Why was the Roman army so successful



Year 7 Assessment 2

Why was the Roman army so successful?

National Curriculum Skill 2: Knowledge and Understanding of the past

National Curriculum Skill 5: Organising and structuring your written work

By the end of this unit of work you will:

1. be able to explain at least 4 reasons why the Roman army was so successful

2. be able to organize your ideas clearly into a piece of structured written work

How your work will be marked:

|Level |Skill Area |Description |Your achievement: |

| | | |You are |You do this |You do this |

| | | |starting to |well |very well |

| | | |do this | | |

| | | |[C] |[B] |[A] |

|3 |Skill 2 |A. You make general comments about the Romans | | | |

|4 |Skill 2 |A. You make general comments about the Roman army | | | |

| |Skill 5 |1. Your ideas are in full sentences but not paragraphs. | | | |

|5 |Skill 2 |A. You describe some of the reasons why the Roman army is successful | | | |

| | |B. You know that some of the reasons are linked together, but you don't | | | |

| | |explain how | | | |

| |Skill 5 |1. Your ideas are usually organised into paragraphs | | | |

| | |2. Your paragraphs are sometimes linked with connective words or phrases| | | |

|6 |Skill 2 |A. You explain some of the reasons why the Roman army is successful | | | |

| | |B. You explain how some of the reasons are linked together | | | |

| |Skill 5 |1. All your ideas are clearly organised into paragraphs | | | |

| | |2. Your paragraphs are linked with connective words or phrases | | | |

| | |3. You have written an introduction | | | |

| | |4. You have written a conclusion | | | |

|7 |Skill 2 |A. You explain lots of reasons why the Roman army is successful | | | |

| | |B. You compare the reasons and explain which reasons are most important | | | |

| |Skill 5 |You do 1 and 2 in Level 6 and... | | | |

| | |3. You have written an introduction which clearly shows how you will | | | |

| | |answer the question | | | |

| | |4. You have written a conclusion which convincingly sums up your answer | | | |

| | |to the question | | | |

Self-Assessment

You can’t fill this in until you have finished!

Overall Levels

|National Curriculum Skill 2 |Knowledge and Understanding | |

|National Curriculum Skill 5 |Organising your work clearly | |

What I did really well this time:

1.

2.

What I am going to do next time to improve:

1.

2.

Recruiting the Roman Army

| |

|“Experts have shown that choosing men is just like choosing horses and dogs… The recruit should be broad-chested, with powerful shoulders and |

|brawny arms. His fingers should be long. He should not be pot-bellied or fat bottomed. His calves and feet should not be flabby. When you |

|find all these qualities in a recruit you can afford to take him even if he is a little on the short side… The whole well-being of the Roman |

|state depends on the kinds of recruits you choose.” |

|Vegetius |

Historians don't know exactly who Vegetius was, but we do know that he wrote a very famous book about military strategy in the 4th century. The book was dedicated to the Roman Emperor, which might suggest Vegetius was a respected military man. This was an important book because the Romans were the first people to have a professional peace-time army. Usually, countries only raised an army when they were attacked. This meant that the 'soldiers' were ordinary people rather than well-trained and disciplined troops. The success of the Roman army inspired many other countries to develop professional armies. Vegetius book was used by military commanders in other countries for many centuries after the Roman Empire collapsed.

TASK

You have 3 minutes to draw a quick sketch of the kind of men Vegetius would and would not have wanted in the Roman army (the sketches doesn't have to be worksof art!)

|Would want |Wouldn’t want |

| | |

Why do you think Vegetius wanted this type of man to be a soldier?

Obviously, the Romans had to make sure that lots of suitable men wanted to join the Roman army. Your next task is to work out...

Why did Gaius Larcius Asina join the Roman Army?

Gaius Larcius Asina was born in Rome in AD75. He is from a poor family of potters. Asina is 16 years old and has decided to join the army. Why did he do this?

