COHORT: FIGHTING FOR ROME
Brought to you by Belgarath

LOADING INSTRUCTIONS

LOADING-AMIGA
To load the game, insert the game disk into your Amiga�s disk
drive and then switch on your computer. The game will load auto-
matically.

LOADING-ATARI ST
Insert the game disk into your disk drive, then switch on your
computer. Then double-click on the COHORT.PRG file to load the
game.

IBM PC VERSION
LOADING INSTRUCTIONS (FLOPPY DISK)
Insert your DOS, disk into Drive A: and turn on the power to your
computer. At the A:\ prompt, replace your DOS disk with the
appropriate Fighting for Rome disk and type: COHORT [ENTER].

HARD DISK INSTALLATION
At the C:\ prompt, switch to your A: or B: drive and type INSTALL
[ENTER]. This installation will create a sub-directory on your C:
drive, named COHORT. To start the game once it is installed on
your C: drive, type the following:

CD\COHORT [ENTER]
COHORT [ENTER]

TUTORIAL
Introduction
Fighting for Rome is a wargame. Unlike many other wargames,
however, it is extremely easy to learn and play. Newcomers to
computer wargaming may find this tutorial helpful: it guides the
player through the steps needed, to start a game.
We recommend people initially start a game and just play around
to accustom themselves to the icon control system. You can easily
restart the game whenever you feel ready to do so. This tutorial's
goal is just to get you started with a game. You will still need to
consult the instructions in order to fill out your knowledge of the
system.


To get straight into the battle, click on the Impressions logo on
the title screen and you will be put into the �ARCADE MODE�.
This means that the computer will automatically select two
armies and, a, scenario, and will automatically set both armies
marching towards each other. Just join in and give your side
orders when you want to or sit back and watch the fun!

Selecting a Battle
First, load the game and click on your countries flag.
You must then decide which battle to play. This means selecting
a Terrain and the composition of both your own army and your
opponents army.

The first screen you are presented with after selecting clicking on
the US flag is the Terrain Select screen. To choose a Terrain,
simply click firmly on the left mouse button when the mouse
pointer is over the type of terrain you wish to choose. The com-
puter will then move on to the Army Select screen, and will wait
for you to choose your own army.

Although you can define your own army, it is simplest to start off
by choosing one of the armies supplied. To do this, simply click
on one of the top row of yellow numbers (1 to 8) running horizon-
tally across the screen. Underneath each army is the breakdown
of how many of each type of soldier that army contains. You
must now repeat the same process to select your opponents
army.

Preparing Your Army For Battle
You could simply click on the icon at the right hand comer of the
screen (the yellow arrow) and the battle would commence. If you
do this, the row of icons will vanish, and after a while, the oppos-
ing army will start moving in to attack you. You can scroll around
the scene by moving the mouse pointer (in the scroll box at the
bottom left hand comer of the screen) in the direction that you
wish to scroll. To re-enter the command mode, simply click firmly
on the left mouse button., You will probably wish, to move some of
your units first, to produce your own chosen formation and tac-
tics.
Clicking on the map icon (at the bottom of the, screen) will bring
up the strategic map. A flag represents every unit on the field.
Your units are blue, the enemy units red. This map is very use-
ful: it shows you at a glance where all your units, and all the
enemy units, are, enabling you to work out where you would like
to move units to. To return to the command mode from the map,
simply click on the yellow arrow icon.

To move some of your units, click on the flag on the strategic map
which represents the unit you would like to move. This will take
you to that part of the terrain, where you should see your selected
unit. Click on the base of this unit and you should see the Icon
Panel appear at the bottom of the screen with your unit in the
middle of the panel. Click on the square on this control panel
which shows your unit and a Unit Command Panel. should
appear on screen. Now click on the single
figure at the top right
hand comer of the Unit Command Panel and then again on the
terrain.

You have just instructed the unit and its group to move towards
the spot you clicked on. Click on the yellow arrow on the bottom
control panel and you will see your units move towards that spot.

