Eager for Glory

by Philip Lindsay Powell

  About the military situation and the disposition of the legions across the region remarkably little is known.61Following Actium, Augustus had demobbed some 120,000 troops and settled many of them in coloniae by 29 BCE, decommissioning several legions in the process.62Several of the remaining legions were relocated to new bases in the western provinces, with the larger part of that army being stationed in the Iberian Peninsula to supplement units already there and where it had been locked in a brutal campaign against the Astures and Cantabri. The war had finally ended in 19 BCE but the Roman army was still there in force.63The conclusion of the war in the Romans’ favour created the opportunity to draw down significant numbers of these troops and redeploy them elsewhere. In Gallia Cisalpina there may also have been one or more legions or sub-units – possibly VIIII Hispana, XIII Gemina, XIV Gemina, XVI Gallica. In Belgica Legio V Alaudae was stationed, possibly near Oppidum Ubiorum and Lingones, though not with any certainty, having been transferred there from Hispania Ulterior with Agrippa when he assumed the governorship of the region in 19 BCE; and it also is possible, but again not with any certainty, that Legiones I, XIII Gemina, XIV Gemina, XVII, XVIII and XIX were stationed in Aquitania in the years after Actium.64A revolt had broken out there in 39 BCE and the legions deployed to quell it may have still been in the region when Augustus visited with Tiberius in 16 BCE.65When not engaged in war, these legions would have been dispersed across Gaul constructing the four great military roads, which radiated out north, south, west and east from Lugdunum. Permanent or temporary Roman army bases would have been erected at some time along the roads or at their termini.66The Roman army is also known to have been responsible for building aqueducts to provide water for public baths in at least one instance.67The leadership of the Roman army was a devout believer in the adage ‘the devil makes work for idle hands’.

  His military resources determined Augustus now needed a man he could rely on to command them. Suetonius reports that Augustus often quoted the proverb “the cautious commander’s better than the bold”.68Augustus was faced with a difficult choice. His ablest general (who managed to combine both caution and boldness in almost equal measure), M. Vipsanius Agrippa, was en route to or had already arrived in Syria. He could recall him, but the message might take weeks or months to reach him and ultimately mean aborting the mission he had been sent to carry out. Rome needed to keep good relations with the neighbouring client king, Herodes, as a bulwark against the Parthians, so his recall was unsound policy.69As his second choice, he had with him his eldest stepson Ti. Claudius Nero, who had already proven himself an able soldier (who embodied caution but not so much boldness). However he currently had a full time job as his legatus Augusti pro praetore governing the Tres Galliae. There were plenty of legionary legates or political favourites he could pick from.70Instead he chose Nero Claudius Drusus to command the campaign in the Alps.71His youngest stepson may even have proposed that he should be given the chance to command.72That he was chosen was a remarkable vote of confidence in the 22–year old, who still had no military experience. The campaign would provide the opportunity to test Drusus’ leadership abilities and for him to show his mettle. Yet, it was also a typically pragmatic Augustan solution. Augustus could get the measure of his stepson and discover in what proportions he was cautious or bold. If he was smart the young and inexperienced commander would listen to his battle-hardened officers and troops and learn the arts of war in the field. Were he to encounter difficulties he could not overcome, Augustus and Tiberius would be nearby to come to his assistance with legions from Tres Galliae.

  Call to Arms

  Precisely when Drusus received the order to report for duty is not disclosed in the extant sources. It may have come in late 16 BCE. That would have allowed him to travel to Lugdunum and discuss the campaign with Augustus and Tiberius over the winter. Any later would reduce the window for preparations by the legions and their supporting troops.

