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Brian Girard's
EARLY IMPERIAL ROMANS
(DBA II/56)
> Armies of the Fanatici > DBA Resources > Fanaticus
This is my Early Imperial Roman army circa 98 CE to 192 CE, a
period beginning with the reign of emperor Trajan (98-177 CE) and ending with
the reign of Commodus (180-192 CE). This is the period widely considered to be
the nadir of classical Roman civilization, when the empire’s territorial
hegemony reached its greatest extent and its culture reigned
supreme. The figures are mostly Corvis Belli, with a few Essex cavalry pieces.
The shield transfers are Veni Vidi Vici.
Under Trajan, the Romans destroyed two inveterate foes—Dacia and Parthia—both of
whom never rose again. The Picts were driven into the far northern reaches of
Caledonia, the Germans and Sarmatians were effectively checked, and the empire’s
southern borders were pushed out to the very edges of the great southern desert
(the Sahara). One can’t help but wonder what might have been had Trajan survived
to carry out his planned invasion and conquest of Germania (or if any of his
successors would have had the fortitude to carry out his plans). Pushing the
borders of the empire as far as the River Albis (the Elbe) or the River Vistula,
both options being considered, would have shortened the empire’s defensive limes
considerably, thereby allowing the Romans to make much more efficient use of
their military resources (i.e., a shorter border would be easier to defend with
less troops, thereby saving time, money, and other resources). As it was,
Hadrian (117-138) decided to abandon the occupation of Dacia, Caledonia, and
Parthia, preferring to fall back on the pre-Trajanic borders and adopt a
defensive military stance.
Roman Command Options (1x4 Bd)
I’ve got two different infantry commands here, depending on what
I want to portray. The stand on the left is a command unit of Praetorian Guards
escorting Trajan in the field. The stand on the right is a Roman governor being
escorted by a command unit of his lanciarii (in this period, lanciarii were a
governor’s elite bodyguard).
Roman Legionaries (4x4 Bd)
Beginning with the reign of Trajan, many legionaries were
provided with a new type of armor—the banded-plate lorica segmentata—and
increased leg and arm protection in order to combat the fearsome Dacian falx (a
two-handed curved chopping sword). The new armor proved useful against the
overhand slashing swords of many European opponents, and its use
spread throughout the legions of the western provinces of the empire. However,
it does not seem to have been popular in the eastern and African provinces,
where the blazing sun no doubt made any kind of plate armor extremely
uncomfortable. Even in the west, it was not universal. Nevertheless, along with
the scutum, this armor gives the legionaries a distinct appearance from the
auxilia (and looks cool close up). Note the Centurion and Decurion on either
side of the close-up stands (the Centurion wears a muscled cuirass, and the decurion has the distinctive feathers on either side of his helmet).
Roman Auxilia (4x4 Ax)
Legionary and auxiliary equipment was not radically different,
and in some contemporary artwork it is difficult to differentiate them. It
cannot even be said with certainty that they received inferior equipment—auxilia
of this period being of very high quality. Rather, the main difference between
the two types of heavy Roman infantry was tactical; the auxilia being slightly
more flexible and mobile. However, it does appear that units of auxilia used a
smaller oval shield (rather than a scutum) and never adopted the lorica
segmentata (continuing to use mail and scale). Like in the legions, the primary
noncom officers of the auxilia were centurions and decurions, both of which are
included in these stands.
Roman Cavalry (1 or 2x3 Cv)
The Romans were never very keen on cavalry until late in the
empire’s history. For the most part, allies provided cavalry units. However,
from the time of Caesar, the Roman cavalry arm was developed into a fairly
efficient auxiliary component. They were armed and armored very similar to
infantry auxilia and were likely recruited from the provinces in a similar
fashion. The exception to this would be the cavalry arm of the Praetorian
Guards, as well as the aristocratic elite that commanded the armies. In addition
to one stand of Roman auxiliary cavalry (oval shields), I have a stand of
Praetorian cavalry (bearing their unique elongated hexagon shields emblazoned
with four scorpians) and a stand for the mounted general option of the DBA list
(vexillum standard and trumpeter). The command unit is Corvis Belli, the others
are Essex.
Equites Contariorum (1x3 Kn)
Although not included in the DBA list (I assume because they
were not used in large enough numbers to justify inclusion), starting around 100
CE the Romans began to develop special heavy cavalry units inspired by Sarmatian
lancers and Parthian cataphracts. I have these Corvis Belli figs for my DBM
version of this army and couldn’t resist including them
here.
Cheiroballista (1xArt)
Although the Romans employed a huge array of different artillery
pieces, I chose to depict my personal favorite, the Cheiroballista mounted on a
cart. This is essentially an ordinary bolt-throwing engine mounted on a
mule
cart to give it mobility and to allow it to fire over the heads of friendly
infantry units! The existence of this type of artillery has been debated, but a
panel from the frieze on Trajan’s column clearly shows such weapons being used
in the manner I have chosen to depict.
Numidian Foederati (1x2 LH)
The Numidians (and also the pre-Islamic Moors) of North Africa
provided Roman armies of this period with relatively high quality light
skirmishing cavalry. Although other allies provided greater numbers of such
troops for specific campaigns, Numidian LH were a regular (and much valued)
component. Despite their status as non-citizen allies, these troops were often
honored for bravery in combat and loyalty to the empire.
Legionary Camp
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Fanaticus
Last Update:
29 March 2008
My thanks to Brian Girard for sharing these shots and notes
Questions, comments, and feedback welcome.
Send input to Chris Brantley at brant@erols.com. |
