The Triarii

This blog follows the Roman soldier Gnaeus in the year 251 BC. He fights against the Carthaginians as a triarius in the Battle of Panormus, the modern city of Palermo. This battle was part of the First Punic War, a conflict that marked the end of the early Republican Period. After this, Rome became a major power in the Mediterranean and the archrival of the Phoenician Carthage.

From the expulsion of the kings in 509 BC to the proclamation of the principate in 27 BC, Rome was a republic. The period of the Roman Republic is usually divided into the Early, Middle, and Late Roman Republic. It should not be thought that the 'republic' was a constant during the time it existed: according to historian Jeremy Armstrong, this period can be better divided into as many as 13 parts. The beginning of the Roman Republic was comparable to the regal period in that it was led by warlords, each with their own following of clients. From this, the social relations of Roman society eventually emerged.

Around this time, we should think more of loose groups of warbands than of the Greek type Poleis. They conducted annual raids on enemy tribes, after which they distributed the spoils they had 'heroically' won and were the celebrated heroes for the rest of the people. The big difference between the early Republic and the Regal Period was that these warlords often worked closely together and acted more in the name of the Roman Republic. From this tradition, we also see the Triumphs and the claiming of the majority of the war spoils by the patricians, who had conquered them 'in the name of Rome'.

The warlords of the early republic emerged from various Latin peoples and did not always come from Rome itself. For an ambitious warlord from another tribe, it was very attractive to join and thus become a 'Roman'. These warlords could join, and as long as they acted in the name of the Republic, they were a welcome addition. In this way, the early Republic could significantly grow in military power. This open character of the early Romans towards 'outsiders' is remarkable, especially compared to later periods when only a small group of Romans had full citizenship, even if they were Roman allies or even born in Rome.

The warlords from the early period eventually became the Patricians, the noble families who would rule over Rome. From this standpoint, the gap widened between the 'haves' (patricians) and the 'have nots' (the plebeians), leading to long political friction where the plebeians sought more share in the rights of patricians. Although the name 'Republic' implies a relatively equal society, it was far from democratic: only male Roman citizens had voting rights and legal personality. Due to this origin, society was highly hierarchical and shaped by patron-client relationships, even within the privileged citizenry. Noble senatorial families were at the top, followed by equites (knights) and plebeians. Beneath them was an underclass of proletarians and slaves who had little control over their own lives, let alone politics.

The ideal of the republic formed the foundation of Roman identity; the Romans called themselves a republic until the fall of the Western Empire, even though they were ruled by an emperor. From the period of the mid-republic, we see the emergence of a bureaucratic machine that was necessary to manage the complexity of Rome. Prominent patrician families played the key role in this. 

It is no wonder that the hierarchy of Roman society was reflected in the army of the Republic. In the early period, the Roman army resembled that of surrounding city-states, consisting of loose raiding bands and hoplite armies in the phalanx according to the Greek model. During the war against the Samnites from 343 to 290 BC, the Romans developed a new, original military formation and method of warfare, the so-called manipular army. This would be the standard form of the Mid-Republican army until the reforms at the end of the second century BC.

The manipular army was divided into different ranks and groups with their own functions. The vanguard was led by velites, light infantry who harassed the enemy. They were often young men who, besides a wolfskin and a small shield, wore no protection to move as quickly as possible across the battlefield. Heavy infantry was the main element of the republican army. The formation of these soldiers was divided into three lines based on basic of combat experience and wealth class. At the front stood the hastati: they were the least experienced and armored soldiers who led the attack in the first phase of a battle. The middle line was formed by principes. If the line of the hastati was broken during the first phase or if this part of a fight lasted too long, they would come forward, equipped and ready to fight an exhausted opponent. The Triarii, like our Gnaeus, the veterans with the best equipment, formed the rearguard of the Roman army. If the formations of the hastati and principes were broken, they would come to the rescue in the final phase of the battle. This rarely happened and was a sign that the fight would be to the bitter end; the Romans even had an expression for this in everyday life, ‘res ad triarios venit’ or ‘it comes down to the triarii’. In addition, there was cavalry on the flanks, composed of the class of equites (knights), auxiliary cavalry consisting of wealthy Italians without citizenship, and other specialists.