  The trip would offer Drusus a glimpse into the challenges that lay ahead of him as a combat soldier. On the outbound journey from Rome, the most direct route Drusus could take from northern Italia to Lugdunum was along the road which connected Ticinum (Pavia) to Mediolanum (Milan) to Vercellae (Verceil) through the valley of the Duria Bautica (Dora Baltea) to Augusta Praetoria (Aosta) and over the Alpis Graia (Little St Bernard Pass) or the Summus Poeninus (Great St Bernard Pass).73However, this rocky road traversed Alpes Poeninae, which was not a region under total Roman control and blocked in places “by half-Germanic tribes”.74Drusus could run the gauntlet or take a second more secure road, the via Cottia per Alpem, which crossed through the Roman protectorate of the Alpes Cottiae.75It was along this route that Hannibal Barca had marched his army with his elephants, a journey that took fifteen days (plate 7).76Iulius Caesar considered this the shortest route and it took him just six days to reach the Rhône from the Italian foothills.77The territory was a client-kingdom named after M. Iulius Cottius, a Ligurian noble, and son of King Donnus.78He had found a way to peacefully – if not profitably – co-exist with his Roman neighours by constructing a road providing the way through the Alpine pass at Mount Genèvre (Matrona Mons).79Traffic from Augusta Taurinorum (Turin) could take the road heading northwest to Cottius’ capital at Segusio (Susa) and go on to Brigantium (Briançon). The road terminated at Glanum (St-Rémy-de-Provence), whence traffic could head south to Arelate (Arles) on the via Domitia which took them to the Iberian peninsula; or north through Arausio (Orange) and directly to Lugdunum.80Holding these transalpine routes open was key to ensuring continuous communications between the princeps and his government while he was away from Rome. Travelling these roads on his way to and from Lugdunum would have given Drusus a clear idea of the terrain and diversity of peoples he would be facing as military commander in the central Alpine region – with one major difference. There was no road by which Drusus could reach his military objectives in Raetia: he would have to build one.

  Roman Forces

  What happened at the meeting is not recorded in the surviving sources, yet we might imagine long discussions about the mission, strategy and tactics. With his marching orders received directly from Augustus, Drusus next reported to one of the legionary winter camps in northern Italia, likely in Gallia Cisalpina, which was controlled administratively from Mutina (Modena).81Which legions were assigned to him is not known for certain based on the available evidence. Drusus may have had as many as five legions (the most likely candidates being Legiones VIIII Hispana, XIII Gemina, XIIII Gemina, XVI Gallica and XXI Rapax) or as few as one.82As there were only twenty-six legions in the Roman army (exercitus) at this time, Drusus may have been entrusted with the command of up to 15 per cent of it.83Where they were stationed is also not clear. Their winter camps were likely located in forward positions close to the foothills of the Italian Alps, which was the zone at greatest risk from incursions by the Raeti. The area was rich with coloniae settled by veteran soldiers. South of the Po, the coloniae of Cremona and Placentia (Piacenza) were already two centuries old when Drusus assumed his command, while Mutina (Modena) had been founded over a century-and-a-half and Verona just five decades earlier. To these the princeps added new settlements north of the Po at Augusta Praetoria (Aosta) and Augusta Taurinorum (Turin) in the mid-20s BCE. On the Adriatic coast was Aquilea (Aquileia), a colony of Romans founded in 181 BCE. There were also chartered cities, municipia, like Feltria (Feltre), Mediolanum (Milan) and Ticinum (Pavia), which were home to affluent communities of landowners and traders. From these cities, the many smaller towns and villages, as well as the surrounding countryside, the Roman army found willing volunteers (volones) in search of a regular paypacket, the spoils of war and a grant of land to work on in their retirement years.84More than 61 per cent of the troops in Drusus’ day came from Italia so it could be said that he was truly leading his own countrymen to war.85

