4 Major Mistakes the Axis Powers Made during WWII

 

Looking back at WWII there have been four decisions made that, in the end,  did not work out to the Axis advantage. Of course, you can argue that starting the war in the first place was the biggest mistake made. But, for the sake of the argument, let us look at four mistakes that were made after the war was started.

Nazi Alliance with Fascist Italy

Having allied themselves with Italy, although ideologically similar, was something that the Nazis should not have done. Time and again the Nazis were forced to come to the aid of Italy after the fascists launched an ill-conceived invasion or bit off more than they could chew.

Getting the German forces involved in North Africa, a costly commitment, was bad enough, but the forced German invasion of Greece could not have come at a worse time.

In March of 1941 Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy, was still angry with Hitler after he failed to inform the Italians beforehand of his plans to invade France and the Low countries. This made Mussolini decide he was going to surprise Hitler and invade Greece without telling him. The Italian advance quickly bogged down and after a few weeks, the Greeks had fought them back to their starting point. The British came to the aid of the Greeks and landed forces in what Churchill called the soft underbelly of Europe.

Mussolini and Hitler in the heady days of 1940. The photo was taken by Eva Braun, 

This loss of face for the Axis powers could not be accepted by Hitler, who ordered his generals to come up with a plan to secure his, now vulnerable, southern flank. This meant that the Invasion of the Soviet Union, which was supposed to start in early spring, had to be postponed to June 22nd. As it turned out, this delay proved fatal.

Nazi invasion of Russia

Russian Cavalry Entering a liberated town.

Even though it was inconceivable that Nazis would not invade the Soviet Union, so was the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact which they signed on August 13th, 1939. This non-aggression pact allowed Nazi Germany to invade Poland without having to worry about a possible war with the USSR.

It even went so far that Poland was divided between the two and the part that the Soviets took in September 1939 has never been returned to Poland. It also gave the Soviets free reign in expanding their influence in the Eastern European countries and they lost no time in subjecting them to their rule.

The fact that the two sworn ideological enemies were willing to sign a non-aggression pact shook the world and allowed Nazi Germany the time to focus its attention on the western Europe without having to fear a war on two fronts. Germany made the most of this freedom and, in quick succession, defeated Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, and France.

Only their planned invasion of the United Kingdom was thwarted by the Few of the Royal Air Force, the first setback for the Nazis. Deteriorating weather caused the invasion of Britain to be postponed indefinitely, and Hitler once more turned to the East where, according to his book Mein Kampf, he believed the “Lebensraum” (living space) was which the Germans needed above all other things. However, this living space was occupied by the Russians. Russia had now moved its western borders hundreds of kilometers closer to Nazi Germany as a result of the pact.

Unable to knock Britain out of the war first and thus faced with a war on two fronts, which he had vowed to avoid at all costs, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. Hitler was confident the Soviet Union would be defeated in mere weeks, and he is quoted as having said: “We have only to kick in the door, and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down.”

However, most of the first month, if not six weeks, was spent fighting a way through countries now occupied by the Soviet Union. These countries might otherwise have been ensnared into the Axis camp, had it not been for the pact.

The extra territory gave the Soviets the ability to trade space for time and, with the extra delay caused by the invasion of Greece, meant that Nazi Germany could not complete its conquest during the remaining period of good weather. The autumn rains rolled in and turned most of Russia in a quagmire of mud which made all movement virtually impossible. Then Winter arrived early, with extreme cold for which the Germans were not equipped.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The photograph was taken from a Japanese plane during the torpedo attack on ships moored on both sides of Ford Island shortly after the beginning of the Pearl Harbor attack.

In a history similar to the German attack on the Soviet Union, the Japanese wanted an empire of their own to secure the future prosperity of a country which they thought did not have enough natural resources to sustain the population. The Germans called it “Lebensraum,” the Japanese called it the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.” It amounted to the same thing.

Having occupied vast portions of China and some countries in East Asia the next step was to expand its empire east into the Pacific ocean. Their eye was on the prosperous and natural resources that were under the control of the British and Dutch empires and the American-governed Philippines. However attacking these would cause the United States to join the war on the side of the allies.

