Ancient European hierarchy

The range of ranks in ancient Europe was too large, because Rome's military establishment was relatively sound and the research was relatively thorough, so the Roman military system was provided as a reference!

Changes in the establishment of Roman army

* * * and the middle period (3rd century BC to BC 1 century)-heavy infantry composed of Roman citizens.

Like the sovereign state of ancient Greece, the basic principle of Roman military system in the early and middle period was that citizens should bring their own equipment for compulsory military service. For Roman citizens, military service is not so much an obligation as a lofty right representing honor. Especially in the * * * and early days, military organizations almost directly played a role as political entities (military associations).

At that time, all citizens aged 17 to 46 were obliged to enlist in the army and were divided into four arms according to their age and the amount of property they owned.

First of all, young people and those who can't afford to bring heavy infantry equipment by themselves act as light infantry called "Willetts". Without armor, they only rely on helmets and small round shields with a diameter of about 1 m to protect themselves, and use several light spears and long swords as offensive weapons. In actual combat, light infantry are generally deployed at the forefront of the front line, giving full play to their machine power to carry out small-scale battles.

Young people with certain property act as "Hastati", and mature people are called "bullinger Pei", which constitutes the main force of heavy infantry. Their equipment is exactly the same. They are all dressed in full armor and holding the famous large square shield "Schothom". Their weapons are a wide-body double-edged dagger "Glatis" and two spears-a large heavy javelin "Pirum" and a small light javelin "Pyrah". These spears have a unique structure. Once they hit the target, they will break to prevent being thrown back by the enemy. Besides throwing, it can also be used as an ordinary pike.

The oldest and most experienced military personnel belong to "Tori Ali". Their equipment is equivalent to hastati and Bringippes, but they don't have spears, but they hold a pike called Hasta.

In addition, the elderly aged 47 to 60 are obliged to join the garrison in Rome at any time, although they do not need to serve in military uniforms in the field.

In addition to the infantry (Miletus) mentioned above, wealthy citizens often fight as cavalry or knights (Exeter). But at that time, Roman riding was not very good (they didn't even have pedals), so cavalry was generally not used for group assault, but mainly for reconnaissance and containment of the enemy. Cavalry, like heavy infantry, is dressed in full armor, and its weapons are shields and lances, as well as the double-edged sword "Spada" which is slightly longer than that used by infantry.

These equipments are the essence absorbed by Rome from the military civilizations of Ethiopia, Samnim, Celtic, Iberia and other nationalities.

Multi-arms combat units composed of infantry and cavalry are called legions. A legion consists of 10 battalions (Kohols), and each battalion consists of 3 companies (Ma Nibls). These three companies have one each, namely Kazakhstan Stati, Bringippes and Tori Ali. Each company includes two Cantoria of 60 to 80 people. Among them, the battalion is only a unit in management and establishment, and the tactical unit in actual combat is the company of various services and arms. Therefore, the Roman army tactics in this period were sometimes called "Manipur tactics".

The maximum number of heavy infantry in the legion can reach nearly 5,000, but it is generally more than 4,000. In addition to heavy infantry, light infantry and cavalry are also included in the official establishment of the legion. Light infantry, like heavy infantry, is organized by companies, while legion cavalry is composed of 10 cavalry units (Toulma), each unit contains 32 people, accounting for about 300 people.

Until the 3rd century BC, Rome often mobilized allied citizens under its control to join the war in accordance with Romanesque organizations and codes. Traditionally, in the field army, each "pure" Roman legion cooperated with an allied legion.

In wartime, the Roman legion was commanded by two consuls (councils) who were the highest administrative officers and two legal officers (consuls) who were second only to them. The consul has the right to command a corps of about 20,000 people, which consists of two Roman legions and two allied legions, while the legal officer can command a 1 Roman and allied legions.

Although the standing army has only 40,000 people and is under the command of two consuls, with the growth of Rome's population, its wartime mobilization potential has been continuously enhanced. For example, during the Second Punic War (2 18 BC to 20 1 year BC), the total population of Rome was as high as 3 million. Even if 60,000 people are wiped out by Hannibal, the 25 legions can still be quickly mobilized to fight.

In the wild, legions are generally arranged in formation, with a front width of 200 meters and a depth of 90 meters. The first row is with Hastati, the second row is with Boulingui Pace, and the third row is with Tori Ali. When the current two rows of heavy infantry are put into battle, Tory Ali usually kneels on one knee to save his strength; Once the war situation changes (regardless of victory or defeat), it will be put into the front line as a reserve force to replace those tired young people. There is a skirmisher line composed of light infantry at the forefront of the front line, and the two wings are defended by legion cavalry.

