to Rome, but once you get there, good luck taking the subway. The sprawling metropolis is expanding its mass transit system — a sluggish process made even slower as workers keep running into buried ancient ruins.
Roman marbles are on display in the San Giovanni metro station, part of Line C of Rome's subway, in 2017. Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images
"I found some gold rings. I found glasswork laminated in gold depicting a Roman god, some amphoras," says Gilberto Pagani, a bulldozer operator at the Amba Aradam metro stop, currently under construction not far from the Colosseum.
Ancient Roman plates are on display in the San Giovanni underground station of Rome's C line. Archaeological remains were brought to the surface during the new line's excavation.
Andrew Medichini/AP
Pagani is part of an archaeological team at the site, a certified archaeological construction worker trained to excavate, preserve and build in cities like Rome, with thousands of years of civilization buried beneath the surface.
The presence of ancient artifacts underground is a daunting challenge for urban developers. For archaeologists, it's the opportunity of a lifetime.
"I think it's the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me, professionally speaking," says Simona Morretta, the state archaeologist in charge of the Amba Aradam site. "Because you never get the chance in a regular excavation to dig so deep. That's how we've found architectural complexes as important as this."
At roughly 40 feet below the surface, her team, which began work in 2013 at this stop, has uncovered a dwelling that once belonged to the commander of an adjacent military barracks. It dates back to the reign of the emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century A.D.
"It's a proper house, with a central courtyard," says Morretta. "The other exciting discovery is that so much of the decoration was found intact. So, ornamental mosaics, floors made of marble slab in various colors, and painted frescoes."
As two archaeologists dust mosaic flooring with tiny, precision brushes, idling industrial machinery belches diesel exhaust just a few feet away. Construction workers routinely have to shut the machinery down when a discovery is made.
The new route, the C line, was supposed to be ready in time for the Roman Catholic Church's Year of Jubilee — back in 2000. But city planners and officials can't blame all the delays on the ancients. There are ongoing investigations into waste and runaway spending by modern-day contractors and governments.
The city inaugurated its newest metro station, San Giovanni, in May. It is an important link that, for the first time, connects the C line to the city's two other subway lines.
This photo, made available by the Italian Culture Ministry, shows a frescoed wall segment, part of the charred ruins of a 3rd century building unearthed during construction work for Rome's Metro C line.
AP
The C line is also the most technologically advanced, the only one in Rome to be fully automated, with no conductors. As a train whooshes into the station, commuter Luigi Bonatesta jumps aboard. He says the wait for the station to open was frustrating.
"Whoa! Because no one declare[d] why the open[ing] day was delayed," he says. "No one declare[d] what happened."
One reason for the holdup was a surprise addition: inside the San Giovanni station, the walls are lined with artifacts discovered during the subway's construction, including stone bathtubs, marble busts, and even ancient peach pits from a Roman fruit vendor, all visible for the $1.75 cost of a metro ticket.
The next stop on the line will be Amba Aradam, the site of the ancient Roman military barracks, where archaeologists are still digging. Morretta says commuters there will be in for an even bigger treat.
"All that we've found here — the mosaics, everything — will be taken down, put inside special containers, then reassembled inside the metro stop," she says. "It will be a little museum, with all the barracks in the exact same position."
She hopes that will make it more enjoyable for people to wait for a train. But first, commuters will have to wait for the stop to be finished, with excavating still underway and an expected opening at least four years off.
For a city that wasn't built in a day, its subway system certainly won't be, either.
The ancient catacombs of St. Domitilla sprawl for more than 10 miles (17 kilometers) in a labyrinth of tunnels beneath Rome and contain numerous tombs, many belonging to the city's elite.
Now, using a technique called laser cleaning, in which lasers are used to remove centuries of grime, researchers have uncovered elaborate frescoes in two sections of the catacombs: the burial chamber used by a grain purchaser (sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as a baker) and the "introductio," which shows a "a personal presentation of the dead to Christ," said Barbara Mazzei, an archaeologist with the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, the organization that unveiled the newly visible frescoes at the end of May.
The chambers were first discovered about 400 years ago by an explorer named Antonio Bosio.