America, on the other hand, had kept an eye on Japanese conquests and brutality and, short of war, did what they could to restrict them. In July 1941 they embargoed the export of oil to Japan which then calculated that, without acquiring the oil in the Dutch East Indies, they only had enough fuel for two years. They reasoned that now there would be no other option than going to war.

Realizing that they could not defeat the USA in direct battle, they chose to deliver a crushing blow to the American fleet based at Pearl Harbor. This would give them time to complete their desired conquests and present the Americans with a “fait accompli.” They reasoned the Americans would not be willing to enter a protracted war with Japan, and they would be able to make peace, keeping their vital conquests and handing back the less desirable places.

Fate, or bad Japanese intelligence, intervened on the Allied side on December 7th, 1941 and the vital American Aircraft carriers were not in port when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. This meant the Americans were able to fight back causing the Japanese Admiral in charge of the attack to say (supposedly) “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”.

No alliance between the Nazis, Spain, and Turkey

One look at the map of Europe will show the strategic importance of both Spain and Turkey. However, these two were two of the few countries on the European mainland that remained neutral during the second world war.

Even though Spain remained neutral during the First World War, it was expected they would come in on the side of the Axis after all the help Hitler had given General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. However, despite pleading and perhaps even begging, Franco remained adamant. He would not join the Axis and would not even allow the Germans to pass through his country (as the Swedes did).

Not being able to pass through Spain meant that Great Britain was secure in using its military base in Gibraltar. Not only did this effectively seal off the entrance to the Mediterranean from Atlantic ocean for the German Navy, but it also gave the British a location from which it could support Malta and Egypt. Possession of Malta meant the British could interdict shipping from Italy to North Africa. Possession of Egypt meant it could stop the Axis from linking up with their forces fighting in the Caucasus (Soviet Union) and taking the much-needed oil fields in the middle east.

Turkey fought on the side of the Axis in the First World War yet declined to join them in the Second. This, again, meant the Germans could not link up with their forces in the Caucasus making the capture of Egypt paramount. In February 1945, Turkey joined the Allies and declared war on a virtually defeated Nazi Germany.

    One final note, The German General Staff was gearing for War but they were not planning for War until 1946 truth be told, if memory serves, they wanted to have all the German armed serves fully modernized, from the Army, Navy and the Air Force.  The Navy wasn't ready to take on the Royal Navy, they had just started building an Aircraft Carrier and the associated airwings, plus the German armor wasn't caught up with the theories of Blitzkreig yet, and if it wasn't for the fortuitous acquisition of the Czech arms industry , the Germans wouldn't have had enough tanks to invade Poland.  Most of the German Army artillery still used Horses as their prime movers and most of their soldiers moved from point A to Point B the same way like the Roman Legions, walking on the excellent road systems unless they used the trains to ferry the troops, supplies and horses to their embarkation points, and once the war started, they walked.  Hitler kicked off the war before his General staff wanted him to, and fortunately for him, his opponents were even unprepared than Germany was and the myth of German invincibility was born.

Star Wars is Bullcrap Lies Science Fiction taught me about Strategic Planning.

 I shamelessly cribbed this off Angry Staff Officer, He likes to use Star Wars as a training tool to reflect current or potential United States Army Doctrine.  My Friend Mack actually met the guy and told me that yes the guy is pissed all the time, LOL.  I guess being stuck working as a Staff weenie would make me angry all the time too.

POSTED ONSEPTEMBER 27, 2020 BY KR PAUL

Star Wars is Bullsh*t! – Lies Science Fiction Taught Me About Strategic Planning

The Star Wars saga is iconic, whether it’s the original movies or the much deliberated prequels and sequels. Love them or hate them, each movie has iconic scenes that ensnare the mind. I was too young to see the original trilogy in theaters, but I saw the prequels and sequels in theaters and all nine movies sold me a tale of heroism and bravery. But they also sold me the idea that battles and wars were won by a handful of General Officers sitting around a table making detailed decisions about the war.

