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88-533: The Collective Rapid Reaction Force (Russian: Коллективные силы оперативного реагирования, КСОР ; KSOR ) is a joint combined arms task force comprising independent military units from the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states. CRRF was created in 2009 with the general purpose to counter a limited military aggression against CSTO member states, to fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. The agreement on

176-512: A constitutional crisis . This crisis and the civil wars which followed brought an end to the Republic and led to the foundation of the Empire under Augustus in 27 BC. Generals, during the recent Republican civil wars, had formed their own legions and numbered them as they wished. During this time, there was a high incidence of Gemina (twin) legions, where two legions were consolidated into

264-410: A Roman legion. This was later changed to nine cohorts of standard size (with six centuries at 80 men each) with the first cohort being of double strength (five double-strength centuries with 160 men each). By the fourth century AD, the legion was a much smaller unit of about 1,000 to 1,500 men, and there were more of them. This had come about as the large formation legion and auxiliary unit, 10,000 men,

352-645: A battle would have lasted months with many hundreds of thousands of casualties. Co-ordination and planning were the key elements, and the use of combined arms tactics in the Hundred Days Offensive in 1918 allowed the Allied forces to exploit breakthroughs in the enemy trenches, forcing the surrender of the Central Powers . In World War II combined arms was a fundamental part of some operational doctrines like Heinz Guderian 's Blitzkrieg , or

440-488: A combination of these skilled and unskilled forces to win battles. An army that has multiple skills available can engage a larger force that incorporates mainly one or two types of troops. Each type of military formation – infantry, archers, cavalry, or peasants – has certain advantages that the other does not have. Infantry allows a force to hold ground and in the event of overwhelming enemy forces withdraw into terrain that mounted troops cannot maneuver as easily, thus negating

528-581: A combined arms approach, seldom operating without supporting infantry. The French army of the Valois kings, composed of heavily armoured gendarmes (professional versions of the medieval knight ), Swiss and Landsknecht mercenary pikemen , and heavy cannons took form during the transition from the medieval way of war to the early modern period . The late 15th century saw the development of combined pike and shot formations in Europe, starting with

616-591: A crushing defeat at the Battle of the Allia , in 387 BC the military structure was reformed. Under the Camillan system the legions were initially structured based on social class, with the poorest being the first line of the formation. The legionaries most often fought with hastae (spears) and scuta (large rectangular shields) in a checkered maniple formation with assistance from skirmishers. The exception to this

704-399: A legion was known as the primus pilus ( lit. "first maniple " ), who directly commanded the first century of the first cohort and commanded the whole first cohort when in battle. Within the second to tenth cohorts, the commander of each cohort's first century was known as a pilus prior and was in command of his entire cohort when in battle. The seniority of the pilus prior centurions

792-482: A military career; they were not paid well, their primary form of income being what they could loot from the battlefield, and were simply called upon when needed and returned to their civilian lives when they were no longer required. In terms of organization and function, the early Republican era military was inherited from the Etruscans and seemingly influenced by the ancient Greek and Macedonian phalanx . After

880-751: A number of organisational changes, the legion system survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire . It was continued within the Eastern Roman Empire until the 7th century, when reforms begun by Emperor Heraclius to supply the increasing need for soldiers resulted in the Theme system . Despite this, the Eastern Roman armies continued to be influenced by the earlier Roman legions, and were maintained with similar levels of discipline, strategic prowess, and organization. Aside from

968-521: A simple form of combined arms, with a combination of dismounted knights forming a foundation for formations of English longbowmen . The lightly protected longbowmen could down their French opponents at a distance, whilst the armoured men-at-arms could deal with any Frenchmen who made it to the English lines. This is the crux of combined arms: to allow a combination of forces to achieve what would be impossible for its constituent elements to do alone. During

