The Roman Army during the Augustan Period

Even after Marius’s reform of the army, the Roman army was divided into legions and cohorts during the Augustan Period. At this time a legion consisted of circa 6,000 men (in times of peace, sometimes half as many) and 120 cavalrymen (equites legionis) for communication and reconnaissance. 

A legion included ten cohorts for every six centurions. To the first cohorts belonged circa 800 men, to the others 480-500 men each. In addition, there were the officers, administrators, pioneers, doctors, architects, and craftsmen.

The legions were joined by volunteers with Roman citizenship (until Vespasian [AD 69-79] they were predominantly Romans and Italici). The legatus legionis (legion commander) and one of his six officers (tribuni militum) came from the senatorial order, the other five from the equestrian order. The highest ranking centurio of the legion was the commanding officer of the First Cohort (primus pilus). 

As a rule a legionary served under Augustus 25 years and earned 225 denarii (= a daily wage of 10 asses), from which, however, rations, weapons, uniform, etc., were deducted.

The auxilia (auxiliary troops) of the early imperial period came from the provinces of the Roman Empire. Most of their members did not have citizenship. They consisted of three groups: (1) cohortes peditatae (infantry), (2) alae (cavalry squadrons), and (3) cohortes equitatae (mixed units = infantry and cavalry). The divisions of members from foreign peoples and the nationally organized auxiliary troops commanded by native leaders were also characterized as auxilia. 

The praefecti alarum (leaders of the cavalry squadrons) were native noblemen from the equestrian order who were appointed by the emperor himself and who often had previously administered civil offices in their homeland. By contrast, the officers were Roman citizens who were appointed by the governor of the particular province.

With the crushing defeat in the saltus Teutoburgiensis, which was inflicted by Germanic tribal federations from the Rhine and Weser regions fighting under the leadership of the Cheruscan nobleman and Roman citizen Arminius, Legions XVII, XVIII, XIX with three alae (cavalry squadrons) and six cohorts (infantry units) under the command of Varus were all destroyed. These legions were never raised again.

Objects Found in Kalkriese

The weaponry of the Roman army makes up a large part of the objects found in Kalkriese. They include both defensive and offensive weapons.

Coins, pioneering and surveying instruments, medical instruments, and objects used by the Romans in their daily lives form the remaining part of the material found.

Brooches
Most of the brooches found in Kalkriese are Aucissa brooches in various designs and qualities, some of which are made of iron. Apart from two pre-Roman designs, spiral brooches (the so-called “Knickfibeln”?) of the types Almgren 19 and “Augenfibeln?” constitute the second largest group of brooches found in Kalkriese. In addition, the types Almgren 22, one iron brooch (a soldiers brooch?) in the form of the eingliedrige Drahtfibel?, Hülsenspiralfibeln? of the type Langton-Down, Omegafibeln? and one small round pierced Scheibenfibe?l with a hinge round off the spectrum of brooches.
Augenfibel, Aucissa brooch and Almgren 22 (above from left to right) as well as Almgren 19 (below)
All bronze. Length of Aucissa brooch (above centre) 5.5 cm
Brooches from Early Pre-Roman Iron Age. Bronze. Above: Brooch from Mittellatèneschema? of the type Kostrzewski Var. B. ???Below: Brooch from Spätlatèneschema? of Northsea Germanic origin. – Length of the brooch above: 5.6 cm. Lenght of the brooch below 6.5 cm.
Augenfibel?. Bronze. Length 4.6 cm
Aucissa type brooches. Bronze. Length of brooch above 5.2 cm
Type Almgren 19. Bronze. Length 5.9 cm
Omegafibeln?. Bronze. Diameter (left brooch) 4.2 cm
Brooches of the type Langton-Down. Fragment. Bronze. Remaining length 2.1 cm

Pioneering and Surveying Instruments

Among the objects found from the group of pioneering and surveying instruments belongs the typical trenching instrument of the Roman legionary, the dolabra, a combination of ax and pickax.

Pioneering instrument: dolabra with an oval “eye” and a rectangular shaft hole. Iron. – Length: 53.0 cm. – In the picture below, a sickle blade with a partly preserved end of the handle. Iron.

In the ancient literature, e.g., in Livius and Tacitus, the dolabra is predominantly mentioned as a trenching tool. It is also attested in pictorial accounts, for instance, on Trajan’s Column in Rome, where soldiers are felling trees, tearing down a wall, and leveling ground.

Legionaries felling trees for the construction of an entrenchment (detail from Trajan’s Column in Rome).

The significance of surveying to the Roman army is attested by the many plumb lines (perpendicula) found during the preliminary investigations and the excavations in Kalkriese.

Above: Four lead plumbs.
Remaining length of the lower plumb: 1.8 cm.
Below: Lead plumb with the scratched inscription CHOI
For c(o)ho(rtis)I (= prima cohors). – Scale: 1:1.

Woodworking Tools

The two chisels were most probably used in woodworking. The mortise chisel served to chisel holes and grooves; the flat chisel was used for finer work such as cutting out rabbets and grooves and carving. Originally a wooden handle was attached to the spur of the flat chisel.

Tools for woodworking. Flat chisel with handle base (left) and mortise chisel with curved blade and handle with a socket. Iron. – Remaining length of the mortise chisel: 19.6 cm.

Medical Instruments

Two medical-surgical instruments—a bone elevator and the handle of a knife—belong among the objects found that have a civilian character. Bone elevators were used especially in the case of skull injuries in order to remove bone splinters.

Two bronze medical instruments: a bone elevator (elevatorium) and the handle of a knife/scalpel (scalpellus). The ends of the handle of the bone elevator are decorated with small rhomboid silver plates that have been inlaid at an angle. The knife handle is completely decorated with a rhomboid pattern. – Length of the bone elevator: 14.3 cm.