Exercĭtus
（
στρατός, στράτευμα). A body of men organized and armed
for the defence of the State; an army.
I. Greek
The most military people among the Greeks were the Spartans, whose whole life was spent in
the practice of martial exercises, so that even the meals shared in common by all free
Spartan citizens (
συσσιτία) were arranged with reference to
military service. (See
Syssitia.) With them the
duty of actual service began with the twentieth year, and did not end until their capacity
for that service ceased to exist. After their sixtieth year, however, all Spartan soldiers
were exempt from foreign duty. In the Lacedaemonian army, the heavy-armed troops (
ὁπλῖται) were originally all citizens, but as early as the Persian
Wars, the perioechi served side by side with the native Spartans, though in separate
divisions (
λόχοι). The Helots who accompanied the troops
served as attendants (
ὑπασπισταί) to the hoplites, and as
light-armed troops in battle. (See
Helotae;
Hypaspistae.) A picked body of men (
ἱππεῖς) was formed from among the hoplites, and served as a special
body-guard to the kings. They were 300 in number, and were all active, powerful young men
under thirty years of age, selected and commanded by three officers, known as
ἱππαγρέται. The
ἱππεῖς, as the
name implies, must have been originally horsemen, but were no longer so in the time of the
Persian Wars (
Herod.viii. 124). A corps of light infantry was
formed in the district of Sciritis, and was hence called Sciritae, the especial duty assigned
to them being the outpost service of the camp, reconnoitring on the march, and in battle the
support of the left wing. From the end of the fifth century B.C., the Spartan army was
divided into six
morae (
μόραι), each
commanded by a
πολέμαρχος (
Xen. Lac. 11.4). As the number of Spartan citizens decreased, these
ultimately composed merely the
cadre of the
mora,
which were brought up to their full complement by the addition of perioechi; though the
officers were always Spartans, as were the members of the royal staff. Each
mora was divided into four (or five) companies (
λόχοι). The cavalry played only an unimportant part in the Spartan army. (See
Hippeis.) In time of war the ephors (see
Ephori) commanded the veteran troops. In early times the
kings divided the supreme command between them, but after B.C. 512, only one commanded,
unless more than one general was needed from the circumstances of the case. The Spartans
maintained a fleet in which Helots served as marines and oarsmen. In cases of great necessity
these were sometimes transferred to the army to serve as hoplites, in which case they
received their freedom, and were then known as
νεοδαμώδεις.
The fleet was commanded by
ναύαρχοι, or admirals.
At Athens every freeborn man was liable to military service, the only exceptions being the
holders of public offices, and, in early times, the very lowest class of citizens. Every
youth on reaching his eighteenth year (
ἔφηβος) served for
ten years, most frequently on the frontier, during which time his military education was
completed, though he was then liable to serve at any time up to his sixtieth year. In time of
war the Assembly fixed the number of men required for duty: in extreme cases a
levée en masse (
πανστρατιά) was
resorted to. Ten generals (
στρατηγοί) were elected by the
people annually, and it was their duty to levy the troops and organize them in such a way
that the men of each tribe (
φυλή) were commanded by the same
officer (
φύλαρχοι). These phylarchs, as well as the
taxiarchs (
ταξίαρχοι), or captains of companies, were
elected by the people. This levy served as hoplites, while the men of the lowest
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Early Greek Soldier. (Stelé of Aristion.)
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class (
θῆτες) were sometimes used as light-armed
troops (
πελτάσται), and sometimes with the fleet. As the age
of military service extended from the eighteenth to the sixtieth year, there were thus
forty-two classes of age, and every man was mustered in a list (
κατάλογος) under the name of the Archon Eponymus under whom he first reached the
military age (Schömann,
Antiq. Greece, Eng. trans. p. 423; but cf.
Aristotle,
Polit. Ath. 53, with Kenyon's note). The men of the first two
classes who served on the frontier were called
περίπολοι.
After the twentieth year they could be sent on foreign service. The army contained ten
battalions (
τάξεις), sometimes called
φυλαί, of which the subdivisions were called
λόχοι. The troops were sometimes equipped with the aid of the resident aliens
(
μέτοιχοι) of Attica, and in earlier times by the
contingents contributed by the allies. From the time of Pericles on, the cavalry received pay
amounting to some four obols, or about $0.12 a day, with an allowance for the horseman's
attendant. On the cavalry, see
Hippeis.