In actual combat, legions can generally improvise to a certain extent by company. For example, changing the formation density, changing the front and rear columns, etc ... This is a great progress compared with their ancestor Greek classical heavy infantry (Hoprita); However, in the 3rd century BC, it was far less than the multi-arms synthetic tactics of Nice countries in Heron, which had been reformed by Evy Clatis and Alexander the Great. Moreover, the Roman army is a non-professional army composed of citizens, and the generals who command them are amateurs-they are politicians in essence. Therefore, Rome suffered many setbacks in the war with the troops under the command of professional soldiers such as Pyrrhus, hamill Karl and Hannibal. The reason why we can finally defeat these powerful enemies does not depend on the subtlety of tactics, but more on the advantages of Rome in the total population, its complete rule over its allies, and the simple and tenacious spirit of soldiers from peasant backgrounds.

* * * and the later period to the middle period of imperial system (BC 1 century to the 3rd century)-professional army.

Rome's military strength reached its peak when it conquered the eastern and western Mediterranean in the 2nd century BC, and then began to decline gradually. The fundamental reason is that the traditional city-state regime has not adapted to the expanding territory.

Generals have accumulated great wealth in the wars of conquering the south and the north, but in contrast, most people who go out to serve as soldiers have gradually declined because of the long-term lack of labor at home. In order to alleviate this contradiction, it is imperative to reform the military system.

It was Marius (BC 157- 86 BC), an excellent professional soldier from a civilian background, who bravely reformed the old military system left by his ancestors and saved Rome from the crisis. His idea is: instead of relying on productive citizens who can bring their own equipment, they will provide proletarian citizens with weapons and salaries, and guarantee them a certain amount of land after retirement through contracts. This greatly promoted the professionalization of the Roman army.

Since equipment no longer depends on private property, all soldiers' equipment and training are unified and standardized. The equipment of the new generation of infantry is equivalent to that of Hastati and Boulingui Pace, both of which are equipped with armor, a large shield "Shuotom", a dagger "Gratis" and two spears ("Pirum" or "Pyrah"). Willetts was abolished, and there was no longer a distinction between light infantry and heavy infantry. However, before and after the reform of Marius, the equipment and functions of cavalry have not changed.

In the establishment of the legion, the principle of standardization was further implemented. A legion consists of 10 battalions, each of which has 6 platoons with 80 people in each platoon. However, the first battalion of each regiment consists of five platoons with 160 people. Therefore, the total infantry strength of the regiment should be 5 120. In practice, in order to ensure the balance and convenience of the actual combat capability of the corps, under normal circumstances, the total strength of the corps is mostly 2,000 to 3,000, but at most 4,500.

The number of cavalry in the legion establishment has been reduced to four cavalry units, totaling 128, mainly because it has become a common practice to rely on the auxiliary army (Akusiria) composed of foreign legions without citizenship in Rome to provide elite cavalry. Traditional light infantry, such as Stonecutters Island and Gong Bing, are mostly filled by auxiliary forces. These auxiliary armies were basically based on battalions or cavalry units, and were assigned to Roman generals as field troops or garrison troops.

At the end of the civil strife (49 BC to 30 BC), the victorious Octavian Annous (Emperor Auguste) had an army of 500,000. However, he quickly disarmed after winning, reducing the standing army to 30 legions (however, three of them were wiped out in the forest battle of Fort Toit in AD 9), and the auxiliary army was about 300,000. In the later period of Emperor Auguste's rule, he also formed the infamous Praetoria. The guards are composed of an infantry battalion of 480 people and a cavalry unit of 32 people.

In the field, legions are usually deployed at the depth of two or three battalions. After all the officers and men were professionalized, the new Roman legion had strict discipline, high morale and high martial arts.

Battalion is no longer an administrative unit, but an independent tactical unit with high mobility and freedom. The commander can deploy one or several battalions as the general reserve behind the position and launch attacks at an appropriate time; Or send a battalion-level unit of a detachment from the team at any time to arbitrarily arrange the ideal formation in mind. This "Cole Tactics" is invincible in the European battlefield with infantry as the main force. But in the Asian plain, it suffered a lot when fighting Persian cavalry with superior mechanical strength.

Marius's military reform seems to have successfully saved the Roman military system under the crumbling political system, but in the long run, the transformation from the traditional national army to the professional army will inevitably lead to the expansion of warlord forces and eventually destroy the political system itself. After the tragic civil strife ended, there finally appeared the only imperial emperor with the highest power who defeated and incorporated all warlords.

