In their formal organization the Carthaginian armies resembled the new
Greek model, and indeed they were created in the first instance by
Xanthippus, a Spartan soldier in the service of Carthage, who was called
upon to raise and train an army when the Romans were actually at the
gates of Carthage, and justified his methods in the brilliant victory of
Tunis (255 B.C.). For the solid Macedonian phalanx of 16,000 spears
Xanthippus substituted a line of heavy battalions equal in its aggregate
power of resistance to the older form, and far more flexible. The
triumphs of the cavalry arm in Hannibal's battles far excelled those of
Alexander's horsemen. Hannibal chose his fighting ground whenever
possible with a view to using their full power, first to defeat the
hostile cavalry, then to ride down the shaken infantry masses, and
finally to pursue _au fond_. At Cannae, the greatest disaster ever
suffered by the Romans, the decisive blow and the slaughter were the
work of Hannibal's line cavalry, the relentless pursuit that of his
light horse. But a professional long-service army has always the
greatest difficulty in making good its losses, and in the present case
it was wholly unable to do so. Even Hannibal failed at last before the
sustained efforts of the citizen army of Rome.
9. _Roman Army under the Republic._--The earliest organization of the
Roman army is attributed to Romulus, who formed it on the tribal
principle, each of the three tribes contributing its contingent of horse
and foot. But it was to Servius Tullius that Rome owed, traditionally,
the complete classification of her citizen-soldiers. For the details of
the Roman military system, see ROMAN ARMY. During the earlier period of
Roman history the army was drawn entirely from the first classes of the
population, who served without pay and provided their own arms and
armour. The wealthiest men (_equites_) furnished the cavalry, the
remainder the infantry, while the poorer classes either fought as light
troops or escaped altogether the privilege and burden of military
service. Each "legion" of 3000 heavy foot was at first formed in a solid
phalanx. The introduction of the elastic and handy three-line formation
with intervals (similar in many respects to Alexander's) was brought
about by the Gallic wars, and is attributed to M. Furius Camillus, who
also, during the siege of Veii, introduced the practice of paying the
soldiers, and thus removed the chief obstacle to the employment of the
poorer classes. The new order of battle was fully developed in the
Pyrrhic Wars, and the typical army of the Republic may be taken as
dating from the latter part of the 3rd century B.C. The legionary was
still possessed of a property qualification, but it had become
relatively small. An annual levy was made at Rome to provide for the
campaign of the year. Discipline was severe, and the rewards appealed as
much to the soldier's honour as to his desire of gain. A legion now
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