PR 006 Roman legionary 2

The most valuable cash for a Roman general, in fact, for any Roman ruler, was the soldier.

The Roman soldier was a free citizen, who offered his life to the army instead of dedicating it to the production of wealth. He enlisted to defend the borders of the republic and later of the empire.

A fallen soldier, it was, a grave damage to the nation. He had to be replaced and could not become a productive member of society once his period of enlistment ended. That is the reason why the Roman army invested more than any of the nations of its time in developing an important defensive team for each soldier. And so that Roman military tactics, although highly effective, were also very conservative.

This is reflected in the pain and despair of Augustus, when the legions of Varus were annihilated in Teotouburg.

This miniature combines the modern imperial gallic helmet with the mesh loriga, elongated to the middle of the leg by pterugas or overlapping leather straps that fundamentally protected the vital arteries of the thigh.