In the early centuries of the republic, Rome grew from a small city-state to an empire that ruled almost all of Italy. This occurred in some cases through bloody conquest wars, such as against the Etruscan city of Veii in 396 BC, which was only 16 km from Rome. But in most cases, this 'conquest' was accompanied by a cunning strategy of incorporating and merging warlords from other Indo-European cultures. Rome regularly chose allies to attack their enemies together and then incorporated both peoples into the republic. Finally, there were ample opportunities for the elite of these other peoples to join the elite of Roman society. 

In the course of the fourth century BC, the republic had absorbed other small city-states and regional rulers, but as a result, it increasingly came into conflict with other imperiums around the Mediterranean. This happened in 264 BC, when Rome came to the aid of Campanian pirates in Messina against the Greek city-state of Syracuse in Sicily. Rome came into conflict with the other ally of the Campanians, the Phoenician city-state of Carthage. This disagreement resulted in a very devastating war between the two great powers, larger than the conflict that had begun in 264 BC; Syracuse even defected to the Roman side after a year.

Due to the location of Sicily, a large part of the war was fought at sea. At the beginning of the war, Rome was only a land power and was constantly thwarted by the Carthaginian fleet without being able to fight back. As a result, the city developed its own naval force, with triremes directly copied from a stranded Carthaginian model. Although the Romans quickly managed to build a fleet, it was clear that the Carthaginians were much more experienced with naval warfare. The Roman strategy was therefore intended to turn a naval battle into a land battle, by having Roman marines board Carthaginian ships using a corvus, a type of boarding plank. This was very effective and remained the main strategy of the Roman navy for the coming centuries.

The majority of the war remained undecided and the two camps. The young Roman navy even attempted a daring invasion of Carthage between 256 and 254, but this quickly failed. The final decisive battle was fought in 251 BC, when the Romans managed to prevent the Carthaginians from capturing the city of Panormus (Palermo). After this, the Romans had almost complete control over Sicily and fighting was mostly confined to the sea. A failed naval raid in 249 BC, in which the Roman fleet suffered significant losses, was followed by a years-long stalemate. In 243 BC, the Romans managed to build a new fleet and in 241 BC they won a decisive naval battle, after which Carthage signed the peace and Rome gained control over Sicily. The island thus became (with the exception of Syracuse) the first Roman province, under the authority of a praetor.

Peace between Carthage and Rome would not last long and the ensuing conflicts would be the most tragic and destructive wars of classical antiquity. In 218 BC, war broke out again between the two great powers, this time in Iberia. However, the Carthaginian general Hannibal would bring the conflict to Rome and nearly destroy the mighty city-state.

In Roman society, the tunic made of wool, linen (and in some cases cotton) was the primary garment for both men and women. During the Republican period, it was very fashionable to make these long and flowing, to give the same appearance as the more formal toga worn by Roman citizens. However, this was not practical for soldiers, and therefore they wore a short tunic, with or without short sleeves.

The tunic Gnaeus wears is dyed blue. In modern depictions, Roman soldiers often wear red, because this colour symbolized the war god Mars. However, it is unclear which colors Roman soldiers wore, as the colour varied per legion (and also manipulus) and was not uniform. During the Republic, soldiers took care of their own tunics, which they often received from home: thus, Gnaeus received his tunic as a gift from his wife.

To let the chainmail shirt rest on the hips and attach the sword, a simple leather belt was used during this period. 

The sandals that Gnaeus wears are a practical military model worn by Roman soldiers. Military sandals were comfortable and lightweight in design: this allowed soldiers to perform hard work, stand guard for long periods, and march long distances per day without developing blisters. The sandals were fitted by the soldiers themselves with nails to provide grip on unpaved or natural ground. They could also be used to finish off fallen enemies on the battlefield as the Roman units marched over them.

Gnaeus carries a cloak for cold or bad weather. The Roman cloak was a large piece of wool, held in place with a fibula. Roman soldiers wore cloaks to keep themselves warm and dry: the latter was very important to protect the equipment from rust or dirt. They may also have played a role in night operations, to camouflage soldiers. The cloak could even be used to protect the arm during a fight: there is a report of legionaries being ambushed by the enemy without shield and wrapping their cloaks around their forearms to use as shield.