In most of the other Greek States the hoplites, consisting of wealthy citizens, formed the
main strength of the army, and generally helped to turn the scale in engagements in which the
light-armed troops and the cavalry played a subordinate part. They fought in the
φάλαγξ (q. v.), in closely serried lines eight deep. The flower of
the troops were stationed on the right wing as the post of honour, to advance to meet the foe
amid the singing of the paean. When at a distance of about 200 yards, at the signal of a
trumpet, they raised the battle-cry (
ἀλαλά) and charged
either at a run or at quick step. It was only the Spartans who slowly advanced at an even
pace and to the sound of flutes. A request for permission to bury the dead was the formal
admission of defeat. The enduring token of victory was a trophy composed of the armour
captured from the defeated side. It was usual to join battle on ground which was suitable for
the phalanx. The Peloponnesian War was the means of introducing many innovations, including
the formation of a regular force of light infantry, called
πελτασταί (q. v.). Still more decisive in the transformation of the
general system of Greek warfare was the famous retreat of the Ten Thousand, the first
important mercenary army among the Greeks which tried to make the phalanx of hoplites suit
the ground better, and to utilize at the same time the light infantry, or peltasts, and the
γυμνῆτες (spearmen, bowmen, and slingers). Iphicrates, the
first distinguished general of mercenary troops, introduced a lighter equipment by
substituting a small
πέλτη for the heavy shield, adopting a
longer sword and spear, lighter shoes, and a linen corslet.
In the course of the fourth century B.C. the army composed of civilians gave way more and
more to the mercenary army, which, by its intimate knowledge of the use of its weapons,
gained an immense advantage in actual war. An important novelty was the oblique battle-order,
the discovery of
Epaminondas (q.v.). In this
the great mass and strength of the hoplites was drawn up in considerable depth on one of the
two wings, without any expansion of the front. The hoplites could thus make a vigorous attack
on the centre of the enemy's wing, while the true centre and the other wing of the assailants
were held in reserve, with a view to advancing later to crush the enemy.
The Macedonian method of warfare, invented by King Philip II. and his son Alexander the
Great, was based upon the Greek military organization adapted to Macedonian requirements. For
this purpose, that organization was duly developed, and the different parts of the army, the
infantry and cavalry, light and heavy-armed troops, military levies, allies and mercenary
troops, were blended together into a far freer and more effective system than the Greeks ever
attained in their art of war. In point of numbers the strongest component part of the
Macedonian army, as elsewhere, was the heavy and light infantry. The former consisted of the
πεζέταιροι, a body of Macedonians of free but not noble
origin, corresponding to the Greek hoplites, though not so heavily armed. Like the hoplites,
they fought in a phalanx, but this was generally deeper than theirs, being eight and
afterwards sixteen men deep. They formed six
τάξεις,
corresponding to the number of the districts of Macedonia, each of which was represented by
one
τάξις. (See further under
Phalanx.) The
ὑπασπισταί were the
equivalent of the Hellenic peltasts, and were a standing corps of 3000 men. Besides these
there were strong contingents of other kinds of light infantry, especially spearmen and
archers. While in the Greek armies the number of the cavalry had always been small, they
formed nearly one-sixth of the whole army which Alexander took with him on his Asiatic
expedition, and consisted of an equal number of light and heavy cavalry. (See further under
Hippeis.) The central point in the great battles
of Alexander was the phalanx; on the right of this were placed the
ὑπασπισταί, the heavy and light Macedonian cavalry, the spearmen, and archers;
on the left, the Thracian peltasts, the Hellenic contingent of cavalry, with the Thessalian
cavalry, and light troops, horsemen, and archers. The two wings were reckoned from the centre
of the phalanx, the right being usually reserved for the attack, and led by the king. The
light troops began the attack, which was supported by the heavy Macedonian cavalry, followed
by the
ὑπασπισταί. The heavy infantry came up in
detachments to keep the line unbroken, and formed an oblique battle-array. Thus the main
attack was made by the heavy cavalry, and no longer, as with the other Greeks, by the
phalanx. On the contrary, the phalanx formed the solid centre of the whole army —a
centre which it was impossible for the enemy to break, and which was itself irresistible in
attack. Under the successors of Alexander, the phalanx was, however, regarded as
strengthening the whole army and lengthening the formation, rather than as a factor of
offensive operations. The battle was decided by the wings, which were composed of
cavalry—one wing being destined for the attack while the other remained on the
defensive. The light infantry and the elephants which were now brought into use were brought
to bear as occasion demanded, but were chiefly used in masking the preparatory movements of
the attacking wing, very much, in fact, as cavalry is used in the modern German tactics.
During the third century B.C., the cavalry declined in importance and hence in numbers,
while the heavy-armed infantry, with the formidable
σάρισσα,
twenty-four feet long, became more and more effective. The phalanx was now used in attacking,
and its onset usually decided the battle. In that century, mercenary armies became very
common, and at last Greek military science yielded to that of the Romans mainly because the
tactics of the phalanx were ill-suited to a hand-to-hand engagement. See
Lochus;
Mora;
Phalanx.