What a crock of shit.

Sure, Generals and Admirals drive the conflict. They have the big, overarching vision of how the war should go. That said, they aren’t tacticians and Star Wars lied to me!

It’s not the Generals and Admirals, resplendent in their perfectly pressed uniforms or artfully crafted Rebel style, who write strategy. No, it’s some poor neglected Rebel equivalent of a staff weenie making best guesses in the back of an Empire cubical farm of Rebel hangar deck.

The Lie: The Generals/Admirals stand around a big sand table and hash out their grand plan. Maybe one heroic intelligence officer/spy arrives with the critical piece of information, just in time to seal the deal.

The Reality: Five underpaid, unappreciated Rebel staff weenies frantically try to pull information from other bases about supply lines, X-Wing maintenance rates, and transport pilot availability. There are no intelligence officers, they’re making best guesses as they go, and are probably all considering joining the Empire if it means a bed that isn’t a pile of blankets on a crate. By the time the plan gets to the Generals and Admirals, they give a quick “yeah, looks good” and waltz off to their meeting. At the meetings, they spend 5% of the time listening to the others for conflict and 95% of the time wondering if they’re eligible to retire and “how hard out it really be to run a dive bar on Canto Bright?”

The above is a very basic outline of The Lie but it can be seen in each set of trilogies, thus ensuring each generation is duped into believing this outrageous falsehood.

---

Case 1, the original trilogy: Episode IV, A New Hope

The Lie: Mon Mothma and General Dodonna brief their plan directly to the pilots.

The Truth: Four harried, grimy, and exhausted people cooked up this plan in a half lit, unused storage room on Yarvin 4. Two  X-Wing pilots and one transport pilot, all too DNIF to fly were joined by one Rebel maintenance officer who bitched about the pilots the whole time, and spent the 48 hours before the battle scanning the Death Star plans. Bleary from lack of sleep, they hand a crudely sketched holo-point to Mon Momtha and General Dodonna, both offensively clean and wakeful, just before the pair walked into the briefing with only a quickly muttered “Exhaust ports, ya gotta hit those. Big boom. Whole thing goes…” before promptly passing out on any available flat surface including a crate full of munitions.

“The Force is real, right?” one pilot muttered later.

“Sure, it’s got to be,” the Rebel maintenance officer told him as he knocked back his seventh shot of liquor, something he’d been brewing in his room with spare parts from the X-Wings and a start cart.

“How’d ya know?” the transport pilot asked, face still haggard from the scanning and planning marathon.

“It must be. Our plan was shit!” the maintenance officer said and promptly passed out into his drink.

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Case 2, the prequel trilogy: Episode I, The Phantom Menace

The Lie: Master Qui-Gon Jinn and a young Obi Wan are sent to a Federation flagship to resolve a trade dispute. Rather than settle things politically, they engage in “aggressive negotiations.”

The Truth: Galactic Republic strategic planners spent frantic weeks secretly engaging with politicians for a backdoor negotiation. The Jedi Order instead sent a habitual line stepper and his padawan. Somewhere a Republic planner is sobbing into a Coruscant Sunrise crying, “These assholes haven’t read Corbett or Dolman once have they? They have no idea how critical a damn line of communication is!”

---

Case 3, the sequel trilogy: Episode VII, The Force Awakens

The Lie: Hidden away on D’Qar, Rebel forces decipher the plan of… yes, a bigger, better Death Star, Starkiller Base. General Organa stands around with her top Generals and aides, determining how to attack the Death St– err, Starkiller Base and blow it up.

The Truth: Actually, this isn’t far from the truth. Really, the only difference is that instead of immediately sending Han, Chewie, and Finn off to Starkiller, they would have first made Finn, or the lowest ranking officer in the room, sit down at a terminal. General Organa, with six colonels, would have watched over his shoulder as they typed out the plan for dissemination to all available Rebel forces.