From wall paintings, it can be deduced that Roman legionaries often wore brown, beige, and gray cloaks. This was because the cloaks were made of undyed wool, so the natural oil of the sheep could keep the cloak water-resistant. Centurions and other field commanders wore red, white, or even purple cloaks to stand out: Julius Caesar was known to wear his cloak even during battles for dramatic effect. 

To protect his body, Gnaeus uses the large republican scutum (shield) and wears a Boeotian helmet and a lorica hamata (chainmail shirt). To fight, he uses a hasta (a heavy thrusting and javelin) and a sword of the La Tène type B.

Gnaeus wears a Boeotian helmet, a Greek type of bronze helmet developed for cavalry. The helmet provided the wearer with a wide field of vision and was shaped like a petasos, a Greek hat that protected against the sun; it was no wonder that it was effectively used in Asia by the Greek general Xenophon, Alexander the Great, and later Hellenistic rulers. This helmet was mainly used by Roman cavalry, but Gnaeus acquired his as spoils of war.

Most other soldiers of the Roman Republic wear a Montefortino-helmet of the Celtic type. This type of helmet was adopted from the Celts after the Celtic sack of Rome in 387 BC and was the longest-used of all Roman helmets. The helmet was equipped with cheek plates and a detachable plume of horse hair, which made the wearer appear taller to intimidate the enemy. After armor was mass-produced by the Roman state, the quality of these helmets declined.

Attic helmets were also used, which were popular in Italy because they did not obstruct the face.

Gnaeus wears a Lorica hamata, a Roman chainmail shirt that was worn by Roman soldiers from the third century BC to the fourth century AD. Often, sleeves were omitted to make it more comfortable for long periods, especially during marches. Mail was possibly directly adopted from the Celts, as the La-Tène culture invented this form of armor around 400 BC. In the 4th-2nd century BC, the lorica hamata was very expensive and poorer soldiers like the hastati could not afford it.

Other triarii may also have worn a linothorax or musculata. The linothorax (literally ‘linen breastplate’ in Greek) was a type of armor worn by warriors throughout the Mediterranean region until the third century BC. It was a cuirass made of thick layers of linen that protected the torso and upper legs against bronze arrowheads. Although a linothorax offered less protection for the body than full bronze breastplates, it was much lighter, more maneuverable, and cheaper to produce. It was also much more resistant to corrosion from seawater than metal armor: particularly when traveling or fighting over the sea, one would have preferred the linothorax.

The musculata was a bronze cuirass that was anatomically shaped and was the most expensive form of chest armor in antiquity, which could only be afforded by the wealthiest soldiers. In the period of Gnaeus, it was largely no longer used, but a number of triarii and equites fighting with him wear a form of musculata.

The principes and triarii during the Second Punic War wore a single greave of iron or bronze to protect the left leg. This was because this body part protruded below the scutum and was thus a weak point, even though the soldier used his shield. Unlike the greaves of earlier centuries, the greave during the Punic Wars stopped below the knee.

Triarii had a hasta as part of their equipment. This was a heavy thrusting and javelin based on the Greek doru, which was even heavier than the pilum. A Triarius used this spear in the same way as a Greek hoplite, but could also throw it at the enemy before charging with his allies. In some cases, the hasta had a salamander killer like a doru, which could be used as a reserve spear head, or to finish off fallen enemies on the battlefield when the triarii marched in battle formation.

From the 4th century BC, the Romans used the scutum, probably adopted from the Celts just like the Montefortino helmet and the Lorica Hamata. This elongated shield was about 130 cm long during the republic and had an oval shape. At the front, it had a wooden rib along the length of the shield with a shield boss on it: this allowed the scutum to also be used as a thrusting weapon. 

Gnaeus has a Celtic sword of the La Tène B type for when his spear breaks or gets lost. This type of sword was adopted after the Celtic sack of Rome and would remain the standard weapon for Roman soldiers until the Second Punic War.