Can you tell me about the Roman army?

Dr. dig responds:

There have been many great armies in history. Some armies were great not so much because they were large, but because they were brave, well-organized, or had brilliant strategies.

In ancient times, however, there was perhaps no other army as great and powerful as the Roman army. The Roman army was a vast organization that held together an equally vast Empire. They defended the frontiers of the Empire from the British Isles to Persia, they built roads and aqueducts, they built towns and fortresses, and they fought wars and won battles. The Roman army had as many as 150,000 paid soldiers organized in legions of 5,000 that were set up in strategic locations around the Empire. We know more about the Roman army than any other ancient military organization in the world.

A legionary soldier had his own personal weapons: these were two javelins (long throwing spears), a sword and a dagger. Soldiers in the Roman army used catapults to hurl darts and facts at the enemy. Each legion had about 60 catapults, fearsome weapons used mostly in sieges.

A Roman warship was fitted with a battering ram which jutted out from the prow of the ship and which were used to puncture the sides of enemy ships.

The Romans also practiced special military formations which they carried out to the letter in battle situations. In formation, soldiers advanced as a body to break up and then smash enemy lines. One of the best known battle formations was called the tortoise. In this formation, men in close rank covered themselves with shields locked together at the front and over their heads, which gave them an appearance that resembled a tortoise. The body of men could move forward slowly protected against spears and missiles hurled at them by the enemy.