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1056-452: A single organisation (and was later made official and put under a legatus and six duces ). At the end of the civil war against Mark Antony , Augustus was left with around fifty legions, with several double counts (multiple Legio Xs for instance). For political and economic reasons, Augustus reduced the number of legions to 28 (which diminished to 25 after the Battle of Teutoburg Forest , in which three legions were completely destroyed by

1144-462: A sizeable supplement to their regular pay. All legionary soldiers would also receive a praemia ( veterans' benefits ) on completion of their term of service of 25 years or more: a sizeable sum of money (3,000 denarii from the time of Augustus ) and/or a plot of good farmland (good land was in much demand); farmland given to veterans often helped in establishing control of the frontier regions and over rebellious provinces. Later, under Caracalla ,

1232-459: A unit of heavy infantrymen armed with just sword and pilum, and fielded with a small attached auxiliary skirmishers and missile troops, and incorporated a small cavalry unit. The legion was sometimes also incorporated into a higher-echelon combined arms unit – e.g., in one period it was customary for a general to command two legions plus two similarly sized units of auxiliaries, lighter units useful as screens or for combat in rough terrain. Later during

1320-408: A year. However, the soldiers did not receive all the money in cash, as the state deducted a clothing and food tax from their pay. To this wage, a legionary on active campaign would hope to add the booty of war, from the bodies of their enemies and as plunder from enemy settlements. Slaves could also be claimed from the prisoners of war and divided amongst the legion for later sale, which would bring in

1408-490: Is sometimes pushed down below the level at which homogeneity ordinarily prevails, such as by temporarily attaching a tank company to an infantry battalion. Combined arms operations date back to antiquity, where armies would usually field a screen of skirmishers to protect their spearmen during the approach to contact. Especially in the case of the Greek hoplites , however, the focus of military thinking lay almost exclusively on

1496-469: Is supplemented by satellite photos and passive reception of enemy radio emissions, forward observers with digital target designation, specialized scouting aircraft, anti-artillery radars and gun-laying software for artillery. Based on this doctrine, many US ground vehicles moved across the landscape alone. If they encountered an enemy troop or vehicle concentration, they would assume a defensive posture, lay down as much covering fire as they could, designate

1584-425: Is undocumented and shrouded in myths, but those myths tell that during the rule of Servius Tullius , the census (from Latin : censeō – accounting of the people) was introduced. With this all Roman able-bodied, property-owning male citizens were divided into five classes for military service based on their wealth and then organised into centuries as sub-units of the greater Roman army or legio (multitude). Joining

1672-418: Is usually given as a major contributing factor in the failure. It is an example of why generals needed to use combined arms to overcome the tactics used by enemy officers to frustrate an attack by a single arm of an army. In contrast the 27th (Inniskilling) suffered 478 casualties from an initial strength of 750 because of their exposure to attack by French combined arms. They were located near

1760-546: The accensi , rorarii , and leves were replaced by the velites . Unit sizes were also expanded. Non-citizens or peregrini were also offered a position in the military as auxiliaries. The Republican legion evolved from 3,000 men in the Roman Republic to over 5,200 men in the Roman Empire , consisting of centuries as the basic units. Until the middle of the first century AD, ten cohorts made up

1848-862: The Germanics ). Beside streamlining the army, Augustus also regulated the soldiers' pay. At the same time, he greatly increased the number of auxiliaries to the point where they were equal in number to the legionaries. He also created the Praetorian Guard along with a permanent Roman navy where served the liberti , or freed slaves. The legions also became permanent at this time, and not recruited for particular campaigns. They were also allocated to static bases with permanent castra legionaria (legionary fortresses). Augustus' military policies proved sound and cost effective, and were generally followed by his successors. These emperors would carefully add new legions, as circumstances required or permitted, until

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1936-610: The Napoleonic Wars . After 25 years of near continuous warfare, the armies that met at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 were organized in a similar manner – into corps which contained infantry, cavalry and artillery (see Order of battle of the Waterloo Campaign ), and used similar combined arms tactics. Within each corps were divisions of infantry or cavalry made up of brigades and an artillery unit. An army would usually also have reserves of all three arms under