"Only the wealthiest families could afford a burial chamber," Mazzei told Live Science in an email. The catacombs date back about 1,600 years and are considered to be among the oldest Christian cemeteries.
When the lasers had been used to chip away the soot along with the rest of the particles that had built up throughout the years, a 1,600-year-old fresco was revealed and it showed a grain purchaser in great details. Researchers had previously known about the individual and said that he had been called the Baker.
The grain purchaser had been buried in the chamber and he was dressed in a tunic that was said to be richly decorated and found behind a big modius, a container used for measuring and the distribution of grain. Walls close to the image of the grain purchaser show the details of Annona`s activities, an office which is said to deal with the purchase and the distribution of the grains supply for Rome.
The grain purchaser was said to be someone of high rank along with relevance in the office of Annona. It was said that the grain purchaser seemed to be extremely proud of the work he was doing and the social level that he had gained. Also revealed in the catacombs was a bucolic scene featuring a shepherd and another one with Christ sat on the throne and seated between two groups of apostles. Other scenes had been drawn from the old and the New Testament.
Close to the fresco of the grain purchaser in a different section of the catacombs in Rome, the cleaning showed details of a fresco that showed Christ sitting on a throne with his right arm being raised, with two individuals that were deceased along with their patron saints. It is thought that they are the Princes belonging to Paul and Peter, waiting to be let into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mazzei had said that the subject is very rare in regards to the repertoire of the catacomb paintings. Mazzei went on to say that there are more frescoes needing to be cleaned in the region close to the tomb of the grain purchaser along with other regions in the ancient catacombs which are underneath Rome.
The ancient Roman Forum is a huge complex of ruined temples, basilicas, and arches. It was the ceremonial, legal, social, and business center of ancient Rome (The food stalls and brothels were removed in the second century BC). To get a good view, walk up the Capitoline Hill behind the museums. Give yourself at least 1-2 hours to wander around, then continue up to the Palatine Hill, also included in the ticket.
The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum; Italian: Foro Romano) is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.
It was for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches; and the nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archaeological excavations attracting 4.5 million sightseers yearly.
Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum. The Roman Kingdom's earliest shrines and temples were located on the southeastern edge. These included the ancient former royal residence, the Regia (8th century BC), and the Temple of Vesta (7th century BC), as well as the surrounding complex of the Vestal Virgins, all of which were rebuilt after the rise of imperial Rome.
Other archaic shrines to the northwest, such as the Umbilicus Urbis and the Vulcanal (Shrine of Vulcan), developed into the Republic's formal Comitium (assembly area). This is where the Senate—as well as Republican government itself—began. The Senate House, government offices, tribunals, temples, memorials and statues gradually cluttered the area.
Variations to the original model include shadows, adjusted for good lighting as well as the file being adjusted for color and contrast.
Over time the archaic Comitium was replaced by the larger adjacent Forum and the focus of judicial activity moved to the new Basilica Aemilia (179 BC). Some 130 years later, Julius Caesar built the Basilica Julia, along with the new Curia Julia, refocusing both the judicial offices and the Senate itself. This new Forum, in what proved to be its final form, then served as a revitalized city square where the people of Rome could gather for commercial, political, judicial and religious pursuits in ever greater numbers.
Eventually much economic and judicial business would transfer away from the Forum Romanum to the larger and more extravagant structures (Trajan's Forum and the Basilica Ulpia) to the north. The reign of Constantine the Great saw the construction of the last major expansion of the Forum complex—the Basilica of Maxentius (312 AD). This returned the political center to the Forum until the fall of the Western Roman Empire almost two centuries later..
Unlike the later imperial fora in Rome—which were self-consciously modelled on the ancient Greek plateia (πλατεῖα) public plaza or town square—the Roman Forum developed gradually, organically, and piecemeal over many centuries. This is the case despite attempts, with some success, to impose some order there, by Sulla, Julius Caesar, Augustus and others. By the Imperial period, the large public buildings that crowded around the central square had reduced the open area to a rectangle of about 130 by 50 metres.
