Weapons and the Army

The organizational reconfiguration and physical transformation that gradually swept through the Republican army is a topic of no minor significance, since the military and its institutions were organs both central and vital to the prolonged function and prosperity of Roman society. This chapter aims to explore this transformation through examining the legionary arms and armor of the Republican period, focusing in particular upon the nature of our current archaeological sources for aiding us in understanding the tremendous level of invention, modification and adaptation which took place between the sixth and first centuries. An examination of archaeological evidence pertaining to Republican weapons and the army is not only a useful exercise, but perhaps now an obligatory one within any comprehensive overview of material culture during the Republican period.