2024-613: The Notitia suggest that the process of creating new legions continued through the 4th century rather than being a single event. The names also suggest that many new legions were formed from vexillationes or from old legions. In addition, there were 24 vexillationes palatini, 73 vexillationes comitatenses ; 305 other units in the Eastern limitanei and 181 in the Western limitanei . A rare instance of apparent direct continuity between

2112-581: The Varian Disaster (September 9, AD 9) and never raised again by the Romans thereafter. Quintili Vare, legiones redde! ( Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions! ) Almost nothing is known about the legion of the Roman Kingdom period that could have included 1000 men from each of the three original Roman tribes . The earliest surviving detailed description comes from Polybius , who

2200-749: The colunelas of the Spanish general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba , evolving into the tercios of Hapsburg Spain and the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire during the 16th century . In Japan, at the battle of Nagashino (長篠の戦い) in 1575, forces of the Oda clan successfully employed combined arms against the Takeda clan , which heavily relied on cavalry. The Oda army erected palisades to protect their ashigaru musketeers that shot down

2288-418: The praemia increased to 5,000 denarii . From 104 BC onwards, each legion used an aquila (eagle) as its standard symbol. The symbol was carried by an officer known as aquilifer , and its loss was considered to be a very serious embarrassment, and often led to the disbanding of the legion itself. Normally, this was because any legion incapable of regaining its eagle in battle was so severely mauled that it

2376-405: The republican era , a legion was divided into three lines, each of ten maniples. In the late Republic and much of the imperial period (from about 100 BC), a legion was divided into ten cohorts, each of six (or five) centuries. Legions also included a small ala , or cavalry unit. By the third century AD, the legion was a much smaller unit of about 1,000 to 1,500 men, and there were more of them. In

2464-654: The CSTO member states, as well as organizing the functioning of the CSTO Crisis Response Center. The Chiefs of the Joint Staff of the CSTO with their concurrent positions in the armed forces: Combined arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare that seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects—for example, using infantry and armour in an urban environment in which each supports

2552-684: The Imperial era, the legions played an important political role. Their actions could secure the empire for a usurper or take it away. For example, the defeat of Vitellius in the Year of the Four Emperors was decided when the Danubian legions chose to support Vespasian . In the Empire, the legion was standardised, with symbols and an individual history where men were proud to serve. The legion

2640-530: The Later Roman Empire, the legion was reduced in size to 1,000 to allow for easier provisioning and to expand the regions under surveillance. Numbers would also vary depending on casualties suffered during a campaign; Julius Caesar 's legions during his campaign in Gaul often only had around 3,500 men. Tactics were not very different from the past, but their effectiveness was largely improved because of

2728-553: The Middle Ages military forces used combined arms as a method of winning battles and furthering a war leader or king's long-term goals. Some historians claim that during the Middle Ages there was no strategic or tactical art to military combat. Kelly DeVries uses the Merriam-Webster definition of combat "as a general military engagement". In the pursuit of a leader's goals and self-interest tactical and strategic thinking

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2816-403: The Republic, when warfare was mostly concentrated on raiding, it is uncertain if the full manpower of the legions was summoned at any one time. In 494 BC, when three foreign threats emerged, the dictator Manius Valerius Maximus raised ten legions which Livy says was a greater number than had been raised previously at any one time. Also, some warfare was still conducted by Roman forces outside

2904-649: The Roman Empire, auxiliary soldiers outnumbered the core legionary troops. The army of the Han dynasty is also an example, fielding mêlée infantry (equipped with a variety of different weapons ranging from swords to pikes to halberd-like weapons), archers, crossbowmen, and cavalry (ranging from horse archers to heavy lancers). One recorded tactical formation during the Han dynasty included three ranks of halberds, swordsmen, and spearmen, supported by crossbows, and with cavalry on

