Roman Uniforms...ohh and proofreading

So I've promised a friend of mine that I would write up a story she particularly liked. The premise of this story was a young germanic princess captured and taken back to rome and abused during the general's triumph (where he enters rome in a victory celebration).

Now I want to make sure I have the vocabulary correct. I can find the names for the weapons, armor and units on the web. However, I can't find anything which tells me what the pieces of the uniform are called. In particular I want to know what the little skirt thing is called. Also whether and what kind of underwear was worn underneath the uniforms would be helpfull.

In a related question I have some problems with my stories needing proofreading. People seem to like the topics and the writing but some people are bothered by minor spelling and grammar errors. What is the chance I could find someone to help my check the spelling and grammar? I would be willing to reciprocate but since I'm not to great on the spelling and grammar in the first place I don't know how much this would help.

Peter

I'll be glad to help.
I'm already proofreading for 4 people though, and co-authoring one (not all of it BDSM related) so it might be a couple of days between the time you send it to me and the time I get it back to you...but if that's all right by you, email me at baemaminski@msn.com.

The fringed flap at the groin, dangling below the cuirass was called either an apron or pteruges, which sounds a little less effeminant. Romans didn't wear anything under their skirts, unless they were in a very cold clime (Britannia or northern Germania), where they might adopt the local trousers.

My reading indicates the the pteruges didn't come into even limited use in the Roman armies until the reforms of Marius among the officers (centurions and above to open) and Augustus among the soldiers. They weren't in general use until maybe 100AD, being optional before then. About the time they became generally issued, trousers became much more common, as they always had been amongest the auxialiary troops.

Previous to this, they just wore an above-the-knee tunic, and their armor came down nearly to the bottom hem of the tunic. The apron came into use as the armor shortened, to offer some limited protection for the family jewels.

Standard toys of death of the well equiped roman soldier...


Pilum - The famous javelin of the Roman war machine. All soldiers carried these, as they aproached the enemy they would launch these enmase into the enemy ranks before engaging.

Gladius - The standard Roman sword, short of blade but well made of iron or steel in later periods. This sword was primarilly a thrusting weapon, it was designed to utilize the rigid formation of the legion rapidly thrusting out behind a line of shields like a bunch of stinging teeth as the legion advanced over the top of their enemies.

Drusus - The sword of the officers, nearly always made of steel, generally more refined, nearly always steel bladed, and often adorned with artsy options. However, this blade was nearly the same as the gladius, it was the smae size, just the caddy model.

Spatha - The Roman cavalry sword, the direct ancestor of the long sword of the middle ages, the link of cavalry and the long bladed sword is obvious. Longer heavier made for slashing attacks bringing the sweet spot of the blade down upon infantry from the saddle or the chariot. This steel bladed weapon was quickly copied and adopted as the favorite weapon of most barbarians the Romans confronted, particuarily the Goths; who inturn passed this new toy on to the north and east.

Spear - a primary weapon of Rome just as it was the backbone of every military from antiquity to the early modern period.

Romans also employed slings, al-ah- David and Goliath fame, Romans used small balls of lead for greater range and accuracy, they called these projectiles: bullets.

Composite or Horn Bows - The standard bow of the romans were short powerful bows made of a combination of wood and horn or bone, giving it a permanent curved shape, though only specialists within the Roman army were equiped with these, most of them went to chariotiers. Bows were expensive to opperate.


~LT~

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lord Thomas

Standard toys of death of the well equiped roman soldier...


Pilum - The famous javelin of the Roman war machine. All soldiers carried these, as they aproached the enemy they would launch these enmase into the enemy ranks before engaging.

Gladius - The standard Roman sword, short of blade but well made of iron or steel in later periods. This sword was primarilly a thrusting weapon, it was designed to utilize the rigid formation of the legion rapidly thrusting out behind a line of shields like a bunch of stinging teeth as the legion advanced over the top of their enemies.

