Roman legionnaire
A day in the life of a Roman soldier was hard and tough even for the most resilient men. The men were taken away from their families, friends and away from their comforting homeland. They were expected to protect the provinces located throughout the empire. Some close to home others far, far away. These men had to be capable of enduring quarrelsome natives in foreign countries, who were defending their homelands from invasion. A soldier was expected to embark on gruelling marches across barbaric hazardous terrain in the harshest weather conditions. After this the soldier would then have to fight a long and difficult battle. Above all this they soldier's had to obey all orders without questioning, no matter what the situation involved. Through an examination of the basic training in recruitment, the employment opportunities during peacetime, rates of pay, and punishment; one will easily see what the life of a Roman soldier consisted of. In order to join the military one would have to undergo numerous physical activities in training. The first step of basic training that recruit would encounter is to be taught the military pace for marching. A soldier would often march tremendous distances in a restricted time frame, as a
Just like in this day and age, soldiers who performed unsatisfactorily or disobeyed were subject to punishment and discipline. A soldier could expect a variety of punishments for any infractions he may have perpetrated. Demotion, and loss of privileges were common forms of discipline for petty violations. Stealing another soldier's property or abandonment were two crimes that were treated as extremely serious. Under military law the commander could order the perpetrator to be beaten to death. The most serious offense was cowardice. If one soldier ran from a battle, then the survivors from his unit would face a terrible fate. If the fleeing soldier is convicted of cowardice, then one from every ten soldiers from his unit would be executed. Those let off of death were put on rations of barely and water for some time. Now that the recruit has been trained he may get lucky and look forward to a life which would be spent mainly in time of peace. However these soldiers were often stationed in less developed regions of the Empire. Which is partly how they became known as the "torchbearers of civilization." To a large extent these men were in possession of skills and technical expertise which were foreign to the surrounding population. The soldiers often carried out tasks that would be of immediate practical use to the community and the Empire. The most common task was the construction of roads. This isn't the only things the soldiers did, they were often used in the construction or repairs of cisterns, canals, aqueducts and public works. Most of this construction was built primarily for military purposes but at the same time it helped the local communities. Overall, after reviewing
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Approximate Word count = 1150
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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