Playing the Game
Click on the yellow arrow on the control panel at the bottom of
the screen to start the battle. The enemy will begin to move Into
formation very soon and, if unprovoked by your forces, will attack
you after a short while. Your troops will all turn and fight auto-
matically if they come Into contact with any enemy units. At any
time, you can bring up the control panel again to give more com-
mands to your army simply by clicking firmly the left mouse but-
ton. Clicking on the red cross icon on the control panel makes
the Statistics Panel appear, showing details of both sides� casual-
ties so far.

When you are ready to restart the game, simply click on the disk
icon on the control panel. Then click on the yellow arrow at the
bottom of the disk panel which will appear on-screen. Then click
on the word "HERE" at the top of the panel. You will now be able
to restart the game.

INSTRUCTIONS
I. THE FORCES - REPRESENTATION
You are designated the �Blue� army, the Opposition the �Red.�
Each infantry figure (a unit) represents just under 100 men, while
the cavalry figures each represent 50 soldiers.

The battle takes place in �real time� - you give your orders to the
men, and away the battle goes until you tell it to stop. You can
then issue further commands, and let the battle recommence.
There are no �turns�, you can give as many (or as few) orders as
you wish.

The battlefield is approximately one mile wide by one third of a
mile high - plenty of room for outflanking maneuvers.

II. UNIT TYPES
There are seven different types of troop units:

LIGHT CAVALRY Men unarmored on unprotected horses
with bows, the fastest troops available.
MEDIUM CAVALRY Men in rawhide/light armor with
unprotected horses.
HEAVY CAVALRY Men in armor with armored horses.
ARCHERS Unarmored light infantry with bows.
LIGHT INFANTRY Unarmored light infantry with slings.
MEDIUM INFANTRY Men in a light armor covering only part of
the body.
HEAVY INFANTRY Men in heavy armor. The strongest troops
available, but also the least mobile.

III. COMMANDING GROUPS
For ease of play, you can control either individual units or groups
of 8 units at a time. All units in a group must be of the same type.
The maximum number of groups allowed per army is 12: the
minimum is 6. An army can therefore represent anywhere
between 3,000 and 10,000 men, depending on its composition.

You can give orders to each unit individually (unit mode) or to
each group (group mode). In group mode, any order given to a unit
is automatically passed onto its fellow group members

IV. TERRAIN
Click on the terrain on which you wish the battle to take place.
There are 4 different terrains:

OPEN FIELD Fairly open area for battle bordered by
woods on the northwestern and south-
eastern corners.
THE BRIDGE An east west river dominates the battle-
field with a single bridge. The river can be
waded.
CLIFF DEFENSE The northern edge is a cliff which leads to
the sea. Any unit going over the cliff is
�lost.�
HILL TERRAIN A hilly terrain to hamper fast moving
cavalry breaks up the battlefield.

V. ARMY COMPOSITION
You can select one of eight pre-defined armies by clicking on one
of the numbers running across the top of the screen. You can
also take a randomly selected army or create your own army. To
set up your own army composition, click on the �+� or "-" icons for
each type of unit. Note that this selects �groups� of units: a figure
of 4 for medium infantry, for example, means that your army will
include four groups (of eight units each) of medium infantry. You
cannot have more than 8 groups of any unit type, or of any of the
following combinations of unit:

Light Infantry and Archers
Medium and Heavy Infantry
Medium and Heavy Cavalry

An army must have at least 6 groups but no more than 12. You
must also select your opponent�s army using the same three
options.

The different terrain options and variable army composition mean
that you can create a wide variety of conflicts of varying difficulty.
To start you off, 20 scenarios are provided (see separate Scenario
Cards).

VI. COMMANDING TROOPS
You can only give orders while the battle is paused. When you
first start the game, the battle is paused until you click on the
�continue� arrow. During battle, simply click firmly on the right
mouse button to freeze the action and bring the control panel
back onto the screen.

General Control panel

There are three important panels used for controlling your men:
1) the General Control panel (the bottom portion of the screen),
2) the Unit Command panel (accessed from the General Control
panel) and 3) the Extended Unit Command panel (accessed from
the Unit Command panel).


VII. INDIVIDUAL & GROUP COMMAND MODES
Select whether you wish to be in unit or group mode by clicking
on the second icon from the left. A picture Of a single soldier indicates
unit mode, while a row of soldiers signifies group mode. In
group mode, any orders you give to one member of the group will
be followed by the entire group. In individual mode, it will be just
the individual unit which executes each order.