Drusus - The sword of the officers, nearly always made of steel, generally more refined, nearly always steel bladed, and often adorned with artsy options. However, this blade was nearly the same as the gladius, it was the smae size, just the caddy model.

Spatha - The Roman cavalry sword, the direct ancestor of the long sword of the middle ages, the link of cavalry and the long bladed sword is obvious. Longer heavier made for slashing attacks bringing the sweet spot of the blade down upon infantry from the saddle or the chariot. This steel bladed weapon was quickly copied and adopted as the favorite weapon of most barbarians the Romans confronted, particuarily the Goths; who inturn passed this new toy on to the north and east.

Spear - a primary weapon of Rome just as it was the backbone of every military from antiquity to the early modern period.

Romans also employed slings, al-ah- David and Goliath fame, Romans used small balls of lead for greater range and accuracy, they called these projectiles: bullets.

Composite or Horn Bows - The standard bow of the romans were short powerful bows made of a combination of wood and horn or bone, giving it a permanent curved shape, though only specialists within the Roman army were equiped with these, most of them went to chariotiers. Bows were expensive to opperate.


~LT~

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Bows were also largely regarded as useless for military work until after the fall of the Western Empire. It wasn't the cost so much as the method of use; Bows were generally pulled to the shoulder rather than the eye, resulting in greater power but significantly reduced accuracy. This was changed around the 4th century AD, and the later Byzantine soldiery, the Cataphracts, were accomplished bowmen.
Slingers, particularly the specialist slingers from the Balearic Islands, were extremely respected, and performed the function of sharpshooters, taking down enemy officers and sowing confusion among the enemy.

Not sure where I found this online or how accurate
it is, but I used it for a story I once wrote set in
Greco-Roman times.