Its long dimension was oriented northwest to southeast and extended from the foot of the Capitoline Hill to that of the Velian Hill. The Forum's basilicas during the Imperial period—the Basilica Aemilia on the north and the Basilica Julia on the south—defined its long sides and its final form. The Forum proper included this square, the buildings facing it and, sometimes, an additional area (the Forum Adjectum) extending southeast as far as the Arch of Titus.
Originally, the site of the Forum had been a marshy lake where waters from the surrounding hills drained. This was drained by the Tarquins with the Cloaca Maxima. Because of its location, sediments from both the flooding of the Tiber and the erosion of the surrounding hills have been raising the level of the Forum floor for centuries. Excavated sequences of remains of paving show that sediment eroded from the surrounding hills was already raising the level in early Republican times.
As the ground around buildings rose, residents simply paved over the debris that was too much to remove. Its final travertine paving, still visible, dates from the reign of Augustus. Excavations in the 19th century revealed one layer on top of another. The deepest level excavated was 3.60 metres above sea level. Archaeological finds show human activity at that level with the discovery of carbonised wood.
An important function of the Forum, during both Republican and Imperial times, was to serve as the culminating venue for the celebratory military processions known as Triumphs. Victorious generals entered the city by the western Triumphal Gate (Porta Triumphalis) and circumnavigated the Palatine Hill before proceeding from the Velian Hill down the Via Sacra and into the Forum.
From here they would mount the Capitoline Rise (Clivus Capitolinus) up to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the summit of the Capitol. Lavish public banquets ensued back down on the Forum. (In addition to the Via Sacra, the Forum was accessed by a number of storied roads and streets, including the Vicus Jugarius, Vicus Tuscus, Argiletum, and Via Nova.)
Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia. After its foundation by Greek colonists under the name of Poseidonia (Ancient Greek: Ποσειδωνία) it was eventually conquered by the Lucanians and later the Romans. The Lucanians renamed it to Paistos and the Romans gave the city its current name. The ruins of Paestum are notable for their three ancient Greek temples which are in a very good state of preservation. Today the remains of the city are found in the modern frazione of the same name, which is part of the comune of Capaccio in the Province of Salerno, Campania, Italy.
Italiano
Fondata dai greci intorno al 600 a.E.V., si chiamava inizialmente
Poseidonia, da Poseidone, o Nettuno, dio del mare, al quale la città era
stata dedicata. Tra il 400 e il 273 avanti fu occupata dalla
popolazione italica dei lucani. Nel 273 divenne colonia romana col nome
di Paestum. Ma è indubbio che la fondazione della città fosse preceduta
dall'impianto di una fattoria commerciale sulla sponda sinistra e presso
la foce del fiume Silaros e che le condizioni malariche del terreno
indussero poi i primitivi coloni a spostare il centro abitato verso
oriente, su un banco calcareo leggermente rialzato sulla pianura e sul
litorale, lungo il corso di un'altro fiume minore (fiume Salso o
Capofiume). Dall'impianto primitivo sul Silaros sviluppò il porto
marittimo e fluviale della città e presso di esso sorse il Tempio di Era
Argiva, che diventò presto uno dei più grandi e venerati santuari
dell'Italia antica: circa 50 stadi separavano la città dallo Heraion e
dal suo emporio sul fiume.La fine dell’Impero Romano coincise grosso
modo con la fine della città. Verso il 500 E.V., infatti, in seguito ad
un’epidemia di malaria, aggravata dall’insalubrità del territorio, gli
abitanti gradualmente abbandonarono la città. La riscoperta di Paestum
risale al 1762, quando fu costruita la strada moderna che l’attraversa
tuttora.
ORIGINI DI PAESTUM E PRINCIPALI VICENDE STORICHE
Le colonie greche nel Mediterraneo più importanti furono quelle
fondate in Asia Minore e nella Magna Grecia, termine che indica
l’insieme delle città fondate dai greci in Italia meridionale e in
Sicilia, una delle quali era appunto Paestum. Madrepatria di Paestum era
Sibari, fondata nel 720 a.E.V. da achei e trezeni, i quali furono
perciò detti sibariti. Questi ultimi erano famosi per la ricchezza, il
lusso e la superbia. Lo storico Diodoro Siculo, del I sec. a.E.V.,
scrisse che ‘i sibariti erano schiavi del ventre e amanti del lusso’.