VIII. SELECTING UNITS FOR ORDERS
Select which unit/group you wish to give an order to by clicking
on it. Clicking on the up and down arrows on the left and right of
the control panel moves through your army, unit by unit, using
each unit�s identification number.

A red arrow will point at the piece currently selected and the relevant
figure will appear in the central square of the control panel.
Click on this central square to bring up the Unit Command
panel.

IX. ALTERING DIRECTION
Click on the yellow arrows around the central square to rotate the
piece to face a different direction.

X. MOVING TROOPS
There are two ways of moving troops:

a. SHORT DISTANCE
Click on one of the three icons at the right
hand side of the command panel. The single
figure represents Move at a March. The
two figures below it indicate Move at a
Run, while the three figures below that
indicate Charge! Having selected the
speed by clicking on one of these choices,
the panel will disappear, revealing a larger
area of the battlefield. Move the mouse
pointer to where you want the unit or
group to move to and then click the right
mouse button.

b. LONG DISTANCE
Click on the Centurion icon (the one with
a raised sword) to bring up the Extended
Unit Command panel. This includes 4
directional arrows; simply click on one to
get the group to march in that direction.


XI. HALTING MOVEMENT
The troops will stop automatically if they:
a. Arrive at or near their target as set by the SHORT move command,
OR
b. Get close to the edge of the battlefield if sent by a LONG move,
command, OR
c. Meet an enemy group, which they will automatically engage.

You can also halt movement by clicking on the Stand icon (on the
top left of the control panel).

XII. TROOP FORMATIONS
These commands will effect the entire group whether you are in
group mode or not. The piece under command will form the
upper left hand part of the formation. For instance, with the single
horizontal line command, the other units in the group will line
up to the right of it.
The formations available from the Command and Extended Unit
Command (accessed via the centurion) panels are:

UNIT COMMAND PANEL,
a. single row-horizontal line
b. single row-vertical line

EXTENDED UNIT COMMAND PANEL
a. double row -- horizontal line
b. double row - vertical line
c. square


Once in these formations, issuing move commands in group
mode will get the groups to travel in these formations.
Disarray, however, can occur if you pass through other groups or over diffi-
cult terrain.

XIII. TROOP ATTRIBUTES
Each unit has five attributes which are represented by icons on
the bottom of the Unit Command panel. Going from left to right,
they are: Attack Strength, Defense, Strength, Missile Power,
Morale and Number of Men (in the unit). All attributes are rated
between 1 (low) and 99 (high). By clicking on an attribute icon,
the gauge on the right hand side of the Unit Command panel will
indicate that attribute�s current level.

To help with individual recognition, each unit has its own unique
I unit number which appears next to the unit type on the Control
panel. This appears, though, only if you are in the unit mode. If
you are in group mode, the number of the group that the unit
belongs to is displayed.

XIV. MORALE
Morale is extremely important. It will �rise if you�re doing well and
fall if you�re in trouble. The lower your morale, the greater the
chance that your unit will rout. That is, run off the battlefield tak-
ing no further part in the conflict. You cannot issue orders to
routed units.

XV. EFFECT OF TERRAIN
Terrain should play a very important part in your tactics.

Terrain Type Movement Effect Battle Effect

Trees/Forest Reduces speed to walk. Reduces effectiveness of Cavalry.
Stones/Rocks Reduces speed to walk. Reduces effectiveness of Cavalry.
River Passable. but at a walk. Reduces attack and defense attributes.
Cliff Units going over the top None.
will take no further part
in the battle.
Other Units Passable, but formation None.
is likely to be disrupted.
Hills Reduces speed. Units on higher ground have increased
attack and. defense attributes.

XVI. RALLYING TROOPS
Units at half strength can be combined with adjacent units of the
same type which are in a similar predicament. To do this, click on
the Combine icon on the Unit Command panel (the third icon on the left, in the middle).
The unit currently under command will combine with any or all adjacent units.
Note: if combining the units results in the number of men in the new unit being over 99,
the new unit will not be formed.