  Inexperienced as he was on his arrival, he could count on the men who led the legions under his command. Hand-picked by his stepfather
these men were his deputies, legati, who held Augustus’ delegated powers of imperium. In their forties and fifties, they served a term of three years with any given legion. Coming from the senatorial class, many having served terms as praetor, they were well educated and at least the social and intellectual equals of Drusus.86Each legate was responsible for an organization of some 6,000 men. His second in command was a tribunus laticlavius, so named on account of the broad purple stripe on his senatorial toga.87Men in this positon were rotated quickly as their next career move was as quaestor back in Rome or in one of the provinces. Later in life they might return to the army as legates of their own legions. Third in seniority was the praefectus castrorum, a new rank introduced under Augustus, and a true army career position.88This senior officer was responsible for the operational management of the camp – the structural aspects of the installations including the ramparts, sanitation and the hospital, and in addition the maintenance of the artillery and supervision of a staff of weapons trainers.89When the legion marched, the praefectus was responsible for the baggage train (impedimenta).90During a siege he directed operations as the artillery was under his command.91Next in the command structure were five junior officers from the ordo equestris called tribuni angusticlavii, ‘narrow stripe’ tribunes, who acted as advisors to the legate or attended to his administrative needs. They supervised security at the camp gates, oversaw physical training, the granaries, the hospital and enforced the law.92In their late teens or early twenties (and as such Drusus’ peers), they were likely on their first term of military service on their way up the cursus honorum.

  The legion was organized around the centuria, the basic fighting unit of the Roman army.93It comprised of ten ‘tent parties’ (contubernia). The eight men in a contubernium shared a tent nicknamed a papilio because when it was folded and rolled up it looked like a chrysalis, but opened up like a butterfly with wings outspread. Soldiers referred to themselves as contubernales, roughly translated as ‘messmates’. In total a centuria was eighty men strong, not one hundred.94In charge of the century was a centurio.95A tough battle hardened officer his badge of rank was a vinestaff (vitis), which he could use for casual corporal punishment for minor misdemeanours by striking it across the back of a recalcitrant trooper.96He was easily recognisable on the battlefield by his helmet crest of feathers or horsehair, which was mounted transversely from ear to ear. A man of reasonable literacy and with a clean service record might aspire to the centurionate in 15–20 years.97His second in command was the optio, a hand picked man chosen or ‘adopted’ at his option.98He stood at the back of the column or at the rear in battle order where he could walk along the line and use his long staff to ensure any man showing signs that he might flee the battle would receive a swift jab in the back. If the centurio fell, the optio would assume command. Responsible for the watchword and posting the nightwatch was a tesserarius, so named because the password was written down on a small slither of wood or shard of pottery (tessera). The men below the rank of centurion but above the common soldiery were called principales, and they enjoyed better rates of pay than the regular troops.99

  The Romans fully understood the power of images and symbols. Each centuria had its own military standard (signum), which was imbued with spiritual significance as the men who marched under it believed it to personify the esprit de corps (genius) of their unit. The signum was a pole eight to ten feet long often surmounted by a leaf-shaped spearhead or a wreath encircling an outstretched hand of silver or silvered bronze. Below was a cross bar from which hung leather strips decorated with metal terminals, discs of silver or silvered bronze, numbering two to as many as eight, attached in a row down the pole. A domed cap protected the standard bearer’s (signifier) hands since it was uncomfortable to carry for protracted periods. The base of the signum was pointed so it could be stuck in the ground, while two asymmetric handles projected out from the sides so that it could be retracted. The signum was used to relay commands by a series of up and down or circular moves and was used in conjunction with the sound of a horn (cornu) played by a cornicen. This curved bronze instrument was carried over the shoulder on the march. Both signifier and cornicen were distinguished by the animal pelts – typically wolf or bear – they customarily wore over their helmets and shoulders. These officers were assistants to the centurion and were responsible for maintaining accurate records of the number and activities of their men for use by the legate’s staff, and the signifier acted as the banker for the men of the centuria.100