II. Roman
Down to the year B.C. 104, when the people, alarmed by the advance of the formidable
Cimbri, kept C. Marius in the consulate for five years in disregard of the Constitution, the
Roman army had been nothing more than a militia of citizens, the body of the free burgesses
in arms, as established by Servius Tullius. (See
Comitia
Centuriata.) The whole population was divided into five classes. The first class was
divided between cavalry (
equites) and infantry (
pedites), and all five classes into
iuniores and
seniores, the former being employed for active service in the field, and the latter
for the defence of the city. Every citizen from his seventeenth to his forty-fifth or
fiftieth year was liable to service unless he belonged to the lowest class (
proletarii), or had already served in twenty campaigns on foot or in ten campaigns as
a cavalryman. The military levy was by tribes, and was made in a general assembly of citizens
at the Capitol or on the Campus Martius, an equal number of men being taken from each tribe.
(See
Dilectus.) The regular levy was 8500
seniores and 17,000
iuniores, a total of 25,500 men.
These were formed into four legions of 4250 or 4500 men each, and a body of 1800 cavalry. The
rest of the recruits formed a reserve to supply the losses sustained by the legions. There
were generally two consular armies, each of two legions, besides contingents of the allies of
equal infantry and double cavalry strength, as the native Roman cavalry was inferior, and
preferred always to fight dismounted. A legion was made up as follows: 1200
velites (light-armed skirmishers, also called
accensi, rorarii,
and
ferentarii), 1200
hastati, 1200
principes, 600
triarii, and 300
equites.
The
hastati, principes, and
triarii were each
divided into ten
manipuli, or companies, and an equal number of
velites were attached to each. The
hastati and
principes formed respectively the first and second line,
and were armed with spears (
hastae); the
triarii
were the reserve, and carried the
pilum, a short and very heavy spear,
which they hurled into the ranks of the enemy immediately before closing with them in a
hand-to-hand struggle with the sword (
gladius).
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Roman Soldiers. (Column of Trajan.)
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Each
manipulus was commanded by a centurion (
centurio), having a second centurion for his lieutenant. The first centurion of the
first
manipulus of the
triarii, who was known as
primus pilus, in the absence of a superior officer, took command of the
whole legion. The chief command of the legion was held in turn by the six military tribunes
(
tribuni militum), each of whom commanded for two months at a time; but
after the first civil wars, a single officer (
legatus) permanently
directed each legion, having the military tribunes as his staff.
The protracted wars with Pyrrhus and Carthage led to the first important change in the
constitution of the army. From this time, the practice of giving the soldiers regular pay was
established, and paved the way for the establishment of a regular army, which took place, as
noted above, in the consulship of Marius, from which time the enlisted man was a professional
soldier, serving continuously in the army for twenty years. The legion now consisted of 6000
troops, divided into ten cohorts of 600 men each, uniformly armed with the
pilum. The place of the
velites was supplied by foreign
mercenaries, bowmen (
sagittarii) from Crete, javelin-men (
iaculatores) from Mauretania, and slingers (
funditores) from the
Baleares. The cavalry was also chiefly foreign, with a few Roman
equites
in special posts of honour. The general had a body-guard (
praetoriani）
of some 5000 men, with high pay and special privileges. At this time the silver eagle was
adopted as the standard (see
Signum;
Vexillum), and was carried by the first century of the
first cohort. There were also auxiliary troops of varying number divided into
cohortes, and consisting of both infantry and cavalry.
Under Caesar the legion consisted nominally of about 5000 men, though actually of less.
According to Rüstow it was divided into ten cohorts of 300 or 360 men each; each
cohort into three maniples of 100 to 120 men each; and each maniple into two centuries of 50
to 60 men each. In battle the ten cohorts were regularly drawn up as in the following figure,
which represents the
acies triplex of Caesar:
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Acies triplex of Caesar.
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The cavalry, divided into
turmae, or squadrons, and commanded by a
decurio, was usually stationed on both wings; but at Pharsalus on only
one; while at Bibracté it was held in the rear. The defensive order of battle was
the hollow square (
orbis), which corresponds with the formation on the
march called
agmen quadratum. The general term for the army on the march
is
agmen; in battle order,
acies. When the signal
for the march was given, the
extraordinarii (q. v.) with the allies of
the right wing moved first, then the legions, and last the allies of the left wing with part
of the cavalry who were said
elaudere agmen or
cogere
agmen. An army marching in close order was called
agmen iustum or
agmen pilatum. The van is
primum agmen; the
centre,
medium agmen; the rear,
extremum or
novissimum agmen. The formation called
agmen quadratum,
shown below, was adopted when a sudden attack was expected. The baggage was then placed
within the lines.