Somewhere in a back room off the main floor, a pair of Rebel soldiers discuss whether joining the First Order “might mean actually getting a real bed to sleep in?”

“What?”

“I mean, I’m not saying I’m defecting or anything but… do you think they get real beds?” one exhausted Rebel officer says to his companion.

“I mean, probably. Those dreadnaughts are pretty big, I’m sure people aren’t more than two or three to a room.” There’s a hopeful air in their voice.

They both stare wistfully into their monitors for a second.

“I mean, I wouldn’t–”

“I’d never–” they say in unison.

But a brief glance at the other, they know perfectly well their companion would sell the entire disorganized mess of a Rebel order out for a hot meal, a hot shower, a warm bed, and some recognition for all the work they do.

Monday Music "I will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor

  I am continuing my string of "bugaloo" songs.  This discussion was started in the "Monster Hunter Nation, Hunters Unite", back in December? it is a Facebook group with enthusiast of the ILOH "International Lord of Hate" A.K.A Larry Correia.  We were talking about what song would we use if we looked out of our window or glanced at our security camera and saw this.....

One of the alphabet bois lining up to take down your house...What would be your "Valhalla" song and you would set it up to play as you load up magazines and prepare yourself.

 I figured it would scar the alphabet boys if they come busting in and hearing a song that is related good music in the 1980's unlike that crap they listen to now.  What can I say, My humor is warped....just a bit. Next week will be "Veterans of a Thousand psychic wars " from Blue Oyster Cult  ,  Now that should really cause some psych evals., hehehe, some poor ATF guy trying to explain the attraction to his mother because he has the hots for Disco and the Free Love of the 70's and well it IS ATF you know.....

"I Will Survive" is a hit song first performed by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978. It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. A top-selling song after its initial release, it has remained a popular disco anthem, as well as being certified double platinum by the RIAA.
The song's lyrics describe the narrator's discovery of personal strength following an initially devastating breakup, delivered with increasing confidence and backed by a stirring instrumental accompaniment. It is one of the most famous disco songs of all time and remains Gaynor's biggest hit. It received heavy airplay in 1979, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK Singles Chart on consecutive weeks. The song is also frequently recalled as a symbol of female strength and as a gay anthem.
      
Originally released as the B-side to a cover version of the Righteous Brothers song "Substitute", "I Will Survive" became a worldwide hit for Gaynor when disc jockeys played that side of the record instead. New copies of the record were eventually pressed with "I Will Survive" as the A-side ("Substitute" itself peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, equaling to number 107 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart).
As a disco number, the song was unique for its time by virtue of Gaynor's having no background singers. And, unlike her first disco hits, the track was not pitched up to make it faster and to render Gaynor's recorded voice in a higher register than that in which she actually sang. Most disco hits at the time were heavily produced, with multiple voices, overdubs, and adjustments to pitch and speed. "I Will Survive" had a much more spare and "clean" sound. Had it been originally planned and released as an A-side, it would almost certainly have undergone a substantially more heavy-handed remix.
The song received the Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording in 1980, the only year the award was given. It is ranked #492 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and ranked at #97 on Billboard magazine's "All-Time Hot 100". In 2000, the song was ranked #2 in VH1's list of the 100 greatest dance songs. Comedian George Carlin, however, listed it without comment as item 9 on his list of "10 Most Embarrassing Songs of All Time".
A promotional video was filmed in 1979 at New York discothèque Xenon. Sheila Reid-Pender of Harlem, NY is the featured skater in the video from the skating group, The Village Wizards. Although three videos were filmed that day, the "I Will Survive" video was the only one to survive. The video can be seen on VH-1 countdowns and is featured on YouTube.
Following the success of fellow 1970s disco stars Sister Sledge with remixed singles in the UK in 1993, "I Will Survive" was also remixed and released that summer. This remix reached number five on the UK Singles Chart.
Robbie Williams sampled the song in his 2000 single, "Supreme".
Featured in the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), and stage musical, Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical.
The song was also covered by Diana Ross in 1996, RuPaul Charles features in the songs drag celebratory music video. In the video, Ross famously jumps into the crowd.
The song was performed in its entirety by Khadijiah (Queen Latifah) in an episode of Living Single.
The song was also covered as part of Glee Season 3 – mixed with Survivor by Destiny's Child.