XVII. HAND TO HAND COMBAT
When units from opposing forces, are adjacent to one another,
hand to hand combat will commence. It will continue until either
one of the units:
a. retreats, OR
b. routs, OR
c. is wiped out (i.e. the number of men is less than 1!)

Success depends on a combination of factors: the advancing
units attack strength against the opposition�s defense strength,
their relative morales, the number of men remaining in each unit
and the terrain they are standing on. In addition, out-numbering
your opponent by having more than 1 unit adjacent to the
attacked unit greatly enhances your chance of victory.

XVIII. MISSILES
Light infantry, light cavalry and archers all have the, capability of
firing missiles. In Fighting for Rome missile firing is automated.
Just select your target and your units will continue firing. They
reload automatically until they are wiped out, routed or engaged
in hand to hand combat.

To set up a target bring up the Unit Command panel and click
on the archer icon at the top. A map of the battlefield will appear
with red (enemy) and blue (yours) flags denoting where the units
are. A red pointer shows where your currently selected unit is.
Just move the white pointer over the base of the red flags you
wish to fire at and click! Your units whole group will aim at the
group you've targeted. They will fire at the opposing group even if
they move away. To aim at a different target, just repeat the process.

How effective your shooting is depends on your missile power
(archers are best), how far away from the target you are, how
much armor the target has (lightly armored units are effected the
most) and how many men are left in your unit.


XIX. FIELD OF VIEW
By clicking on the map icon on the main panel, the battlefield will
appear with blue and red flags denoting unit positions. This
enables you to picture the overall pattern of the battle and adjust
your tactics as necessary. You can zoom into the battle by moving
the pointer over the area you wish to see and clicking.

In this �mom mode�, the attributes section of the Unit Command
panel will appear. Click on any of t h e attributes and signs will
appear over all your units giving their current value for that
attribute. This enables you to see how your troops are standing
up to the fight, where your weaknesses are and whether you need
to rally any of them.

Additionally, rather than exiting by clicking on the yellow arrow,
click on one of your units and when you return to the main
panel, that piece will be the one under command.

HINT: When your army becomes spread out, using this method is
the quickest, way of regaining control of your troops.

XX. BATTLE MODE
Once you have issued all of your commands, clicking on the yellow
arrow on the main panel will put you in Battle Mode, Troops
will move, fights will take place, missiles will fire - the whole battle
will occur before your very eyes!

You can scroll around the battlefield by moving the mouse pointer.
in the Scroll Box in the direction that, you wish the display to
move. Coordinates are displayed in the top left hand comer so
you can keep track of where you are. The first digit is the horizontal
(X) distance. the second vertical (Y). (0,0 is the top left comer
of the map).

At any stage while watching the battle progress, you can bring up
the control panel. For example, to issue new orders or monitor
casualties, simply click firmly on the left mouse button and the
control panel will appear.

XXI. STATISTICS
Clicking on the red cross icon on t h e control panel will bring up
the statistics screen. You are told the number of men alive, routed
and dead for each of the armies. (The top icon represents living
units, the middle one, represents routed units, the bottom one
units wiped out). If you are in group, mode the statistics are in
units; If you are in unit, mode, the figures are numbers of men.

XXII. QUICK MODE
Clicking on the �egg-timer� icon moves you Into �Fast-Forward-
Battle� mode. The battle continues and you are kept up to date
about casualties but the fight proceeds at a faster pace. This
enables you to play through a scenario quickly. If time is short,
just issue �commands, and go into,, this mode; when casualties
start happening, or you�re starting to lose - exit and alter your
tactics! To exit this mode, just click the, mouse.

XXIII. RESTART

To restart a game at any time during a battle, click on the disk
icon (on the control panel) and then the yellow arrows on the Disk
Panel. You will then be given the option to exit the scenario and
restart the simulation. Unless you�ve saved the game to disk
already, the current game in progress will be lost.

XXIV. SAVING AND LOADING GAMES
Just click on the disk icon on the control panel and follow the
instructions. Make sure you have a formatted disk available first.

XXV. TYPES OF SOLDIER UNITS
As a guide for the newcomer, here is a brief analysis, of the
strengths/weaknesses of, the units under your command and
some tips as to how you might use them.