Sort the cards out into 3 categories: You can write the information or the card number into the grid.

|Opportunities which would strongly have |Opportunities which might have encouraged Asina|Other information that doesn't really explain |

|encouraged Asina to join the army. |to join the army |why Asina joined the army |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

If you want to cut these cards out to move them around, do so. (Kinesthetic learners especially!)

|1 |To get fit | |10 |To travel the world |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

|2 |To be part of the ONLY professional army in the world | |11 |To receive a pension and a piece of land at the end of 25 |

| | | | |years service |

| | | | | |

|3 |To impress the girls! | |12 |To learn a skill (road building, building baths and |

| | | | |aqueducts, becoming a doctor) |

| | | | | |

|4 |Because the wages were higher than any other job | |13 |If you weren't a Roman citizen, you would receive |

| | | | |citizenship after 25 years service. |

| | | | | |

|5 |To capture riches in war | |14 |For the opportunity of promotion, from humble foot soldier|

| | | | |to centurion or even the Praetorian Guard (the Emperor's |

| | | | |personal bodyguard) |

| | | | | |

|6 |To protect Rome and the citizens of the Empire | |15 |Because you like following orders |

| | | | | |

|7 |To get free food and clothes | |16 |To wear a smart uniform |

| | | | | |

|8 |To fight the savage barbarians | |17 |To walk for miles and miles carrying lots of equipment |

| | | | | |

|9 |Because he is 1.6 meters tall | |18 |He likes horses |

TASK

Choosing the reason that YOU think is most important and design a poster to encourage people to join the army:

| |

TASK

Thinking about what you have learned about the type of soldier the Romans recruited (chose) and what they offered to encourage men to sign up, you are going to think about what the soldiers of the Roman Army would be like.

Write these words into the grid opposite in the right places:

|Tall |Well-motivated |Greedy |Disciplined |

|Strong |Proud |Well-trained |Fit |

|Lazy |Skilled |Fast |Brave |

|Hard-working |Long-haired |Roman Citizens |A ladies’ man! |

|Rude |Determined |Obedient |Smart |

|When you have done this, in no more than 40 words explain how the Roman recruitment policy helped their army to be the best. |

| |

|[You can use pictures and symbols of course!] |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

Organising the Roman army

The Roman army was HUGE, even during peace time. The army would be even bigger in times of war.

An army this size needed to be organised.

TASK

Read the following explanation and fill in the gaps as you go along.

|[pic] |8 legionaries together made up a Contubernium. These 8 men would serve together for their whole 25 years |

| |(unless they were killed). They shared a tent, trained together and lived together. |

| | |

| | |

|10 Contubernia (note the spelling of the plural!) made up a Century, commanded by a Centurion. | |

| | |

|There were soldiers in a century | |

| | |

|The Centurion was in charge of training and discipline. He carried a vine stick which he would use| |

|to punish soldiers who were not marching fast enough. He also had powers to discipline soldiers | |

|who committed serious offences. | |

| | |

|“An officer takes a baton and simply touches the man with it. This is a sign to all the other | |

|soldiers that they must stone or beat him to death.” | |

| |A Roman Centurion – |

|Polybius, 2nd century BC, describing what happened to a soldier guilty of a serious offence. |he wore a different helmet to the legionary |

|[pic] |6 Centuries made up a Cohort, run by a Young Senator. |

| | |

| |There were soldiers in a Cohort |

| |10 Cohorts made up a Legion. A Legate was in a charge of a Legion. The legate had six military |

| |tribunes (tribuni militares) to help him, who carried out administrative duties. Young, upper-class |

| |Roman men used this position as a stepping-stone to a political career, so the tribunes often did not |

| |have much military experience or ability. |

| | |

| |There were soldiers in a legion |

| |

|A legion had also a lot of doctors, trumpeters, bakers, executioners, veterinary surgeons, novelist, writers, carpenters and blacksmiths. The |

|legion could provide for itself like this. Altogether a legion counts about 5500 to 6000 men. |

| |

|A legion also had about 60 catapultae en ballistae (weapons). |

|However, the First Cohort in every Legion was made up of double centuries. |

| |

|There were men in the First Cohort |

| |

|The Centurion of the First Century in the First Cohort was a very important man. He had to be the son of a Senator or another important Roman |