The commander-in-chief was called
dux or
imperator; the commanders of the legions,
legati; the staff of
the legions were the
tribuni militum; the orderlies and aides,
contubernales or
comites praetori; the paymaster and
quartermaster-general,
quaestor. In case there were not sufficient
legates, the quaestor also commanded the legion.
Under Augustus the completion of the Roman standing army was carried out, and twenty-five
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Agmen Quadratum. (Antonine Column.)
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legions were maintained throughout the Empire, besides the Praetorian
Guard. Under Trajan there were thirty legions; under Septimius Severus, thirty-three. At this
time the name
legatus was changed to
praefectus,
the first cohort was doubled in strength (
cohors milliaria), and the
minimum strength of the legion was fixed at 6100 infantry and 726 cavalry. See
Legio.
Under the Republic and the early Empire, the military drill was very severe, comprising
running, jumping, wrestling, swimming (both naked and in full armour), besides drill, the use
of intrenching tools, and long marches at the rate of four miles per hour, with a load of
from 35 to 60 lbs. This was required not only from recruits but from veterans as well. The
equipment of the soldier was very heavy. The wagons transported the general baggage (
impedimenta) and the tents; yet each soldier, besides his shield, helmet,
breastplate,
pilum, and sword, was obliged to carry corn for seventeen
days, stakes for the palisade of the camp, and intrenching tools (Veget. i. 19).
In the time of Polybius the regular pay of a soldier of the legion was about $0.07 per diem
(1/3 of a
denarius), that of a centurion, $0.14; and that of a
cavalryman, $0.20. Caesar fixed the pay of a soldier at 225
denarii
(about $45) per annum. Under Domitian it was raised to 300 denarii ($60). Out of this the
soldier paid for his clothes and accoutrements (
Tac.
Ann. i. 17). The only superior officer's pay that is known is that of
the
tribunus legionis, in the third century A.D., when it was 25,000
sesterces ($1000). On the pay and other service conditions of the Praetorian Guard, see
Praetoriani.
The regular food of the Roman soldier was wheat made into a kind of porridge (
puls) or bread (
panis), and occasionally meat and
vegetables (
legumina). Vinegar was allowed the soldiers for the drink
called
posca (q. v.). Provisions were also often gathered by foraging,
in which case they naturally depended on the soldier's luck. For the rewards of military
service, see the articles
Corona;
Ovatio;
Triumphus.
Military punishments were of various sorts, comprising (
a) whipping
(
castigatio); (
b) a fine (
pecuniaria multa); (
c) loss of rank (
militiae
mutatio); (
d) drumming out of camp (
ignominiosa
missio; cf. the pseud.
Bell. Afr. 54, 4); (
e) the
substitution of barley for wheat in their rations; (
f) decimation (see
Decimatio); (
g) death,
which could be inflicted only by the consul under the Republic, and by the emperor or
legatus under the Empire.
On his honourable discharge (
honesta missio), the soldier received
either land or a present of money, ranging from 3000 denarii ($600) to 5000 denarii ($1000).
A discharge for physical disability or sickness was called
causaria
missio.
Bibliography
An extensive bibliography on the Greek army will be found in the article “Die
griechischen Kriegsalterthümer” in Iwan Müller's
Handbuch
der klassischen Alterthumswissenschaft, iv. pp. 226-231
(1887). Good
special works are Rüstow and
Köchly, Geschichte des
griechischen Kriegswesens (1852); Köpke,
Kriegswesen der
Griechen in heroischen Zeitalter; and
Droysen, Untersuchungen
über Alexander des Grossens Heerwesen und Kriegsführung
(1885).
On the military organization of Rome, a vast bibliography is collected by Schiller in Iwan
Müller's
Handbuch, vol. ii. The following works will be found useful:
Lange, Historia Mutationum Rei Militaris Romanorum (1846);
Rüstow,
Heerwesen und Kriegsführung Cäsars, 2d ed.
(1862);
Judson, Caesar's Army (1888);
Lindenschmidt, Die Tracht und Bewaffnung des römischen Heeres
während der Kaiserzeit (1882); Von
Göler,
Cäsars gallischer Krieg (1880); Hartung,
Römische Auxiliartruppen (1870-75); and
Bouché-Leclercq,
Institutions Romaines, pt. iv.
(1884).
On the arms, equipment, etc., of the soldiers, see
Arma;
Caliga;
Clipeus;
Funda;
Galea;
Gladius;
Hasta;
Lorica;
Ocrea;
Pilum;
Scutum. On the different
branches of the service, see
Equites;
Funditores;
Iaculatores;
Mercenarii;
Praetoriani;
Sagittarii;
Velites. On the system of
encampment, see
Castra. On the functions of the
general, see
Imperator.