  Six such centuries formed a cohors of 480 men.101There were nine cohorts of this size, but an additional double-strength First Cohort brought the full roster of active troops to 5,280.102Each cohort had a tiered centurionate whose titles recalled the old citizen army of the days of the Republic.103The most senior of these was the centurio pilum prior, followed by the princeps prior and the hastatus prior, then the centurio pilum posterior, princeps posterior and hastatus posterior.104A wing (ala) of 120 mounted cavalry, recruited from among the regular soldiers, couriered mail, provided scouts for intelligence gathering and formed a ceremonial guard detail for the legate.105Counting in senior officers, centurionate and principales, a legion at full strength numbered nearly 6,000 men. Hence, Drusus’ army for the campaign numbered anywhere up to 24,000 men of the legions to which should be added hundreds of non-combatant slaves and freedmen of the officers and men and various civilian sutlers (lixae) who followed the army wherever it went – men, women and children – who dealt in slaves and provided personal services.106

  The centurion (plate 8) in charge of the First Cohort – and the most important centurion of the legion – was the centurio primus pilus. He was a man of great prestige and strong character borne of years in the armed service and served in the post for a year.107He and his prior and posterior centurions were collectively called primi ordines, ‘first lines’ – a reference to the location of their tents or houses in camp since they were ranged in a row in front of the tents or barracks of their centuries.108By his side marched the bearer of the eagle standard (aquilifer). The gold or gilded bronze eagle (aquila), perched at the top of the eight or ten-feet long pole with its wings extended upwards, was often ringed with a wreath of golden laurel leaves, while its talons clasped a thunderbolt. Seeing the eagles of the legions under his command for the first time Drusus would surely have been reminded of the solemn moment when his brother recovered the standards lost at Carrhae.

  From Augustus’ time, the portrait (imago) of the princeps was carried on a pole by an imagnifer.109It was to the princeps that new recruits (probati) swore an oath of loyalty (sacramentum).110The imago was a constant reminder of the commander-in-chief.111The ranks of Drusus’ legions were filled with regular soldiers (milites) who, at enrollment, had to be at least 17 years of age.112Essential to passing their examination (probation) recruiters picked men in good health, single and in good standing as Roman citizens.113At this date, they signed up for a term of sixteen years’ service with four as reservists (evocati, meaning ‘called out’).114If called up, evocati formed their own detachment (vexillum) under a curator.115Thereafter they were discharged honourably (honesta missio) and retired as veterani able to take up full citizen rights.

  From the stores (armamentaria) under the care of the custos armorum each soldier (miles gregarious) was equipped with a full kit of armour and equipment. Several designs of helmet (cassis, galea) were in use at this time made of bronze or iron.116Some designs drew on models developed by Rome’s Italian enemies and allies, featuring a conical shape, short neck guard and cheekplates.117The use of a newer design inspired by Gallic Celtic models, featuring a brow guard that protected the wearer from downward slashing cuts at the front and a deeper neck guard, became more widespread during the Augustan period.118Both styles were in use in a variety of individual styles according to the skill of the armourer, some highly decorated with raised rivet washers and brass or bronze trims, others without. Contrary to common belief, the wide cheekplates actually
allowed visibility across a wide view. They were tied with a leather thong that ran past one side of the neck, through a ring underneath the neck guard, and back around the other side of the wearer’s neck, and tied off under the chin to securely fasten it to the head.

  By this time, for the miles gregarious defensive body armour had been largely standardized as a ring or chain mail shirt (lorica hamata, plate 9) with shoulder doubling to protect the wearer from cuts and blows.119It was worn over a basic, oversize tunic (tunica) of wool or linen with a neckerchief (focale) to prevent chafing. Surviving fragments of chain mail show the extraordinary craft of ancient armourers who fashioned circular links as small as one centimetre (0.39 inches), then punched holes through the flattened ends and riveted them together. Each riveted link was attached to punched rings in the rows above and below.120Centurions and principales such as signiferi and cornicines might wear shirts made of scales (lorica squamata, plate 10) worn over an arming doublet of leather or linen with decorative strips (pteriges) that protruded from the upper arms and waist.121The legate and his immediate team of senior officers could afford to buy anatomical cuirasses fashioned out of sheet bronze to look like the defined muscular body of an athlete.122