From Late Imperialism to Middle Byzantium (3rd century to 7th century)-Mobile Field Army

After the Five Sages era (AD 96- 192), the Roman Empire began to show signs of decline. The internal social and economic contradictions are becoming increasingly fierce, and the outside is constantly invaded by foreign nationalities headed by Germanic nationalities. Internal troubles and foreign invasion threaten the survival of this old empire all the time.

By the time it was commonly known as the "crisis of the 3rd century AD", most of the Roman legions, which were in the limelight in the past, had become ordinary border guards and lost their strategic mobility. In order to make up for the shortage of the strategic mobile corps, the Romans began to temporarily organize independent cavalry brigades (Vichilatio) for each battle. By the time Constantinos the Great (reigned from 324 to 337 AD) ruled the world, these cavalry units were finally regarded as the backbone and formed the Comitas Toth directly under the emperor.

Some exhausted young people. There is a skirmisher line composed of light infantry at the forefront of the front line, and the two wings are defended by legion cavalry.

In actual combat, legions can generally improvise to a certain extent by company. For example, changing the formation density, changing the front and rear columns, etc ... This is a great progress compared with their ancestor Greek classical heavy infantry (Hoprita); However, in the 3rd century BC, it was far less than the multi-arms synthetic tactics of Nice countries in Heron, which had been reformed by Evy Clatis and Alexander the Great. Moreover, the Roman army is a non-professional army composed of citizens, and the generals who command them are amateurs-they are politicians in essence. Therefore, Rome suffered many setbacks in the war with the troops under the command of professional soldiers such as Pyrrhus, hamill Karl and Hannibal. The reason why we can finally defeat these powerful enemies does not depend on the subtlety of tactics, but more on the advantages of Rome in the total population, its complete rule over its allies, and the simple and tenacious spirit of soldiers from peasant backgrounds.

* * * and the later period to the middle period of imperial system (BC 1 century to the 3rd century)-professional army.

Rome's military strength reached its peak when it conquered the eastern and western Mediterranean in the 2nd century BC, and then began to decline gradually. The fundamental reason is that the infantry who were robbed of the title of "king of land warfare" by cavalry can no longer see the scenery two centuries ago. In order to save budget and equip cavalry, the equipment of infantry has to be greatly simplified. Armor was replaced by simple and cheap styles, and the symbols of the Roman legion-square shields, javelins and daggers-were also abolished. Instead, they were equipped with oval shields, cavalry double-edged swords, Spada and a lighter javelin "Spikurum" (later changed to "Runkle").

The term "auxiliary army" traditionally refers to foreign legions. After all the freemen in the whole empire obtained the same civil rights, it was changed to refer to light infantry units.

There are many cavalry arms, among which the main force is undoubtedly heavy cavalry. The equipment and tactics of Roman heavy cavalry were basically imitated from the hostile Persians, among which the most elite armored cavalry "Curry Banar" was all armored, with soldiers hanging round shields in their left hands and rifles up to 4 meters in their right hands. In addition, the heavy cavalry with horses without armor is generally called "Katafrakuti" heavy cavalry. In the Byzantine era, heavy cavalry was more popular than armored cavalry, and some even created the famous "Byzantine heavy cavalry" (Byzantine? The word katafra kutos).

Another feature of Roman cavalry in the late empire-archer (Sagitali) was also born by summing up the experience of fighting Persia. In the cavalry tactics of Persian Empire, the powerful impact of heavy cavalry and the intensive fire of archers are inseparable. ...

The mobile field army under the leadership of Emperor Constantinos was composed of five cavalry brigades (Vichiratio? Paladina), the 5th Guards Infantry Regiment (Reggio? Palladina) and 10 guards auxiliary corps (Akusilium? Palladina) is the mixed army of the Lord. Later, with the continuous deterioration of the form around the empire, the scale of this force has also been expanding.

In cavalry brigade and infantry regiment, Alder is organized as a tactical unit. Each cavalry brigade consists of three battalions with a strength of about 1000. Each infantry regiment has six battalions with a total strength of 1000 to 2,000 men.

In addition to the mobile field army, the original infantry regiment has been downsized and officially reorganized into the Border Guard (Limitane). Soldiers drawn from these frontier garrison and auxiliary forces to strengthen the strength of the mobile field army are called quasi-mobile field army (Psedo? Comitas toth)。

As the only armed force stationed in the capital Rome, the Royal Guard abused its privilege and intervened in the dispute of royal inheritance many times. It was defeated by Constantinos the Great in the Battle of Milviusz Bridge in 3 12 AD and died from then on. The emperor has formed a new guard cavalry (scola? Palladina) as his own escort force. Its organizational unit is the regiment (Scola), which is roughly equivalent to the brigade in the field army. There are five guards and cavalry regiments stationed in the east and west of the empire.