|Citizen. He was called a Primipilus (number one javelin). |

| | |

|Every century, cohort and legion had a standard bearer, who carried the flag of the century, cohort or legion | |

|into battle. The standard-bearer wore animal skin over his helmet to make him stand out. | |

| | |

| | |

|There were about 30 Legions in the whole of the Roman Army. | |

| | |

|There were approximately soldiers in the Roman army | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| |A Roman Standard-Bearer |

| |

Now draw a diagram to show how the Roman army was organized. Your diagram should show how the men were divided AND how the command structure worked

True/False Exercise

|The way the Roman army was organised made it |True/False |

|easy for orders to be communicated from the |Evidence: |

|Emperor all the way down to ordinary | |

|legionaries. | |

|The way the Roman army was organized helped |True/False |

|create loyalty between soldiers |Evidence: |

|The way the Roman army was organized made it |True/False |

|difficult to discipline soldiers |Evidence: |

|The way the Roman army was organized helped |True/False |

|soldiers to know what they should be doing |Evidence: |

|when they were in the middle of a battle | |

Different types of soldiers:

Different centuries in the Roman army would be specialized in different types of warfare.

|Cavalry soldiers – horseback soldiers | Artillery operators |Infantry - foot |Archers |

| | |soldiers | |

|[pic] | | | |

| |

| |

|The Romans also had separate centuries of |

| |

|Auxiliary soldiers |

| |

|Auxiliaries were soldiers from lands conquered by the Romans who volunteered to fight for the Romans |

|Many of them were already highly trained, e.g as cavalry soldiers |

|They knew the local terrain and enemy tactics |

|After 25 years with the Roman army they became citizens – and so did their children. |

| |

|Auxiliary soldiers had different uniforms to soldiers who were Roman citizens. |

|What advantages did Auxiliary soldiers give to the Roman army? |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

Equipment

A legionary typically carried around 27 kilograms of equipment. This kit consisted of his weapons and 15 days' food rations. There were also tools for digging and constructing a castra, the legions' fortified base camp.

|[pic] | | |

| |Name of item |How would this help a Roman soldier? |

|[pic] | | |

|[pic] | | |

| |Name of item |How would this help a Roman soldier? |

|[pic] |Short sword. | |

| | | |

| |Why is it short rather than long like a| |

| |medieval sword? | |

|[pic] | | |

|[pic] |Apron this was made of metal links and | |

| |jingled when the army was marching | |

|[pic] | | |

|[pic] | | |

What’s missing?

| |Name |Why it was so useful |

| | | |

| |Pila | |

| | | |

| |Why do you think the first | |

| |centurion of the first cohort is| |

| |called a Prima Pilus? | |

Does your knowledge of the eequipment a Roman soldier had help to explain why the Romans wanted a certain type of man to be soldiers?

Roman Weapons

The Romans invented several heavy weapons to use against their enemy.

The most famous two weapons are:

|[pic] |The Ballista |

| |The Ballista could fire large iron-tipped arrows over 250 metres |

| |with great accuracy |

| | |

| |Roman technicians developed the repeating ballista. A cam was |

| |used to move a magazine of bolts , one at a time, into position |

| |and also tensioned the rope that fired the bolts. It was a most |

| |fearsome weapon, but not so practical as the lesser machine. This|

| |was due to the nature of the machine that caused the bolts to |

| |land in a close target area. It could not easily be moved a few |

| |degrees between shots as the single shot version could. |

| | |

|[pic] |The Catapulta |

| | |

| |The Catapulta fired large boulders and fireballs over 150 metres |

| |During a siege they would fire parts of dead bodies into |

| |fortresses and cities to spread disease and terrify those inside |

What advantages do these weapons give the Romans?

What might be the problems encountered by the Romans when using these weapons?

Do the advantages outweigh the problems?

Tactics and Strategy

The first thing the Romans tried to do when they were conquering another country was to choose the time and place of the battle. The Romans would arrive, set up camp and then send a letter to the local ruler asking him to submit to Roman rule – the Romans never fought unless they had to.