2992-631: The Soviet deep battle doctrine, which was based on combining tanks, mobile units (mechanised infantry or cavalry) and infantry, while supported by artillery. In 1963 the United States Marine Corps formalized the concept of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force , which combined Marine aviation and Marine ground units for expeditionary missions. The Vietnam War had a profound influence on the development of

3080-467: The Takeda cavalry while their samurai cut down any enemies who managed to approach melee range. The 17th century saw increasing use of combined arms at lower (regimental) level. King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden was the proponent of the idea. For fire support he attached teams of "commanded musketeers" to cavalry units and fielded light 3-pounder guns to provide infantry units with organic artillery. In

3168-557: The US Army in Vietnam also learned to combine helicopter operations and airmobile infantry with the armoured and artillery units operating from fire support bases as well as the US brown-water navy and USAF close air support units supporting them. AirLand Battle was the overall conceptual framework that formed the basis of the US Army's European warfighting doctrine from 1982 into

3256-476: The US Army's combined arms doctrine. Due to the very difficult terrain that prevented access to the enemy-held areas of operation , troops were often deployed by air assault . For this reason, US troops in Vietnam saw six times more combat than in preceding wars, due to less time spent on logistic delays. The result: an infantry unit increased in effectiveness by a factor of four for its size, when supported with helicopter-delivered ammunition, food and fuel. In time

3344-474: The Western Front, fighting descended into stagnant trench warfare . Generals on both sides applied conventional military thinking to the new weapons and situations that they faced. In these early stages, tactics typically consisted of heavy artillery barrages followed by massed frontal assaults against well entrenched enemies. These tactics were largely unsuccessful and resulted in large loss of life. As

3432-412: The actions the enemy must take to defend himself from one also defends himself from the other(s). Though the lower- echelon units of a combined arms team may be of similar types, a balanced mixture of such units are combined into an effective higher-echelon unit, whether formally in a table of organization or informally in an ad hoc solution to a battlefield problem. For example, an armoured division ,

3520-429: The advantage of the horse. Archers provide standoff with their bows or crossbows. Cavalry can maneuver faster and provide fast attack before the enemy has had time to prepare defenses. Peasants are more numerous and cheaper on the royal coffers. Over the long term the army can cross-train and learn the skills of the specialties to increase combat effectiveness . This is known as a combat multiplier today. The combination of

3608-454: The army consisted of auxiliaries , who provided additional infantry and the vast majority of the Roman cavalry (provincials who aspired to Roman citizenship gained it when honourably discharged from the auxiliaries). The Roman army, for most of the Imperial period, consisted mostly of auxiliaries rather than legions. Many of the legions founded before 40 BC were still active until at least

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3696-460: The army was both a duty and a distinguishing mark of Roman citizenship; the wealthiest land owners performed the most years of military service. These individuals would have had the most to lose should the state have fallen. At some point after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy the legio was subdivided into two separate legions, each one ascribed to one of the two consuls . In the first years of

3784-555: The centre of Wellington's line, but unlike most of the rest of Wellington's infantry were in a declivity on the exposed side of the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment . Exposed as they were, they were forced to stand in square for most of the day for fear of cavalry attack and so made an easy dense target for Napoleon's massed artillery. The development of modern combined arms tactics began in the First World War . Early in

3872-443: The consular armies (two per consul), other units were levied by campaign. Rome's Italian allies were required to provide approximately ten cohorts (auxilia were not organised into legions) to support each Roman Legion. In the middle of the Republic, legions were composed of the following units: Each of these three lines was subdivided into (usually ten) chief tactical units called maniples . A maniple consisted of two centuries and

3960-665: The creation of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force was signed by the presidents of all CSTO states except Belarus during a summit in Moscow on February 4, 2009. Belarus joined the agreement on October 20 of the same year. The first joint exercises of CRRF were held in October 2009 at Matybulak firing range in Kazakhstan near the border with China. According to Russian media, CRRF currently comprises