LIGHT INFANTRY
Being the, fastest foot soldier and with a
missile capability, this force is ideal for
harassing the enemy and outmaneuver-
ing the slower, more heavily armored
units. Before engaging heavy or medium
troops, try softening them up with bit and
run tactics - hit them with a few volleys,
retreat, then repeat the process.

MEDIUM INFANTRY
Good general purpose unit: no missile
capability, but sufficiently strong to sur-
vive conflict with most troops.

HEAVY INFANTRY
The strongest and most effective unit -
but also the slowest and with no missile
capability. Could be susceptible to �bit
and run� attacks, so it is sensible to use a
combination of lighter forces as well, to
guard against the enemy exploiting this
weakness.

ARCHERS
Should avoid hand to hand combat. Place
them behind some armored infantry and
use them to weaken the enemy.

LIGHT CAVALRY
Like light infantry, but with greater speed
and inferior combat ability.

MEDIUM CAVALRY
Good for slowing the advance of the
enemy or out-flanking them.

HEAVY CAVALRY
Strong enough to be used as shock, band
to hand combat troops.

XXVI. OBJECTIVES-GAME END
Your objective in Fighting for Rome will vary depending upon
which scenario you play. The scenario cards provided give details
of each objective. while, for your own custom-built scenarios you
must set your own objectives. Typically, these objectives will con-
sist of holding ground, generally a bridge or cliff-top position, or
taking opposing positions and defeating enemy armies.

The game ends when the first of the, following conditions, are met:

Time runs out (as shown by the sands of time slipping away -
see the egg-timer on the control panel)

OR

One of the �sides is decimated - reduced to just a couple of
units

At the games end (as notified by the computer) you will �be shown
the final positions of each side, using the strategic map. No victor
is proclaimed by the computer. It is for you to decide whether any
winner emerged or whether there was simply a Phyrric victory.

FIGHTING FOR ROME
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
I. The Roman Empire
The Romans built one of the first, and arguably the finest, empire
in history. Undoubtedly, they were very advanced, building
extraordinarily high quality roads, heating buildings, and creating
a sophisticated legal system. And of course, their armies were
extremely strong and, unusually for the time, very well-
disciplined.

Rome was an extraordinary civilization for its time and despite
many barbaric practices, has left the world considerably richer for
it. Many modem languages, including English, are based heavily
on Latin, the language of Rome.

II. The Rise of the Roman Empire
Technically, the Roman Empire was not an Empire until long
after most people think. Rome began as a republic, which was
established in about 510 BC, with an extremely sophisticated
political system. Rome�s territorial expansion began early on,
around 380 BC.

In common with many ancient tribes at this time, Rome was often
at war; Rome suffered a particularly bad defeat at the hands of
the Gauls in 387 BC when the city of Rome was largely destroyed.
Afterwards, the Romans rebuilt their city, and developed a more
powerful army. With the help of another tribe (the Samnites), they
then attacked and defeated all the other tribes in their area, and
their influence began to grow.

Two series of wars, the Samnite wars (against their former ally)
and the Pyrrhic Wars, enabled Rome's power to spread through
out much of what is now Italy.

The Pyrrhic wars were fought against Tarentum, a weak but rich
commercial city. They bought the services of another kingdom�s
army to do their fighting - King Pyrrhus of Epirus (in Northern
Greece). During the wars, Pyrrhus�s troops won a number of bat-
tles, but doing so cost such great losses that the term Pyrrhic vic-
tory arose. (A Pyrrhic victory is a victory that is so costly that it is
not worthwhile winning). Tarentum surrendered to Rome in 272
BC.

Rome managed to combine considerable political skill with its
military prowess. This meant that� following defeat, conquered
tribes became part of the Roman Republic, -- on terms set by
Rome. These terms included supplying men for the Roman army,
and adopting Latin as the official language. Gradually, Rome was
conquering what is now known as Italy.

The Carthaginians; under the leadership of Hannibal, had also
been expanding their own empire in North Africa during this
time. Their sphere of influence did not yet overlap with Rome�s.
The Punic Wars, though, broke out in 264 BC after the
Carthaginians invaded Messana. Southern Italian cities regarded
as a direct threat. There were three Punic Wars with Rome win-
ning the first in 241 BC following large naval battles.