Stradone, geografo greco vissuto tra il 60 e il 20 avanti, racconta che i
sibariti avevano creato un insediamento fortificato nei pressi della
foce del fiume Sele, estendendo la loro influenza sui territori
limitrofi. Siamo a cavallo tra il VII e il VI sec. a.E.V.La fondazione
della città si dovette al bisogno che Sibariti ebbero di aprirsi una via
commerciale fra lo Ionio e il Tirreno attraverso la dorsale dell'Appennino, evitando il di circumnavigazione della costa calabra e lo
stretto di Messina.La colonia, situata in un punto strategico, al centro
dell’incrocio delle vie commerciali tra il bacino ionico e le regioni
italiche, fu chiamata Poseidonia in onore di Poseidone, dio del mare. Fu
nel 510 a.E.V., in seguito alla distruzione di Sibari per opera dei
crotonesi, quando molti sibariti fuggirono a Poseidonia con le loro
ricchezze, la loro esperienza e il loro spirito di intraprendenza, che
la città raggiunse un alto livello di potenza economica e politica. A
questo periodo risale la costruzione dei tre templi noti col nome di
Basilica, tempio di Poseidone e tempio di Cerere, coevi a quell’unico
affresco greco finora scoperto, nella tomba del Tuffatore. Nel V secolo
avanti i lucani, popolo italico, cominciarono ad infiltrarsi nella
colonia, lasciando numerose testimonianze della propria influenza in
tombe affrescate secondo il modello dei maestri greci. Sul finire del IV
secolo, alleatisi con i bruzi, sostennero una lunga lotta contro i
greci per il dominio dei nuovi territori verso il mare, che si concluse
con la riaffermazione della loro supremazia sulla città. Nel 273 a.E.V. i
romani occuparono Poseidonia che così divenne la fedele Paestum romana,
che si dimostrò vicina a Roma anche nei momenti più drammatici della
sua storia. Durante il periodo romano, nel III secolo, le attività
economiche e culturali fiorirono nuovamente: sorsero nuovi edifici
pubblici, come l’anfiteatro, il foro e il ginnasio, che contribuirono a
donare alla città quell’aspetto che gli scavi hanno riportato alla
luce.Tra i fattori che portarono al declino di Paestum, la realizzazione
di nuove strade per il commercio in Oriente, che finirono per isolare
irrimediabilmente la città dalle principali vie commerciali, e
l’epidemia di malaria del IX secolo, unita alle scorrerie dei pirati
saraceni, che costrinsero i pestani a rifugiarsi sui monti, e ad
abbandonare l’antica Poseidonia.
History
According to Strabo the city was
founded as Poseidonia by Greek Achaeans from Sybaris. The colonists had
built fortifications close to the sea, but then decided to found the
city further inland at a higher elevation.The fortifications might have
been built to the south of Poseidonia on the promontory where Agropoli
is now. According to the historical tradition the sanctuary to Poseidon
was located there, after which the city would have been named. The date
of Poseidonia's founding is not given by ancient sources, but the
archaeological evidence gives a date of approximately 600 BC
Archaeological
evidence from Paestum's first centuries indicates the building of
roads, temples and other features of a growing city. Coinage,
architecture and molded votive figurines all attest to close relations
maintained with Metaponto in the sixth and fifth centuries.[citation
needed]
It
is assumed that Poseidonia harbored refugees from its mother city
Sybaris when that city was conquered by Croton in 510 BC. In the early
fifth century, Poseidonia's coins adopted the Achaean weight standard
and the bull seen on Sybarite coins. A. J. Graham thinks it was
plausible that the number of refugees was large enough for some kind of
synoecism to have occurred between the Poseidonians and the Sybarites,
possibly in the form of a sympolity.