     Here is the song sung by Gloria Gaynor:

The song also was featured in the movie" the Replacements with Keano Reeves about replacement players that were hired to replace the striking Professional Football players and there was a line in the movie, thanking the others about meeting on the field of battle and he used a phrase that stated " Pain is temporary, chick dig scars and glory is forever."   I thought it was one of the best lines in the movie.

First Flight Around The World 96 years ago this week

 This popped up in my email and it was a fascinating story, so I started putting it together along with the pictures.  The Planes are named for the 4 corners of the United States and they decide to try to push the technology.  The logistical planning for this endeavor was daunting and totally new for the American Armed Forces and they pulled it off.

On April 6, 1924, eight U.S. Army Air Service pilots and mechanics in four airplanes left Seattle, Washington, to carry out the first circumnavigation of the globe by air. They completed the journey 175 days later on September 28, after making 74 stops and covering about 27,550 miles.

The airplanes were named for American cities and carried a flight number: Seattle (1), Chicago (2), Boston (3), and New Orleans (4). They flew over the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans and encountered climatic extremes from arctic to tropical. Only the Chicago, flown by Lts. Lowell Smith and Leslie Arnold, and the New Orleans, flown by Lts. Erik Nelson and John Harding Jr., completed the entire journey.

   

The Chicago, Boston II, and New Orleans head toward Mitchel Field, Long Island, outside New York City on September 8, 1924.

The World Flight’s goal was to evaluate the airplane as a global technology. Operating the World Cruisers in extreme environments would test the airplane’s practicality and showcase America’s aeronautical industry. Connecting the world by air routes would foster better international relations and encourage commerce. And it would create popular support for the Army Air Service and its goal of expanding its role within the U.S. military.

The flight of the Douglas World Cruisers was a massive undertaking. The U.S. Army Air Service, Navy, Coast Guard, and Bureau of Fisheries shared the critical task of establishing remote supply and repair depots and providing assistance on the open seas. Thousands of gallons of fuel and oil, 35 replacement engines, and numerous spare parts had to be distributed throughout the world, including places where airplanes had never before flown.

To keep their airplanes light enough to get aloft, the fliers could only take 300 pounds of supplies in each plane. They had to make tough decisions about what to include. They did not take parachutes or life preservers.

The World Flight officially began on April 6, 1924, in Seattle, Washington. The flyers flew up the coast of Canada to Alaska, where they faced freezing temperatures, thick and unpredictable fog, and sudden violent storms. The crossing from the Aleutian Islands to the Soviet Union’s Komandorski Islands on May 15 was the first flight across the Pacific Ocean.

In Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, the fliers encountered williwaws, or “woolies”—sudden, strong, destructive winds up to 75 miles per hour that rushed down from the mountains. Read how Leslie Arnold described them in his diary.

"The hop from Sitka to Seward was to prove worse than anything we had so far experienced."

- Lt. Leigh Wade

Typhoons, disease, extreme heat and humidity, and the sometimes guarded hospitality of their foreign hosts stressed both the fliers and their airplanes as they ventured further into Asia in May and June.

Japan, excited about aviation but suspicious of the American military presence, dictated a serpentine route that protected its military secrets. The rivers and harbors of China and Burma proved to be crowded, chaotic havens for the World Flight. The jungles of French Indochina tested the flyers as they raced to make repairs to the Chicago and stay on schedule.

In Saigon, Indochina, the fliers could not get service at a restaurant because they were not wearing jackets. They tried to explain their situation—they could borrow their Navy friends’ shirts and trousers but not their uniform coats. Still, the waiter refused service.

"When we arrived at Paramushiru, it seemed as though we had descended from the clouds into a new world."