4048-403: The different skills help provide a commander the flexibility to minimize risk when it comes to engagements. The overall objective of any military force is to fight and win, while also preserving the largest number of combatants to carry on the larger strategic aims of the king. This can be seen in some of the engagements during the Middle Ages. Generally the savanna cavalries of West Africa used

4136-402: The direct command of the army commander which could be sent in support of any corps or division of a corps to increase any arm which the army general considered necessary. The great French cavalry charge commanded by Marshal Ney during the battle failed to break Wellington's squares of infantry and Ney's failure to supplement his cavalry with sufficient horse artillery to break the squares open

4224-418: The eighteenth century, the concept of the legion was revived. Legions now consisted of musketeers , light infantry , dragoons and artillery in a brigade sized force. These legions often combined professional military personnel with militia . Perhaps the most notable example is the use of light cavalry , light infantry and light horse artillery in advance detachments by France's La Grande Armée during

4312-455: The elite palatini , other legions called comitatenses and pseudocomitatenses , along with the auxilia palatina , provided the infantry of late Roman armies. The Notitia Dignitatum lists 25 legiones palatinae , 70 legiones comitatenses , 47 legiones pseudocomitatenses and 111 auxilia palatina in the field armies, and a further 47 legiones in the frontier armies. Legion names such as Honoriani and Gratianenses found in

4400-562: The enemy. Philip II of Macedon greatly improved upon the limited combined arms tactics of the Greek city-states and combined the newly created Macedonian phalanx with heavy cavalry and other forces. The phalanx would hold the opposing line in place, until the heavy cavalry could smash and break the enemy line by achieving local superiority. The early Republic Roman Legion was a combined arms force and consisted of five classes of troops. Lightly equipped velites acted as skirmishers armed with light javelins. The hastati and principes formed

4488-550: The engineers, record-keepers, the praefectus castrorum (commander of the camp) and other specialists such as priests and musicians. In the Later Roman Empire , the number of legions was increased and the Roman army expanded. There is no evidence to suggest that legions changed in form before the Tetrarchy , although there is evidence that they were smaller than the paper strengths usually quoted. The final form of

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4576-506: The fifth century, notably Legio V Macedonica , which was founded by Augustus in 43 BC and was in Egypt in the seventh century during the Islamic conquest of Egypt . On the other hand, Legio XVII ("Seventeenth Legion"), Legio XVIII ("Eighteenth Legion") and Legio XIX ("Nineteenth Legion"), founded by Augustus around 41 BC, were destroyed by a Germanic alliance led by Arminius in

4664-481: The first cohort being almost double-strength at 800 men). These are typical field strengths while "paper strength" was slightly higher (e.g. 600 and 1,200 respectively for Imperial cohorts). In the early Roman Kingdom the term legion may have meant the entire Roman army , but sources on this period are few and unreliable. The subsequent organisation of legions varied greatly over time but legions were typically composed of around five thousand soldiers. During much of

4752-516: The flanks. Civilizations such as the Carthaginians and Sassanids also were known to have fielded a combination of infantry supported by powerful cavalry. At the Battle of Hastings (1066) English infantry fighting from behind a shield wall were defeated by a Norman army consisting of archers, foot soldiers (infantry), and mounted knights (cavalry). One of the tactics used by the Normans

4840-479: The following units: The Joint Staff is a permanent working body of the CSTO that is responsible for preparing proposals on the military component of the CSTO, the operations and usage of the CSTO Collective Forces, the preparation of joint operational and combat training activities, military-technical cooperation, coordinating joint training of personnel and specialists for the armed forces of

4928-473: The fourth century AD, East Roman border guard legions ( limitanei ) may have become even smaller. In terms of organization and function, the republican era legion may have been influenced by the ancient Greek and Macedonian phalanx . For most of the Roman Imperial period, the legions formed the Roman army's elite heavy infantry , recruited exclusively from Roman citizens, while the remainder of