Poseidonia
might have had a major share in a new foundation of Sybaris which
lasted from 452/1 BC until 446/5 BC. This is suggested by the great
resemblance of the coins of Sybaris to those of Poseidonia in this
period. Possibly a treaty of friendship between Sybaris, its allies and
the Serdaioi (an unknown people) dates to this new foundation, because
Poseidonia was the guarantor of this treaty.
Description
The town of Poseidonia - later called Paestum - was built by Greek colonists from Sybaris, an earlier Greek city in southern Italy, in around 600BC. It grew and prospered and now has among the most extensive remains of Magna Graecia (Magna Grecia in Italian).
In 410BC the town was conquered by the Lucanians, a native Italian
people, then in 273BC the Romans took over, changed the name to Paestum
and began their own building programme. As the Roman Empire collapsed,
Paestum crumbled. Malaria and Saracen raids led to the near-abandonment
of the town and the development of Capaccio, a safer hillside
settlement.
Paestum itself was pretty much forgotten. An information board outside
the old church gives a poignant image of the locale as an abandoned
wilderness frequented by brigands. Things changed with the
eighteenth-century rediscovery of the temples by road-builders coupled
with a revival of interest in antiquities and the visits of Grand
Tourists and indefatigable travellers like Shelley and Goethe. The
classical name Paestum was revived (though Capaccio is still the local
authority).
Nowadays most of the vanished city of Poseidonia-Paestum is hidden under
agricultural land. The ancient city walls, constructed with massive
stone blocks, encircle a large area of countryside, much of it
unexcavated. Right in the middle is the archaeological zone open to the
public, and a few later buildings housing small tourist businesses..
Site Monuments
The oldest and most important sanctuary of the entire region was the Heraion established about 570 B.C. It was not before the 20th century that its fragmentary ruins were discovered 9 km north of Paestum in the proximity of the Sele delta.
There are some hints which attribute its earliest establishment to Jason and the Argonauts.
Second temple of Hera, also called Poseidon temple
Only a few years later (about 550 B.C.), the oldest of the three temples of Paestum was built, which was also dedicated to the Greek goddess of fertility Hera (the sister and wife of Zeus). Due to an early mistake it is known today as the "Basilica".
First temple of Hera, c. 550 BC
The smallest of the three temples, called the Ceres temple , was dedicated to the goddess Athene and was built about 500 B.C.
Temple of Athena
The Poseidon temple, (or Neptune temple) is from about 450 B.C. (about the same time the Parthenon in Athens was built). This temple is probably the best preserved Doric temple in the world.
The Neptune temple and Basilica are standing directly next to each other thus offering a quite impressive panorama.
The small Ekklesiasterion (legislation, election of the judge) was preserved from the Greek period of Paestum because the Romans left it under a mound. The Romans established nearby a larger building (comitium) for similar purposes and proceedings.
The small amphitheatre, which is only half excavated, is like nearly all the other buildings (respectively their foundation relics) of Roman origin (1st century B.C.).
Further excavations around the temples during the last decades uncovered the outlines of the old city inside the town walls. The Roman forum , is situated on the southern part of the more expanded Greek agora.
For some buildingfoundations, there are still different interpretations for their original function. The current interpretation becomes difficult because the use of the buildings often mutated with the changes from Greek to Lucanian and finally to Roman inhabitants. This may be illustrated by the following examples: The roof, which can be seen in the following photo, belongs to an underground sanctuary (sacellum , hypogaeum), which is enclosed by an additional wall. From its form, it can be either a grave or a heroon (an empty grave), as it was customary at that time - e.g. in honour of the founder of the city. In fact, this building is from the 6th century B.C.
In another complex, which is interpreted as a gymnasium with swimming pool, some archaeologists assume that the strange stone construction in the pool was a podium for the swimming matches. Others assume that the original gynnasium was transformed after the 3rd century B.C. to a sanctuary of the goddess Fortuna Virilis, at which the stone construction served solemn fertility rites.
The town wall with its 4 gates is 4750 m long. It was built by the Greeks and later fortified by Lucanians and Romans.
Many Lucanian graves were found close to the city (the necropolies always lay outside the walls). These graves formed "small houses". Walls and roofs used to be decorated with skilful frescos.