- Leigh Wade

"A great roar of “Banzai!” broke from the crowd when the American plane first appeared."

- The Atlantic Constitution

The World Flight’s journey through the Far and Middle East in June and July spanned the tropical jungles of India and the blowing sands of modern-day Iraq and Jordan. They allowed Associated Press reporter Linton Wells, to join them for part of the flight.

As the World Flight crossed into Europe, ever-larger enthusiastic crowds greeted the fliers.

The World Cruiser crews faced their longest over-water flights while crossing the North Atlantic in August. The Navy stationed a series of ships along the route to rescue the fliers if they had to land in the open ocean. Dense fog and sudden storms proved to be a continual problem.

The flight from Iceland to Greenland tested the pilots’ skill and courage. They encountered heavy fog and had to fly very low and close to the waves. Flying at 90 miles per hour with little visibility, they barely avoided hitting towering icebergs. One of the pilots later admitted he was terrified.

From Ivigtut, Greenland, the Chicago and New Orleans crews made the 560-mile flight across the Atlantic to Icy Tickle, on Indian Harbor in Labrador, Canada, on August 31. Boston  pilots Wade and Ogden rejoined the flight three days later at Nova Scotia in the Douglas World Cruiser prototype, newly christened the Boston II.

After reaching the United States, the pilots soon became exhausted by the parades, receptions, speeches, and banquets given in their honor. Everyone wanted to see them, including President Calvin Coolidge. Read the secret telegram Coolidge sent to them.

“If our hospitality seems ferocious, forgive us because it comes from the heart. You will find as you proceed along the home stretch that these receptions are the first evidence of the feeling that all Americans long to show you. The world never forgets its pathfinders. Those who trod the wilderness and cross the seas filled with dangers are never forgotten by posterity.”

- New York Senator James Wadsworth

Once in the United States, the World Flight faced adoring crowds eager to see America’s latest aviation heroes. The fliers flew down the East Coast to Washington, D.C., west across the Alleghenies to Dayton and Chicago, and south to Dallas. From there, they crossed the desert southwest to San Diego. Their triumphant journey up the West Coast culminated in the official conclusion of the World Flight at Seattle on September 28, 1924.

Douglas Cruiser "Chicago" In the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C 

X facts about the Roman Legions

 I have a bunch of books on the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire and of course the "Empire" in Star Wars is based on the Roman Empire, and to show how much of a geek I was, when I was playing AD&D, I had organized my armies on the pattern of the Roman legion but updated it with medieval style weapons and made it a professional army down to siege engines and of course magic items, hey I was a geek, what can I say.  

Ancient Rome was one of the greatest civilizations in history. From its birth in the 8^th Century BC, it grew from a small settlement on the Italian Peninsula into one of the greatest empires in the ancient world.

One of the more fascinating elements of ancient Rome was its formidable army which was known to be extremely disciplined, strong, skilled, and highly efficient.

Their glory spread across the surface of the earth as they made their conquests around the Mediterranean and beyond. From the Atlantic to Arabia, and from the Rhine and Danube to the coast of North Africa, the army of ancient Rome made its mark as the backbone of the Roman empire.

Legion VI Ferrata, the ”Ironclads” march forward in preparation to fight, in the arena as part of a performance

Below are ten things you should probably know:

1. Decimation

As Rome grew in size, its enemies also grew. Although it was constantly threatened by barbarian invasions, Rome also had to worry about internal decay.

The Roman military was strictly disciplined since the powers-that-be knew that such a force was essential if Rome was to last for long. Cases of mutiny, desertion, and insubordination were dealt with by the most severe punitive measures.

One such measure was called decimatio, meaning “removal of a tenth.” Translated directly to English as “decimation,” this punishment was a pragmatic move towards balancing the need to punish capital offenses and the realities of controlling very large groups of offenders

The Roman Army is made of legions which are further broken down into cohorts. Ten cohorts make a legion, and there are about 480 soldiers in a cohort.