This gave the Romans time to rest and to decide how and when they would attack. They researched the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents and chose strategies to suit the occasion

|What was the Romans “secret weapon” when deciding how to attack an enemy? |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

| |

auxiliary

Organising the initial attack

Why did the Romans place the cavalry at the sides?

Why did the Romans place the Commanders at the back?

Battle Formations

Soldiers were trained to use certain tactics once the battle had started.

In groups you are going to practice these tactics.

Then you are going to create notes to show how each one worked.

| |Picture/Diagram |Description of how it worked and when it would be useful |

|The Orb | | |

| | | |

|The Wedge | | |

| |Picture/Diagram |Description of how it worked and when it would be useful |

|The Tortoise | | |

| | | |

|The Repel-Cavalry | | |

Which 3 of the following ideas would you need to be sure your tactics worked in battle? [I know they are all necessary, but you have to choose the 3 MOST IMPORTANT!]

• Well trained soldiers

• Brave men

• Good leaders (centurions)

• Good weapons

Which one is least important? Explain why one that you have chosen is MORE IMPORTANT THAN the one you have eliminated [this will help you with writing conclusions]

Quick Quiz – no cheating!

| | |

|What is this formation? | |

|[pic] | |

| |What is this formation? |

| |

|Where were the cavalry placed in a battle attack formation>? |

| |

| |

| |

| |[pic] |

|What job would this person have in the Roman army and how do you know? | |

| |

|What was the Apron for? |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Name 4 different types of soldier in the Roman army? (not ranks) |

| |

| |

| |

| |

Training

Why did the Romans train their soldiers so carefully?

Soldiers in the Roman army had to train hard. Soldiers who didn't work hard received inferior rations until they had proved to their Centurions that they had achieved the required standard. But why did the Romans think this was so important? I will answer this question by describing the different training methods of the Roman army and why they were used.

The first thing new soldiers were taught to do was to march. During the summer months the soldiers had to march twenty Roman miles (18.4 miles/29.6 km) in five hours. The centurion would punish slow soldiers. The historian Vegetius tells us that the Romans thought it very important that their soldiers could march quickly because an army which might be split up by stragglers at the back or soldiers marching at differing speeds would be vulnerable to attack.

After soldiers had learned how to march they were trained to handle weapons. Roman soldiers trained with wickerwork shields and wooden swords. Both the shields and the swords were twice as heavy as the real weapons. This was because if a soldier could fight with these heavy dummy weapons, he would be twice as effective with the proper ones.

The best soldiers were also trained to use the heavy artillery weapons of the Roman army. Weapons such as the Ballista and the Catapulta were invented by the Romans and helped to intimidate their enemies. We know that the Romans really worked hard to train soldiers to use these weapons because weapons instructors generally received double rations. Soldiers had to learn how to load, fire and repair these weapons quickly or the weapons would be useless.

Finally, soldiers were taught battle formations. The most famous formations were the Orb, the Wedge, the Tortoise and the Repel Cavalry. Soldiers practised these formations every week under the guidance of the Centurion. This was to make sure than in battle all soldiers could act immediately as soon as they were given an order. It also made sure that soldier didn't get confused and panic in difficult situations.

The training in the Roman army was the best in the world and in History at that point. The Ancient Egyptians and the Greeks had both trained their soldiers. But their training focused mainly on being fit, not on learning specific skills. No army in the West trained their soldiers as well as the Romans until at least the 17th century. This training helped to make sure the Romans were better than any army they had to fight and helped them become the most powerful Empire in the world.

TASKS

1. Why do you think I have highlighted the first and last paragraphs in ITALICS?

2. Highlight or underline the connective words that help to organise the four main paragraphs.

3. Complete the table below

| |Key |

|What do the first sentences in the main paragraphs tell you? | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Colour code these statements | |

|What does the last sentence in each paragraph tell you? | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Colour code these explanations | |

|What does the middle part of each paragraph tell you? | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Colour code this evidence | |

So you should be able to SEE all your paragraphs...

