The Orb

Ever wonder what you would do if you were separated from the main bulk of your army, and you are surrounded by the enemy? well, The Orb is your friend. The Orb is a roman tactic that was used only in emergency. during a time of retreat or if a group of soldiers were separated, they would from a circle in order to defend all their sides, in order to do this, the roman army had to have been extremely disciplined and trustworthy. they had to be disciplined because they would not be able to move or they could risk exposing their nearby friend, and you had to trust the people in your circle because it may not be you who makes the fatale mistake, but you are relying on others to keep your life safe... Good Luck, hope you have good friends!

The Wedge

A key formation used by the romans against the Germans and the Celtics. To achieve the wedge, the roman soldiers would line up in the shape of an arrow head. the head of the arrow would be a single roman solider. then, once in the triangle, they would wedge themselves into the heart of the enemy, forcing the enemy into close hand to hand combat. due to the length of the German and Celtic swords, the romans "Gladius" was a key component of the wedge because it allowed them a lethal weapon in close combat fighting. In modern times, the wedge formation is used in the Air-force in order to separate enemy fighters into one on one dog fights.

The Skirmishing Formation

Created by the romans as a way to defend against Calvary; has been heavily adapted and modified and is still used today as a double shooting formation. The skirmish formation consisted of one front row of soldiers, who put up there shields to create a wall, and a back formation who mounted their spears on the shoulders of the line in front. The line in front would also mount their spears on their shields in order to create a deadly wall. the one weakness was an attack from the flank or the sides because the formation could not completely defend all sides.

The Catapult

One the of the greatest siege engines of all time, the catapult was the destroyer of walls. Known in the ancient world as the wall crusher; The word 'Catapult' comes from the two Greek words "kata" (downward) and "pultos" (a small circular battle shield). the inventor of the catapult was a man known as Hero of Alexandria. the catapult was used in order to hurl boulders or other projectiles large defenses in order to break through enemy defenses bringing with it the era of siege engines.

The Gladius

the gladius, meaning sword, was the main weapon and the life of a roman solider. through out the century's, the gladius has changed its shape copying the Spanish in the early part of the Spanish invasion, to the Greeks in the 3rd century BC. contrary to popular belief, the gladius could be used for both stabbing and slashing. the hilt of the swords, ussaly made of a high class material, were extremely elaborate especiily thoughs of the officers and allighnment.
Weight
1.2-1.6 kg(should be ~700g)
Length
64-81 cm(sword length should be ~60cm)
Width
4-8 cm (blade width should be ~5cm)

(information privided by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius)

Equipment

As of any soldier now days, the ancient romans had their own uniform on which the basis for all other military uniforms are designed off today. as far as personal weapons, i already discussed the Pugio; however, roman soldiers were also given a "Gladius": which was their main weapon of choice, which would compare to modern day assault rifles, your Gladius, or sword, was your life... literally. for more information on the Gladius please follow the link, but be advised i will be posting some more on this in a latter posting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladius) as well as the Gladius, roman soldiers were assigned a javelin, for long range fighting and for later improving the tortoise formation, a bow, for long range attacks and much more... but now i will focus on the armer of ancient romans: each soldier was assigned his own piece of chain mail, which was basically sheets of metal that were piled up overlapping each other, as well as chain mail, a roman soldier would be assigned his main piece of body armer,Lorica squamata or scale armor

consisting of a shoulder piece, chest guard, and grieves.

There has over time been much debate regarding how much weight a legionary actually had to carry. Now, 30 kg (ca. 66 lbs) is generally considered the upper limit for an infantryman in modern day armies. Calculations have been made which, including the entire equipment and the 16 day's worth of rations, brings the weight to over 41 kg (ca. 93 lbs). (click here for more information or for a more in depth look here) (photos used from here)

Testudo or Turtle Formation

The turtle formation is one of the most well known roman formations. its function was very cleaver like most things the romans invented. it was designed as a way to by past the archers of an army, and then explode into a full blown head on attack. while this may seem odd, the romans were exceptional at fighting at close range and the Testudo was essential for them to achieve their close combat. while there are countless records of this formation, an obvious one was written by: Plutarch who describes this formation as used by Mark Antony during his invasion of Parthia in 36 BC:

"Then the shield-bearers wheeled round and enclosed the light-armed troops

within their ranks, dropped down to one knee, and held their shields out as a defensive barrier. The men behind them held their shields over the heads of the first rank, while the third rank did the same for the second rank. The resulting shape, which is a remarkable sight, looks very like a roof, and is the surest protection against arrows, which just glance off it."

the Turtle formation of today would most likely be compared to a tank which was designed in order to penetrate the range of an enemy and get close in.

The Pugio

the Pugio a.k.a. dagga shown above was

primarily used as a side arm in the roman army, has carried on to be one of the most important pieces of equipment for ancient romans and modern day soldiers. the Pugio of today would compare to a combat knife, which is the modern day short sword or dagger of our modern army(shown left).