Example of Decimation, a Roman military punishment where every tenth man suffers death

When an offense was reported within a cohort, those men would be divided into groups of ten. Each group would draw a lot, and whomever the lot fell upon would be executed — by the other nine men in his group. Such victims were executed by stabbing, stoning, or clubbing.

The rest of the soldiers would then be deprived of the standard Roman military diet for a few days. They would be fed barley instead of wheat and made to bivouac outside the camp.

Imperial Roman legionaries in tight formation, a relief from Glanum, a Roman town in what is now southern France that was inhabited from 27 BC to 260 AD 

2. The Roman Helmet

The Roman helmet was called a galea, and it had two purposes: protection and identification.

The helmets usually came with cheek guards and were thicker in places most likely to be hit.

Helmets worn by legionaries and centurions had crests made of plumes of horse hair which were usually dyed red. With the distinct nature of their helmets, it was easy to identify these men in the midst of a battle.

Some ancient historians such as Polybius assert that the helmet worn by the Roman soldiers had a psychological function to it. He said in his book The Histories of Polybius that the helmets were adorned with a “circle of feathers” which served to make a soldier appear twice as tall as he actually was.

Warrior with plumed Galea helmet

3. Rome’s Military Structure and Organization

The Roman Army is one of history’s most organized military institutions. One of its very interesting features is its structural setup. At one time, the Roman Army was estimated to have been made up of about 375,000 men if only legionary and auxiliary troops were taken into consideration.

These men were organized into legions, cohorts, centuries, and contuberniums.

The contubernium represented the smallest unit of the Roman Army. It consisted of eight men who fought, camped, and worked together.

One of the most famous Roman sieges was that of the Celtiberian stronghold of Numantia in present north-central Spain by Scipio Aemilianus in 133 BC

A collection of ten contuberniums made up a century. Each century was led by a centurion.

About six centuries would then form a cohort which would also usually combine in groups of ten to form separate legions. These soldiers were known as legionaries and were headed by legates. These legates were responsible for maintaining all forms of discipline and conformities to the standards of the Roman Army.

The soldiery of the ancient Roman army ranged from mounted archers to heavy infantrymen. They were also accompanied by cavalry.

A historical reenactor in Roman centurion

4. Recruitment System

The Roman Army consisted mainly of legionaries and auxiliaries.

To begin with, there was an annual levy in Rome that required citizens to serve in the military. As Rome’s territory expanded, the army became more professional and salaried. Eventually, Roman citizens were no longer the only ones in the Roman army.

Essentially, the units of citizen infantry were referred to as legions while non-citizens in the army were referred to as auxilia.

Only men from the age of 20 and above could join the army, and they had to serve at least 25 years before they were allowed to retire.

Roman auxiliary infantry crossing a river, probably the Danube, on a pontoon bridge during the emperor Trajan’s Dacian Wars (AD 101–106). They can be distinguished by the oval shield (clipeus) they were equipped with, in contrast to the rectangular scutum carried by legionaries. Panel from Trajan’s Column, Rome

5. The Fetials

The fetials were a group of Roman priests who played significant roles in Rome’s international relations. They were mostly used for the declaration of war as well as ending conflicts by means of treaties.

One particular event spoken about in Book 1 of Titus Livius’s History of Rome was that of Pater Patratus’s actions on the border of an enemy’s territory.

As Rome waited, Patratus went all the way to the border, announced his intentions, justified his mission in words of prayer to Jupiter, and then crossed the boundary as a sign that Rome was about to capture the said territory.

This was a ritual performed by the fetials to prevent Rome from waging a war “unjustly.”

If war was to be declared on any nation, the fetials would walk to the enemy’s boundary and hurl a spear into the territory.

 A flamen was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic.

Sometimes the said territory was too far off for this to be viable. To enable the priests to perform the ritual nonetheless, there was a special piece of land before the Temple of Bellona where the fetials threw the spear as if it were being thrown into the enemy’s territory.

Once this ritual was completed, the Roman Army would prepare for war.

6. The Gladius Hispaniensis

A standard Roman legionary after the Marian reforms was equipped with a shield, javelin, a sword, and a dagger.

