QUESTIONS

• Read carefully Shelton's "The Army During the Republican Period" on pp. 243-44. What benefits did the Roman army bring to the citizens of Rome and to the people of conquered areas? One should note, however, that not all the conquered were pleased with Roman military interference (cf. the speech of Calgacus on p. 287). Describe briefly the Roman army before Marius's reforms (p. 245). What changes did Marius make in the structure of the army?

• What is the chain of command in the pre-Marian army (p. 245)? Polybius compares the square military camp to a town (291; see footnote #31 and paragraphs 2, on p. 247). Indeed many military camps in the provinces turned into towns. For example, all English towns that end in -chester (Latin castra) were originally Roman military camps. Why is the palisade 200 feet on all sides from the tents of a camp (291, p. 247)? What is the process of 'decimation' (see footnote #36 on p. 248; 291, paragraph 2 on p. 248 and top of p. 249)? How does decimation contribute to Roman military discipline (291, paragraph 2 on p. 248)?

• List the areas where Spurius Ligustinus saw military service and the commanders he served under (292). Two of these commanders were famous in their own right and the third was the father of two famous men (see footnotes #47 and #51 on p. 250). The first mentioned commander (at bottom of p. 256), Titus Quinctius Flamininus, was victor over the Macedonian king Philip II and proclaimed the freedom of the European Greeks at Isthmian games of 196 BC. Ligustinus's service is good evidence of the continual military activity of Rome leading to the expansion of the empire in the third century BC.

Here is what the Encyclopedia Britannica has to say about Titus Quinctius Flamininus (c. 227 BC - 174):

Roman general and statesman whose skillful diplomacy enabled him to establish a Roman protectorate over Greece. During the Second Punic War (218-201) he was military tribune under Marcus Claudius Marcellus (208) and propraetor extra ordinem at Tarentum (205-204). As consul in 198 he sought to win Greek support for Rome's struggle against Philip V of Macedonia (Second Macedonian War, 200-196). Arriving in Greece, he realized that future peace depended on breaking Philip's power, not merely humbling him. He secured the backing of the Achaean League and then opened peace negotiations with Philip at Nicaea in Locris. Though proposals were submitted to the Senate, the talks broke down, and fighting resumed until Flamininus' victory at Cynoscephalae (197). The peace terms proposed by the general and adopted by the Senate specified that Philip could retain his throne but must abandon all his dependencies outside Macedonia. At the Isthmian Games at Corinth in 196, Flamininus proclaimed that all Greeks in Europe and Asia were to be free and governed by their own laws. For this deed he was hailed in many Greek cities as a saviour and accorded homage alongside the gods. After checking the ambitions of the Spartan tyrant Nabis, the Roman forces finally withdrew from Greece in 194. In 193, Flamininus supported the Roman championship of Greek autonomy in Asia Minor. He attempted to rally the Greeks against the Seleucid king Antiochus III, and to counter the pro-Seleucid policy of the Aetolians. When the Aetolians called on Antiochus for aid, Flamininus persuaded the Achaean League to declare war on both parties. After the defeat of Antiochus by a Roman army at Thermopylae (191), Flamininus helped to re-establish peace in Greece. In 189 he served as censor, and in 183 he was sent to Prusias, king of Bithynia, to demand the surrender of the Carthaginian general Hannibal.

• Briefly outline the main events of a triumph (293 on pp. 251-52). What was the purpose of the public slave's riding in a chariot with the triumphant general (293 on p. 252)?

• Give two reasons why Josephus admires the Roman army (294). What purpose does Josephus have in discussing the Roman army (p. 254 at bottom of page).

• Write a one or two paragraphs summarizing the main complaints that Roman soldiers had about their service in the army (306).

• What change in requirements for service did the population decline of the late imperial period bring about (307 and 308)?

• What was the reaction of some potential recruits when the draft was reinstated in the four century AD (309)?

• Read "Soldiers and Civilians on p. 264. Write two paragraphs on the problems that civilians had with soldiers (310, 311 and 312). Write a brief paragraph on the life of soldiers and their families in frontier areas (313,314, 315, and 316)

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