Statement to introduce your paragraph idea

Evidence – factual information

Explanation – how this factual information links back to the question

Remember:

You can write more than 1 sentence as evidence or as explanation!

Gladiator: Roman Army in Action!

You are going to watch the first few minutes of the movie Gladiator. We will watch it twice.

Try and tick in the tally chart to show when you see each of these in action:

| |Tick here if you see an |What was the example |

| |example of this | |

|Good tactics | | |

|Well trained soldiers | | |

|Good Equipment | | |

|Good quality soldiers | | |

Did you see anything else in the movie that might help you to answer the question

“Why was the Roman army so successful?’

Linking Ideas Together

The Roman Army conquered an Empire that stretched all around the Mediterranean Sea and which lasted for … years. This proves that it was a very successful army. All of the ideas you have studied help to explain WHY the Roman Army was so successful. Your task now is to show how these different ideas link together. Draw arrows between the different topics and write the link along the arrow.

Essay Plan

Why was the Roman army so successful?

|Introduction | |

| | |

|1st reason | |

| |LINK |

|2nd reasons | |

| |LINK |

|3rd reason | |

| |LINK |

|4th reason | |

| |LINK |

|5th reason | |

| | |

|Conclusion | |

Writing introductions

It doesn’t matter whether you are answering

‘Why?’ questions or ‘Do you think A or B?’ questions,

a good introduction can be structured simply.

First sentence: a general comment on the subject you are writing about

e.g

Chartism was a movement started in the 19th century to help improve conditions for working people

The First World War began in 1914 and lasted 4 years.

General Custer was a famous American General who died in 1876 at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Second sentence: A summary/list of the ideas that you are going to write about in your paragraphs that answer the question

e.g

There are many reasons why Chartism failed, such as A, B, C.

There were many reasons why war broke out in 1914, such as A, B, C.

Some historians think Custer was a noble hero and other historians think he was an arrogant and foolish man.

THINK: WHICH SENTENCE WOULD YOU USE FOR WHICH TYPE OF ESSAY?

Third sentence: A statement about how you are going to organize/structure your answer

e.g

I shall explain all of the reasons carefully and then decide which reason was most important

I shall consider both sides and then decide whether…

HINK: WHICH SENTENCE WOULD YOU USE FOR WHICH TYPE OF ESSAY?

Writing Conclusions

There are 3 ways of writing conclusions.

Level 5: Statements of Priority [saying which reason is most important]

|E.G |

|The most important reason why Spiderman is the best superhero in the world is his amazing powers. |

Level 6: Explanations of Priority [explaining which reason is most important]

|E.G |

|The most important reason why Spiderman is the best superhero in the world is his amazing powers. This is because without being able to swing from|

|webs he would not be able to get to people in trouble quickly enough. |

Level 7: Comparison/Contrast of Priority [explaining why one reason is more important than another reason]

|E.G |

|One important reason why Spiderman is the best superhero in the world is his amazing powers. This is important because without being able to swing|

|from webs he would not be able to get to people in trouble quickly enough. However, his powers are not as important as his sense of |

|responsibility. Without a sense of responsibility Spiderman could use his powers to do evil things. Therefore, Spiderman’s sense of responsibility|

|is what really makes him the best superhero in the world. |

Tips

The contrast must be direct (i.e not simply 2 explanations!).

The final suggestion must be the most significant cause, as this is what you want to leave the examiner thinking about.

-----------------------

COMMANDERS

Roman soldiers were…

Write in this box the words that you think best describe the soldiers of the Roman army

Write in this box the words that you think might describe the soldiers of the Roman army

Write in this box the words that you think don’t really help to describe the soldiers of the Roman army

Why was the Roman Army so successful?

Tactics

Organisation

Recruitment

Training

Equipment

REASON 1

CONCLUSION

REASON 3

REASON 2

INTRO

LINK

LINK

RESERVES

[pic]

[pic]

INFANTRY

AUXILIARIES

AUXILIARIES

ENEMY

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download