Roman army
Topic: The Roman Empire · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
The Roman army was a paid professional force. Soldiers had to serve for at least 25 years. This was unusual: Iran's army was made up of conscripts, men forced to serve. Rome's army was the largest organised body in the empire, with about 600,000 soldiers by the fourth century. It could decide which emperor rose or fell. Soldiers often protested, and sometimes mutinied, for better pay and conditions. The emperor, the aristocracy and the army were the three main players in Roman politics. If the armies split, civil war followed.
Example
During the third-century crisis, armies kept making and breaking rulers. There were 25 emperors in 47 years, and taxes rose to pay for the army.
Don't confuse with
- Sasanian (Iranian) army: it was made up of conscripts, not paid long-service professionals.