How Did The Military Culture Influence The Roman Military

The Roman military was extremely strict and well trained. In order to have a well tuned fighting force the Romans favored recruiting young boys at an early age. During training the boys were formed into groups of eight, also known contuberniums, which means a group sharing a tent. This contubernium did everything together forming a close bond between the young boy soldiers. In basic training, these young boys had to march thirty six kilometers in five hours with the added burden of twenty five kilos of equipment. This resulting in,“…groups of super fit young men partly brutalized and therefore brutal themselves, closely bonded with one another though denied strong emotional ties, and taking a triumphant pride in the unit to which they belonged”. Not only were these young soldiers

Like the Romans, the Greeks also used these harsh tactics against young men and other individuals involved in the army. The city state of Sparta was fully immersed in the military culture. From an early age the Greeks incorporated basic military training into children’s lives. Xenophon speaks of this in the “Polity of the Spartans”: “Instead of softening their feet with shoe or sandal, his rule was to make them hardy through going barefoot. This habit, if practiced, would, as he believed, enable to scale heights more easily and clamber down precipices with less danger”. This along with the harsh training tactics such as lack of food and dealing with changes in temperature further helped young Spartans acquire the basic elements of military for their fighting. The Spartans were fully invested in being militarily dominant. Like the Roman legions, Spartans had an undying loyalty to their country and fellow soldiers. Both Roman and Spartan soldiers would rather die than concede their honor by