Assembly The Army

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Assembling The Army
Introduction
The army leaves its camp as a large number of century-sized units moving out of each gate in several
columns. They have to be assemble themselves into the ccohorts, turmae, alae and legions of the army.
Moreover, the legions have to be in the proper order since specific units were assigned places in the line of
battle based on the tactics of the day. The cavalry might be placed on one or another flank, or both; the light
infantry had to find its assigned place, and the various support units needed to come together. All of this
could only be done outside the walls of the camp.
This page will explore this process.
Pharsalus
The only actual battle that these pages have

examined in depth is Phasalus. A portion of that
battle map shown on the right. Caesar's army in
this battle was roughly the same size as the March
Army. This battle can serve as a kind of template
for considering just what might have been involved
in getting an army from camp to battle.
What will be used from the Pharsalus example are

just two items: the general distances involved and
the major terrain feature.
The actual distance between the two camps is about

2.5 miles, the distance from Caesar's camp to the
line of battle is 8,689 feet, a little over 1.5 miles. If
we take these distances as representative of Roman
field practices it would seem that an army would
have between 1 and 2 miles to travel from camp to
battle.
The significant terrain feature is that the ground

between camps is generally open and relatively
unobstructed. Overnight marching camps may have
been located in well protected locations where
access was limited on several sides. But these were
camps that were not constructed as bases for major battles. When the army set up a camp at an expected site
of battle it selected a site with a broad open area on one side at least. The ground between the camp and the
selected site of the forthcoming battle would be as open as possible both to facilitate the attack but also to
make retreat back to the camp easier. The most common thing would be that the army could move from
camp to battle over a fairly broad front and in a relatively straight line.
Based on the above analysis, the model for the

camp, assembly area and battlefield are shown
in the illustration on the right. Every situation
would be different but this template serves well
enough as a generic representation.
The overall distance from the camp to the

eventual site of the battle is modeled at 1.5
miles. Since camps were used as refuges in case
of defeat, it is unlikely that a commander would
wish to be more than two miles from his own
camp. Some commanders tried to stage the
battles much closer -- Pompey offered battle to
Caesar while his army was still within range of
his camp artillery -- several hundreds of yards.
A key factor is that the area between the camp

and the battlefield is considered to be relatively
open and level. There is no need for it to be
perfectly flat for the army could not possibly
move more than a few hundred yards in battle
formation without breaking up. But the ground
is considered to be open enough to allow several
columns of marchers to move across it in
parallel lines.
Phase One: Assembly
The first elements to exit the camp would be the cavalry and the light infantry. They would act as scouts and
as protective screens for the army as it leaves the camp.
The next step in the process is for the centuries in their columns of two's to leave the camp and assemble
themselves into their cohorts and legions somewhere outside the camp. A location fairly close to the camp has
been selected for this process. Although the centuries could certainly march all the way to the eventual
battlefield in their columns, the army would be unacceptably vulnerable for much too long a time. And, since
we do know that at least in some cases armies actually arrayed in battle formation quite close to their camps,
it is reasonable to think that they would normally re-assemble the cohorts close to camp as well.
The following illustration shows the general routes for the columns of two's to follow from the camp gates to
the points of assembly for each legion.
The arrows show general routes the columns could follow. Since Legion IV ( the magenta arrow) exits
through two side gates, one of its columns must cross over other columns. This could create traffic problems,
however Legions I and II have shorter distances to travel and could pass in front of the centuries of Legion
IV.
Since we know that each legion has a vexillum, a banner on a pole with the legion's number on it, once could
speculate that these vexilla might have been used to mark the assembly points for each legion.
Key:
Red: Legion I
Green: Legion II
Blue: Legion III
Magenta: Legion IV
Dark Green: Cavalry
The two lines within the oval on the right of the drawing show the length of the columns of one ala of cavalry
(green) and one cohort of infantry.
In the illustration below the cavalry and light infantry are shown in dark green on either flank. In practice,
by the time the rest of the army assembled, those units would be further afield performing their defensive and
scouting funcitons.
Of interest is the shape, size and location of the assembly formations. Compared to a battle or even a parade
formation, they are narrow and deep. The reason for this becomes clear in the illustration below which is a
detail of the circled area.
This shows three legions in assembly formation. The only difference is that the wide gaps between them have
been reduced to make the illustration a bit clearer. It shows three legions in various stages of assembly.
Legion III (blue) is shown in the process of assembling. The four separate columns-of-two's can be
distinguished at the bottom right. Two or three of the leading centuries in each of the columns is highlighted
with a red arrow. These centuries are still in motion. 15 centuries are already in place in the first line, four in
the second and 6 in the third. These are the centuries arranged side by side and without arrows. There is
room between the forming cohorts for the columns of centuries to pass through. The final position of the lead
century of each of the four columns is shown in the sets of paralle lines. Because the centuries may not exit
the camp in perfect order, this formation allows them to file into their correct positions within the legion in
any sequence.
Legion II (red) is fully assembled. The centuries retain their column-of-two's structure, hence the formation
is narrow but deep.
Legion I (green) has begun stepping out on its march toward the final battlefield. Since the ground between
the assembly location and the battlefield is realtively open, the legion can move in 12 parallel columns.
Since the army continues in columns-of-two's one might wonder why the assembly step is useful. There are
two reasons. If the first place, it would be difficult, nearly impossible, to ensure that every century exits the
camp in precisely the correct sequence. The pause to asseble assures that all of the centures are in their
correct place before the army moves any closer to the enemy. The second reason is that the legions can
probably only march in 4 parallel columns to the assembly point but could very well move in as many as 12
or even 24 columns from there to the battlefield. And arrive with every century in its correct location. This
would make the second stage of moving much faster and greatly reduce the vulnerability of the army to
enemy attack.
The final step in the process of deploying the army is to move from the assembly location to the battlefield
and then to arrange the units in the battle formation. These steps are considered next.
Links to the five parts of the Deployment section

Deploying the Army: Planning
Deploying the Army: Exiting the Camp
Deploying the Army: Assembling the Units
Deploying the Army: Marching to the Battlefield
Deploying the Army: Forming in Battle Formation
Site Map
© 2003, Gary Brueggeman. All rights reserved world wide. No part of this work may be reproduced in part or whole, in any form or by any
means, without permission from the author.

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Assembling The Army

This page will explore this process.

The only actual battle that these pages have

What will be used from the Pharsalus example are

The actual distance between the two camps is about

The significant terrain feature is that the ground

Based on the above analysis, the model for the

The overall distance from the camp to the

A key factor is that the area between the camp

Phase One: Assembly

Links to the five parts of the Deployment section

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