cts and centurions, and
severely trained in the arts of Roman discipline; but the far greater
part retained those arms, to which the nature of their country, or their
early habits of life, more peculiarly adapted them. By this institution,
each legion, to whom a certain proportion of auxiliaries was allotted,
contained within itself every species of lighter troops, and of
missile weapons; and was capable of encountering every nation, with the
advantages of its respective arms and discipline. Nor was the legion
destitute of what, in modern language, would be styled a train of
artillery. It consisted in ten military engines of the largest, and
fifty-five of a smaller size; but all of which, either in an oblique
or horizontal manner, discharged stones and darts with irresistible
violence.

Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.--Part
III.

The camp of a Roman legion presented the appearance of a fortified city.
As soon as the space was marked out, the pioneers carefully levelled the
ground, and removed every impediment that might interrupt its perfect
regularity. Its form was an exact quadrangle; and we may calculate, that
a square of about seven hundred yards was sufficient for the encampment
of twenty thousand Romans; though a similar number of our own troops
would expose to the enemy a front of more than treble that extent. In
the midst of the camp, the praetorium, or general's quarters, rose above
the others; the cavalry, the infantry, and the auxiliaries occupied
their respective stations; the streets were broad and perfectly
straight, and a vacant space of two hundred feet was left on all sides
between the tents and the rampart. The rampart itself was usually twelve
feet high, armed with a line of strong and intricate palisades, and
defended by a ditch of twelve feet in depth as well as in breadth.
This important labor was performed by the hands of the legionaries
themselves; to whom the use of the spade and the pickaxe was no less
familiar than that of the sword or pilum. Active valor may often be the
present of nature; but such patient diligence can be the fruit only of
habit and discipline.

Whenever the trumpet gave the signal of departure, the camp was almost
instantly broke up, and the troops fell into their ranks without
delay or confusion. Besides their arms, which the legendaries scarcely
considered as an encumbrance, they were laden with their kitchen
furniture, the instru