According to textual research, when Constantinos the Great ruled the world, the total strength of the Roman Empire was as high as three times that of the early empire, with a population of about 654.38+00,000. Among them, the proportion of cavalry was incomparable in the early days of the imperial system. In view of this, the total military expenditure has never tripled. It is a great irony that the army that should have been used to defend the empire has become a heavy burden on the empire and is crushing the empire itself bit by bit.

In addition to the above arms, at the end of the imperial system, in order to alleviate the shortage of troops, the emperors even had to rely on foreign troops who moved to the empire and were friendly to the empire. Although these allies (Frederick) never gained real trust, they kept infiltrating into the imperial army. In the western part of the empire, not only ordinary soldiers, but also general officers were constantly eroded by them, which eventually led to the whole empire sinking into the sea of Wang Yang.

From the late imperial period to the early Byzantine period, that is, when eustace Anus the Great (reigned from 527 to 565) reconquered, the imperial army gradually became more lean and expensive. On the other hand, the degree of specialization of the army itself has been further improved.

In view of the fact that the protagonist of the battle has changed from infantry to cavalry, the task of infantry in this period is only to form a phalanx and maintain the formation. Moreover, due to the diversity and complexity of weapons and equipment, the strict rules and tactics in the early days of imperial system no longer exist.

Julius Anoos the Great (reigned from 36/KLOC-0 to 363) and the commanders of Uz and Narcissus in Belisari were good at dispatching troops on foot and on horseback according to the actual situation, and showed their talents in the arrangement of reserve forces and the flexible use of terrain.

In most cases, Roman cavalry were scattered on the two wings and behind the infantry phalanx. Archers shoot in rows in units of troops, while heavy cavalry are used in a unified and centralized manner, relying on cluster assault tactics to play a decisive role in the campaign.

However, in the early Byzantine period, after the imperial army fought against the nomadic people in the east, it was immediately discovered that this tactic had little effect on the latter. Since then, heavy cavalry has also begun to emphasize the use of soft and comfortable archers.

Middle Byzantine Period (7th century to 1 1 century)-"Tema" (military region) system

The reign of Hera Kureos the Great (6 10 ~ 64 1) was an important turning point in the history of the Roman Empire. The emperor's rule began with his great achievements in the Persian Empire, his arch-enemy, and ended with a crushing defeat in the Arabs who believed in Islam. Around his rule, the empire completed the transformation from ancient Rome, which used Latin, to Byzantium, a medieval country with Greek as its national language. About a century after the death of Hera Kureos, the empire fought endlessly for its own life and death, and finally stopped the powerful offensive from the Arab world and survived. In this dangerous era, in the "dark age" of rebuilding the empire, the imperial army had to carry out fundamental reforms again. The result of this reform is the birth of the "Tema" (military region) system.

Under this system, except for Constantinople's army, all the territory of the empire was divided into dozens of "Temas" (military regions). The word Tema originally meant the place where troops were stationed, but it gradually became the basic unit to mobilize and manage local troops in the defensive operations against Arabs. Soldiers belonging to various military regions are usually farmers who farm on the land provided by the state, but they are enlisted in the army in wartime, which is essentially the so-called wasteland soldiers.

Tema system combines the advantages of national army and professional army. As long as the life of the soldiers in the field is guaranteed, it will be very easy to mobilize the command in wartime; Moreover, the morale of soldiers fighting to defend their homeland is generally high, and the burden of the state on their salaries can be minimized.

These local troops belonging to various military regions are basically defensive forces, while the direct descendant of the mobile field army stationed near the Imperial City, Tagmata, is the mobile strike force responsible for the attack.

From the middle of Byzantium, the imperial army began to adopt chain mail in large numbers. The imperial heavy infantry (Shquitato) around 10 century AD was generally equipped with chain mail or breastplate and helmet, and was protected with a large round shield. The weapons are spears and swords up to 4 meters long. As for the equipment of light infantry, little information has been circulated so far. All I know is that there is a kind of arm called "Pell Tastet". Its armor is lighter than that of Chutato, and it is equipped with a small shield and a spear. This kind of small shield soldier is the resurrection of the same name (Pell Tastet) which was born during the military reform in Clatis, Evy in the 4th century BC, and it is between heavy infantry and light infantry.