Explanation of Ancient Roman Technical Terms
by Kenneth Wellesley

AUXILIARIES cavalry regiments and infantry cohorts (battalions), each about 500 or l,000 men strong, raised from non-Roman provincials and commanded by prefects, Roman officers who had served in the legions. These units were more mobile than the legions, to which they gave support on the flanks, front and rear. Their total strength throughout the territory of the empire was some 180,000 men.
CAPITOL eithe the Capitoline Hill, with or without the adjacent Arx (see map) or the principal building on it, the Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest.
CENTURION commander of a legionary half-company (century) of some eighty men. The centuries were paired to form a full company (maniple), one centurion being senior to the other.
CLIENT a dependant such as a freedman (or his descendant), who remained after emancipation under a legal and moral obligation to render services to his ex-master (patron) in return for favours and protection. Rulers of small kingdoms on the fringe of the empire, client-kings, stood in a similar relationship to the emperor, and could rely on Roman support so long as they retained the confidence of the suzerain.
CONSUL the highest executive official or 'magistrate' of the Roman People, and president of the senate. At any one time, there were two consuls acting as colleagues. Elected by the senate and with the emperor's approval for terms of two, four or six months, they were called suffect' if entering office after the initial pair of each year, after whom it was named. After election and before the assumption of the consulship, a consul-elect was called designate'. A repeated, and particularly a third, tenure was a proof of high status and imperial favour. An ex-consul ('consular') was competent to hold the most senior commands abroad.
FREEDMAN an ex-slave who had bought or been given his emancipation or 'manumission'; see client. The 'freedmen of Caesar' formed a class of senior civil servants wielding considerable power as members of the emperor's secretariat.
IMPERIAL AGENT a financial officer (knight or freedman) administering the imperial domain in a province, subordinate in rank and status to the governor but responsible directly to the emperor.
KNIGHT a member of the equestrian order, a class of Romans determined by birth and financial position, and inferior to the senatorial order. No obligation lay upon knights to serve the state, but if they chose an official career, a wide range of the less important executive and military positions lay open to them.
LEGION a heavy infantry formation numbering some 5,000 men who were Roman citizens recruited from Italy and the more-highly Romanized provinces. It was officered by a commander (legate), normally of the rank of praetor, by six staff-officers (tribunes), and by sixty company commanders (centurions). The men were equipped with spear, sword, dagger, helmet, body-armour and semi-cylindrical shield, and were used as a heavy thrusting force designed to cut a way through any opposition. When not actively campaigning, the legion was regularly employed on fortification, road-building and other ancillary tasks. It possessed a cavalry and artillery element. At the time with which the Histories are concerned there were some thirty legions with a total strength of about 150,000 men.
MAGISTRATE an official elected by the senate for a yearly term (in the case of consuls, for less than a yearly term) to conduct the deliberative, judicial and executive functions of the Roman People. The main grades, in ascending order of seniority, are: Quaestor, Praetor, Consul. After serving in Rome, they could expect promotion to posts of appropriate seniority abroad.
PALACE a complex of buildings of many kinds occupying most of the Palatine Hill south west of the forum, and including the residence of the emperor.
PRAETOR one of c. eighteen annual magistrates with judicial functions. The minimum age of tenure was normally thirty years.
PRETORIAN GUARD a "corps d'elite", mostly serving in a ceremonial capacity in Rome and in immediate attendance on the emperor. There were nine (under Vitellius sixteen) cohorts of l,000 men each, whose barracks lay outside the walls of Rome on the north east . Each cohort was commanded by a tribune, and the whole body by one or more prefects, usually of equestrian rank.
QUAESTOR one of c. twenty annual magistrates with minor executive and financial functions. The minimum age of tenure was normally twenty-five years, and election to the quaestorship conveyed membership of the senate.
ROSTRA a high platform or tribunal in the forum from which magistrates addressed the assembled Roman People.
TRIBUNE either a legionary staff-officer
or a commander of a pretorian, urban or watch cohort
or (as tribune of the plebs) an annually elected official who under the republic exercised a check upon the administrative powers of magistrates by virtue of his veto and legal inviolability; under the principate the office was overshadowed by the tribunician power enjoyed by the emperor.
TRIUMPH a ceremonial procession of troops, commander, prisoners and booty through Rome to the Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest at the conclusion of a successful campaign. Under the emperors, who were themselves the supreme commanders, only the ornaments were awarded to the field commander .
URBAN COHORTS gendarmeric units (four in number and with a strength of 1,000 men each under Vitellius) serving mostly in Rome. Each of these was commanded by a tribune, and the whole force by the chief-of-police (city Prefect).
WATCH seven cohorts of police and firemen, each l,000 men strong and commanded by a tribune, responsible for the fourteen regions into which the city of Rome was divided. The whole force was headed by an equestrian prefect of the watch.

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Originally Posted by Quale

In a related question I have some problems with my stories needing proofreading.

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I don't mind proofreading. You can email me if you want.

One thing to add though. At the height of the empire it's surprising how few Roman soldiers were actually Roman.

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Originally Posted by ProjectEuropa

I don't mind proofreading. You can email me if you want.

One thing to add though. At the height of the empire it's surprising how few Roman soldiers were actually Roman.

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As the saying went from Roman Mothers to their sons, "Come back with your shield, or on it." The custom declined. So did Rome.

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Originally Posted by chksng19

As the saying went from Roman Mothers to their sons, "Come back with your shield, or on it." The custom declined. So did Rome.

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Actually, that was the Spartans. Rome's military was a professional force, not Spartan style citizen soldiers.

The real strength of Rome was it's civil power. Every Roman had a stake in his state, and a reason to follow the laws and customs. A perfect example was Hannibal's invasion of the Italian Penninsula. Hannibal trampled the professional forces sent against him into the dust; but Rome did not fall. Her people rallied, made a new army, and kicked Carthaginian butt all the way back to Carthage itself.

Rome fell due to two things: external pressure and internal failure. The barbarians just kept coming, one tribe after another. But far worse, the Roman civil contract was broken, and it became every man for himself. Without that unity, Rome had no chance; and it's because they
maintained that unity that Eastern Rome, Byzantium, survived another 800 years.