What were Roman soldiers of ancient Rome called?

Answer 1

Roman soldiers, as with soldiers in any army had names based on their positions. As the Roman Republic had lasted 500 years, the empire extended it self in to the 5th century. Thus the names of military men also changed. In the time of the emperor Trajan, the 30 legions under his command were as a group called "legionaries". All or most of the legions were composed of Roman citizens. Each one was heavily armed and schooled in the battle formations. Separate units in the legions were commanded by officers called " centurions" They enforced the discipline of their troops and led them into battle. A centurion was not an aristocrat. Each centurion was backed up by two subordinates to help maintain order. They held the titles of signifer and optio.The largest group in the divisions in a legion were infantry men or Calvary men. Legionaries assigned to protecting the emperor in Rome were called the Praetorian Guard. They had their own camp on the edge of the city. For a time under Augustus a member of the Praetorian Guard was always close by and allowed only one senator at a time to approach Augustus. The senators were also searched for weapons.

Back to the legions: At times the legions were accompanied by soldiers called auxiliaries. They were not Roman citizens. These were skilled warriors and as an example were superior archers or horsemen.

As mentioned earlier, the hundreds of years that the Roman legions existed brought on differences among each other. Under the Republic, the legion had five different sections. 1. The cavalry

2.light infantry

3. Three types of heavy infantry

In the front lines of the legion, the first row, were soldiers called hastati. They were usually young with little experience.

Battle lines behind the hastati were several lines of experienced soldiers. The Romans considered men in their late twenties & early 30's as men in their prime & had battle experience. They were called principes.

The back lines were made up of older experienced men, they were called triarii

Military commanders held various titles. Some were appointed as consuls, some not.

Answer 2

The Roman army initially was made up of soldiers from Italy, but as they expanded they recruited free men from the provinces. Their auxiliary forces consisted mostly of provincials and also their cavalry.