The second Punic war started with Hannibal�s famous march
through Spain, over the Pyrenees, through Prance, over the Alps,
and into Italy. A remarkable journey at this time, Hannibal man-
aged to transport a huge army, complete with elephants, all the
way to Italy. He then defeated the Romans in many battles. Can-
nae was the site of the largest battle of the war so far, as Hannibal
defeated an entire Roman army! Hannibal then roamed Italy for
the next 16 years, winning battles against individual towns but
never defeating the city of Rome.

Desperate to rid themselves of the Carthaginian army, the
Romans moved west and conquered Spain; from there they
moved south into Carthage itself. Hannibal returned to Carthage
but was defeated there by the Romans, who also retained Spain
as part of the Republic.
The third Punic war was won by Rome in 146 BC and ended with
the complete destruction of Carthage. Rome turned this into their
North African territory. Greece followed next. and shortly after
this, Rome controlled the entire Mediterranean sea.

During this expansion, there was enormous political rivalry �in
Rome itself, spurred on by different factions of the Senate. Cae-
sar, Sulla, Marius, Pompey and others all tried, with varying suc-
cess, to rule as dictators between 123 BC and 44 BC.

More political disputes followed until Antony and Octavian agreed
to share the control of the territories. Antony ruled over Egypt
and its surrounding territories, Octavian ruling the rest. This did
not last, however, as Octavian defeated Antony and became the
first Roman Emperor (though he did not use this title himself). He
was known as Augustus from then on and ruled until his death
in AD 14.

III. The Fall of the Roman Empire
Augustus ruled well and brought stability to the Empire. He was
followed by Tiberius, his step-son. Tiberius ruled well but became
paranoid about being assassinated. As a result, he executed
many people as potential threats. Tiberius was succeeded by
Gaius, better known as Calligula, who was slightly mad: he
claimed to be a god, tried to have a horse elected consul, married
his sister, murdered his sister and spent enormous amounts of
money. He was murdered by the Praetorian Guard, the unit sup-
posed to protect the Emperor.

Other emperors followed for several hundred years. From about
AD 400 onward, under Honorius' rule, different parts of the
Empire came under increasing attack from other tribes. The
Goths in particular led many such attacks. Under the command
of Alaric the Goths attacked Italy, defeated Rome. and rapidly
spread their power throughout Italy. Barbarian tribes such as the
Vandals, Huns and Burgundians joined the attacks.
Rome pulled back, its forces from Britain, which it had conquered
in 44 BC, and tried to retain control. It was weakened, however,
by a series of famines and diseases. Its people had also been
increasingly heavily taxed and so were less keen to preserve the
society which taxed them. Gradually, the Empire in the west
dwindled to nothing.

IV. The Roman Army
The Roman Army was crucial to the success of the Empire, both
to building it and to maintaining it for so long. It was also ulti-
mately the� cause of the Roman Empire�s fall. As well as being
unusually large and well-directed, the Roman Army was. noted for
its strong organizational structure.
In the early days of Rome�s expansion, up to around 200 BC, the
army was broken down into Centuries: groups of soldiers of 100
men, commanded by a Centurion. A number of centuries then
formed a Legion, which usually had 4200 men.

Marius, a Commander of the Roman army, later changed the
structure and allowed non-land-owners to join the army.

Under the new structure, centuries only had eighty men each and
were grouped into cohorts. Cohorts were now the Romans' main
tactical unit. Cohorts usually consisted of six centuries (480 men)
and were grouped Into Legions. There were typically ten cohorts
to a Roman legion. One of these cohorts, known as the Prima
Cohors, was larger than the rest, having ten centuries instead of
six: many of the extra people in it were non-fighting men, such as
cooks or messengers. Each cohort consisted of two maniples of
approximately 200 men each.

This structure allowed for much tighter control to be kept on the
soldiers, which resulted in more precision during battle and bet-
ter discipline.

Commanding the army was a hierarchy of officers. A Centurion
commanded each century and reported to a Tribunus Militum
(the officer in charge of a cohort). Each legion was then com-
manded by a senior officer, known as a Legatus.

This structure is similar to that still used today, a cohort corm
spending roughly to the modem battalion and the maniple to the
modem company. The legion is roughly equivalent to the modem
division.

