The Roman army (Latin: exercitus Romanorum; Ancient Greek: στρατός/φοσσᾶτον Ῥωμαίων) is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the Roman Kingdom (to c. 500 BC), the Roman Republic (500–31 BC), the Roman Empire (31 BC – 395/476 AD) and its successor, the East Roman or Byzantine Empire (395–1453). It is thus a term that spans approximately 2,000 years, during which the Roman armed forces underwent numerous permutations in composition, organization, equipment and tactics, while conserving a core of lasting traditions.
Read more about Roman Army: Early Roman Army (to C. 300 BC), Roman Army of The Mid-Republic (c. 300 – 107 BC), Imperial Roman Army (30 BC – AD 284 ), Late Roman Army/East Roman Army (284–641), Komnenian Byzantine Army (1081–1204), Palaiologan Byzantine Army (1261–1453)
Famous quotes containing the words roman and/or army:
“There is one great fact, characteristic of this our nineteenth century, a fact which no party dares deny. On the one hand, there have started into life industrial and scientific forces which no epoch of former human history had ever suspected. On the other hand, there exist symptoms of decay, far surpassing the horrors recorded of the latter times of the Roman empire. In our days everything seems pregnant with its contrary.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“A poor widow, by the name of Baird, has a son in the Army that for some offence has been sentenced to serve a long time without pay, or at most, with very little pay. I do not like this punishment of withholding pay—it falls so very hard upon poor families.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)