The symposium on the north wall.
The most famous of these graves is the grave of the "Tuffatore" (diver), which still comes from the Greek (about 480 B.C.). The scene represented on the roof slab symbolizes an almost harmonious transition from life to death. These and further finds, also of the older Heraion, at the Sele delta, are shown in the national museum at the excavation grounds.
The excavations and restoration measures still continue today.
Nomos of Poseidonia, c. 530–500 BC. Poseidon is seen wielding a trident with a chlamys draped over his arms.
An archaeologist perches on scaffolding in the triclinium. Some of the room’s walls are preserved to their full height of nearly 18 feet, while others were toppled, likely by the force of the eruption of Vesuvius almost 40 miles away.
Once we reach the spot, you won’t believe your eyes,” says archaeologist Luciana Jacobelli of the University of Molise as she opens a small door to the crypt of the church of Santa Maria Assunta in the center of town. It’s very dim inside, and she has to use a flashlight as we make our way. We slowly climb down a series of ladders through a forest of iron scaffolding toward what seems to be the only well-lit area, nearly 30 feet under the church. Jacobelli then leads me into a room and, as promised, frescoes in dazzling green, yellow, red, and blue seem to illuminate the space on their own. We have arrived at the extraordinarily well-preserved remains of a lavish villa marittima, or seaside villa, once a luxurious retreat for the rich of ancient Rome to escape the summer heat and the hustle and bustle of city life in the first centuries B.C. and A.D.
Swiss architect and engineer Karl Weber, the first scholar to supervise excavations of the areas destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, appears to have seen the villa on April 16, 1758, during his explorations. In his field report he writes that he had begun to dig near the “church with bell tower, not far from the beach that is at the base of Mount Santa Maria a Castelli and Mount Sant’Angelo; at a depth of 30 spans we found a famous ancient building whose first mosaic is made of white and fine marble.”
Cupids riding sea monsters and dolphins, rendered in stucco, pull an elegant green drape on the frescoed wall of a newly re-excavated Roman villa in Positano. The use of figural stucco is rare in domestic contexts, appearing more commonly in public spaces such as baths.
It was only during restoration work on the crypt in 2003 that archaeologists had a chance to enter the villa’s stunning triclinium, or dining room, for the first time. But after only three years of digging, they were forced to stop when funding ran out, and it wasn’t until the summer of 2015 that excavations resumed. For the rest of the year, before funding for the project ran out again, Jacobelli led a rescue excavation under the supervision of the local archaeological superintendent, Adele Campanelli, and archaeological supervisor Maria Antonietta Iannelli. A team of archaeologists and conservators worked to remove mud and lapilli (small stones ejected by a volcanic eruption) and to expose and clean the stunning wall paintings emerging from the debris.
A fragment of the Positano villa’s vibrant fresco wall painting
Thanks to an ancient system of artificial terraces cut into the hillside on which Positano sits, the villa may have sprawled across more than 2.25 acres. Some scholars think that it might even have been as large as the town of Positano. Mantha Zarmakoupi of the University of Birmingham, an expert on the ancient Roman luxury villas of the Bay of Naples, disagrees. “I can imagine that the villa was perched on a terraced platform with ramps leading to other terraces below, and may have stretched over two or more levels in the hillside, as houses do today, but I don’t think that it would have occupied the entire village,” she says.What isn’t in doubt, however, is the excellence of the frescoes covering the villa’s walls. “The quality of the wall paintings is very high, and the triclinium’s decorative program seems unique,” says Zarmakoupi. “The combination of frescoes with stucco is rare and remarkable. The rendering of details in stucco, for example in the figures both holding and decorating the drapery, accentuates the feeling that the cloth is actually pliable.”
The villa’s owner commissioned the finest artists to create expertly painted images of fantastical architecture.
In addition to the magnificent paintings, in a hole opened in the layer of volcanic debris under the triclinium’s northern wall, archaeologists unearthed a pile of oxidized jars, cups, and dishes that formed a set of silver intended for a symposium—just the type of conversational gathering that would have taken place between the villa’s owner and his important guests.