Unlike many previous armies, the Roman army also mastered the
art of fighting in formation, ranks or squares of soldiers fighting
close together, rather than a rabble of men. This proved far more
effective, as is particularly well demonstrated by the tortoise for-
mation in which walls of shields were used to protect the forma-
tion from arrows. Men in the middle of the square placed their
shields on top of their backs, forming a roof against enemy
arrows. This enabled the square to approach enemy fortresses
with few casualties.

Cavalry were less useful than infantry at this time, since (the stir-
rup not having been invented yet) riders needed to spend most of
their time trying to stay on the. horse, rather than fighting.
Nonetheless, they were used in the Roman army. The cavalry
consisted not of Roman soldiers, but of auxilia. They were less
well paid soldiers who were often recruited locally, rather than
brought from Rome.

V. Roman Soldiers
Roman soldiers were extremely well-trained and fit. Most of the
people they fought were farmers who were fighting for their land.
The Romans trained strenuously and endured very hardy fitness
exercises at all times. Roman soldiers were, also paid, professional
soldiers. This not only made them fitter and more proficient fight-
ers than many of their opponents it also made them much more
used to lighting in their units.

Roman soldiers had uniforms, consisting of an iron helmet,
chain-mail armor, red tunics and cloaks, the well-known curved ,
red shield (made out of leather on a wooden frame, rimmed with
iron) and sandals. Their main weapon was a short sword which
was about 6Ocm long. Also, each soldier carried two javelins as
secondary weapons.

VI. How the Romans fought battles
The Roman army evolved a particularly distinctive style of fight-
ing, moving away from the traditional phalanx of heavy infantry
(or hoplites, as used by the Greeks) supported by cavalry and
other troops.

Unlike most other armies of the era, the Romans did not rely
upon a long spear as their main weapon; other armies fought
from behind a wall. of shields from which protruded long (circa
seven feet) spears. The Romans relied upon their sturdy shields
for defense and used a short sword for offensive fighting. A
Roman attack would typically consist of soldiers throwing their
two javelins at the enemy and then charging immediately at them
to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

The Romans would normally deploy their army in three separate
lines. Each line would be six ranks deep and was sub-divided into
maniples. A gap would be left between each maniple in the line.
The gaps in the first line were covered by soldiers in the second
line and the gaps in the second were covered by soldiers from the
third. The third line usually comprised the older soldiers, who still
used the long spear rather than rely on the short sword. In an
attack, all three lines would advance together, so that if any gaps
arose, soldiers would be there from the second or third lines to
plug them.

Initially, the Romans made very scant use of cavalry. They
learned, however, from defeats at the hands of King Pyrrhus just
how effective �shock� tactics as employed by cavalry in Macedonian
armies could be. Hannibal also used the alternative �Macedonian�
style of warfare, as developed by Alexander the Great.

The battle of Trebia (218 BC) saw� a Roman army fighting a
Carthaginian force of roughly the same size. The Carthaginians
though, had far more cavalry than the Romans and used them to
move swiftly around the Roman flanks and attack from the rear.
Hannibal won the battle.

Hannibal�s greater victory, however, was at Cannae. Shrewd use
of his mixed army (heavy cavalry, light and heavy infantry) gave
his army of 50,000 men victory over the 80,000 strong Roman
force. Unlike the Romans, who advanced in their three lines as
normal, Hannibal retained two columns of strong infantry for use
as a possible reserve. His intention was to surround the Roman
force once it had engaged the main Carthaginian line and then
attack from the rear. Once again, cavalry were used effectively for
this, and Hannibal won the day.

The Romans were to take their revenge, however, fourteen years
later at the battle of Zama. Led by Scipio, the Romans had cavalry
superiority which was used late in the battle to attack the rear of
Hannibal�s thinly spread infantry. This won the day for the
Romans. This battle was particularly significant, since it was the
first where both sides made use of reserve forces.

The organizational structure of the Roman forces was to prove
key to their continued successes. Each group of soldiers was able
to turn instantly to present a solid front against attack from any
side. The Macedonian phalanx, being larger and often consisting
of several rows of spears, was far more cumbersome... and vulnerable.

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