The gladius hispaniensis was a very popular sword used by the Roman heavy infantrymen.

According to Titus Livius (Livy) and Polybius, the Roman Army adopted the sword after encountering Celtiberian mercenaries using it at the Battle of Cannae. The masterful slashing and thrusting employed by these Celts were attributed to their short swords. So the Romans, even before the end of the Punic Wars, adopted the weapon themselves.

Roman gladius, type 

Famous politician and Roman General Titus Manlius Torquatus earned his last name after his engagement with a hefty Gallic soldier in one of the most famous duels of the Roman Republic.

During this encounter, he made use of the gladius. As the duel began, Manlius struck underneath the Gaul’s shield, fatally cutting his abdomen. He then took out the Gaul’s torc and wore it over his own neck. This was how the name Torquatus came about.

During the Macedonian War, the Macedonians, according to Livy, trembled as they saw how limbs fell and heads rolled in the dirt with each slash of the gladius hispaniensis.

Titus Manlius Torquatos

7. The Donativum

This word alone represents some of the darkest periods of the Roman Empire. Translated directly to “donative” in English, it was originally a form of payment given to Roman Legions and, more particularly, the Praetorian Guards.

The Praetorian Guards were the elite units of the Roman Army who served as personal bodyguards to the Roman emperors.

With Rome’s colossal expansion and rise in power, darkness slowly crept in through its moral defenses. Internal tensions were becoming commonplace as prominent members of the empire sought to sit on the emperor’s seat.

The only people who could relatively easily aid in the removal (or murder) of an existing emperor were the Praetorian Guards.

The donative was a bribe which newly installed emperors gave to the Praetorian Guards for helping them achieve their aim.

Decor fragment of a Triumphal arch 51-52 AD: The Emperor’s Imperial Guard, The Praetorians , featured in a relief with an eagle grasping a thunderbolt through its claws, in reference, to the Roman interpretatio graeca form of Jupiter.

8. Seasons of War

Rome was an economy based on agriculture. According to Chapter V in the History of Rome by Livy, in the early days, battles were waged between sowing and harvest. Due to the difficulty of moving soldiers during the winter, if a battle was inconclusive by the end of summer, Livy said: “our soldiers must wait through the winter.”

This implies that the Roman soldiers did prefer to fight during the summer. When winter kicked in, the Romans preferred to do other things, as illustrated by Livy who said: “The pleasure of hunting carries men off through snow and frost to the mountains and the woods.”

Roman archers (top left) in action. Note conical helmets, indicating Syrian unit, and recurved bows. Trajan’s Column, Rome

9. The Roman Siege Warfare

In ancient warfare, fighting over open fields was the norm. But sometimes, when the defenders decided to hold their positions behind the highly fortified walls of their city, siege warfare became necessary.

As the Roman Army continued to take over territories, it became adept in the art of siege warfare. The Army employed artillery weapons, formidable siege towers, and engineering skills in breaking through the walls of Rome’s enemies.

Ballista

Roman soldiers were known to continue assaulting the walls of a city for as long as it took until the walls yielded. Some sieges took several months or even years to accomplish.

In the early first century B.C., while the Romans laid siege to the city of Themiscyra, the soldiers were said to have dug tunnels under the city in a bid to get past the walls.

Roman arrow machine

 

Roman siege engines

10. The Roman Military Culture

The Roman military culture was described by British Historian Peter Heather as being “just like the Marines, but much nastier.”

Discipline was fiercely enforced in the Roman military, and training was particularly harsh. Emphasis was laid on loyalty and teamwork over individual performance in a bid to bind the soldiers into effective fighting units.

Relief scene of Roman legionaries marching, from the Column of Marcus Aurelius, 

During battles, all men were conditioned to maintain the same formation and avoid wild swinging blows.

Opening scene from the Movie Gladiator.

Literacy was a highly valued virtue in the Roman Army. As a matter of fact, the level of literacy in the Roman military was far higher than that of Roman society in general.