In addition to painted walls, archaeologists have also found fragments of painted plaster that once decorated the triclinium’s moldings.
Local administrators hope to open the property to the public and are planning a transparent footbridge over the site. This will allow visitors to get a small taste of the luxe life as it was almost 2,000 years ago.
History is witness to the triumph of the ancient Roman army, as evidenced from the Roman empire in its apical scope – which held sway over a major chunk of the known world, ranging from Spain to Syria (and Iraq), and from North African coasts and Egypt to most of Britain. And while this ancient military was known for its sheer discipline and incredible organizational depth (check out this superb video), the true strength of the Romans intrinsically pertained to their ability to adapt. This ambit of adaptability was demonstrated through logistics during the Second Punic War, where the Romans ultimately emerged victorious, in spite of (possibly) losing one-tenth of their male population in a single battle (at Cannae). And complementing their unflinching capacity to bounce back from disastrous situations, was the evolution of Roman battle tactics over the centuries. To that end, most of the Roman tactical developments were actually ‘instigated’ by their foes, and as such many of the successes of the ancient Roman military system can be attributed to their inherent capacity to simply ‘react’.
This fascinating graphical video concocted by YouTuber Historia Civilis aptly showcases the ‘reactionary’ evolution of Roman battle tactics. And while the content treads a simplistic (though nifty) overview, we can get the core idea behind the Roman military system and how its adaptability set it apart from most of the ‘stagnant’ armies of the ancient world.
The Early Roman ‘Levy’
While the video doesn’t really cover the scope of the Romans during their initial days, the earliest Roman army equipment’s archaeological evidence ranges far back to 9th century BC, mostly from the warrior tombs on the Capitoline Hill. As for the literary evidence, they mention how the earliest Roman armies were recruited from the three main ‘tribes’ of Rome. This shouldn’t come as too much of a shock (for those who are used to reading about the ‘civilized’ nature of Rome), since the settlement of Rome itself started out as a backwater which was inhabited by cattle rustlers who made their camps and rudimentary dwellings among the hills and the swamp lands.
As for the evolutionary part, the transition of the Roman army from ‘tribal’ warriors to citizen militia was achieved in part due to the Roman society and its intrinsic representation (with voting rights) in the Roman assembly. To that end, the early Romans were almost entirely depended on their citizen militia for the protection and extension of the burgeoning faction’s borders. These militiamen were simply raised as levy or legio – which in turn gives way to the term ‘legion’. In essence, the so-called legions of early Rome were ‘poor’ predecessors to the uniformly-equipped and disciplined soldiers of the ensuing centuries (which we have discussed later).
The Roman Phalanx
The video starts off with what can be termed as the first solid formation of the Roman army (when Rome was still a city-state kingdom). And quite unsurprisingly, the Roman military system of this time was inspired by its more-advanced neighbor (and enemy) – the Etruscans. In fact, the mass formation of hoplites fighting with their shield and spear – known as phalanx, was already adopted by the Greeks by 675 BC, and reached the Italy-based Etruscans by early 7th century BC. The Romans in turn were influenced by their Etruscan foes, and thus managed to enact many of the rigid Greek-inspired formations along with arms in real-time battle scenarios.
Many ancient authors conform to this Roman army adoption of ‘foreign’ tactics. For example, Diodorus Siculus (In his The Library of History) mentions how the Romans ditched their light rectangular shields and endorsed the heavier bronze shields of the Etruscans. This military replication in turn allowed the Romans to triumph over the Etruscans. Anon (in his Ineditum Vaticanum) also supports this view by saying how the Etruscans were given a taste of their own medicine, when the Roman army embraced the very same tight hoplite formations to counter its enemies.
As per historical tradition, the adoption of the hoplite tactics was fueled by the sweeping military reforms undertaken by the penultimate Roman ruler Servius Tullius, who probably ruled in 6th century BC. He made a departure from the ‘tribal’ institutions of curia and gentes, and instead divided the military based on the individual soldier’s possession of property. In that regard, the Roman army and its mirroring peace-time society, was segregated into classes (classis).