Cavalry is still the main force of the army. In the Central Army, the equipment of heavy cavalry and archers gradually assimilated, which also meant the decline of archers. Heavy cavalry wearing scales or chain mail, wearing a helmet, holding a round shield or square shield in western Europe. Weapons are swords and spears about 4 meters long, or bows and arrows and spears. In the battle with Arabs, the proportion of archers in the army gradually decreased, and in the eighth century, they finally disappeared from the establishment of the regular army. And part of the heavy cavalry of the Central Army began to add armor to the mounts and restored the former armored cavalry.

Compared with the Central Army, most local troops are light cavalry. They wear cheap leather armor, are equipped with small shields, and use swords or spears as their main weapons.

1In the first half of the 20th century, the Byzantine Empire was divided into 3 1 military regions. By the beginning of 1 1 century, the number of military regions had increased to 46. Generally, each military region can provide two or three Torma with a total strength of 3000 to 15000. Each regiment consists of 2 to 5 battalions (Doren Galos), and each battalion contains 5 companies (Banton). The quota of each company is 256 infantry and 300 cavalry, but the actual number of people allocated is often much less than the quota.

The Central Army consists of three or four guard regiments (Melos). Its basic tactical unit is the same company (Banton) as the local army, and each regiment consists of 10 guards. In addition, sometimes three to five guards will form a guard battalion (moira) for use. In addition to regular troops, empires often rely on their own wealth to drive foreign allies or mercenaries to fight for themselves.

Among them, the most outstanding performance is undoubtedly the Viking Guards compiled by vikings from Russia at the end of 10. At its maximum, its total strength reached a complete legion of thousands of people. It is said that after William, Duke of Normandy, conquered England (1066), many Anglo-Saxons were expelled from their homeland. Saxons also joined the army. These tall soldiers with giant axes are famous for their loyalty, courage and justice.

After Romanus IV was captured in the Battle of Manchikot (107 1), the fate of the empire took a turn for the better. As the main force of the army, small and medium-sized farmers can no longer afford long-term expeditions and many exorbitant taxes and fees, and begin to decline day by day. A thousand years ago, the scene of the decline of Rome was once again staged in the East. The decline of the small and medium-sized peasant class means the shaking of the Tema system and the aristocratization of generals, and at the same time promotes the further feudalism of the whole society, making it more and more difficult for the country to operate under the imperial power.

Due to the weakness of the local army, the empire had to rely more on allies and mercenaries to fight for itself. The well-known First Crusade (A.D. 1096 to 1099) was dispatched by western European countries at the invitation of Byzantine Emperor Aresi I (reigned 108 1 to18).

The imperial army in the middle period of Byzantium was not only good at regular warfare, but also had a lot of experience in irregular warfare in order to deal with almost uninterrupted foreign invasion. Through careful intelligence gathering activities, they give full play to strict discipline and good command ability, and often win by surprise attacks on the moving enemy.

From the "dark ages" in the 7th and 8th centuries to the most prosperous period of the empire in the10th century, there were few large-scale conflicts between Byzantium and its enemies. But the most important thing in the army is still the heavy cavalry cluster with strong impact and destructive power, which has not changed since the early Byzantine period.

In most cases, heavy cavalry is always deployed behind the front line of infantry. Once the fighter is mature, it will immediately pass through the gap in the infantry queue and come out to the forefront, and the guns will strike side by side. Light cavalry is responsible for covering the two wings of the infantry array and supporting the movement of heavy cavalry according to the situation.

1 1 century later, with the disintegration of the military region system, the proportion of mercenaries in the imperial army increased, and the only regular army gradually became the private arm of the feudal aristocracy. The scale of various units is shrinking day by day, and it is no longer possible to conduct unified training and command and dispatch.

At this time, the emperors had another worry before thinking hard about strategy and tactics and arranging troops-that is, they had to do their best to maintain the unreliable loyalty of their nobles and mercenaries.

. In this dangerous era, in the "dark age" of rebuilding the empire, the imperial army had to carry out fundamental reforms again. The result of this reform is the birth of the "Tema" (military region) system.

Under this system, except for Constantinople's army, all the territory of the empire was divided into dozens of "Temas" (military regions).

Comments: The early and middle Romans created many military miracles with their unique thoughts on running the army. Their fighting style of absorbing fresh blood made them gallop across Europe. Unfortunately, in the late Roman Empire, due to the low fertility of the people, the emperor lived a dissolute life and had to hire foreign soldiers as the main fighting force, even the imperial guards. Finally unable to cope with the barbarian invasion. In the end, a glorious empire collapsed, which only attracted endless sighs from future generations.