THE LOGISTICS OF THE ROMAN ARMY AT WAR …

1 THE LOGISTICS OFTHE ROMAN army ATWAR (264 - 235)JONATHAN P. ROTHBRILLTHE LOGISTICS OFTHE ROMAN army AT WAR(264 - 235)COLUMBIA STUDIESIN THECLASSICAL TRADITION under the direction ofWILLIAM V. HARRIS (Editor) PAUL OSKAR KRISTELLEREUGENE F. RICE, JR. ALAN CAMERONJAMES A. COULTER RICHARD BRILLIANTSUZANNE SAIDVOLUME XXIIITHE LOGISTICS OFTHE ROMAN army AT WAR(264 - 235)BYJONATHAN P. ROTHBRILLLEIDEN BOSTON K LN1999 This book is printed on acid -free of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataRoth, Jonathan, 1955 The LOGISTICS of the ROMAN army at war (264 235) / byJonathan P. (Columbia studies in the classical tradition, ISSN0166-1302 ; v. 23)Includes bibliographical references and 9004112715 (cloth : alk. paper)1. Rome army Supplies and stores.

2 2. Rome army Transportation Equipment and supplies. 3. LOGISTICS . 4. Rome History, Military 265-30 5. Rome History, Military Title. II. 11 0937 dc2198 42368 CIPDie Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-EinheitsaufnahmeRoth, Jonathan P.:The LOGISTICS of the ROMAN army at war : (264 - 235) / byJonathan P. Roth. Leiden ; Boston ; K ln : Brill, 1998(Columbia studies in the classical tradition ; Vol. 23)ISBN 90 04 11271 5 ISSN 0166-1302 ISBN 90 04 11271 5 Copyright 1999 by The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New YorkAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior writtenpermission of the to photocopy items for internal or personaluse is granted by Brill provided thatthe appropriate fees are paid directly to The CopyrightClearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, are subject to IN THE NETHERLANDSTo Susan,the love of my life,and toZoe, Desdemona and OthelloThis page intentionally left blank CONTENTSP reface.

3 XiList of Illustrations and Tables .. xiiiAbbreviations ..xvIntroduction ..1 Chapter One: Supply Needs and Rations ..7 Nutritional Requirements of the Average ROMAN Soldier ..7 Height, Weight and Age of ROMAN Soldiers ..9 Rationing ..14 Allied and Auxiliary Rations ..16 The Grain Ration (Frumentum) ..18 The Non-Grain Ration (Cibaria) ..24 Preparation of Food ..44 Prepared Rations ..51 Meals ..53 Diet for the Sick and Wounded ..55 Officers Diet and Meals ..57 Other Logistical Needs (Firewood and Fodder) ..59 Conclusion ..67 Chapter Two: Packs, Trains and Servants ..68 Provisions Carried by Individual Soldiers ..68 The Soldiers Pack (Sarcina) ..71 Equipment of the Equipment ..78 Trains.

4 79 Non-Combatant Support Personnel ( Soldiers Servants ) .. and Private Markets .. 101 Requisitioned Civilians .. 110 Logistical Functions of Military Servants .. 111 Numbers and Organization of Non-Combatants .. 113 Conclusion .. 115 Chapter Three: Forage, Requisition and Pillage .. 117 Foraging .. 118 Foraging for Water (Aquatio) .. 119 Foraging for Wood (Lignatio) .. 123 Foraging for Fodder (Pabulatio) .. 125 Foraging for Grain and Other Provisions (Frumentatio) .. 130 Economic Factors in Foraging .. 135 army Discipline and Foraging .. 140 Requisition .. 141 The Provision of Animals .. 146 Surrendered Provisions .. 147 Pillaging .. 148 Conclusion .. 154 Chapter Four: Supply Lines.

5 156 Republican Supply Lines .. 158 Imperial Supply Lines .. 165 Operational Bases .. 169 Winter Quarters .. 177 Tactical Bases .. 182 Storage .. 185 Depots .. 187 The Operation of Supply Lines .. 189 Sea Transport .. 189 River Transport .. 196 Overland Transport .. 198 Pack-Animals .. 202 Wagons .. 208 Porters .. 212 Cattle on the Hoof .. 213 Logistical Infrastructure .. 214 Roads .. 214 Bridges .. 217 Canals .. 218 Conclusion .. 219 Chapter Five: Sources of Supply .. 223 Sources of Supply in the Republican Period .. 224 Republican Taxation .. 224 Allied Contributions .. 227viii 230 Market and Forced Purchase .. 231 Sources of Supply in the Late Republic.