According to Livy, there were six such classes – all based on their possession of wealth (that was defined by asses or small copper coins). The first three classes fought as the traditional hoplites, armed with spears and shields – though the armaments decreased based on their economic statuses. The fourth class was only armed with spears and javelins, while the fifth class was scantily armed with slings. Finally, the six (and poorest) class was totally exempt from military service. This system once again alludes to how the early Roman army was formed on truly nationalistic values. Simply put, these men left their homes and went to war to protect (or increase) their own lands and wealth, as opposed to opting for just a military ‘career’.
The Roman Maniple
But the greatest strength of the Roman army had always been its adaptability and capability to evolve. Like we mentioned before how the early Romans from their kingdom era adopted the hoplite tactics of their foes, and defeated them in turn. However by the time of the first Samnite War (in around 343 BC), the Roman army seemed to have endorsed newer formations that were more flexible in nature. This change in battle-oriented stratagem was probably in response to the hardy Samnite armies – and as a result, the maniple formations came into existence (instead of the earlier rigid phalanx).
The very term manipulus means ‘a handful’, and thus its early standard incorporated a pole with a handful of hay placed around it. According to most literary evidences, the Roman army was now divided up into three separate battle-lines, with first line comprising the young hastati in ten maniples (each of 120 men); the second line comprising the hardened principes in ten maniples; and the third and last line consisting of the veteran triarii in ten maniples – who probably fought as heavy hoplites (but their maniples had only 60 men). Additionally, these battle-lines were also possibly screened by the light-armed velites, who mostly belonged to the poorer class of Roman civilians.
Suffice it to say, a maniple was a far more flexible formation than the ‘solid’ yet (occasionally) unwieldy phalanx. More importantly, these formations, collectively called the triplex acies, allowed for a battlefield system of reserves being deployed for better tactical advantage. For example, when the front-lining hastati was drained of his strength during the heat of the battle, he could fall back upon the reserve lines of the elite triarii. The well-armored veterans were then deployed forward in a cyclic manner – thus resulting in a fresh batch of troops countering the exhausted (and usually less-organized) enemy. This simple yet effective tactic changed the outcome of many a smaller battle in 4th century BC.
The Roman Cohort
Illustration by Peter Dennis. Credit: Warlord Games Ltd.
As the Roman realm continued to expand at a rapid rate, especially during and after the conclusion of the Second Punic War, the Romans encountered larger armies of the more organized military powers of the contemporary times. By 2nd century BC, the maniples were simply not ‘big’ enough to be deployed in mass scale in battles. So again, as a reactionary measure, the Romans (gradually) moved away from a pseudo-class based system, to induct a collective solution for their armies. The result was the cohort – a flexible group of around 480 men who were armed and armored in a similar fashion. Ten such cohorts made a legion, and thus the later Roman soldiers are simply known as the legionaries, as opposed to individualistic categorization like hastati and triarii.
For all-intents-and-purposes, the Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the ancient times – recruited (and sometimes conscripted) from different parts of the Roman Republic (and later Empire). And befitting a professional soldier, the green recruits who were successfully enlisted as legionaries had to go through a stringent training period of 4 months. During this training ambit, each soldier was given the unenviable task of marching 29 km (18 miles) in five hours with regular steps, and then 35 km (21.7 miles) in five hours with faster steps – all the while carrying a backpack that weighed 45 lbs (20.5 kg). This weight was intentionally allotted for increasing the endurance level of a legionary, and thus added to the overall weight of the panoply worn by the soldiers in their full gear (the weight of the lorica segmentata armor alone might have gone beyond 20 lbs). As expected, the ‘slowpokes’ were severely beaten by centurions and officers with their staffs. Interestingly enough, many of the similar ‘regimens’ are preserved through our modern military culture – with elite forces of some countries trained via such rigorous boot camp methods.
Lastly, it should also be noted that a Roman legion was mostly independent from its peer divisions, and thus served as a mobile field army usually recruited from their specific native regions. Furthermore, each legion also comprised an additional division of cavalry (with their own officers) and other dedicated units. The latter included the immunes – a group of highly trained specialists ranging from doctors, engineers to architects; and the calones – who were servants and slaves.