5016-659: The ground assault phase, tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles supported by attack aircraft swept over remaining forces. The front line moved forward at upwards of 40–50 km/h at the upper limit of the Army's tracked vehicles. In 2000, the US Army began developing a new set of doctrines intended to use information superiority to wage warfare. Six pieces of equipment were crucial for this: AWACS (for Airborne early warning and control ), JSTARS (for Airborne ground surveillance ), GPS , VHF SINCGARS (for ground and airborne communications), and ruggedized computers . The mix

5104-418: The heavy infantry. In more elaborate situations armies of various nationalities fielded different combinations of light, medium, or heavy infantry, cavalry, chariotry, camelry, elephantry, and artillery (mechanical weapons). Combined arms in this context was how to best use the cooperating units, variously armed with side-arms, spears, or missile weapons in order to coordinate an attack to disrupt and then destroy

5192-431: The late 1990s. AirLand Battle emphasized close coordination between land forces acting as an aggressively maneuvering defense, and air forces attacking rear-echelon forces feeding those front line enemy forces. In the 1991 Gulf War , General Schwarzkopf used a mix of strikes by fixed-wing aircraft including carpet bombing and precision bombing in combination with large numbers of strikes by attack helicopters . During

5280-410: The leader who had hired or raised them. Such independent organisation persisted until the 2nd century BC amongst light infantry and cavalry, but was discarded completely in later periods with the supporting role taken instead by allied troops. The roles of century leader (later formalised as a centurion ), second in command and standard bearer are referenced in this early period. Rome's early period

5368-450: The legion a formidable siege train of 59 ballistae and 10 onagers, each manned by 10 libritors (artillerymen) and mounted on wagons drawn by oxen or mules. In addition to attacking cities and fortifications, these would be used to help defend Roman forts and fortified camps ( castra ) as well. They would even be employed on occasion, especially in the later Empire, as field artillery during battles or in support of river crossings. Despite

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5456-556: The legion originated with the elite legiones palatinae created by Diocletian and the Tetrarchs. These were infantry units of around 1,000 men rather than the 5,000, including cavalry, of the old legions. The earliest legiones palatinae were the Lanciarii , Joviani , Herculiani and Divitenses . The 4th century saw a very large number of new, small legions created, a process which began under Constantine II . In addition to

5544-509: The legionary structure, the most famous example being the campaign in 479 BC by the clan army of gens Fabia against the Etruscan city of Veii (in which the clan was annihilated). Legions became more formally organised in the 4th century BC, as Roman warfare evolved to more frequent and planned operations, and the consular army was raised to two legions each. In the Republic, legions had an ephemeral existence. Except for Legio I to IV, which were

5632-535: The legions of the early Empire and those of the post-6th century army was Legion V Macedonica ; created in 43 BC, recorded in the Notitia Dignitatum as a legione comitatense under the title of Quinta Macedonica and surviving in Egypt until the Arab conquest of 637 AD. According to the late Roman writer Vegetius ' De re militari , each century had a ballista and each cohort had an onager , giving

5720-431: The main attacking strength of the legion with swords and pila , whilst the triarii formed the defensive backbone of the legion fighting as spearmen (initially as a denser Greek phalanx and later as a looser spear wall formation) with long spears and large shields. The fifth class of troops were the equites (the cavalry), which were used for scouting, pursuit and to guard the flanks. The Legion then became notionally

5808-444: The many and varied duties of the Roman army. There were three pay grades within the rank of legionary: standard, one and a half, and twice the basic pay rate. Legionaries received 225 denarii a year (equal to 900 sestertii ) until Domitian , who increased it to 300 denarii . In spite of the steady inflation during the 2nd century, there was no further rise until the time of Septimius Severus , who increased it to 500 denarii

5896-506: The modern paragon of combined arms doctrine, consists of a mixture of infantry, tank , artillery , reconnaissance , and helicopter units, all of which are co-ordinated and directed by a unified command structure . Also, most modern military units can, if the situation requires it, call on yet more branches of the military, such as infantry requesting bombing or shelling by military aircraft or naval forces to augment their ground offensive or protect their land forces. The mixing of arms