6 233 Sources of Supply in the Imperial Period .. 236 Imperial Taxation .. 236 Allied and Private Contributions .. 239 TheAnnona 240 Conclusion .. 241 Chapter Six: The Administration of LOGISTICS .. 244 Republican Central Administration of LOGISTICS .. 245 Late Republican Central Administration .. 250 Republican Administration of Supply Lines .. 252 Republican Administration of army -Level LOGISTICS .. 256 Quaestors .. 258 Late Republican army Administration .. 259 Imperial Central Administration .. 261 Central Accounting .. 265 Imperial Administration of Supply Lines .. 266 Private Contracting .. 270 Imperial Administration of army -Level LOGISTICS .. 271 The Camp Prefect.

7 272 Legionary Administration .. 273 Corruption and Military Administration .. 275 Conclusion .. 276 Chapter Seven: LOGISTICS in ROMAN Warfare .. 279 LOGISTICS in Campaign Planning .. 279 Security of Supply Lines .. 281 Security of Waterborne Supply .. 281 Security of Overland Supply .. 283 Security of Foraging Operations .. 286 Security of Trains .. 292 Foraging and Supply Lines in Strategy and Tactics .. 293 LOGISTICS and Strategy .. 298 Blocking Waterborne Supply .. 298 Blocking Overland Supply .. 301 Attacking Operational and Tactical Bases .. 303 Strategy of Pillaging .. 305 Effects of LOGISTICS on Tactics .. 306 LOGISTICS and Battle .. 309 ixLogistics and Combat Capability.

8 312 LOGISTICS and Siege Warfare .. 314 LOGISTICS and the City of Rome .. 319 LOGISTICS and Intelligence .. 321 Conclusion .. 325 Conclusion .. 329 Appendix: LOGISTICS and the Organization of Auxiliary Units .. 335 Bibliography .. 341 Indices .. 353x PREFACEThis book developed out of my dissertation, The LOGISTICS of the RomanArmy in the Jewish War (66 73 ), Columbia University, 1991. Iam very grateful to my Doktorvaterand mentor, William V. Harrisfor his support and guidance throughout my graduate studies, andindeed, to the present day. I would also like to express my grati-tude to the other members of my committee: Roger S. Bagnall,Richard Billows, Shaye Cohen and the late Morton Smith.

9 I ap-preciate the generous financial support from the Dorot Foundation I did a great deal of this work as a Dorot Teaching Fellow at NewYork University and from San Jose State University, its College ofSocial Science and History Department. Thanks are also due to theeditorial board of the Columbia Series in the Classical Tradition andto the editors at Brill, particularly Julian Deahl, Job Lisman andGera van Bedaf, for their always kind and generous would like to thank Jean-Jacques Aubert, Robert Cirivillieri, SusanHeidenreich, Damien Pricolo, Irvin Roth and David Roth for read-ing previous versions of this work and offering valuable commentsand corrections. I extend my special appreciation to Dennis Kehoe,Theodor Kissel and Everett Wheeler, each of whose careful readingand thorough critique of the manuscript saved me from many errorsof fact and reason: all remaining mistakes are entirely my otherwise noted, English translations, are taken from the LoebClassical Library, with occasional minor changes by the of Vegetius are from Milner, Vegetius: Epitome ofMilitary Science, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1993.

10 Secondaryliterature is cited by author s name and date of publication for fulltitle and reference see the page intentionally left blank LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS(These ten illustrations can be found between pages xiv and xv.)I would like to thank and acknowledge the German ArchaeologicalInstitute in Rome and the Westphalian State ROMAN Museum inHaltern for their kind permission to reproduce these A river-boat on the Danube offloading barrels. Trajan s ColumnScene 2, casts 7 8. (Deutsches Arch ologisches Institut, RomInstNegNr )2. Legionaries marching over a pontoon bridge, carrying sarcinaeorpacks. Trajan s Column Scene 4, casts 12 14. (Deutsches Arch o-logisches Institut, Rom InstNegNr )3. Legionaries building a road through a forest.