5984-414: The more prestigious legions and those stationed on hostile borders or in restive provinces tending to have more auxiliaries. By the time of the emperor Severus , 193–211, the auxiliaries may have composed 55 to 60% of the army, 250,000 of 447,000. Some legions may have even been reinforced at times with units making the associated force near 15,000–16,000 or about the size of a modern division . Throughout

6072-429: The old use of the legion drawn up in three lines of battle using three classes of soldier (each century would then hold a cross-section of this theoretical line, although these century titles were now essentially nominal). Each of the three lines is then sub-divided within the century into a more forward and a more rear century. The Roman army maintained a complex position and grading system for its soldiers that reflected

6160-461: The other. According to the strategist William S. Lind , combined arms can be distinguished from the concept of "supporting arms" as follows: Combined arms hits the enemy with two or more arms simultaneously in such a manner that the actions he must take to defend himself from one make him more vulnerable to another. In contrast, supporting arms is hitting the enemy with two or more arms in sequence, or if simultaneously, then in such combination that

6248-480: The professional training of the soldiers. Throughout the history of Rome's Late Republic, the legions played an important political role. By the 1st century BC, the threat of the legions under a demagogue was recognised. Roman governors were not allowed to leave their provinces with their legions. When Julius Caesar broke this rule, leaving his province of Gaul and crossing the Rubicon into Italy, he precipitated

6336-400: The rank and file legionary (who received the base wage of 10 assēs a day or 225 denarii a year), the following list describes the system of officers which developed within the legions from the late republic (100s BC) until the military reforms of Diocletian ( c.  290 ). The rank of centurion was an officer grade that held much responsibility. The most senior centurion in

6424-467: The strength of the standing army stood at around 30 legions (hence the wry remark of the philosopher Favorinus that It is ill arguing with the master of 30 legions ). With each legion having 5,120 legionaries usually supported by an equal number of auxiliary troops (according to Tacitus), the total force available to a legion commander during the Pax Romana probably ranged from 11,000 downwards, with

6512-474: The targets for requested air and artillery assets. Within a few minutes, on station aircraft would direct their missions to cover the ground vehicle. Within a half-hour heavy attack forces would concentrate to relieve the isolated vehicle. In an hour and a half the relieved vehicle would be resupplied. In 2020, the Israel Defense Forces established a dedicated combined arms battalion to test

6600-433: The viability of full integration of infantry, armor, and aircraft into a single battalion command structure. The unit fields Merkava Mk.4 main battle tanks, F-16D multirole fighters, Heron and Hermes 450 drones, and AH-64 Apache helicopters. Roman Legion The size of a typical legion varied throughout the history of ancient Rome, with complements ranging from 4,200 legionaries and 300 equites (drawn from

6688-523: The war progressed new combined arms tactics were developed, often described then as the "all arms battle". These included direct close artillery fire support for attacking soldiers (the creeping barrage ), air support and mutual support of tanks and infantry. One of the first instances of combined arms was the Battle of Cambrai , in which the British used tanks, artillery, infantry, small arms and air power to break through enemy lines. Previously such

6776-445: The wealthier classes – in early Rome all troops provided their own equipment) in the Republic, to 5,500 in the Imperial period, when most legions were led by a Roman Imperial Legate. A legion had 4,800 legionaries (in 10 cohorts of 6 centuries of 80 legionaries) from the late republic to the time of Julius Caesar . It expanded to 5,280 men plus 120 auxiliaries in the Imperial period (split into 10 cohorts, nine of 480 men each, with

6864-410: Was also a reconnaissance squad of ten or more light mounted infantry called speculatores , who could also serve as messengers or even as an early form of military intelligence service. A typical legion of this period had 5,120 legionaries as well as a large number of camp followers, servants and slaves. Legions could contain as many as 11,000 fighting men when including the auxiliaries. During

6952-480: Was broken down into smaller units – originally temporary detachments – to cover more territory. In the fourth century AD, East Roman border guard legions ( limitanei ) may have become even smaller. In the period before the raising of the legio and the early years of the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic , forces are described as being organised into centuriae of roughly one hundred men. These centuries were grouped together as required and answered to

7040-458: Was commanded by a legatus or legate . Aged around thirty, he would usually be a senator on a three-year appointment. Immediately subordinate to the legate would be six elected military tribunes – five would be staff officers and the remaining one would be a noble heading for the Senate (originally this tribune commanded the legion). There would also be a group of officers for the medical staff,

7128-412: Was commanded by the senior of the two centurions . At this time, each century of hastati and principes consisted of 60 men; a century of triarii was 30 men. These 3,000 men (twenty maniples of 120 men, and ten maniples of 60 men), together with about 1,200 velites and 300 cavalry gave the mid Republican ("manipular") legion a nominal strength of about 4,500 men. Each century had its own standard and

7216-412: Was followed by the five other century commanders of the first cohort, who were known as primi ordines . There is a story of one centurion, Petronius Fortunatus, making rank in four years, then spending the next forty-two years in twelve different legions never once serving in the primi ordines . The six centuries of a normal cohort, were, in order of precedence: The centuries took their titles from

7304-933: Was made up of ten units ( contubernia ) of eight men who shared a tent, a millstone, a mule and cooking pot . Full Roman citizenship was open to all the regions of Italy. At the same time, the three different types of heavy infantry were replaced by a single, standard type based on the principes : armed with two heavy javelins called pila (singular pilum ), the short sword called gladius , chain mail ( lorica hamata ), helmet and rectangular shield ( scutum ). The role of allied legions would eventually be taken up by contingents of allied auxiliary troops, called auxilia . Auxilia contained immunes (specialist units), engineers and pioneers, artillerymen and craftsmen, service and support personnel and irregular units made up of non-citizens, mercenaries and local militia. These were usually formed into complete units such as light cavalry, light infantry or velites , and labourers. There

7392-485: Was no longer effective in combat. In Gallic War (Bk IV, Para. 25), Julius Caesar describes an incident at the start of his first invasion of Britain in 55 BC that illustrated how fear for the safety of the eagle could drive Roman soldiers. When Caesar's troops hesitated to leave their ships for fear of the Britons, the aquilifer of the tenth legion threw himself overboard and, carrying the eagle, advanced alone against

7480-539: Was the triarii , the final line of the formation who instead fought as hoplites, using Greek clipei and whose wealth could afford them gladii in the case of a broken spear. By the 3rd century BC, this system was seen to be inefficient. Under the new Polybian system the ranks were no longer structured by wealth, and instead by age and experience. All legionaries had their hastae replaced by gladii , along with two pila , which were used as an opening volley before melee . The former classes of poor legionaries,

7568-635: Was to tempt the English to leave the shield wall to attack retreating Norman infantry only to destroy them in the open with cavalry. Likewise Scottish sheltrons – which had been developed to counter the charges by English heavy cavalry, and had been used successfully against English cavalry at the Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297) – were destroyed at the Battle of Falkirk (1298) by English archers acting in concert with mounted knights. Both Hastings and Falkirk showed how combined arms could be used to defeat enemies relying on only one arm. The English victories of Crécy , Poitiers and Agincourt were examples of

7656-409: Was used along with taking advantage of the terrain and weather in choosing when and where to give battle. The simplest example is the combination of different specialties such as archers, infantry, cavalry (knights or shock mounted troops), and even peasant militia. At times, each force fought on its own and won or lost depending on the opposing military competence. During the Middle Ages leaders utilized

7744-467: Was writing c.  150 BC and his account most likely was influenced by the organization of the Roman army after the defeat of Hannibal in the Punic wars some 50 years earlier. The legions of the Republic were only conscripted in times of conflict and usually limited to four legions, two to be commanded by each consul, though more could be levied if needed. Legionaries lacked the opportunity of

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